DETECTORIST FINDS TREASURE – IN BACK GARDEN
JIM’S NEW HOBBY THROWS UP HISTORICAL FIND
AN AMATEUR metal detectorist who started the hobby to beat lockdown boredom has made a historic find – in his back garden.
Jim Bluck discovered a silver coin, thought to date back four centuries, in the same village where more than 5,000 Roman coins were famously unearthed more than 20 years ago.
The 48-year-old company director discovered what he believes is a James I coin from 1601 in Hallaton, not too far from the site where the Roman coins and a ceremonial cavalry helmet were found.
“I got into being a detectorist due to lockdown, because it’s one of the few things you can still do,” he said.
“There is also the fact that this area has the history with the Roman treasure and it’s not too far away that Kevin Duckett discovered the Henry VIII crown artefact.”
Kevin found what is believed to be a fragment of a crown that belonged to 16th century kings and queens in a field near Market Harborough.
Kevin thinks the item was with Charles I at the 1645 Civil War Battle of Naseby and was lost when the king’s entourage fled towards Market Harborough after their defeat.
It is being studied and going through the treasure trove process and is set to end up in the British Museum.
Now Jim has weighed in with his own coin as his own land gave up one of its historical secrets.
“It has become something of an addiction and most Sundays I am out there with the metal detector,” said Jim.
One night Jim thought he would try his luck nearer to home – in fact at his home.
“I went out on to our paddock with the metal detector.
A neighbour said: ‘Found any treasure yet?’
I got into being a detectorist due to lockdown, because it’s one of the few things you can still do!
“At the time I hadn’t, but five minutes later, I had!”
Jim said the machine bleeped and he dug up the ground. “I found silver coin and put it into my pocket,” he said. “I then dug near the hole and about a foot away I found two ‘cartwheel’ pennies from 1897.
“I am delighted to have found the James I silver coin as my name is James and it’s my first silver coin. “I have bit of knowledge and that, coupled with a Google search, revealed the coin is from the James I era.
And it’s lovely!” James ruled Scotland as James VI from 1567 and, following the union of 1603, until his death in 1625 as James I of England. In 2000, Ken Wallace and other volunteers from Hallaton Fieldwork Group made the discovery of what has become known as the Hallaton Hoard in a field outside the village. The Hallaton Fieldwork group and University of Leicester Archaeological Services later excavated what turned out to be one of the most important Iron Age sites in Britain. They discovered more than 5,000 coins and a 1st Century Roman cavalry helmet. Jim said he plans to lend his new find for display in the Hallaton Museum.
Jim Bluck