Got my awesome bucket list coin and much more!

Aureus

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Sep 5, 2016
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Hey everyone,

So I couldn't sit thru the long Canadian winter and decided to go on a short trip to France. Wasn't expecting detecting much as the weather in Paris region was close to the freezing at nights, but still had a couple successful hunts! Was really hoping to find my very first Roman coin and as I hunt mostly alone in the unknown to me wooded areas the chances were pretty slim. Did a little research and decided to hit a few logically possible areas. To my surprise, on the second hunt got to a small area deep in the woods infested with very old iron. After an hour or so dug a tiny bronze coin, completely toasted but much thicker than the French medieval and Royal coins. At that moment, I knew I might have hit something interesting. Spent a couple of days hunting this site and wanted to share the results with you.

My second Roman coin was an absolutely beautiful bronze Emperor Trajan 98-117 A.D. Pulled it out of the ground and wasn't sure at first I would be able to clean it , but the thick clay preserved it very well (took me a good 4 hours to clean).

20170303_192645.jpg DSC_0881.JPG DSC_0886.JPG

An other coin I can ID is of Trajan's adoptive son Emperor Hadrian 117-138 A.D. not in as good of the shape thou.

Hadrian.JPG Hadrian B.JPG

Three other Roman coins which were unfortunately toasted.

DSC_1061.JPG

An other absolutely beautiful find was a large silver ring. I'm not sure of the period but it's obviously very old and hand crafted. A friend of mine suggested it might have been a Roman silver button crafted into a ring in the early Medieval period.

DSC_0894.JPG DSC_0891.JPG DSC_0890.JPG

Also found a complete cattle bell. Was extremely deep and I presume very old as well. All thou covered with rust, it seems to have a bronze layer on the inside and outside walls. Found a similar one on the web site of the museum dating it to the later Roman period.

Bell A.JPG Bell B.JPG

I also include the pic of some iron tools and what was seems to be a broken dagger found at this site. (it's pretty large, you can see it comparing to the cattle bell)

Tools (1280x755).jpg

Super happy with these finds as it was my dream to find some Roman items and finally justify my user ID :laughing7:

Thanks for your comments.

P.S. For those of you who might wonder, the items never left France as it would take forever to bring them to Canada and finding them was the fun part. A friend of mine is mapping the spot and will be contacting the archaeologists, if there's more items they must be much deeper and would need a machinery to access. I'll let you know of any development,if there's any.
 

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CRUSADER

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One of the Roman Coins is stunning - congrats.

The ring theory is not a goer. Not seen that exact design, but without further pictures, I think 17th C. How is the ring attached to the bezel? Or is it cast in one?
 

CRUSADER

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May 25, 2007
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PS. I don't think you realise how lucky you were to randomly find a Roman site in the middle of the Woods!
 

JerseyDigger19

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That Ring is an absolute jackpot and the find of the hunt! The Trajan is gorgeous but that ring is a museum quality piece!
 

OP
OP
Aureus

Aureus

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PS. I don't think you realise how lucky you were to randomly find a Roman site in the middle of the Woods!

No I do realize I was very lucky since I'm not familiar with the areas I hunted. I'm absolutely excited as finding a Roman was the goal of my trip.
 

OP
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Aureus

Aureus

Silver Member
Sep 5, 2016
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One of the Roman Coins is stunning - congrats.

The ring theory is not a goer. Not seen that exact design, but without further pictures, I think 17th C. How is the ring attached to the bezel? Or is it cast in one?


Thank You!

No it's not a cast. It's attached. I have spoken to some people in the metal detecting club. They sometimes find very similar late Roman to Medieval buttons. The theory is actually theirs as I'm not familiar with the items found in Europe.
 

Cal_Cobra

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Even if that ring is *only* from the 1600's, that's a hell of a find and it's in museum quality condition!!

Yep I'm voting banner, the coins are icing on the cake, but that ring I think you'll find was the real prize :occasion14:
 

xr7ator

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Really enjoyed and you really did well. Thanks for sharing.
 

Relicific

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That Roman coin is a real beauty and I'm glad you got that bucket lister.
As for the silver ring,it's a stunner and I agree,a museum piece.
Congrats
 

bill_wabo

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Superb! Man, you're nailing it, no matter what continent! Really happy for you and hope you still have some time to hunt there. HH!
 

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dirtdigginfool

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Aureus, I'm a huge sucker for silver...and the older, the better...the ring is beautiful, a banner find in my book...thx for sharing..Ddf
 

A2coins

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Je suis alez de la france Trez bien!!!!! something like that
 

OutdoorAdv

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Incredible hunt and huge congratulations on finding some Roman relics. That one coin is amazing and so is the ring. I've mentioned in Cru's posts before about how hard it is for an American like me to wrap my head around history that old. Ha. I'd be beside myself to dig a Roman coin. That iron will preserve very nicely too. I just preserved a couple iron cowbells for my friend Scrappy and they also had some copper or brass coating​ left in some areas... except they came from a Colonial site over here, so not nearly as old as your help. Well done and congrats on a great trip.
 

Scrappy

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Exceptional quality Roman buddy. The bucket list gods certainly shined upon you with that beauty. The ring is quite nice as well. Just goes to show that your talent and intuition work on both sides of the pond. Congrats
 

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