Silver and relics: From the Viking raids to la Grande Armée

[Aureus]

Finally managed to finish the research and choose the right pictures for the second and final part of the post about my 3 weeks stay in Europe.
For those of you who are wondering if I participate in any detecting rallies or hunt with some detecting club while traveling, I don't. All of the finds were discovered without any prior knowledge of the areas, using on the ground research only,with lots of door knocking and almost as much hit and miss.

Here are my favorite finds of the trip from the period spanning from the Middle Ages to the Modern era.

Medieval period 400-1500 A.D.

Denier of Saint-Denis Abbey for Charles the Bald, king of West Francia from 840-877
Probably my favorite coin and the oldest silver I have ever found.


I was extremely happy finding it as the coins and relics from that period are pretty scarce. Charles the Bald was the king during the infamous raids on Paris, the capital of West Francia by the Vikings under the leadership of Ragnar and Rollo. The movie adapted version of Charles the Bald is featured in the TV series The Vikings (for those of you who have seen it).


My favorite relic of this trip was this zoomorphic annular brooch from 1200-1300's


It features three snakes circling each other with cabochon blue and white stones set as eyes. It's very surprising to find it intact after 800 years spent in the ground. A unique and unusual find, just the way I like them


An other good find in my books was a first one for me.
Medieval seal matrix 1300-1400's



The legend reads : S' GVILL ELOVDET CLC
latin: SIGILLUM GUILLAUME ELOUDET CLERICI
english: SEAL OF GUILLAUME ELOUDET - CLERIC

Got a few Medieval silver coins.

Hammered English long cross penny of Edward the first or second 1300-1327 A big surprise as I was nowhere near England, a first one for me.


Obole Thibaut IV of Champagne 1200-1253 A pretty rare coin as only a limited quantity of oboles were made.


Obole Parisis, Philippe IV 1285-1314


Double tournois, Philippe VI de Valois 1338


A few partial silver and billon coins,some aren't in the pic


A few cool relics

A believe a part of a dagger. Unsure of the period, but I would say pre-1500's I was intrigued by the cross design on one side and some mystical creature on the other.


And the dagger guard. Again with crosses.



Late Medieval and Modern period.


A few coin weights.

Angelot 14th-16th century


Spanish coin weigh for 2 Reales 17th-18th century


Two 1600's rings. Both I believe feature the cross of St-Andrew


A Capsulae again from 1600's (a large belt decoration sometimes worn by women)


A few brooches and buckles. The one on the left in the shape of an amphora might actually be Roman.


A large 1700's shoe buckle (would have expected to find one over here, would make my day)


Some ''modern'' silver. My first Napoleon Bonaparte 1 Franc coin 1809


Some other silvers. Napoleon III 1 Franc and Napoleon I half Franc


Some Napoleonic wars German States copper coins.


Some Revolutionary and latter period buttons


And an other surprising find. On one of the hunts got a partial Roman Dupondius of Augustus and Agrippa 10-14 A.D. A week or so later 20 miles away got a second half that seems to fit. I can't imagine both of those being from the same coin, but I found the coincidence pretty funny.



Thanks for the comments.

 

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[Tpmetal]

I can't even pick my jaw up off the floor. Ridiculous amount of history you just found.

 

[washingtonian]

Wow! Talk about a productive vacation. Way cool finds. Congrats on an amazing old haul. I hope the detect Europe someday.

My brother and I detected South Carolina for a week a couple weeks back. Same deal as you, no detecting meetups, etc. It was tough! We found a few 1700s/1800s buttons but that was it for pre-1900 goodies. Figuring it out on your own isn’t always as easy as you might think. I’m impressed!

 

[Scrappy]

Anton, thanks for taking the time to find and prepare all that amazing stuff. Research takes time. Your love for the hobby is quite apparent and your post is incredible as usual. That zoomorphic ring is probably my favorite, especially with all the stones intact and unbroken!!! And of course the seal matrix was a close second for me. Way to go bruddah!!!

 

[CRUSADER]

All very nice finds. That chess-piece style Seal Matrix is a little later at 14th C.

 

[: Michael-Robert.]

Great finds and research. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Aureus]

I can't even pick my jaw up off the floor. Ridiculous amount of history you just found.

Thanks man. I was really lucky this time.

 

[CRUSADER]

PS, its an Ed I Penny - London Mint.

 

[Aureus]

PS, its an Ed I Penny - London Mint.

Thanks man. I couldn't positively ID it, there are so many variations. How did you ID it to Ed I?

 

[Aureus]

All very nice finds. That chess-piece style Seal Matrix is a little later at 14th C.

Thanks Cru.

 

[thrifty76now]

Wow,that was a three weeks hunt that should get you a banner.

 

[Digger RJ]

Outstanding!!!!Awesome!!!! Congrats!!!! Killer 3 week hunt!!!

 

[Tnmountains]

Great post and finds. I do not even know where to begin. Love the show "Vikings" and had no idea that the characters depicted were real. I need to read up on my history. Epic hunt and adventure is an understatement.
What was your favorite find if I may ask?

 

[Aureus]

Great post and finds. I do not even know where to begin. Love the show "Vikings" and had no idea that the characters depicted were real. I need to read up on my history. Epic hunt and adventure is an understatement.
What was your favorite find if I may ask?

Thanks Tnmountains. It's hard to chose one, but I would probably go for that annular brooch followed by the Charles the Bald denier and the Merovingian horse head buckle from my previous post. It's so hard to find the medieval bronze jewellery encrusted with stones in such a great conservation state that when I discovered the brooch I knew my trip was worth it.

 

[Aureus]

Anton, thanks for taking the time to find and prepare all that amazing stuff. Research takes time. Your love for the hobby is quite apparent and your post is incredible as usual. That zoomorphic ring is probably my favorite, especially with all the stones intact and unbroken!!! And of course the seal matrix was a close second for me. Way to go bruddah!!!

Thanks Steve, it's very kind of you. I knew you'll like that brooch and for the seal I sure hope to find a similar one in Canada one day.

 

[Ia.FurTrade]

Now THAT is a Banner Day!!!! Rarity, quality, and quantity!
Hard to believe the condition of everything........
I'm voting "Banner"!

Iowa Dale

 

[Relicific]

What great finds,I love that brooch and those coins are striking.
Banner finds abound.
Congrats

 

[Johncoho]

That is an amazing bunch of finds. A big congrats.

 

[Jose The Goon]

Thanks for sharing. Fantastic post !!! Fantastic finds !!! Congrats !!!

 

[Al.relics]

Great research my friend. You just don't go out and find Historic coins and relics by just swinging a detector. Your finds are a prime example of how important research is. Fantastic finds indeed and I congratulate you.