Ran into the guy who found the Staffordshire Hoard at a conference back in 2019

He talked about how he was just out metal detecting with a buddy on a farmer's field near Lichfield when his machine went off over a clump of dirt. Said he still gets chills thinking about pulling out that first gold garnet cross, have any of you ever met someone who dug up something famous?

2 comments

2 Comments

bennett.patricia18d ago

My buddy Steve found a Roman coin hoard in a field near Bath back in 2015. He was just digging a hole for a fence post and his spade hit something hard. Said he nearly had a heart attack when he saw all those silver coins staring up at him.

jennysullivan18d agoTop Commenter

I've heard stories like that before and I always take them with a grain of salt. In my experience, most detectorists who find hoards that size are going through official channels and the stuff gets recorded properly, but a lot of these "buddy of a buddy" tales get exaggerated over time. My mileage may vary, but I've known a couple guys who claimed they found big hoards and it turned out to be a few worn coins and some junk. Unless there's a photo or a PAS record, I tend to stay skeptical.