An Anniversary Dig

It's our 38th wedding anniversary today so, naturally, I went out with the metal detector and Marion went to have her hair done. But that doesn't mean we aren't celebrating. Last night we went to Jimmy's Farm for a meal and the fabulous Shakespeare performance that I reviewed on yesterday's blog.

The weather was glorious as forecast and I enjoyed a refreshing bottle of this. I haven't seen dandelion and burdock for years. It was a real favourite when I was a kid.

Marion looked as lovely as ever 38 years on from our big day. We're continuing our celebration tonight with a visit to The Crown here in Framlingham.

As for the detecting?

Here's what I turned out of the bag when I got home after four hours in the fields.

After getting rid of the rubbish I was left with this. It may not look a lot to those who are not into the hobby but there were some really nice and interesting finds.

This tiny medieval coin has a perfect portrait of the king (possibly Edward iv) but somebody has carefully clipped off all of the legend from the edges leaving a full identification well nigh impossible. Clipping coins was rife in medieval days but was a risky activity as penalties could be severe if you were caught.

Here's the other side of the coin.

Another medieval penny turned up. Sadly this one is not as clear but I think that it is probably Edward I.

This buckle could date anywhere between 1300 and 1600 but it's unusual to find one with its pin complete.

This is a small piece of horse harness decoration which I think dates to around 1600.

This weight is a real puzzle as I've been through 3500 photos of lead weights on the PAS database and not found another like it. My best guess is that it is post medieval but I will leave it to the archaeologists.

The thimble is certainly post medieval and probably falls into the modern period.

This stud was probably used as a harness decoration. There are some traces of silvering remaining. I think that it's from the medieval period.

Finally there is this strap fitting which again could date from medieval to post medieval times. In view of the coins and other finds it may well be at the earlier end of that scale.

So all in all a productive few hours. I've just taken delivery of a new (slightly larger) coil for the machine and look forward to trying it out soon. We're off to Bury St Edmunds on Monday to pick up Marion's new car so I'll drop the finds off with the archaeologist to get them recorded and make sure that my identifications are right