On the Trail of Hidden Treasure with Harry Fowler

'The Detectorists' by James West | https://www.flickr.com/photos/ejwwest/

On the Trail of Hidden Treasure with Harry FowlerMetal Detecting by Harry FowlerThe governing body for this fascinating hobby is the National Council for Metal Detecting (NCMD). This is a good place to start, lots of info about metal detecting, the code of conduct, the law and the treasure act plus a list of clubs in all areas of the country.If you're still interested after that then the thing to do is join a local club before you buy a metal detector. There is a vast amount of experience and good friendly advice available for the 'newbie' at metal detecting clubs.There are also two hobby magazines available monthly, 'Treasure Hunting' and 'The Searcher', both of these are worth a read before spending any money.The wrong way to start the hobby is to 'go it alone' and spend a lot of money on a complicated top of the range detector followed by knocking on farmers doors looking for permission to detect on their fields. This is almost certain to lead to disappointment! Most clubs have a 'sites officer' who maintains a large network of farmers where he gets permission for the whole club to go detecting for a fee (usually £5 to £10 per head). It's great fun going detecting with a club, good laughs, good company and experienced people available to identify that coin you've just found.I do most of my detecting in North Yorkshire and the East Riding. Among my finds are Roman silver and bronze coins, medieval silver coins of all kinds, gold and silver rings and all kinds of artefacts from pre-Roman to the present day. I have yet to find a gold coin but I've seen half a dozen found by other people. I have found two items which were classed as 'Treasure', a silver medieval ring and a silver and gold Tudor clothes fastener, both of these are now in Hull museum which bought them, the farmer and myself sharing the proceeds.