Treasure Hunting

Villupuram, INDIA: The district police and revenue officials recovered 19 gold coins each weighing 300 grams, part of a treasure unearthed by three construction workers. While one man surrendered before the police and handed over 19 coins, two others are absconding with 27 gold coins in their possession, police said.

P Munusamy, 55, hailing from Pillaiyarpalayam in Kancheepuram district and two others whose identities have been withheld, found a gold treasure while demolishing the walls of an ancient temple in a remote village, Kuzhi in Villupuram district. They were thrilled to find 46 ancient gold coins in a pot buried in the ground. The elated workers divided the gold coins among themselves and absconded.

Meanwhile, the contractor based in Kancheepuram, who engaged the three workers to demolish the temple wall, came to know about the treasure. He called Munusamy over phone and instructed him to hand over the treasure to him, or face severe action.

The scared worker approached the Tiruvanainallur police and narrated the events leading to the treasure being unearthed. He surrendered 19 gold coins weighing totally 64.5 grams that he took from the temple site and also disclosed the identities of two other workers to the police. He claimed that the two persons are in possession of another 27 gold coins.

Police engaged a jewel appraiser, who ascertained that the coins were made of gold following which they seized the valuables and registered a case under section 102 of CrPC. They later alerted the revenue officials about the seizure.

A team of revenue officials led by Tirukoilur tahsildar R Bhama recovered the priceless antique coins and handed it over to Tirukoilur sub treasury. “The district collectorate will hand over the coins to the Archaeological Survey of India, the appropriate authority to reveal more information about the coins,” Bhama told TOI. Tiruvanainallur police have launched a hunt for two other construction workers, who fled with 27 gold coins.

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WINDSOR, UK: A metal detecting enthusiast has had one of his finds – a 3,000-year-old gold necklace – classified as treasure after an investigation by a coroner.

Crown Wood treasure hunter David Conway was hunting near a gravel extraction site in the Windsor area on Sunday, December 6, last year, when his metal detector picked up a strong signal. He had previously found a small golden ring on the site and asked the landowner to let him search again.

The latest find was a gold Bronze Age torc – a kind of necklace – of which the first ring he found was part.

Under the Treasure Act 1996, a coroner has to establish that a find is more than 300 years old and has a gold or silver content of more than 10 per cent. Berkshire coroner Peter Bedford held a treasure trove inquest in Newbury on Wednesday, August 4.

During the hearing Mr Bedford said the torc was authenticated by Gillian Vandell at the British Museum who dated it back to between 1300 and 1100BC – more than 3,000 years old. She also said it is 83 per cent gold and 15 per cent silver.

During the hearing David explained that he nearly did not make the find because the landowner did not want him to search on the land.

David told Mr Bedford: “He turned me down at first, but I kept asking.”

Mr Bedford classified the find as treasure meaning it will be valued and offered for sale to an appropriate museum.

If a museum does not want to buy it, the item can be sold privately.

Ownership is usually negotiated between the landowner and the finder.

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Key West: Someone actually lifted the famous gold bar Wednesday evening from the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum.

The 5-pound bar, from the 15th century Spanish galleon the Nuestra Señora de Atocha that Fisher and his crew found off Key West in 1985, was stolen from its secure Plexiglas enclosure about 5:13 p.m., Key West police said.

Security cameras captured images of two people breaking into the case and taking the bar from what museum director Melissa Kendrick called one of Fisher’s favorite exhibits, because it allowed visitors to hold the same treasure — to “lift the gold bar” — found by his team.

One suspect was described as a white male about 6 feet tall, with dark hair and a medium build. The second suspect is about 5 foot 6 inches tall, reports say, and could be a woman or a man. Detectives were still working on identifying the suspects as of press time Thursday.

According to a police report, a security guard told a museum visitor to “make sure to touch the gold bar,” but when the visitor arrived at the exhibit, the bar was gone. The woman reportedly did not see anyone take the bar or acting suspiciously.

Detectives declined to say how they think the suspects broke into the exhibit, said police spokeswoman Alyson Crean. The FBI is working with Key West police, Crean said. The federal agency also investigates art and jewelry/gem theft, according to http://www.fbi.gov/hq.htm.

Kendrick declined to speculate on the bar’s worth, noting such treasure has an “antiquity value” on top of the actual gold value. A 5-pound solid gold bar would be worth about $98,800 in today’s market, according to gold prices posted Thursday afternoon at http://www.thestreet.com, a financial news website.

The museum is offering a $10,000 reward to anyone with information that leads to the 5-pound bar’s intact return, she said.

“This has never happened since we’ve been here,” Kendrick said, referring to the museum’s location at 200 Greene St.

In the 1970s, a group stole a silver bar that weighed about 70 pounds from Fisher, but that was before the current museum with its security measures were in place, Kendrick said. It was never recovered.

Former Mel Fisher diver Don Kincaid, who helped recover many artifacts in the early 1980s, was staggered to hear of Wednesday’s theft.

“To my knowledge, something like this has never happened before,” Kincaid said. “The design of the case that bar was in has thus far been completely successful. The ability to touch that bar was the most common compliment we would get from visitors. It’s one of only a few museums where you can touch history.”

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Saint Louis, MO; For all treasure-hunters, this 16,000-square-foot, interactive exhibition unlocks the real world of pirates, a world which had previously been relegated to movies and books and visually romanticized.

Real Pirates tells the true story of the Whydah- a slave ship turned pirate ship that sank off the coast of Cape Cod nearly 300 years ago. At the core of the exhibition are artifacts painstakingly recovered from the ocean floor, including treasure chests of gold coins, jewelry and the most advanced weaponry of the time.

Metal Detecting Companies such as Kellyco Metal Detectors sell rare coins just like the ones showcased at the exhibit… Start a collection of your own!

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Historians are becoming increasingly convinced that a villa uncovered 20 miles from London was once home to Britain’s Roman Governor.

Since Lullingstone Roman Villa was first uncovered in the 1930s experts believed it was once the home of a leading Roman or wealthy Briton, but archaeologists were unsure of the owner’s identity.

Now experts have re-examined treasures found at the site, near Orpington in Kent, and say it was almost certainly the home of Publius Helvius Pertinax.

The governor is known to have fled the villa at the end of the second century amid a mutiny by his soldiers. The men then looted it for gold and silver.

Roman experts believe the looters prised the seal from a gold signet ring and then left it behind as worthless. There are signs the seal has been gouged with a knife.

Historians also say two portrait busts left behind were of the governor and, almost certainly, his father.

The one of Pertinax was left decapitated in an act of spite, probably carried out by an enraged soldier.
Joanne Gray, English Heritage curator of Lullingstone, said:

‘We have always known that the site must have belonged to someone of high status because of its size, the quality of its mosaic floor and the archaeological finds.

‘The image on the seal is one of victory. It is an image often used by Romans as a sign of imperial power.’

She said the research had been carried out by archaeologists Martin Henig, who lectures in Roman art and culture at Oxford University, and German archaeologist Richard de Kind.

Mrs Gray said: ‘The research that has been done points quite strongly to Lullingstone being the home of Britain’s governor. Everything seems to fit.’

Visitors to the villa, near the village of Eynsford, can still view the basement and foundation walls of the villa.

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These are the kind of events that makes Metal Detecting a truly honorable hobby.

Black Mountain, Asheville, NC — A group of metal-detecting enthusiasts helped police find some stolen jewelry last week.

The jewelry was stolen in a string of home break-ins last month. Five town residents were arrested in the case. The Police Department approached the metal-detecting hobbyists and gave them the approximate location of where they thought the suspected criminals disposed of some items.

The treasure hunters did the rest of the work.

“They did a good job,” police Sgt. Rob Austin said.

Mike Post, a Swannanoa Valley resident and dealer for Minelab brand metal detectors, recruited members of the Blue Ridge Metal Detecting Club and posted a message on Treasurenet.com, a website for hobbyists. They converged on the site Aug. 5 at the end of Vance Avenue and Montreat’s In the Oaks campus, and began sweeping the area, Post said.

Another man out for a walk discovered some jewelry boxes after the searchers told him what they where looking for. They were able to use their metal detectors to uncover the jewelry hidden beneath the leaves and dirt.

“It doesn’t take long for this stuff to bury itself,” Post said. “It settles once it rains and the wind blows.”

Club members came from as far as Sylva, and one man who was traveling through the area from Illinois made a detour to attend after seeing the post on Treasurenet.com.

“It was a good idea,” Austin said. “It panned out.”

The jewelry is now being processed as evidence. Austin is reviewing descriptions from police reports filed immediately after the break-ins to match the jewelry with the owners.

He said the case underscores the need for homeowners to document their possessions with photographs and record the serial numbers of possessions. Having photos can help homeowners claim their stolen goods if they are recovered, and serial numbers can help law enforcement officials track items through nationwide databases.

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - After an Inside Out story profiling Andrew Ostrowski and headlined “A tip of the fedora to Island’s very own Jones” appeared back in March, independent filmmaker and director Paul Vlachos of New York was so impressed by Ostrowski’s unique talents that he asked him to appear in an upcoming documentary about collectors.

Ostrowski, a 43-year-old freelance writer from West Brighton who has come to be known as “The Indiana Jones of Staten Island” because of his unique artifact-collecting hobby and his brave approach to relic-hunting, has somewhat taken on the persona of the Harrison Ford character, replete with fatigue jacket, bullwhip and signature fedora.

“This will definitely be a new adventure for me,” says Ostrowski of his first-ever moviemaking attempt. “Hunting down an ancient treasure in a dimly lit cave is one thing. Now I’ll be in front of a 1,000-watt Tinseltown spotlight,” says he, before adding, “Let’s hope I don’t fall to pieces!”

The film will be a documentary about various collectors across the country. Ostrowski, who seeks out rare antiquities and artifacts all over the world, will offer an in-depth survey of his own collection and will talk about the history, approach and charm of his artifact-collecting skill. “Each relic has its own tale to tell,” he adds. “It is the artifact that defines the collector, not the other way around.”

After he dusts off his fedora, the Indy-like solo adventurer will feature an on-screen sampling of items, dating to roughly 400 B.C. His oldest piece is a Phoenician trinket from the ancient city of Byblos, from which the word “Bible” derives.

Ostrowski notes that Mr. Ford invariably has a ravishing actress for his sidekick.

“The rumor is already out that I’m looking for a ‘leading lady’ to join me,” says Ostrowski, a bachelor. “Hey, all I can say is, if there’s a clone of the 6-foot, sleek and slender blond-bombshell actress Alison Doody hiding on Staten Island somewhere, just ring my doorbell. How can I ever refuse?”

Shooting begins this fall.

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Boston, Massachusetts: In Blackbeard’s day, “coin collecting’’ meant swashbuckling, flying a Jolly Roger flag, and making rivals walk the plank at sword point. Today, it is a little tamer.

A new breed of collectors filled Boston’s Hynes Veterans Convention Center yesterday, traveling from table to table instead of sea to sea. But what they are searching for has not changed at all: treasure. “The fun is in the hunt,’’ said Andy Lustig, 49, a vendor from Nyack, N.Y.

Hundreds of people from across the country came to the World’s Fair of Money to find that something special. For some, that meant unusual coins.

For others, the historical artifacts on display were the true find.Still others sought precious metals they said are more reliable investments than the stock market.

“At first, I couldn’t wrap my head around spending money for money,’’ said Raquel McAninch, 33, a vendor with Colonial Trading Co. of Boston. “But then you come to these things, and you see all these characters, and you realize there really is something here for everyone. They all have their reasons.’’

More than 1,000 vendors set up stands to buy, sell, and trade coins with convention-goers. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History displayed rarely seen gold pieces, and the US Department of the Treasury set up an exhibit featuring an engraver, the design for the new $100 bill, and the largest US note ever printed — the $100,000 bill.

For longtime collectors, such as Sandy Gulde, who traveled from Scottsdale, Ariz., to help run a convention booth, it is the most thrilling event of the year.

“Every day, something is different; it’s so exciting,’’ she said. “From this side of the table, it’s great to be able to hook up a coin with a collector and watch them fall in love.’’

Many vendors selling currency base their merchandise value on various factors: the rarity of a piece, the metal it is made of, condition, and age, among others. Most are happy to talk about their merchandise and answer questions from inquisitive passersby. Some convention-goers, like Michael Moloney, 71, from Miami, like to shop around, chatting with vendors and examining the loot before buying anything.

“When people find something unusual, they just know it; and they want to hold onto what they’ve found,’’ said Moloney, who wears a button saying “I [heart] errors,’’ showing his affection for coins minted with mistakes or imperfections. Others at the show were all business.

“People want to dump their money into something that’s not the stock market these days, so they dump it in gold instead,’’ said Rich Moyer, a coin dealer from Hagerstown, Md., who hardly looked up from the piles of coins he and his son, Mike, were sifting through.

“We check the coin info against the wholesale price sheet and figure out if we can make any money on it,’’ Moyer said. “It’s a family business.’’

For many treasure-hunters, enjoyment comes down to what they walk away with.

“I like this place because there are so many cool coins and stuff,’’ said Lana Taffel, 7, of Belmont. “If you just walk around for a while, you can find what you were looking for all along. It’s like treasure!’’ The convention runs through Saturday. Donn Pearlmann, spokesman for the American Numismatic Association, the World’s Fair of Money sponsor, said up to 15,000 visitors were expected to attend this week.

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Chichester, West Sussex, UK: A skeleton dating back to Roman times has been unearthed on an estate.

The rare find, which is believed to date back to the first and third Centuries, was found during a metal-detecting exhibition earlier this year.

An inquest in Arundel was told how a silver ring and a bottle that may have contained ashes were also unearthed next to the lead coffin.

The find, which was made by Ken Mordle from Midhurst, on April 7, near Chichester, was examined by the British Museum on May 12.

Under British Museum guidance the media are asked not to reveal the exact location of important historical finds.

The ring, which was dated to between AD43 and AD250, was found to be more than 10% precious metal and is therefore considered treasure by the Coroner of West Sussex Penelope Schofield.

The inquest was told that Chichester District Museum has already expressed an interest in exhibiting the ring.

It is not yet known how much the find is worth. This article is referenced from the Argus, UK news posting.

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The Sofia Echo news page reported later yesterday that archaeologists from Varna discovered one of the largest medieval treasures in recent times. This is also the largest discovery in 2010 during excavation works in the medieval city of Kastritsi in Euxinograd, on August 4, news agency Focus reported.

The treasure was discovered embedded in the floor of a home within the medieval stronghold, the report said.

According to associate professor Valentin Pletnyov, head of the Regional History Museum in Varna, the treasure consisted of a small jug dating back to the 14th century, containing 166 silver coins from the era of Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria and his son Mihail, Focus reported.

The archaeologists also unearthed parts of utensils and swords.

“We hope that more artifacts will be discovered during the excavation works ahead,” Pletnyov said.

According to the professor, this is one of the biggest medieval treasures found in Bulgaria in 2010.

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