6 Treasures from Grouville were found in June 2012 by Reg Mead and Richard Miles after 30 years of searching. The owner of the farm let them use detectors only once a year for 10-15 hours after crops are harvested.

Two amateur metal detector enthusiasts found a historically significant hoard of coins after they began a hunt when a woman told them they found coins in her father’s farmland several years ago.

The coins are thought to have been hidden from Caesar around 50 BCE on a hidden island. The hoard has about 70,000 coins, and it would take at least three years to clean and separate them. 

The coins were in a chunk a little larger than the size of a football when the landowner and metal detector operator found them. With the large chunk of coins, there was also jewelry, organic matter, and remains of the bags people used to keep coins to throw into the pit.

There is silver Celtic jewelry that is believed to be of a tribe from the French coast. Only 1% of the coins are visible from outside, and the researchers are waiting for them to be separated and cleaned to learn more about it. Conservation specialists are painstakingly removing every layer carefully to be able to learn what is hidden underneath. (1, 2)

7 A massive hoard of 52,503 old Roman coins dated from CE 235 to 305 was found in Somerset, Britain. Dave Crisp, a metal detector operator, came across this while scanning a field in Frome. The pot with coins weighed 160 kg (350lbs), and that led to the conclusion that the pot was placed at the location and filled afterward. 

In 2010, the Frome Hoard was one of the largest Roman coin hoards in Britain. Dave crisp came across these coins while metal-detecting and reported them to the local Liaison officer. He had initially found 21 coins, and when he came across the large pot with coins, he sought archeological help. It took two years to study these coins. 

According to archaeologists, this hoard validates an idea on the economic crisis and government coalitions in the 3rd century. This was the time when Britain was suffering an economic crisis, barbarian invasions, and civil wars. The largest group of coins in the find is Carausius. They ruled Britain from CE 286 to 293.

Over 760 coins of this ruler have been found along with five rare silver denarius. The hoard was valued at around four years’ pay of a Roman legionary soldier. This hoard will help the historians to better place Carausius in history and possibly change the Roman Britain history that is being taught in schools. (1, 2)

8 A metal detector operator struck treasure in the Isle of Man that had silver coins, cut coins, arm-rings, and other artifacts. These give the researchers a sneak peek into the Viking-age economy as it was declared a Viking treasure hoard by specialists. 

A researcher struck gold after finding Viking silver during a four-month stretch of metal-detecting in the Isle of Man. She found a collection of coins and several significant pieces of jewelry. Kath Giles has been a metal detector enthusiast for four years.

She took up this job after serving in the police force. She has also found other historical discoveries that include a 4,000-year-old ax, a 3,000-year-old Bronze Age sword, both of which are on display in the Manx Museum. 

The discovery of the collection of Viking jewelry contains a golden arm ring and thistle-head silver brooch. It also has 87 coins and around 13 pieces of cut silver. It was declared as a treasure by the Douglas Courthouse. It was Miles’ fourth major discovery after taking up her hobby seriously as a metal detectorist. (1, 2)

9 A metal detector found a 6th-century “sword pyramid” in Norfolk. It dates between 560 and 630 CE. It points to the Anglo-Saxon period in England. Norfolk was then a part of the Kingdom of East Anglia. 

A metal detectorist in the Breckland area of Eastern England found the so-called “sword pyramid.” The object dates back to when Norfolk and Suffolk was an independent kingdom of East Anglia. It is the aftermath of the Anglo-Saxon Britain settlement. The piece is 0.4 in x 0.4 in and has a square base. 

It has a square base that is inlaid on all sides and has Cloisonne garnets in a T-shape and a diagonal T-shape on opposite sides. The garnet has a waffle-like pattern of foil backing, which is a technique seen in Anglo-Saxon jewelry. The object is either of Indian or Sri Lankan origin. The insides are completely hollow.

These finds are not so uncommon, but the function or why they were mounted is still unclear. Pyramidal mounts were created from the 6th to 8th centuries. They come in all shapes, but this one is an earlier version. Lords that have access to gold and high-quality craftsmanship had these made, but their uses are unknown. (1, 2)

10 A British nurse found a metal sculpture of a miniature bible worth $130,000 in northern England in November 2021. She and her husband struck gold while they were foraging on a farm in York. The artifact is cast in the shape of an open book and is believed to be 600 years old. 

Buffy Bailey, a nurse and metal detector enthusiast came across this precious find while on an outing with her husband. The 48-year-old unearthed a miniature book or a bible that is only half an inch long. The piece is made of 22- or 24-carat gold and weighs 0.2 ounces. 

The item has intricate engravings representing a man and woman. It is believed to be engravings of the patron saints of childbirth, St. Leonard and St. Margaret. The top of the miniature artifact has a small hole so that it can be used as a charm to be attached to a necklace or pendant. (Source)