One seller called 'field-walker' currently has one up for £15. This certainly doesn't seem to be too cheap given that another one is currently at £12.50 with 12 bids. (these links might die when the auctions expire).
Firstly I never actually thought my thimble would be worth anything other than historic value (which is why it's currently in the Finds Liasion Officer, FLO, box). Am I sad that it's worth money, nope. Will I now sell it rather than get it recorded with the PAS, nope. Will I sell it afterwards. Not unless I have to.
I then had a little look at other items that 'field-walker' had for sale. One included a hawking whistle.
It had a description as follows.
You are looking at what I think is a small Medieval Hawking whistle, please feel free to research for yourself if bidding as I am not an expert, I will post on cleared payment.
Happy bidding Guys.
A couple of things came to mind when I read this.
Has field-walker tried to record the item with their Finds Liasion Officer? One cannot presume they did not as the FLO may have decided to not to record it although I'd think this would be very odd if it is a 300 plus year old hawking whistle which is hardly the same as a common buckle.
If they did not then I would have thought that by doing so then at least they would have a better description which might actually mean it's worth more. Secondly it would at least be recorded rather than be sold and probably be lost forever.
'Who cares, it's just something that was lost, discarded etc' I hear a lot of people think. Maybe true but what happens if someone else finds a whistle near to where that one was found, and then a few more turn up. Let's say there were 10 or 20 or 30 scattered across nearby fields all found at different times. This might mean something interesting, something to look into, but if they aren't recorded how would anyone know?
I would just say to any detectorists reading this then please show your FLO any items that you think might be over 300 years old (if you are unsure show them anyway) and as Steve Broom on his blog says if they can't record them now then hold onto them until they can.
These things are usually only found once.
A good post and one that provokes much thought in relation to the dirty subject of money. I guess that there are those who hunt treasure for monetary value and those who see the value of the items in the terms of the knowledge that it provides.
ReplyDeleteIf you think about it, metal detecting is a very "here and now" pastime. There are many thousands of people blindly wandering around simply wait for the beep before they dig up whatever it is below their feet. Sometimes the item that is recovered falls within the recording parameters that are specified by the PAS and as long as this item is declared with the landowner and recorded on the PAS then all is well and good.
However, what happens to the handful of musket balls, or the broken fragments of Georgian shoe buckle that are retrieved whilst seeking out the older items...??? These are not required for recording by the PAS and as of todays date, are relatively insignificant from a historical point of view yet they paint a picture and are part of the historical jigsaw of that area. However, in 200 years time, they might be and who's to say that in 1000 years time, people will not be digging up ring pulls and getting all excited over them as they were an indicator of how life was lived in the year 2014.
I would advocate to any metal detectorist that if you are granted the privilege to access someone's land, then you have a responsibility to care for and maintain your own records of what you find because every time that you venture onto the land and remove an item (whatever it is) you are taking away a piece of the picture. Metal detecting cant just be about take, take take... we need to make sure that we have something to contribute for all of the miles walked and holes dug.
Having said all of that, history constantly evolves and never stands still so today, we are sculpting the land and changing it in a way that suits our way of life and it this action that will lay down the historical artefacts of tomorrow.
It really does sadden me to see the amount of artefacts for sale in places like ebay. I have never sold a historical artefact on ebay and do not intend to as to me the item is part of an important story which will be passed on (either to a responsible member of my family or to a museum) when I am no longer here.
Thanks Steve, it just seems so easy to find something and sell it these days. Whilst I guess the PAS had to give a cut off at some point, ie 300 years, you are right that there is an awful lot of other stuff being found that won't ever be recorded even when it get's to be 300 years old.
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