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8 Jun 2008 10:58 AM

I've been more or less grounded due to the current cost of diesel. Have to try and make sure my trips to town cover all eventualities, no more Sunday drives to the coast to watch the sun set. This could mess up the annual Mackerel fishing season which is due in a week or two, as I normally make two or three trips per week to stock the freezer up for the year.

My time hasn't been wasted though as I've been doing quite a bit of writing, unpaid but profitable in other ways, for example I have gained permission on two new farms to search their land with my metal detector. This has come to pass due to an illustrated article I wrote a couple of months ago about our local history. Since then I have received several requests to see my collection of coins and artifacts, and to mount a display. Hopefully this will lead to more landowners offering me the freedom of their land.

Today was spent sorting through thousands of objects that needed to be put into some sort of date order. Not a quick job, as I kept getting sidetracked into cleaning and waxing and peering through a magnifying glass. My day was made when I came across a chunky coin-shaped piece of bronze that was so pitted and oxidized there appeared to be no image on it.

Experience has taught me not to give up easily. It took the best part of four hours, using every trick in the book, to eventually uncover a perfect bust of Marcus Aurelius Caesar on the front, and the Roman god Jupiter on the reverse. This large coin, called a 'Sestertius' is second century AD .....and I dug it up only about 500 yards from my home ! I've dug up dozens of good coins over the years, many of them silver, but the thrill of the find never diminishes, if anything it has increased, and sometimes I am fortunate enough to contribute another piece to the jigsaw of history.

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