43 published discoveries from England — coins, hoards, jewellery and artefacts recovered by detectorists and archaeologists.
In 1992 a farmer lost a hammer and asked a friend with a metal detector to find it. He found the Hoxne Hoard instead: nearly 15,000 Roman coins and 200 pieces of gold and silver, now in the British Museum.
A Bournemouth detectorist who finds lost property for free has reached his 500th recovery: an engagement ring thrown during an argument, found sitting on top of a hedge.
A visitor lost her wedding ring on the beach at Botany Bay. A new community noticeboard, a WhatsApp chain and five hours of searching by Thanet Metal Detecting got it back.
In 2010 a detectorist near Frome found a pot holding 52,503 Roman coins, the largest Roman hoard ever found in a single container in Britain. He stopped digging and called in the experts.
At a detecting rally near Carlisle, two friends found three complete Bronze Age gold torcs, about 3,100 years old. The rally was also a protest against plans for the UK's largest electricity substation.
A detectorist at a club rally on the Isle of Sheppey found a small gold reliquary cross, engraved with Christ on one side and the Virgin and Child on the other, with its pearl and pin still in place.
A gold ring set with eight hogback diamonds, found by a detectorist at Wormington in Gloucestershire, has sold at auction for £17,000. It dates from the late 16th or early 17th century.
A detectorist near Preston found a 17th-century gold memorial ring made in memory of Westminster School's most famous headmaster. Westminster School has now bought it at auction.
