Finding treasure with a metal detector is something the media like to sensationalise, so in turn this is the general public’s perception of the hobby.
However for many of us finding an item is just the start of the adventure, this is where the hobby takes on a completely new dimension.
Studying area’s to find the most productive land is a normal task, but what about researching an item after it’s been found, how many of us take the time to read a simple inscription.
As you will see below sometimes a little time spent searching Google can produce interesting results.
It’s a breath of fresh air when I hear a report about someone who finds a fairly basic item with a detector and turns it into a fantastic positive.
This is exactly what happened to a good friend of mine Jerry Morris, I’m sure most of you know Jerry as JBM on the detecting circuit.
This is Jerry’s story
While out detecting with my XP Deus in North Somerset I heard a very good target, after carefully recovering it I could read some writing.
Once at home I gave the item a good clean and identified it as a centre noseband from a horse harness.
The inscription read “LOUCH MAKER WESTON-S-MARE”.
I made some internet searches and started to unveil a very interesting story.
Charles Edward Louch had his own very successful Saddlers business in Regent Street,Weston Super Mare.
He lived in a house called Edelweiss in Clevedon Road.
This is where the story gets interesting
Charles and his wife Alice decided to visit his brother in America and set off from Southampton Docks on the 10th of April 1912.
The ship they chose to use for their venture was the TITANIC.
Charles went down with the ship and Alice was saved using Lifeboat number 14 making which made it to the Carpathian.
The body of Charles was found 9 days later still wearing his pyjamas under warmer top clothing.
In his pockets were a penknife,fountain pen, purse, London 7 Midland Bank pocket book,also £77 10s 41/2.
The rest is here to see in detail with pictures.
Jerry went on to say : All this thanks to my friendly XP Deus.
In 2012 the BGNMHA – Bulgarian Gold Nugget and Meteorite Hunting Association was founded.
As many of you know, metal detecting for coins and artefacts is forbidden in Bulgaria, but hunting for Meteorites and Gold is allowed.
The BGNMHA was set up to be the voice of metal detectorists and now have over 2000 members, of which 1300 are active metal.
We are proud to say, one of our XP Dealers MDetectors are one of the leading figures behind this organisation.
Svetoslav from MDetectors said : We are the main sponsor of the meetings and one of the rallies – this one is the biggest and specially arranged for XP fans.
In this part of Bulgaria – (north-west) the XP DEUS is the most popular machine, even though this area is one of the poorest in the EU.
The competition
Everyone searches for 13 objects made from different metals – chrome, nickel , copper etc, the winner is the person who finds the most.
The rally has 2 parts – Gold panning and metal detecting
Everyone had a great time, it was a fun event for the whole family with some great prizes on offer thanks to XP
XP would like to say a massive thanks to Mdetectors and all those supporting our products in Bulgaria and look forward to their continued support.
The Jersey hoard bought to you by XP Metal Detectors
The Jersey hoard is now at the La Hougue Bie museum where it is being dis assembled and recorded.
It’s name is Le Catillon II as Catillon 1 was discovered in 1957…On the same field !
I have heard people talk about the museum, however had no idea of its attention to detail until I visited in person, naturally the Jersey hoard is the center of attention but it is surrounded by magnificent finds dating back to neolithic times.
As a metal detectorist I felt proud to be a member of the detecting fraternity, because most of the finds on display were all down to us guys….Well Reg and his club, if it wasn’t for their dedication and the willingness to work with the Jersey Heritage massive parts of history would be lost forever.
And laid out in front of me for the world to see was solid proof that us guys really do a great job and are not “Treasure Hunters” like the media would like to call us, but another branch of Archaeologists who choose to use metal detectors to save history.
La Hougue Bie
La Hougue Bie is a historic site, combined with a with a museum, it’s located in the parish of Grouville.
Hougue is a Norman word meaning mound, and comes from the Old Norse word haugr.
The word Bie has an uncertain origin.
Underneath the earth mound is an 18.6 metre long passage to what’s though is a burial chamber which was in use around 3500 BC .
During recent years Archaeologists have removed the soil from one face of the mound to see if the construction is all earth, they were amazed when they uncovered a perfect stone structure beneath the earth, with clear details of skilled stone masonry.
On the top the mound are two medieval chapels, one 12th Century and the other from the 16th Century, the public can still visit the chapels and the chamber.
During World War II it was used as a key lookout point, and an underground command bunker was built in the mound and adjacent to the chamber. On a day with good light you can still see the medieval paintings on the ceiling.
Weddings are still held in the chapel.
The museum hosts a vast array of finds dating back to the stone age. Several coin and artefact hoards are on display in a well-lit environment. The Jersey Hoard Le Catillon II is on full display behind a screen. Visitors can clearly see the hoard being dis assembled and the staff including Reg and Richard are more than happy to stop work and answer any questions.
There are several other hoards on display at the museum, many of which were found by Reg and his club, it’s a fantastic place to visit.
Some hoard on display date back to the stone age.
The Jersey hoard so far June 2016
The museum purchased a laser scanner with metrology arm and can measure within 50 microns, that’s a 20th of a millimetre.
The coin cleaning process consists of a mild acid soak and then gentle picking with a thorn as this will not damage the coins surface.
Reg and Richard have undertaken extensive training and now work at the museum cleaning and recording, they are now experts on Jersey coins and indeed historic Jersey.
On a good day they can clean and record 200 coins.
Here is a before and after
In March 2015 coin number 12001 was recorded, making Catillon II the biggest Iron age coin hoard in western Europe beating the Marquanderie hoard which was also found in Jersey 1935 consisting of 12000 coins.
Items cleaned and recorded so far
So far the total amount of coins cleaned and recorded has reached 45000, mostly Silver but some Gold
Complete Gold Torcs 5
Pieces of Gold Torc 4
Gold Bracelets 3
Gold Rings 2
Gold sheet 2
Copper loops 2
Stones 1
Ingots 7
Silver wire 1
Decorative Gold pieces 3
Glass bead 1
Misc objects 6
During my visit a bronze age spear head had started to appear amongst the coins
Coin types
Some Jersey coins were the XN series Silver based stators which were originally linked to the Abrincatui tribe from the Avranches region in Normandy, they are rare coins, many locals know them as “The Moon Stater” The hoard consisted of mainly coriosolitae staters and are common to Jersey.
Preservation
The hoard lives under a water vapour screen to mimic real underground conditions and preserve the coins and artefacts until they are ready to be removed.
The replica
Neil Mahrer head conservator for the museum made a fantastic replica of Catillon II, all the coins are hand painted and look exactly like the real thing. It can be seen in the museum proudly on display in front of the real hoard.
The hoard replica made of resin
Fact
Avranches is now twinned with St. Helier in Jersey.
There is now a book available called Le Catillon II
I have a signed copy of Catillon II by Reg Mead and Richard Miles, it’s free…All you need to do is register here at the The XP world-wide Forum and post yes please or a comment about this article under the Catillon II competition section.
Visiting La Hougue Bie
A visit to the La Hougue Bie in Jersey is a must for every detectorist the finds on display are truly amazing viewing the hoard in it’s natural form is a once in a lifetime opportunity, once it has been dis assembled and recorded it is possible we will never see it like this again.
*Important note :
Please DO NOT take your detectors to the island unless you have special permission, customs and detecting laws are very strict.
If you have any nice XP finds, tips or XP detecting events we would love to incorporate them into our XP Social Media sections so please keep us posted.
The XP Deus has a motion all metal circuit called Gold field, it can be found on factory program #10 on your Deus menu, it has many hidden secrets.
So many people like myself have been using the Deus for many years and have not even given it a second thought.
Gold field is for nugget hunting, right !
Yes it is very good for nugget hunting in difficult soil conditions due to the advanced ground cancel system Gold field uses.
However it may be worth paying more attention to Gold Field.
Ground balance
The Gold field ground balance takes a snap shot of the ground by using the methods available, Manual, pumping, beach or tracking. I prefer pressing the pin point button and pumping this is the easiest.
It is different because the ground snap shot is like a notch, everything below the ground reading is accepted, where as in conventional discrimination mode everything below the rejected number is also rejected.
This is where small Gold nuggets can be found, so it’s a tricky juggling act between rejecting the ground and not rejecting nuggets that may have the same readings as some ground.
Here is an example …..Lets assume your ground reading was 76
Gold field what adjustments are available ?
Sensitivity
Frequency
Reactivity
Disc IAR
Tone
IAR the hidden secret
IAR is an Iron amplitude rejection not an Iron volume, 0 is off and settings from 1 – 5 adjust the rejection range, the Deus gives a broken sound when the iron phase is detected. The manual states that a low IAR will reject shallow Ferrous objects and a high IAR will reject them better at depth, personally I have found setting 3 to work well.
I search open fields so can Gold field offer an advantage ?
If searching badly iron contaminated land Goldfield will drive you mad and is not recommended, it is far to sensitive, although it can be used as a check mode.
Clean sites
Gold field has some hidden secrets that can offer you an advantage once you become comfortable with the way it operates.
It is deeper than conventional search modes so can be used in long grass.
It is far more sensitive than conventional search modes because it uses less target filtering.
How can IAR be an advantage for inland searching ?
All detectors that work in using a discrimination mode can be caught out by large or mis-shaped iron, most of the time IAR gives you a clear broken sound on these tricky targets, so it may be an idea to make your own custom program using Gold field, name it “Iron Check” and save it next to your current search program, then you can quickly toggle between the two using the + and – keys.
IAR in the USA
We are getting some good reports back from the USA, stating that IAR check programs are a good way of rejecting unwanted bottle caps.
Can Goldfield be used as a deep seeking program for finding hoards ?
Watch this video
Yes for sure, you can easily adapt the factory setting to work well.
Frequency – Deep setting 4Khz
Reactivity – Deep setting 0-1
IAR – Personal preference
Sensitivity – To suit site conditions
Method – Regularly make an exact ground balance – Search with your coil 102 (25cm) above the ground, ignore the short choppy signals, listen for a long wide signal – This could indicate a large deep target.
* Note this method takes practice so don’t expect an easy ride at first.
Beaches
Gold field works very well on beaches, especially with the bigger coil, once again always ensure an exact ground balance is obtained by quickly pressing the pin point button and hold in while pumping the coil.
Notes on using Gold Field with only the Ws4 or Ws5 headphones (Deus Lite)
Ground balance
Select p10
Press the Menu button again so you see —
Press and hold the – button and pump the coil to ground grab, you will hear some tones when this is done.
Or you can manually ground balance by selecting GND in the menu and using the + and – buttons.
* NOTE : The IAR feature is referred to as DISC in the headphone menu, make your changes and save your program into an empty memory slot. Ws4 and Ws5 saving and deleting programs
Watch the Deus using Gold Field find large Gold Nuggets
If you have any nice XP finds, tips or XP detecting events we would love to incorporate them into our XP Social Media sections so please keep us posted.
Kanta Hämeen Menneisyyden Etsijät – The XP Deus metal detecting group from Finland have enjoyed a really exciting spring, this report comes from Pekka one of the members.
We have been lucky enough to search areas which would normally be out of reach to metal detectorists .Good co-operation with the National board of antiques has been the key to unlocking these extremely rare opportunities.
We have been lucky and feel very privileged to search the land of one of the most prestige mansions in Finland and now thanks to the great co-operation with authorities has given us the possibility to metal detect in Åland which has very strict regulations on metal detecting.
In the continent of Finland, we have never really found Viking settlements but in Åland the story is very different.
During our detecting trip to Åland we located a new Viking settlement with finds dating back to 800-1100 AD. These finds have a direct link to the Viking era in Sweden.
A very rare and valuable woman’s Viking brooch was found together with some Arabic coins and other jewellery.
Our team rely on the XP DEUS to produce the finds.
These fantastic finds were not the only ones we made during our trip.
We also discovered rare early middle age coins and other fine objects, some dating back to early Iron Age.
We have been very fortunate to have good search permission during the spring, as a few weeks after our first trip to Åland we discovered one of the biggest Viking coin treasures found in Finland.
More than three hundred coins dating back to 1000 AD was discovered on a field in Häme (a county just 100Km north from our capital Helsinki).
We also found a fantastic sword which we left in context and asked the Archaeologists to excavate.
Once again, without the DEUS this find may have never seen the light of day. Now these unique finds are presented to the public in Finnish National Museum in Helsinki.
Our next trip in a few weeks’ time will take us close to one of the key middle age castle ruins in southern Finland.
Our DEUS detectors will follow us there.
Lets see what we have to show after this trip.
This great hobby with our great DEUS has revealed more Finnish history than nobody could have believed!
Thank you to everyone at XP
Have a great summer!
Best Regards, Pekka and his Deus team from Finland.
I have always loved Jersey and visit around 3 times a year, during my short breaks I have never used a metal detector on the island.
I got an invite from Reg Mead and Richard Miles they wanted me to give them a short XP Deus training session the next time I visited the island, my tickets were booked the next week.
For those of you who have been in hibernation since 2012, Richard and Reg found the Jersey hoard hoard called Catillon II consisting of 70,000 coins, even now they are still picking through the mass that originally weighed just under a ton.
It now rests in the La Hougue Bie museum Jersey where it is being dis assembled recorded and cleaned.
The Catillon II hoard as it is today
Their quest for the hoard started 30 years ago after Reg had been talking to the land owner and she mentioned her uncle had up routed a tree and hundreds of coins started to appear from the ground.
The events leading up to the find makes me think the whole thing was just meant to be ! Richard and Reg talk more about the events on our video which will soon released.
Our flights landed and within an hour Reg picked Stuart and myself up from the Grand Jersey Hotel and took us to the hoard site where we were greeted by Richard.
We all instantly hit it off and the banter started, Reg said if you find just one coin I will be very impressed…So the challenge was on… I could see these 2 guys were very accomplished detectorists and knew their way around a metal detector.
Firstly we talked about the Deus then made some adjustments to suit the soil conditions and the desired targets, which were Silver Celtic coins called Billion, a large part of the hoard coins came from the French Coriosoliate tribe 50 Bc.
The soil was very Loamy, covered in rejected potatoes yet easy to dig, Stuart filmed as Reg and Richard got underway with the Deus, I rigged up another set of Ws4’s so the audio could be relayed between all 3 of us and I could make observations about target sounds.
I noticed a lot of vehicles just cruising around, slowing down and driving off again, I asked Reg who were they ?, he went on to say they were locals and farmers who patrol the area day and night and adopt a shoot first and ask questions later policy, I was so glad we were guests of Reg and Richard.
It wasn’t long before the Deus announced a positive signal which turned out to be junk, a melted piece of heavy foil, then Richard dropped a bombshell, he said some of the fields were covered in a type of green waste, many years ago some bright spark advised the Jersey farmers to spread the spoil from the incinerator over the fields to help break down the soil. Great so we were searching for Celtic coins amongst green waste, this would make a fantastic video….NOT !
Fortunately the guys had done a pretty good job clearing the hoard site, it wasn’t long before the Deus sang out again, a positive 84 on the meter, bingo !, Richard found our first coin, Reg jumped in to see armed with his famous toothbrush, they now call Reg the scubologist at the museum as he wanted a formal archaeological role.
It was confirmed our first coin was found with the Deus. Reg jokingly said to Richard that we had already started to make them look like amateurs, I looked up at Stuart who grinned and raised an eyebrow from behind the camera.
I knew why, it’s because on the plane flying over we talked about the film and how nice it would be to get just one coin coming out on camera, it would make a nice scoop and make the journey worth while.
The guys quickly tuned their ears into the Deus and found a further 7 coins, making a total of 8 in about 3 hours, this short session blew their minds, we decided to get some lunch and calm things down a little.
After lunch we did some more filming in another part of the island and headed back to the hotel for tea and medals.
What a fantastic first day in Jersey 8 coins and we hadn’t unpacked or even seen our hotel rooms….
I have to say Stuart and myself were totally in awe of Richard and Reg, not because they have found a hoard but the friendship they have, 2 really fantastic guys who are passionate about the hobby, they have still remained friends all through the hoard experience, which we know in the past has ruined friendships and even marriages.
They have remained level-headed and not reacted to the media when they are called “Treasure Hunters” which all detectorists hate to be branded, they are simply 2 great guys who were fortunate to find a hoard of coins.
They did the right thing and declared the hoard to the authorities…In turn the archaeologists welcomed Reg and Richard into their workplace and trained them in cleaning(scrubology), conserving, identifying and recording. Now thanks to their honesty and the fact they are decent human beings, these 2 detectorists have moved up a level and are now experts in the field of Jersey Celtic coinage.
It’s great to see Reg and Richard interacting with the public at the museum where they now work on a voluntary basis.
The crops are beginning to grow and the window for metal detecting is starting to close.
I wanted to make a final visit to my iron contaminated site with my XP Deus to make some further tests.
Recently I have been using the 13″ Coil with my Deus, and I’m convinced my finds rate has increased, it could just be luck but I am am shocked how well this big coil works amongst iron, especially using “Full – Tones”.
Here is a short video showing how the day went, it demonstrated how effective the Full – Tone – 13″ coil combo can be.
There will be a full “catching and scratching” article in the Treasure Hunting Magazine very soon !!
The Audio response is something that is rarely talked about amongst XP Deus users, do people really understand it ? or is it simply an un important feature ?
During my 1 to 1 Deus training sessions I always emphasize the importance of the Audio Response, time is taken to demonstrate it’s true function as this can be an important step to understanding the Deus.
OK so what’s the deal with the Audio response
Audio response hides behind many names depending on what machine you have used in the past, Modulation, Signal Gain, Signal Boost, Volume Gain, some manufacturers even call it Sensitivity…This is when the machine has a fixed sensitivity and the Audio Response is used to control the ground and signal noise, quite often you hear people say they can get a deep target on zero sensitivity, this is in fact zero Audio Response. This just goes to show what an important feature Audio Response is.
What does Audio Response actually do ?
In simple terms it can add another dimension to your target signal, it is an adjustable signal amplification based on target depth and size, in other words when adjusted correctly it allows the size and depth of the target to dictate the volume of the response.
The XP Deus version 3x has 8 audio response levels 0 – 7, a setting of 0 will give the best perception of target depth and size, small or deep targets will sound very faint, shallow or big targets will sound much louder, so in a nutshell audio response has added the perception of audio depth…or colour to the signal.
If you run a high audio response and you are searching a busy site the flat audio sounds will soon mentally drain you.
What are the advantages of using a low audio response setting ?
I can’t emphasize enough what an important part of the Deus this feature is.
Firstly it can suppress a lot of chatter and ground noise.
There is no depth loss by using lower numbers, you will get a much better idea whether to dig or not to dig a suspicious target based on the signal intensity and the audio information gathered.
The more Audio Information the better !
“In the field” Audio Response 3
Let’s assume you have passed the coil over a target with an audio response setting of 3, the target sounds very faint and broken, this is still very worthy of an investigation because it may be :
A: Faint because it’s deep or small
B: Broken because the ground has started to consume the target……AUDIO INFORMATION !
If the same target with the same audio response settings was Loud and broken, this would most likely be iron….Quiet and broken possibly GOOD, Loud and broken most likely BAD.
“In the field” Audio Response 7
Now let’s assume you passed the coil over the same target with an audio response of 7 (all targets now have the same audio intensity)…The same target will be loud and broken and in most cases dismissed as Iron, You would have lost all the important audio information by using a high audio response.
NO AUDIO INFORMATION will lead to less finds!
Searching deep pasture
Imagine you are searching un disturbed land, you are convinced the older targets have sunk deeper into the ground compared to modern targets which are shallow, using a low audio response can help you “Cherry Pick” the deeper targets by the softer audio sounds, giving you the option to perhaps ignore the louder shallow/modern targets. I have used this method on several occasions when searching modern parks.
What are the advantages of using high Audio Response numbers ?
In my opinion far less than using a low to medium settings.
As mentioned earlier high settings give the same audio intensity no matter what size or depth the target is. Some people may gain advantages such as “all metal” relic hunters, detectorists who are hard of hearing, also those who search in noisy environments.
I’m sure there are other scenario’s from around the world that I have overlooked, but for me it has to be level 3 for most of my searching.
Remember a lower audio response will not compromise the detectors depth, it simply softens the deeper or smaller signals.
This XP Classroom article was first published in The Searcher magazine www.thesearcher.co.uk‘ Gary
My name is Michele I am now the proud owner of a new XP Deus, I had the chance to test it last week for the first time and made some interesting finds.
My name is Michele from Romania, I work with a small team who specialise in the recovery of military artefacts and relics, most of the sites we search have very difficult conditions, we have to deal with a large amount of iron, the site in question was no different, so this was probably not the best situation to learn and use a new machine.
At the beginning of the day I was a bit nervous about all the settings and options. After only 45 minutes of use, I can say that I was already very comfortable with the Deus.
I was lucky enough to recover some interesting items, including: 2 Romanian WW1 water canteens, which after the cleaning process revealed the names of their owners (Afteni Mihail and Fledman Chivu). A WW1 bayonet for a Mannlicher rifle and three silver Romanian coins, also coming from the same period: 5 Lei from 1880, 1 Leu from 1914 and 2 Lei from 1873.
Here in Romania we practice metal detecting by strictly following all the national laws.
We regularly work alongside the museums and feel very proud when people come to view our discoveries.
What can I say about the XP Deus
The recovery speed of the Deus is incredible, and made it so easy to isolate the silver targets in the iron infested area.
I have to say it’s a great machine for militaria hunts, perfect for the woods and mountains, very light, compact and fast, very fast.
Greetings from Romania!
Michele from the Romanian Military Archaeology team
A brief history of the Lue
On April 22, 1867, a bimetallic currency was adopted, with the leu equal to 5 grams of 83.5% silver or 0.29032 grams of gold. The first leu coin was minted in Romania in 1870
Before 1878 the silver Russian ruble was valued so highly as to drive the native coins out of circulation. Consequently, in 1889, Romania unilaterally joined the Latin Monetary Union and adopted a gold standard.
Silver coins were legal tender only up to 50 lei. All taxes and customs dues were to be paid in gold and, owing to the small quantities issued from the Romanian mint, foreign gold coins were current, especially French 20-franc pieces (equal at par to 20 lei), Turkish gold lire (22.70), old Russian Imperials (20.60) and British sovereigns (25.22).
Romania left the gold standard in 1914 and the leu’s value fell. The exchange rate was pegged at 167.20 lei = 1 U.S. Dollar in 1929.
During Romania’s World War II alliance with Nazi Germany, the leu was pegged to the Reichsmark at a rate of 49.50 lei = 1 Reichsmark, falling to 59.5 lei in April 1941. During Soviet occupation, the exchange rate was 1 ruble = 100 lei. After the war, the value of the currency fell dramatically and the National Bank issued a new lei, which was worth 20,000 old lei
The Catillon II hoard as it is today
