Odyssey Marine must return 500m treasure

As reported by AFP, Justice Clarence Thomas, a US Supreme Court justice refused to grant a Florida company's request to block a lower court's order to return treasure to the Spanish government that was salvaged from a ship sunk in 1804. Odyssey Marine Exploration must return 500m treasure which recovered from the wreck of the Spanish ship "Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes." The company was trying to overturn a February 1 decision by a federal court in Atlanta that ordered the treasure returned. The lower court said the ship, which was sunk during a battle with a British fleet, remained the property of Spain.

Picture by telegraph.co.uk: hoard of treasure found

The ship was found in May 2007 at a depth of 1,700 feet (518 meters) in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Portugal. It was returning from Peru. The hundreds of gold objects and more than 500,000 silver coins Odyssey Marine Exploration discovered are expected to be the most valuable treasure recovery in history.

The company hid the discovery under the code name of "Black Swan Project" while it removed the treasure to an undisclosed location.

The 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta ruling said that releasing the treasure "to Odyssey rather than Spain would be inconsistent with Spain's rights under the 1902 Treaty of Friendship and General Relations between the United States of America and Spain.

"This treaty requires the United States to extend to Spanish shipwrecked vessels the same protection and immunities afforded to its own shipwrecked vessels in similar circumstances."

Odyssey Marine Exploration still can appeal for a review by the entire Supreme Court, which historically has offered a minimal chance of success after rejection by one of its own justices.

Source: AFP.

Wish this kind of action will be taken by The Department of Museums Malaysia to all National treasure thieves. People had been exploring Malaysian water and land for treasure, without any action for a very long time. Some of them has became instant silent millionaire. We have the law but we cannot see any enforcement, as always has been in Malaysia. Some people really like to brag about their stolen find. Good luck to them.

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Top 5 KL must visit place

Many of my Facebook friends asked my recommendation for a place to visit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I am a banknote and coin collector, I always suggest a place related to numismatic. Most of them want to visit Kuala Lumpur during Malaysia Megasales and while bringing their families shopping, they want to find something to add for their collection. While some of them just want to go to Malaysia for sight seeing. Whatever they want to do, Numismatic places is a must in my suggestion to them. Here are Top 5 KL must visit place based on my previous suggestion to all my friends.

5. Maybank Numismatic Museum.

Some of my friends want to visit Museum that have numismatic items on display. Before Sasana Kijang officially open, I always suggest my friend to visit Maybank Numismatic Museum at Maybank Tower (Malay: Menara Maybank). TheTower located on the eastern fringe of the old Kuala Lumpur city centre, near puduraya and Central Market. You can never missed it since it is the tallest tower in that area. The museum located on the 11th floor of the tower and open everyday from 10am until 6pm. they only closed during Public Holidays, Admission a free. The museum houses a collection of early Malaya coins and banknotes until the current Malaysia currency.

4. Berjaya Times Square

Berjaya Times Square KL is a twin tower complex containing a shopping centre and two five star hotels located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Both towers are 203 metres (666 ft) tall, with 48 floors and with 7.5 million square feet (700,000 m²) of built up floor area. It offers shopping, luxury accommodation, business, food and entertainment. Currently, it has space for more than 1,000 retail shops, 1,200 luxury service suites, 65 food outlets to suit many tastes and entertainment attractions. This will be a great place to bring your families shopping and at the same time, for you to shop for numismatic item as well. They're 3 coin dealers in the building and located at the 7th floor of this building. You can read more about it here; Times Square dealer.

3. Steven Tan Shop

Steven Tan shop is located near one of the most famous Shopping Mall in Malaysia, SOGO. The shop is on the building beside SOGO shopping complex, Pertama Complex. Its a must visit for a coin collector visiting Malaysia because most Malaysian collector buy his book for a guide on Malaysia coin and banknote collecting, Standard catalogue of Malaysia Banknote and coin. They normally open during office hour. Monday to Saturday from 9.30 am until 4pm. Sunday and Public Holidays from 10am until 1pm. Steven Tan started dealing in stamps since 1960 and coins around 10 years later. You can read more about it here; Where is Steven Tan Shop.

2. Amcorp Mall Flea Market

Amcorp Mall free market open on Saturday and Sunday; from 9.00 am until 5.00 pm. The flea market of Amcorp Mall located in the mall at the lower ground and the 1st floor. The Amcorp Mall is a mall situated in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia, located opposite the Taman Jaya LRT station which is served by the Kelana Jaya Line, operated by Rapid KL. It is also located in the proximity of the Petaling Jaya Hilton Hotel and the Armada Hotel. The flea market held on the lower ground and 1st floor of this building. This is one of the flea market recommended by most collector for antique, coin, vintage and collectibles item. You can also found food item, dress, jewelery, craft and other stuff in this market. You can read more about it here; Amcorp Mall Flea Market-coin and antique.

1. Sasana Kijang Bank Negara

Picture by BNM Official Facebook page: Sasana Kijang.

A top must visit place for Numismatic collector visiting Malaysia will be Sasana Kijang Bank Negara. Sasana Kijang located at Jalan Dato Onn, Kuala Lumpur, not far away from Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) headquarters. For address, maps and complete information about its location, you can read my post; Sasana Kijang location. The main attraction for collectors is "Galeri Numismatik", located on the second floor of the visitor building. In the numismatic gallery, you have a chance to learn about Malaysia coinage history. Sasana Kijang display their collections according to the earliest coinage in Malaysia history. You get to see the vast collection of early Malay coinage from Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah, Perak, Melaka and also Sabah (British North Borneo) and Sarawak coins. Most of their Malay Sultanate collection are something that I never seen before in my life.

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Malacca govt reply on treasure theft

Malacca govt reply on treasure theft: they will seek the assistance of the police here to monitor and act against relic hunters who have been selling priceless artifacts excavated from the Malacca River. Star news reported State Tourism, Culture and Heritage committee deputy chairman Chua Kheng Hwa said the state government would rope in several other agencies, including the Heritage Department, to prevent further plundering of the nation's treasure.

“I don't know how the looting went undetected as agents of the scrap metal dealers have been combing the riverbank since early last month,” he said.

“We will lodge a police report to stop them from taking away more of these artifacts.”

On Wednesday, The Star reported that agents of scrap metal dealers had been selling old Portuguese coins, bullets and religious amulets that were unearthed during a recent landslip along the banks of the Malacca River to antique brokers from Singapore. (You can read it here: Ancient treasure found and sold)

The artifacts were discovered after an ancient jetty at Stadhuys collapsed in May.

Chua added that he had also informed the state Heritage Department to immediately monitor the situation.

“I will also table a proposal to Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam to conduct a study and do excavation work as probably more treasure is buried underneath this ancient waterway,” he said.

“We need archaeologists, including foreign experts, to study the relics.”

At the peak of the Malacca Sultanate and when Malacca port was colonized by the Portuguese and Dutch, the river would have seen trading vessels from various countries, some of which could have capsized.

In an immediate response, Malacca police chief Senior Asst Comm Datuk Chuah Ghee Lye said the police would render full assistance to the state government to safeguard the national heritage.

“Marine police will be dispatched to patrol the river stretch,” he said.

Meanwhile, a check revealed that no digging activities were being carried out.

Source: The Star.

I do think they don't know where are the exact place the relic hunters get the treasure. I had read some blog by Malacca metal detecting enthusiast that you can easily get treasure from Malacca beaches. Just make sure you bring the right metal detecting devices and do the hunting at a beach with less people around. They are also possibilites that the relic hunters found the ancient treasures from dozens of shipwrecks off the Tanjung Tuan coast. On May this year, the state government announced a billion-ringgit offer to salvage companies to retrieve treasures from sunken ships along the Malacca coastline. Why the salvage companies need to share their finding/money when they can retrieve the treasures them self with no action by authority. They keep on talking but no action taken so far.

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Rare coins scattered on highway

Rare coins scattered on highway after a collector's car was involved in a rollover crash near New Smyrna Beach. Demetri Cirillo, 47 and his wife Dawn, who live in Boca Raton were on their way to a show in Jacksonville when a back tire blew out in Volusia, Florida. The SUV rolled over, filling as many as five times, according to police. His rare coin collection worth $1million was scattered along Interstate 95. Much of the rare collection went flying out of the car, spilling across the median and into bushes by the side of the highway.

The collector's wife's arm was fractured in the crash. The coin dealer suffered minor injuries and was in pain, but did not want to leave the scene of the crash because he was more concerned about his coins.

Eventually he called about eight friends and fellow collectors with metal detectors to seek out the money, state troopers helped out too. A tow truck driver found $46,000 in bills in the trees, wesh.com reports.

Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Darryl Haywood Jr. said: "He was in pain, but he was more worried about the money. The pain started setting in. I think his adrenaline kicked in when it first happened."

Rescue crews eventually convinced the dealer, who they said has heart problems, that he needed to go to the hospital. He was taken to Halifax Health Medical Center with minor injuries and was discharged shortly after.

Mr Cirillo and Mrs Cirillo, 46, are listed as employees of Florida Currency & Coins in Boca Raton.

Demetri as the store manager, Dawn as the accountant. The store is billed on its website as "Boca Raton's Oldest Coin Shop".

Most of the rare coins were recovered. Police immediately warned would-be treasure seekers to stay away. They said drivers can get a ticket for stopping along the interstate and that troopers were watching the area.

Source: Daily Mail UK

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Stolen Viking silver treasure coin trial

Last Wednesday marked the first day in a groundbreaking trial against five men charged with aggravated crime against relics following the theft of over 1,000 silver coins and artefacts from the Viking age on the Baltic island of Gotland. The stolen Viking silver treasure coin trial will reconvene on six occasions and it is the first time in Sweden that anyone is charged with aggravated crime against relics.

“That’s why this trial is important for the whole of Sweden”, said Majvor Östergren, archaeological administrator of Gotland's county administrative board, to local paper Gotlandstidningen.

In November last year the police recovered a silver treasure dating back to the 11th century stolen from a field in Gandarve, Alva on Gotland in 2009. The treasure comprised over 2,000 silver coins from Germany, England and the Arab world and its value has been estimated at 1.2 million kronor ($198,181).

The County Administrative Board (Länsstyrelsen) had discovered the unauthorized dig comprising 250 pits in a field in October 2009. After a preliminary investigation silver coins and part of an 11th century crucifix was found in the ground near the looters’ dig.

“That’s when we realized that this was a completed crime against relics. And in this case you really must say that lady luck was with us,” the prosecutor said at the opening of trial.

Since traces of looters are usually rained or cleared away, it is often very difficult to both detect and solve these kinds of crimes. The suspects were linked to the crime scene by the remarkable discovery of the broken crucifix. Several days after finding the dig, an email was discovered by chance with a photo of a part of a crucifix up for sale. It was sold to a man from southern Sweden and was later discovered in his home. The trail led Police back to a well-known coin dealer in Stockholm. During a raid on his property on Gotland, investigators came across muddy clothes, metal detectors, shovels, backpacks and a car especially equipped with night vision. After examining computers and GPS equipment, police also found links between the defendants and two other places where looters had struck on Gotland.

Wednesday's trial is important because it is the first time since the laws on relics were made more strict in the 1990’s that one of these cases have been brought to trial.

“We have seen many investigations over the past few years that have had to be dropped due to lack of evidence,“ said local police officer Mikael Åslund to daily Dagens Nyheter (DN)

In 2009 there were 18 reports of unauthorized digging on Gotland, three of which are part of the prosecution’s evidence in the ongoing trial against the five men. But since the police apprehended the looters in November 2009, there have been no more reports.

“It is our feeling that looters have gone under ground, “ Östergren told DN.

Landowners in Sweden that discover ancient artefacts are awarded a finders fee in reward for turning them in to authorities. According to Östergren this is very important.

“Scientists from all over the world come to Gotland to study our findings, “ Östergren told DN.

The charges the defendants face include preparation of aggravated crime against relics and aggravated crime against relics, which carries a penalty of up to four years in prison. The defendants have denied the charges.

Source: The Local

I wish this kind of trial will be happening in Malaysia. I can see many people searching for old treasure without any action by the authority. Its truly "finder keeper" in Malaysia. Even though

what they found should be related to Malaysia history.

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Oldest shipwreck in the Caribbean

A chance encounter with a fisherman has led one team of treasure hunters to discover what they believe is the oldest shipwreck in the Caribbean. After only diving the site (located off the Dominican Republic coast) a handful of times, the team at Deep Blue Marine has unearthed some serious treasure. At the last count Captain Billy Rawson and his crew had uncovered 700 silver coins that could be worth millions, jade figurines and even a mirrored stone that was possibly used in Shamanic rituals. Everything was in pretty good condition, despite dating back to the 1500s.

Picture by Daily Mail UK: Silver coins & ancient Mayan jewellery.

"We only started diving last autumn and haven't gone down that much because it's been the winter," said Randy Champion, vice president of the Utah-based company.

"We have just scratched the surface," he added. "All of the stuff we've found is just from mucking about really."

Although the team haven't officially confirmed which ship they are diving, Mr Champion said they had a pretty fair idea - but were keeping quiet for now.

"If it's the ship we think it is, she probably went down in a hurricane," Mr Champion said.

"We have looked at the prevailing currents and wind directions in archives and found a cannon and ballast stone on the wreck that was all going in the wrong direction. 'That suggests it was probably a hurricane as winds go counter clockwise."

The Blue Water Marine team believe this ship was heading back to Spain with a haul of newly minted coins. It would have been quite small, around 50ft to 60ft, with 25 to 45 people on board, Mr Champion said. There were almost certainly a few dignitaries on board hitching a lift, and they wouldn't have made the journey all the way back to Spain with just 700 coins.

"There are thousands and thousands down there," Mr Champion added.

Most of the coins don't have dates on, so the team have been busy cleaning them up and trawling through reference books to identify them.

"These coins could be worth just $1,000," Mr Champion said. "But then one similar to ours sold for $132,000 the other day. 'They could be worth millions. But they aren't worth anything unless someone buys them."

One set of coins could be worth $1million on its own. The crew won't know whether they have it until the clean up operation is complete. The pre-Columbian carved jade figurines, all approximately 2in to 3in high, could be 500 years older than the wreck itself. Mr Champion said some had holes in the back side suggesting they could have been part of a head piece. This also suggests the crew of the 1500s ship probably weren't altogether that straight laced and almost certainly stole a lot of their booty.

Picture by Daily Mail UK: Coins with no dates.

"They had to satisfy the king's request, but would have taken other things too," said Mr Champion.

The crew also found what were thought to be mirrors made out of iron pyrite, but Mr Champion isn't convinced.

"Mirrors weren't common at the time," he said. "They could have been used in a Shaman-type ritual."

Deep Blue Marine are contracted by the Dominican Republic to search and uncover treasure from the wreck. They then split the proceeds 50/50. They had been surveying 42 miles of coastline with high-tech equipment in an effort to find the wreck. But they got lucky after the chance encounter with a local fisherman who sold them an old coin he had found while diving. To their astonishment the team discovered it was one of the oldest coins ever minted and knew they had found what they were looking for.

'We said to this guy: "If you show us where you found the coin you can come and work for us",' said Mr Champion.

The team are planning another dive in two weeks but it is a gruelling process as the wreck is covered in sand and coral. It takes them 12 hours to sail around the island to the dive site. They then drop anchor and take smaller boats out to dive from. It's a 6am start and the team often don't return until 8pm. They can be out there for weeks at a time.

And it's not without its dangers. "There are just as many pirates right now as there were then," Mr Champion said.

The crew have been fired upon by the Dominican Republic's Navy - 'a case of mistaken identity' - and have even been pillaged by a gang of thieves who boarded their boat in the middle of the night. They made off with thousand of dollars worth of diving equipment - despite an armed guard, provided by the government, being on board. Sharks too are always in the back of their minds, Mr Champion said, as are the treacherous diving conditions, waves and being crushed by rocks.

News by: Daily Mail UK

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Wickham Market coin hoard fund raise

Do any of you remember the story of two friends fighting for a Dallinghoo Gold award battle early this month? Ipswich museum is in a bid to save the Iceni gold hoard. They needs to raise £300,000 by the end of June to keep a hoard of Iron Age gold coins in Suffolk. The 840 embossed coins, also called "the Wickham Market Hoard", were buried 2,000 years ago by Iceni tribesmen later led by Boudicca against the Romans. The stash was found by a metal detector operator in a field near Wickham Market in 2008 and declared treasure. The Colchester and Ipswich Museum Service has made a fast-track bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Images via Wikipedia: Digging of the Wickham Market site.

"The opportunity to purchase the Wickham Market coin hoard is the first time we could retain a national treasure in Suffolk," said Caroline McDonald, curator of archaeology at Ipswich museum.

"It will be far better appreciated and understood here and gives everyone in the county something to be proud about.

"Suffolk earth has revealed some of the nation's most outstanding treasure in recent decades.

"The amazing Anglo Saxon ship burial at Sutton Hoo, the silver Roman dinner service found at Mildenhall during World War II and more recently the Hoxne Hoard of Roman coins and artefacts found in the 1990s.

"All of these finds are now in London at the British Museum."

Two hundred of the coins will be on show at Ipswich Museum from 3 May until 10 June.

"Until we raise all of the money this may be the only chance to see some of the hoard on display in Suffolk," said Ms McDonald.

Source: BBC News

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Oldest known shipwreck found in Dominican Republic

Utah based Deep Blue Marine Inc. has discovered the oldest known shipwreck located of the coast of Dominican Republic. Their divers found gold coins, jade statues and ancient Mayan Jewellery. The company still believes there are greater treasures. Divers found gold coins that date back to 1535. One particular set of four coins is valued at a million dollars. Deep Blue Marine will get to keep 50% of the recovered items and The Dominican government gets the rest.

President of Deep Blue Marine, Wilf Blum says, "This is the history and the birthplace of America and here we are lucky enough to finding the shipwrecks from that time era."
Just a few years after Christopher Columbus discovered the new world, the ship sank into the dark waters off the Dominican coast.

Captain William Rawson was the first to find the treasure’s trail. "We found some old fella in town that was selling a coin. I bought the coin from him and we looked in a book and found it was one of the oldest coins ever minted in the new world," he said.

Rawson used technology such as side scan sonar to search the area where the old local liked to dive.Little by little he uncovered parts of the wreckage.

“This is pretty incredible when you think about it. This has been on the ocean floor for 450 years," Rawson said.

"We found these two mirrors made out of iron pyrite. And they've been lying on the ocean floor for 450 years, but you can still take and turn them and see your face in them," said Rawson.

"The only other fleet we know of that's older than this is the 1502 fleet and it's never been discovered," he continued.

Source: My Fox

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Dallinghoo Gold award battle goes on

Dallinghoo Gold award battle goes on between two metal-detecting enthusiast friends. Micheal Darke and Keith Lewis who unearthed a hoard of Iron Age gold coins, no longer on speaking terms following a dispute over how the £300,000 spoils of the so-called Dallinghoo Gold should be shared. The 840 pieces, which date back to the first century BC, are one of the most significant archaeological discoveries of their kind for 150 years.

A British Museum valuation committee has now followed convention by ruling that half should go to the landowner, farmer Cliff Green, 69. But metal-detecting enthusiast Mr Darke, 62, who found the treasure, is furious that he has been awarded £75,803, while Mr Lewis, 56, who was drafted in to help later, will receive £74,196. Undisclosed costs in the ongoing legal battle they are locked in means the final figures will be significantly less.

Mr Darke describes the episode as a ‘nightmare’ and says he wishes he had never come across the first coin – but has vowed to fight the ruling. Mr Lewis admits the bust-up has left a ‘nasty taste’ but insists he got what he deserves as he located most of the hoard.

"As far as I’m concerned it is a fair deal, end of story," he added.

The saga began in March 2008 when lorry driver Mr Darke found a gold coin as he searched a 30-acre field at Dallinghoo, near Woodbridge, Suffolk. He returned a few days later to find eight more coins, which he identified on the internet as gold Celtic staters. They are believed to have been made in Norfolk and Suffolk between 40 BC and 15 BC by the Iceni tribe.

Mr Darke said he contacted his friend "because I knew that he knew the rules with this kind of thing", and claims it was agreed Mr Lewis would be given one coin for his collection of artefacts.

The next day they unearthed hundreds more coins, including 789 in the remains of an Iron Age cooking pot, and Mr Lewis held on to four of them as his ‘reward’.

"It was not until I received a letter from the British Museum that I found out he had handed the four coins in and demanded half the reward," said Mr Darke, from Wickham Market, Suffolk.

When a coroner ruled the coins were treasure trove in July 2009 – allowing the finders and landowner to receive their full value upon sale to a museum – it was apparent there had been a falling out.

The men arrived separately to the hearing with lawyers and failed to exchange a single word. The coins will be bought by Colchester and Ipswich Museum Service, which has launched a fundraising drive. Mr Darke has already appealed the ruling, but the decision was upheld by Culture Minister Ed Vaizey.

"I trusted him (Mr Lewis) as a friend. I was totally gutted. It should have been exciting and interesting, and something to look forward to," he said.

Mr Lewis, a postman from Great Blakenham, near Ipswich, disputed the version of events.

"I found the bulk of the coins and spent five hours on my knees digging them up," he added.

Source: Daily Mail

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The Roman Del Boy coin

A unique Roman coin found by a metal detector which was made by an ancient ‘Del Boy’ forger who could not spell and did not know his emperors. The silver denarius, an average day's pay for a Roman worker, was modelled on coins struck to commemorate the Battle of Actium of 31 BC. The famous battle saw the combined forces of Roman General Mark Antony and Egyptian Queen Cleopatra defeated by Octavian, who went on to rule as Emperor Augustus. The silver denarius was made 2,000 years ago but is a terrible fake, with spelling mistakes and even the wrong Emperor.

Photo: The Roman Del Boy coin.

Experts said it was made a few years after Actium but was a terrible fake, probably created from memory by a craftsman who was ‘barely literate’. One face has a crocodile but it is facing the opposite way to the original. Emperor Caesar is on the head side, when it should have been Augustus. And the die cutter misspelled Egypt as Aegipto instead of the common spelling of the time, Aegypto or Aegvpto.

Cleaner Rob Clements, 45, discovered the coin buried two inches beneath the surface on a grass path near Brighton, East Sussex, just months after buying his first metal detector. Sam Moorhead, national finds adviser for Ancient Coins at the British Museum, said nothing like it had ever been seen before, pushing up its value from £100 for the average Roman coin to about £3,000. Mr Moorhead said he was mystified by the motive of the forger, who could not even have made a profit because he struck it from solid silver.

Photo: Rob Clements.

"Interpreting the coin is difficult. Were it a silver-plated piece, then it would have been explicable as an attempt to create a coin for profit by using a smaller amount of silver. However, why would someone create a fantasy piece like this in the ancient period from solid silver? As such, the coin is a mystery, " Mr Moorhead said.

Mr Clements now plans to sell the coin to fund a study course on the Romans at the University of Brighton, where he works. Mr Clements registered the find with the finds liaison officer for Sussex, who sent photos and results of Brighton University tests to the British Museum for analysis.

Source: Mailonline

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Frome Hoard Campaign by Art Fund

Everyone of you must had been remember about 52,503 Roman coins found by Dave Crisp last April stuffed into a giant pot bellied jar, buried in a field near Frome. The largest coin hoard ever found in a single container in Britain has been valued at £320,250 after hours of debate and conflicting opinions from three experts. Art fund had lunched a campaign to save the Frome Hoard for Somerset museum in Taunton. Including five exceptionally rare silver coins minted for "the forgotten emperor" Carausius, who ruled Britain for seven years until he was murdered by his finance minister in 293 AD.

Photo: CHRISTOPHER PLEDGER-telegraph.co.uk

The fund will give an initial £40,250 to kick start the appeal, and will then match every pound given by the public up to a further £10,000. The British Museum will also give 50p from every copy of a new book about the find written by its experts. Most of the coins are comparatively low value, but include the largest collection ever found of Carausius coins, including some in fabulous condition, better than the British Museum's examples.

Stephen Deuchar, director of the Art Fund, said: "We're extremely excited to be part of Somerset's campaign to acquire this extraordinary treasure. To think that this pot packed full of coins lay buried beneath the soil for almost 2,000 years - it really is incredible."

T. Sam N. Moorhead, British Museum advisor for Iron age and Roman coins, is convinced it was an offering never meant to be retrieved, not a giant piggy bank, and the the weight was the point: the gods liked metal and plenty of it. The people gave the greatest weight they could accumulate, and coins were the easiest source when they couldn't get their hands on the bronze axe heads or swords and shields their ancestors had buried or thrown into rivers.

Photo by Guardian.co.uk: rare silver coins minted for "the forgotten emperor" Carausius.

Years of work remain on the coins but Steve Minnitt, of the Taunton museum, said: "We are determined to keep the hoard together and in Somerset". Some will be on display at Frome Library next Saturday morning, with Dave Crisp in attendance - a repeat event after more than 2,000 people queued for hours the first time.

The Art Fund will launch a special website for the hoard later this week, but donations can be offered now through savefromehoard@artfund.org.

Source: Guardian.co.uk.

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80 US gold coin found in Hackney

80 pieces of US rare gold coins had been found in Hackney. An inquest at St Pancras Coroner's Court announced the find and set a deadline of 8 February 2011 for the coins' owner to come forward. Details of how and where they were found are being kept secret to prevent false claims. If nobody claims the coins they could be declared as treasure and become the property of the Crown. The coins are due to go on display at the British Museum in central London on Tuesday.

Dr Roger Bland, head of portable antiquities and treasure at the museum, said: "It's a unique discovery, nothing like this has been found before.

"There is a fascinating story behind it, but we don't understand what it is.

"It's a mystery who put them in the ground, how they got hold of them and why they never came back to collect them."

The coins, found in Hackney are "Double Eagle" $20 pieces which were minted between 1854 and 1913 and are estimated to be worth a six figure sum. While Roman coins are often found buried, it remains a mystery why the American hoard was hidden in the garden. Some news reported that the hoard are believe to be found by two friends while gardening in Hackney. If no one claim the treasure, the item will most probably be auctioned.  

Source: BBC News

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Antique box with treasure found

A family from Dronfield, Sheffield found an Antique box with treasure in old mahogany box that had been kicking around their house for 30 years. Opening the box with help from a locksmith revealed the drawers filled with 1500 coins, some dating back 2000 years. The collections are auctioned at the online website ELR Auctions so people from all over the world can take part on the auction. The auction house has been established in Sheffield since 1840.

Photo by BBC: One of the Roman coins found.

Auctioneers at ELR in Sheffield were surprised at how much they sold for. Rob Lea from ELR spoke to BBC Radio Sheffield after the auction in August 2010:

"I thought there may be some very good prices and there were. The odd one fell short but the vast majority sold for a lot more than we expected.

"The best price was a collection of Roman and ancient coins which we thought would go for £600-800, but they ended up going at £1700."

The collection included coins which were 2000 years old up to the 20th century. They had belonged to a collector who had passed them down to the people who found the box.

ELR put the auction online so that bidders from all over the world could take part:
"Lots of people bought over the Internet and the room was well attended."

Photo: Rob Lea, an auctioneer from ELR in Sheffield.

The collection was split into 50 lots for the auction:

"Different collectors want different types of coins," explains Rob Lea. "There are Roman collectors, people who want gold, silver, and so on. There were some very good coins among them.

"The sorts of people with an interest are coin collectors, traders who buy to sell them on and people who buy them to melt the gold and silver down.

"None of these fell into that bracket because they were all very interesting coins."

Photo by BBC: Some of the 1500 coins.

Rob Lea says it was an exciting moment when he first looked through the opened box:
"I was like a kid opening his Christmas presents. I wasn't quite sure what I was going to see but each drawer contained some real beauties, some really difficult finds. This doesn't happen all the time and to get the cream of the crop is quite exciting. I'm sure the owners will be very happy at the good news."

You can read more about the auction house at their official auction website-ELR Auctions.

Source: BBC News.

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Its easy to throw money

I have been visiting Melaka famous A Famosa Fort recently. While visiting the big fort, I found out that some people like to throw their money in a well and some open graveyard. Its easy to throw money or is it because throwing money is a tradition that we cannot doing? To anyone who have not going to A famosa, it is a fortress located in Malacca, Malaysia. It is among the oldest surviving European architectural remains in Asia. The Porta de Santiago, a small gate house, is the only remaining part of the fortress still standing.

Photo: Melaka Famous "The Porta De Santiago".

Why do people throw money in a well, fountain or lake? Most people do that after they make a wish. In most cases, they throw coins or put some offering near that well or fountain. Some maybe wishing about their life and throw a penny. Its been going on for a very long time. When I am talking with some friends in Melaka recently, he told me that people throw some pretty good collection in there. People working in that place found some gold and old coins when its time to clean that place. I don't know if that true but the tradition of throw a wish with your coin sound fascinating to me.

Photo: A Wishing well.

A wishing well is a term from European folklore to describe wells where it was thought that any spoken wish would be granted. The idea that a wish would be granted came from the idea that water housed deities or had been placed there as a gift from the gods, since water was a source of life and often a scarce commodity. People believe that the guardians or dwellers of the well would grant them their wish if they paid a price. After uttering the wish, one would generally drop coins in the well. That wish would then be granted by the guardian or dweller, based upon how the coin would land at the bottom of the well.

In Rome, Italy, an estimated 3,000 euros are thrown into the Trevi Fountain each day. A traditional legend holds that if visitors throw a coin into the fountain, they are ensured a return to Rome. Among those who are unaware that the "three coins" of Three Coins in the Fountain were thrown by three different individuals, a reported current interpretation is that two coins will lead to a new romance and three will ensure either a marriage or divorce. A reported current version of this legend is that it is lucky to throw three coins with one's right hand over one's left shoulder into the Trevi Fountain.

Photo: This is suppose to be a graveyard but you can see money thrown away.

In ancient Greece it was an offering to the Naiad nymph of the spring or well. She was an important spirit, for if the fountain ran dry the town would be without water. In Greek mythology, the Naiads or Naiades were a type of nymph who presided over fountains, wells, springs, streams, and brooks. The god of merchants, Hermes, also had luck oracles where people would toss a coin into the sacred spring and the priest would interpret the meaning by how it fell.

According to ancient mythology such as Mímir's Well from Nordic myths, also known as the "Well of Wisdom", a Well that could grant you infinite wisdom provided you sacrificed something you held dear. Odin was asked to sacrifice his right eye which he threw into the well to receive not only the wisdom of seeing the future but the understanding of why things must be. Mímir is the Nordic god of wisdom, and his well sits at the roots of Yggdrasil, the World Tree which draws its water from the well.

Any of you make a wish lately?

Source: Wikipedia.

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Crisp coins: declared treasure

52,503 Roman coins found by Metal detector fan Dave Crisp declared a UK National Treasure. A coroner ruled Dave's remarkable discovery was treasure trove, meaning it belongs to the Crown but he will be rewarded with its value. It is thought to be worth up to £1million. Crisp, from Wiltshire, found the coins, dating from the 3rd Century AD, in April buried near Frome. The NHS chef, 63, stumbled on the silver and bronze cash in a giant ceramic pot which was buried underground 1,800 years ago.

Photo by Mirror.co.uk: Dave Crisp and his find treasure.

It is Britain's biggest discovery of Roman coins and dates back to forgotten emperor Carausius who ruled here from AD286 to AD293. Carausius was the first Roman emperor to strike coins in Britain. One coin boasted a line from Latin poet Virgil. . Five of the Carausius coins are solid silver, the first such pure coins minted anywhere in the Roman empire in over 150 years. A selection of the Frome coins is to go on display at the British Museum from July 22 until mid August.

Grandad-of-three Dave said: "I'm over the moon. The money doesn't matter.

Obviously it's nice, but the significant thing for me is I'm the person who made the biggest discovery of Roman coins ever found in Britain."

Recalling the moment his metal detector emitted a "funny signal" before his field find, he revealed: "I sat down and started to dig around and pulled a bit of clay which was attached to a pot.

"At first I found a coin, then another, then another. Then I realised what I had stumbled across and I literally stood up and shouted 'I've found a haul'." It will now be valued by independent experts and he will split the spoils with landowner Geoff Sheppard, 57.

Dairy farmer Geoff said: "It's a complete shock. I can't believe what was found."

Dave had been metal detecting for 22 years when he dug up the treasure weighing 25 stone in Frome, Somerset, in April.

The coins were declared property of the Crown at East Somerset coroner's court in Frome. Under the 1996 Treasure Act, anyone who finds buried coins has to declare them to the coroner within two weeks. The value of the haul will be set by the Treasure Valuation Committee. Some coins are on show at the British Museum. They are likely to be bought by the Museum of Somerset, which reopens next year.

Dave, of Devizes, Wiltshire, added: "I'll keep working until I retire next year. I'll definitely continue with my hobby - you don't just stop a hobby. People often compare metal detecting to trainspotting or say it's a geeky - well, it just goes to show."

Roger Bland, of the British Museum, told the hearing: "Carausius is not well known, he was a Roman commander who set himself up as emperor in Britain. To find such a big group of his coins will give us a lot of information about this episode in our nation's history, which is not well understood."

Source: Mirror.co.uk

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Crisp Found Roman Coin Hoard

David Crisp, a 63-year-old hospital chef, located the 52,503 coins in a single earthenware pot in a field near Frome, Somerset. Mr Crisp, from Devizes in Wiltshire, said his detector gave a "funny signal" prompting him to dig down and have a look. What he found was an astonishing collection of coins from the 3rd century AD, a period barely touched in most history books on Roman Britain. All the coins had been left in a single two foot high pot. At 160kg, just over 25 stone, the haul weighs as much as two fully grown men.

Photo by PAS via dailymail: Dave Crisp at his treasure site.

Mr Crisp said: "I put my hand in, pulled out a bit of clay and there was a little Radial, a little bronze Roman coin. Very, very small, about the size of my fingernail."

He added: "I have made many finds over the years, but this is my first major coin hoard."

Since the discovery in late April, experts from the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) at the British Museum have been sifting through the coins. They believe the stash was probably intended as some sort of religious offering, rather than storage for later use.

Sam Moorhead, from the PAS, said: "I don't believe myself that this is a hoard of coins intended for recovery. I think what you could see is a community of people who are actually making offerings and they are each pouring in their own contribution to a communal ritual votive offering to the gods."

Photo by PAS via dailymail: single two foot high pot containing the hoard.

Roger Bland, head of British Museum portable antiquities and treasure, said 766 coins were from the reign of the "lost" British emperor Carausius, who ruled the province from 286 to 293 without the authority of Rome. He became the first emperor to strike coins in Britain, which he did to affirm his legitimacy. Five of the Carausius coins are solid silver, the first such pure coins minted anywhere in the Roman empire in over 150 years. A selection of the Frome coins is to go on display at the British Museum from July 22 until mid August.

Photo by PAS via dailymail: Roman coins hoard found by crisp.

Despite the Frome haul's quantity, most are a relatively common denomination known as 'radiates', made of debased silver and bronze. The haul is likely to be worth around £250,000, given prices for individual coins. That is less than a tenth of the £3.285 million Staffordshire Hoard of Anglo-Saxon treasures, which contained more than 5kg (11lb) of gold and 1.3kg (2.9lb) of silver. A coroner is set to declare the find a treasure trove at an inquest on July 22, paving the way for Somerset County Council to acquire it off Mr Crisp and the landowner. Each is entitled to a 50 per cent share of its value under the Portable Antiquities Scheme.

A coroner ruled Dave's remarkable discovery was treasure trove, meaning it belongs to the Crown but he will be rewarded with its value. Art fund had lunched a campaign to save the Frome Hoard for Somerset museum in Taunton. The largest coin hoard ever found in a single container in Britain has been valued at £320,250 after hours of debate and conflicting opinions from three experts.

Source: The press association,Telegraph.co.uk, Dailymail.UK.

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Indonesia auction shipwreck treasure

Indonesian Government will auction a 10th century shipwreck treasure today but no potential buyer had paid a deposits so far. The gems, crystal ware, gold and porcelain salvaged from an unidentified wreck off Cirebon, West Java, in 2004 is due to be sold in one lot by the Indonesian government in Jakarta on Wednesday. Interest have come from collectors around Asia but none has paid the 16-million-dollar deposit, or 20 percent of the minimum sale price of 80 million dollars, by Monday's deadline.

Photo by AFP: Asia largest shipwreck treasure so far

"There are 20 interested participants, including some from overseas. Those from abroad come from Singapore, Beijing, Hongkong, Malaysia and Japan," Maritime Affairs Ministry official Sudirman Saad said.

"Most have come from Beijing, although there is also the National Museum of Singapore," Saad said.

"So far none of the interested parties has put down the security deposit but we will still hold the auction tomorrow... If there are no buyers we'll propose a second auction."

Under the rules, the government can sell directly to auction houses or museums after three auctions. The Indonesian government has agreed to split the money with a private salvage company which helped recover the treasure; Cosmix Underwater Research Ltd., and his local partner, Paradigma Putra Sejathera PT. The shipwreck was found 90 miles off Cirebon, in West Java, following a tip-off from local fishermen in 2004 and it took 30 divers and some 22,000 dives to recover the treasure.

Photo by AFP: Belgian treasure hunter Luc Heymans

Belgian treasure-hunter Luc Heymans said the haul was one of the largest found in Asia and was comparable to the most valuable shipwreck ever found anywhere, that of the Atocha, a Spanish vessel which sank off Florida in 1622.

It includes 271,000 pieces such as rubies, pearls, gold jewellery, Fatimid rock-crystal, Iranian glassware and exquisite Chinese imperial porcelain dating back to the end of the first millennium, or around 976 AD.

"At the time there was a lot of trade going on between Arabia and India and coming down to Java and Sumatra," said Heymans, who led the salvage effort and subsequent battles with Indonesian officialdom to bring the treasure to light.

"But we think there must have been an ambassador on board because so many pieces are imperial Chinese porcelain."

Descending for the first time onto the wreck site north of Cirebon, West Java, in 2004, the veteran diver said he couldn't believe what appeared out of the gloom on the sea floor.

"The site was 40 metres (130 feet) by 40 metres and it was just a mountain of porcelain. You couldn't see any wood," he said.

Photo by AFP: Yue Mise pot

The pieces also include the largest known vase from the Liao Dynasty (907-1125) and famous Yue Mise wares from the Five Dynasties (907-960), with the green colouring exclusive to the emperor. Around 11,000 pearls, 4,000 rubies, 400 dark red sapphires and more than 2,200 garnets were also pulled from the depths by Heymans and his team of international divers.

It took 22,000 dives to bring it all up but Heymans said the salvage work, from February 2004 to October 2005, was the easy part. "All the major problems began after we got the stuff on shore," he said.

The police arrested two of the divers even though Heymans' company, Cosmix Underwater Research Ltd., and his local partner, Paradigma Putra Sejathera PT, had painstakingly arranged survey and excavation licences. The divers spent a month behind bars before the mix-up was resolved. There were also run-ins with the Indonesian navy, efforts by rivals to move in on the wreck, a year of litigation and two years of waiting while Indonesia drafted new regulations to govern such work.

Some of Heymans' backers who covered him to the tune of 10 million dollars began to worry that their investment would be lost at the bottom of the Java Strait, he said.

"I feel some relief now because so many people told me I would never be able to get the permits and get the stuff out of the country," he said. He adds, however, that it was one of the most difficult ordeals of his career.

Source: AFP, Reuters.

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Old metal detector find £500000 treasure

His tools is only an old metal detector but he already has find £500000 treasure. Peter Beasley, a former bricklayer, 68, digs for six hours-a-day, three days-a-week on fields close to his home in Waterlooville, Hants. Mr Beasley began the hobby 1979 when a work colleague sold his metal detector to him for £80, after he fell down a well on a dig. Within two years he was regularly finding coins and other artefact's dating back to Roman and Norman times, most of which have been given back to the farmers who own the land as a thank you present.

Photo by Telegraph.co.uk: Roman coins found by Mr. Beasley.

He found a solid gold Roman pendant unearthed in Hampshire about 10 years ago and it has been auctioned off for £30,000 in London. Inscribed with the letters TI CAESAR, the artefact's is cast as a bust of the Roman emperor wearing a laurel wreath and dates back to the first Century AD. Mr. Beasley,found the jewellery in a field near Alton, in December 1999. He has found a 24K gold ring that he believe belong to a royalty in a field in Petersfield in 2008. Mr Beasley think the ring belong to Robert, the eldest son of William the conquerer, as it has his name engraved on it. He maybe will be selling the Norman ring later this year with a guide price of £80,000. His biggest sale was a haul of 250 Roman coins found in fields near Petersfield for £100,000 to the British Museum in 1996.

Photo by BBC News: Caesar gold Roman pendant

Mr Beasley said: "I just love exploring and it is all about the discovery. I came into this business as a hobby to keep me out of the house but it is serious."

"I am fascinated by the history of our land and it is the buzz of finding something it is a great feeling to dig something up that you know is hundreds of years old. Or course I have found an awful lot of tat down the years, moles' teeth and countless pieces of scrap metal, but you have to keep going – it is an obsession."

He said: "The land between Chichester and Winchester is land that belonged to William the Conqueror so it is littered with potential finds.

"There are hundreds of us out there and you have to be thorough in doing your research."

"It is really hard work, being out in all-weather when I come home I am absolutely knackered."
He said he still rues the find that got away when he unearthed a Saxon shield, spears and a skeleton while roaming fields at Clanfield.

After a dispute with the landowner he was banned from the 15-acre site, which he believes is home to a Saxon haul of jewellery and up to 3,000 graves worth millions.

Mr Beasley has since stumbled upon another prize find, a six-inch square piece of lead discovered at the site of a Roman villa near Winchester with a grid pattern etched onto it.
He believes it acts as a map for locating estates of Roman soldiers who retired to the south of England after fighting for the empire.

He said: "I have a theory that it can help me find anything, anywhere it Europe."

"If it was to get into the wrong hands it could have devastating effects but I am determined to use it for the good of history."

This guy sound like a professional metal detector digger. With a £500000 treasure, he sure don't need his pension money. But his found sound like need a lots of hardwork and determination. He has been digging treasure for 30 years, that are lots of experience. Do any Malaysian try using metal detector before to find treasure? A friend once told me that people dig old coins near Melaka river few years back.

Source: Telegraph.co.uk , BBC News

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Coin collection found in ceiling

Another story of a lucky man found a coins collection in his new house. Fred Murray from Winnipeg, Canada uncovered a bunch of old currency stashed in the basement ceiling of his home during a renovation project. He found Canadian currency; ranging from regular and commemorative coins to paper money, including the 25 cent bills commonly known as shinplasters to $100 bills. The collection also included foreign cash from Weimar Germany, 1920s China and the United States, stamps from numerous countries and clippings from Winnipeg newspapers.

Photo by CBC News: Fred Murray finds, ready to shipped for auction.

Fred Murray bought the old bungalow in Elmwood and recently decided to renovate the basement, spurred on by the federal government's home renovation tax credit. From older neighbours, Murray found out the house was built by a German immigrant named Albert Schmidt in the 1940s, whose identification he also found in the rafters. He lived in the home until sometime in the 1970s. It was when he ripped out ceiling panels in the 750 square foot home's basement that he realized he'd be supplementing that funding with some older money. When he encountered trouble feeding an electrical wire through the ceiling, he started to remove the panels. That's when he found the cash and coins packed in cloth bags, pill bottles and tobacco cans.

"The oldest coin I found was from 1859. It was a penny," Murray said.

"If it pays for the house, it's a bonus," said the 54-year-old.

He took his find to local collectors but said there wasn't much interest, so he plans to send everything to an auction house in Eastern Canada.

"It's all getting shipped off. I have no intentions of keeping it, and no one here in the city seems to be serious about it," he said.

"So I am shipping it off to Quebec and from there it goes to Toronto. And then it will end up in an auction."

While Murray said he knew nothing about collectible currency or stamps before his demolition find, he's now a little more up to speed. However, he's not interested enough to hold onto the collection and plans to ship it off this weekend to an Eastern Canada auction house. He said he has no idea what he'll get for the collection but plans to put it right back into the renovations.

I wish I am as lucky as this man but I think there are no interest because the item is not valuable to collector.

Source: CBC News, Toronto Sun.

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Buy a house get free gold

Do you want to buy a house and at the same time get free gold? Not just one but 10 pieces of coins. Not just normal coins but an old one to. This sound like a scam to everyone but who know when do you get so lucky. Like this guy, Darcy Carter from Saint John, Canada who found leather purse contained 10 U.S. gold coins minted in the 1860s and '70s. Darcy Carter was putting down hardwood flooring on the second storey of his west side home when he pulled up the top step and found the treasure.

Photo by wood TV: Coin found by Darcy Carter.

Photo by CBC News: Darcy Carter.

"It was something tucked in there, under the stair for a rainy day."

"It was in a little coin purse that looked similar to a child's marble bag," he said.

"We lifted that board up and the coins were in a little sack. My wife is dreaming of her new counter top and I think she very much deserves it so that's where the money's going to go, into our new kitchen," said Carter.

One of the $20 coins, which is in pristine condition, is worth about $9,000, according to an appraiser. The U.S. gold coins, called Double Eagles with the liberty head design, were minted in the 1860s and 1870s.

"There was a lot of trade that went on from the Saint John, Halifax and all our area down to the eastern United States, so that it's not surprising that somebody might bring these back with them and tuck them away," said Geoffrey Bell, a coin expert from Saint John.

Photo by CBC News: Coin found under this stair.

Carter hasn't decided what he's going to do with the antique coins yet. He said he might put them toward his renovation costs, or save them for a rainy day.After that valuable treasure found at his new home, Carter plans to carry on the tradition by leaving a keepsake of his own behind for someone else to find. It won't be gold though. Just a regular old quarter. He is certainly a lucky man. Who say you cannot get free gold when you bought a new house. Next time you doing some renovation to your home, make sure you check every inch of the house. Who know, it maybe your lucky day.

Anyone found treasure today?

Source: CBC News, woodtv.com.

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