Amateur Treasure Hunter Finds Iron Age 'Bling'

Thursday, November 05, 2009

This story on Foxnews is another one of those good luck stories about a man who took up the hobby of metal detecting and upon his first real try at treasure hunting, actually pulled in a rare treasure worth approximately 1.65 million dollars. The find was four gold necklaces that date between 300BC and 100BC which is pretty much described as the Iron Age. This was all found on private land in Stirlingshire Scotland.

My first thought was lucky dog, but he may not receive anything for it because apparently he told the local museum about it and they are taking possession of the necklaces. “Under Scots law, the Crown has the right to claim any find, with any payments made at their discretion.” Now I’m thinking the trouble he may have caused himself by reporting it will be evident when he has to hire a lawyer in the future in order to be compensated. That’s just a guess because I’m thinking the Museum of Scotland will probably try to cheat him out of anything. After all he is just a recreational hobbyist and not a professional of any kind. He also is only 35 years old and only a game warden with a safari park. I’m sure they are not familiar with the phrase ‘finders keepers’. Sounds like they are more comfortable with ‘you find, we keep’, but we’ll let you look at it anytime you come to the museum.

I thought the story was nice on the part of describing how the man found the jewelry. I’m all for those people who come into good fortune because it has got to be the most wonderful feeling in the world. I’m sure this has been a life changing event for him. I’m sure many people have taken up the hobby of metal detecting, but how many of them took it up and in five days after getting used to the equipment, take it out and find a fortune on the first try? "I found it by accident," he said. "I had a field in mind, so set off there. I walked seven steps from where I parked my jeep and that's when I discovered them. It was just sheer luck.”

I like lucky stories because there is still a chance for every person out there to appreciate that this could happen to me…..probably not, but it still could. Even if this man does not get paid for the worth of the jewelry, he hopefully will get paid enough to change his life economically. At his age this could really do things for him. If it were an old man, possibly just receiving the notoriety of finding the treasure might be rewarding enough but if it were me I would want the money. He did look on the internet to see what this type of jewelry was worth so I know he is interested in money. I just think he made a big mistake by emailing a picture of his find to the museum.