OMEN
04-21-2010, 12:42 AM
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A bricklayer who gave up work in 2003 to spend more time with his metal detector has found more than £500,000 worth of valuables.
Peter Beasley, 68, digs for six hours-a-day, three days-a-week on fields close to his home in Waterlooville, Hants, reports the Daily Telegraph.
He has sold a Roman pendant worn by Caesar for £30,000 and is selling a 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.
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."
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 artefacts 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.
He said: "The land between Chichester and Winchester is land that belonged to William the Conqueror so it is littered with potential finds. It is really hard work, being out in all-weather when I come home I am absolutely knackered."
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A bricklayer who gave up work in 2003 to spend more time with his metal detector has found more than £500,000 worth of valuables.
Peter Beasley, 68, digs for six hours-a-day, three days-a-week on fields close to his home in Waterlooville, Hants, reports the Daily Telegraph.
He has sold a Roman pendant worn by Caesar for £30,000 and is selling a 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.
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."
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 artefacts 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.
He said: "The land between Chichester and Winchester is land that belonged to William the Conqueror so it is littered with potential finds. It is really hard work, being out in all-weather when I come home I am absolutely knackered."
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