Symbols Of Love

I went to a dig in Suffolk two years ago, quite early in the season as I recall.

- John Keen

I arrived rather late because I couldn’t find the place, but luckily I spotted some detectorists up on a hill in the distance. “At last!” I thought. I paid my fee, got set up and strolled onto a stubble field. It was such a lovely day and absolutely perfect conditions for detecting.

I was hoping to be lucky and pretty soon I had a hammered coin (Figs.1a & b) in my hand. It was a Charles I halfgroat. Although the coin was a little worn I could still see the mint mark, which was a star. The coin had a hole punched through it, so could very well have been worn by a Royalist sympathiser. After a spell of finding buttons, I spotted something on the surface, which at first I thought was simply a corroded bronze nail.

I picked it up and to my delight saw instead that it was my first ever Roman brooch, a small head stud type (Fig.2). The day was indeed turning out to be lucky. I needed a break so sat on a grass bank and enjoyed a nice cuppa and a sarnie.

Several detectorists asked me if I’d had any luck and then one of them showed me a great James I shilling he’d just found.

After a short break I went off to the far end of the field and had a great signal. It turned out to be my first ever example of a sweetheart brooch (Fig.3). It was a rather battered and bruised Victorian silver symbol of affection, perhaps marking a long ago love affair.

I could just see the hallmarks, but checked them out properly when I got home. When doing so I could see the capital letter R and the Cheshire mark. It was made in 1900, the year before Queen Victoria died after a very long reign.

These brooches are very pretty in style, and this example has a swallow, forget-me-not flowers and ivy leaves that, of course, all have special meanings.