Bob's Lump of Silver

This feature is really two stories in one; one part involving a lump of silver Treasure and the other, more importantly, about a man who was a dedicated detectorist for most of his life.

- Dave Crisp

Bob Whalley was a man of true integrity and a stalwart of the National Council for Metal Detecting (Fig.1). Bob was a detectorist through and through, and believed passionately in our right to be allowed to pursue our hobby. Years ago, this came under threat from several academics but Bob was there, along with others in the NCMD, fighting to keep our hobby alive.

We now have an enjoyable pastime, largely due to the efforts of people like Bob, and the recently departed Trevor Austin. Bob served for many years as the NCMD treasurer, and along with other officers had several meetings in the House of Lords during the debates on the then newly proposed Treasure Act. These visits were to ensure that our interests were always well represented. It cannot be stressed enough, that due to the commitment and dedication of such individuals we now have a well established and respected hobby.

Let’s return to the aforementioned lump of silver Treasure found by Bob. Earlier this year, we managed to get the Western Region of the NCMD some room for a display in the Athelstan Museum at Malmesbury. We asked our members to loan a few of their own discoveries for the six month long display of detecting finds. Consequently, one of the members of the SHRADS Club, Dave Whalley, kindly brought in a few pieces.

One of these was a rather interesting burnt lump of silver, which had originally started out as a small pile of hammered coins (Figs.2-3). Dave mentioned that this curious find had belonged to his brother Bob, who had sadly passed away a few years before. As I put the object into the case I decided I just had to write an article about it, as it was such an interesting item. Dave kindly supplied me with Bob’s own rather thought-provoking written account and his original letters to the Coroner, as well as filling in some of the background details.