A tale of two Coiltek NOX coils. I regularly detect medieval pastures in Scotland and one particular field area was always a massive challenge, with lots of trashy waste signals tightly grouped that my larger coil struggled with. This called for a wee purchase and the coil that looked the ideal candidate for getting in between those tight spaces a 10×5 Coiltek NOX was ordered.

On arrival it looked the perfect tool for the job and I couldn’t wait to get out that evening and put it to good use. Almost immediately it made lite work of the trashy area getting in all the tight nooks and crannies and the good finds started to appear. A nice 1797 George 3rd Cartwheel penny put any worries I had about its capability at depth to bed from a solid 10″ deep.

The excitement grew as this piece of previously dead ground suddenly came to life again. A lovely faint signal was next and the coil just seemed so stable tracking it on the edge of a large iron grunt signal. Again, a good depth and I struggled to find it with the pin pointer and on covering the hole again with the coil it seemed to have disappeared. Checking the spoil as I pushed it back in the hole I turned to grab my spade and noticed a silver blueish round edge in the soil on my spade blade. To my amazement flicking it free there lay a stunning hammered silver medieval short cross penny of Henry 3rd 1216-47. I was blown away to find one of the largest and the smallest sized coins of the UK in the same session and back-to-back signals in that difficult area. The coil more than earned its keep in that first session and has been a valuable tool since, finding many more gems in difficult patches.
Off the back of how impressed I was with the wee Coiltek, the following month I decided to save for and buy the larger 15″ coil. I had an area that I was lucky enough to find a hoard of Edward 1st hammered silver pennies previously with the 15″ Minelab coil. I was certain there were more coins to be found. Again, the first try out with the 15″ Coiltek NOX punching deep and very stable managed to sniff out another three hoard coins no problem and subsequently in future sessions it found many more raising the hairs on my neck several times.

The 15″ Coiltek became my go to coil for covering most situations and was to find my oldest find yet. One which took some time and expertise to identify. I had a really slow quiet days detecting with few signals of worth mainly old shotgun cartridges when I was drawn to a rocky outcrop on some hilly sheep pasture. Detecting around the base of a rock I got a large high tone and the heart began racing. Digging was tough with broken rock-strewn soil but soon appeared a green hue of an abject. On pulling it from the ground it was certainly very old heavy bronze and a peculiar man-made shape. I knew almost instantly this could be really old but what it was I had no idea.

A few pics taken with my favourite coil and I was soon off home in anticipation of what it could be and trawled books and the internet to no avail. I registered the find with the Treasure Trove Scotland finds department as is the law for most finds here and they were none the wiser as to its identification and asked if they could see it. Luckily they were visiting a local show in my area and I had a few finds to hand into them and booked an appointment. Armed with my box of treasures found using the two Coiltek coils I went along and met the two ladies. They were very pleased with what I had found and the last item out of the box was the bronze object to which one of the ladies said “wow”. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up again and seeing her excitement and joy the suspense was killing me. She started to take photos of it with her phone and I asked what she thought it was. She wasn’t totally sure and told me she was sending the pics to a colleague who was an expert in Iron and bronze age artifacts. Just then her phone rang and a frantic conversation ensued. Finally, she told me that what I had found was almost certainly an Iron age bronze mirror handle, a very rare item and something they were very keen to take for more research and to preserve to the national museum of Scotland. I was gobsmacked and couldn’t wait to tell my friends and family I’d found an item thousands of years old. The Bronze mirror handle is still with the museum at present and I’m still to hear the complete story of its history and look forward someday to see it restored and displayed for many more generations to come.

The Coiltek coils have been brilliant from day one and I look forward to many more stunning finds with them in the future.
Many thanks Jason.