David seals another treasured moment

IT'S typical, you wait decades for a hugely significant archaeological discovery, and then two come along at once.

• David Booth holds up a medieval seal matrix that he found in a Stirlingshire field. It is decorated with a stone carving dating back to Roman times. Picture: Andrew Milligan

David Booth, 35, has barely had time to wipe the dirt from his spade after digging up four 2,000-year-old gold neckbands or "torcs", last September.

But yesterday, he was announcing another valuable find - this time a well-preserved 800-year-old silver antique seal. It is decorated with a small stone carving or "intaglio" which is even older, dating back to Roman times. Altogether it is worth several thousand pounds.

The metal-detecting enthusiast has contacted the Treasure Trove Unit, at the National Museums of Scotland, which will inspect the seal.

The torcs have been described as one of the most important hoards of Iron Age Britain, and Mr Booth is equally hopefully for his new find, which was found near Stirling, although he has been asked not to say exactly where by the landowner.

The father-of-one said: "They (at the Treasure Trove Unit) said it looks like a lovely find, that it's in lovely condition and they are looking forward to getting it in to have a look at it.

"I was really excited when I found it - I thought it looked a bit special. I was probably more excited than when I found the torcs, to be honest."

The inch-long, oval-shaped medieval seal matrix features a circular inscription - probably the owner's name - around a carving of a Roman figure in red jasper.

The seal has a hook at the back and Mr Booth said it would probably have hung from the neck when not being used to stamp letters.

The stone is likely to have been recycled from a Roman ring and may date back to the late first century. Mr Booth, chief warden at Blair Drummond Safari Park, actually thought he had come across some lead when he started digging.

He said: "I'd done a bit of research, examining maps and things, and got permission to go to a particular field. I got away from work a bit early on Saturday and thought I'd go there for an hour or so.

"I found some medieval coins and a few nice Tudor buckles and I wasn't expecting much else. The seventh signal I got was a good one but lead also gives off a good signal. I got out my spade and found the seal about six inches down.

I went home and tried to get my partner excited about it, she thinks metal detecting is a bit dorky."

Under Scots law, the Crown can claim any archaeological objects found in Scotland, with no ownership rights for finders who must report any objects to the Treasure Trove unit.

Mr Booth may be given a reward equal to the value of the jewellery and the seal, although he says he is yet to receive anything for the torcs, which were believed to be worth anything from 100,000 to 1 million.

A spokeswoman for the National Museums of Scotland said: "David Booth has contacted the Treasure Trove Unit indicating that he has made a further archaeological find. He intends to submit the find to the TT Unit for assessment."

. . if you thought that was lucky, 52,000 Roman coins found

DAVID Booth isn't the only one to strike it lucky.

Another metal-detecting enthusiast made one of the largest finds of Roman coins in Britain, it was revealed yesterday.

The hoard of about 52,000 coins dating from the third century AD was found buried in a field near Frome in Somerset. The coins were found in a huge jar just over a foot below the surface by Dave Crisp from Devizes in Wiltshire.

He told how his detector gave a "funny signal", prompting him to dig down through the soil.

"I put my hand in, pulled out a bit of clay and there was a little Radial, a little bronze Roman coin," he said.

"Very, very small, about the size of my fingernail. I have made many finds over the years, but this is my first major coin hoard."

Since the find in late April experts from the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) at the British Museum have been sifting through the coins.

They believe the stash was intended as some sort of religious offering, rather than storage for later use.

A selection from the find is on display at the British Museum. The story of the excavation will be told next month in a new BBC Two series, Digging for Britain.z