How One Metal Detector Enthusiast Stumbled Upon A Million Dollar Treasure Trove

Ever been out on a walk in the great outdoors and stumbled across an interesting find? If you’ve ever taken a glance at a history book, you’ll know that the world has been crisscrossed by empires and fallen civilizations since time immemorial. And where empires roam, wealth is sure to follow. While many of them were pillaged by the end, some left traces of their riches behind.

The story begins with the loss of a simple hammer. In 1992, late in the year, a farmer named Peter Whatling was making repairs on his property. At some point, he dropped something on the ground while digging a field. When he sat down for a rest, he found that he had misplaced his hammer.

Peter’s friend and neighbor, Eric Lawes, agreed to help. He was a retired gardener and no stranger to losing tools himself. He was glad to help a friend in need. But Eric didn’t just have an extra pair of eyes to help—he had a special tool for the job. 

Peter and Eric took the countryside armed with the metal-object-finding device. Eric slipped on his headphones and began sweeping the field where Peter last saw his hammer. Strangely, Eric picked up an incredibly strong signal from below their feet. 

Eric must have laughed at his good luck upon unearthing the first find. He dug up a spoon of solid silver. Then another. And then another. Just when he thought that was the end of it, he scanned the ground with the metal detector once again.

Eric and Peter kept digging, but a hammer did not appear. Instead, they uncovered more gold, more silver, and even a few pieces of jewelry—all ancient. The two men were puzzled and giddy in equal measure. 

A treasure hunter’s first instinct might be to keep the find secret, but Eric knew the special significance of what he had found. He also knew there was far too much for a simple gardener to excavate. Eric and Peter agreed that they had stumbled on a historic find.

Without digging up any more treasure or disturbing any more earth, Eric and Peter instead commissioned the help of the Suffolk Archeological Society. They reasoned that any further probing might potentially damage important historical artifacts.

An archeologist by the name of Jude Plouvier led the initiative. Rather than simply trying to extract more treasure right away, the team had to establish how extensive the hoard was. They searched a 98-foot radius before getting down into the dirt.

The two grocery bags worth of treasure that Eric and Peter had uncovered on Peter’s property was only a fraction of the total loot. They had been tapping the vein on the edge of a larger mass of riches. The bounty was coming from one particular place.

Within the main chest and in the smaller chests scattered around, they found more cutlery—spoons of silver, precious dining wear, and intricate trinkets. They found no small amount of coins, jewelry, or golden statues. 

This wasn’t just big news—it was the biggest Roman treasure hoard found in British history. Around 40 others had been discovered in the past, but in many instances, the findings had been immediately stolen or hidden. The pile Peter and Eric had stumbled on took the cake. 

Eric and Peter were probably satisfied knowing that they had unearthed an important archeological discovery. But for their efforts, they were given a reward. But not just a portion—they were given a cash sum equal to the whole hoard!

In 200 AD, Britain had been occupied by Roman forces for over 150 years. Cities were filled with bathhouses, aqueducts, amphitheaters, and many other kinds of architecture a citizen of Rome might expect to see in the capital itself. Although less impressive than other provinces of the empire, Roman Britain thrived.

Roman Britain came apart at the seams, and by 450 AD, anyone living on the island might well have believed that the world was coming to an end. Emperor Theodosius outlawed any religion but Christianity, which created deep conflict among the polytheistic populous.

Having been abandoned by the emperor and the empire, Roman citizens across the British isles were left to defend themselves however they could. Rather than letting the invading civilizations have their riches, many families opted to bury or hide what they had.

Raiders also came down from Scotland and across from Ireland. According to some historians, citizens in what is now England hid their valuables as insurance against future attacks. They optimistically believed that they would be able to reclaim it should the worst happen.

Though it would be impossible to return the hoard to its original owner—given that the original owners would have died over 800 years prior—historians are still pondering the origins of this great fortune. Fortunately, thanks to Eric and Peter’s find, a few clues were made available.

Juliane and Aurelius may have been the couple living in Roman Britain who owned this great fortune—or perhaps these people could have been ancestors of the people who did. This statue could have been a depiction of Lady Juliane. 

One thing is certain about the hoard—the Empire of Rome had fully pulled out of the British Isles by the time it was put deep into the ground. They found this out by looking at the size of the coins. They found them to have been “clipped,” meaning they were much smaller than earlier Roman coins. 

While historians have been able to narrow down the coin’s age by a few centuries, they ventured to narrow the dates down further. But this proved to be an unexpected challenge—in part because of the high quality of the valuables. 

Naturally, the story about a great treasure discovery caught the attention of the national media. It sparked a revitalized interest in treasure hunting via metal detectors, in part due to a publicity stunt by The Sun, which promised its readers a free metal detector for answering a historical quiz question.

Not long after the word got out, metal detecting enthusiasts from all walks of life and of all experiences materialized in the area—especially nearby the original Hoxne Hoard site, where Eric and Peter had found their first spoon.

One year after the initial find, the Suffolk Archeological Services discovered that many people had been digging their own pits in the hopes of finding valuables. In response, they set up another site, intending to oversee a second, more thorough dig.

It turned out that there was much more waiting for them in the area. The archeologists carefully brushed up 335 historical artifacts, each one a relic of the Roman empire. Amongst them, they found box fittings and more coins. 

Historians counted 29 pieces of gold jewelry in the hoard. Citizens of the Roman empire were less discerning when it came to gender and jewelry, so any of the pieces—earrings, brooches, necklaces, and bracelets—could have been worn by men or women. 

The Hoxne Hoard was declared an official “treasure trove,” which is, by definition, a hoard that is buried and dug up in the future. Officially, the finder of a treasure trove has no right to a reward, but they are traditionally given a reward of some kind for doing so.

Here’s another look at the so-called “Empress Pepper Pot,” discovered at the site and thought originally to be a bust or statue. It turned out to be a pepper shaker! Archeologists don’t limit her to peppercorns—it’s thought she could be loaded with other spices or herbs as well.

Using old maps of Roman Britain, historians determined that the hoard was not buried in a citizen’s basement or backyard. The riches were likely dragged a far distance from a family home, which was most likely a place called Scole—two miles northwest of Hoxne. 

A villa is referenced in a third-century record of roads and cities, Antonine Itinerary—drawn up under the administration of Caesar Augustus—called the Villa Faustini. Many of the spoons found at the Hoxne site had the words “Faustinus” engraved into them. 

Probably less headline-grabbing is the fact that other objects were unearthed at the Hoxne Hoard site. These included bones (animal), wood (mostly from chests), and, strangely, leather. Though the wood and leather can be explained, it is not known how animal bones got to be mixed in with the valuables.

Using X-ray fluorescence on various materials found at the site, such as glass, ceramics, and metals, the archeologists determined that many of the objects had been repaired over their lifespans. How did Roman Britons repair their broken things? Apparently, with mercury. 

Even to this day, jewelers use a variety of elements, including iron oxide—otherwise known as rust—to polish jewels. One of the artifacts found in the Hoxne Hoard contained traces of hematite, one of the other ingredients in rust rouge. 

This is perhaps the most interesting piece from the Hoard. Archeologists believe that several items went missing or were destroyed at some point in time. The appearance of this silver tigress indicates that there should have been a pitcher or vase. This would have been the handle.

As well as renewing interest in treasure hunting and metal detecting in general, the Hoxne Hoard story helped show archeologists the potential of metal detectors in the field, improving trust between the researchers and the enthusiasts. 

The discovery of the Hoxne Hoard, thanks to the media signal boost, also popularized the metal detector and the hobby of sweeping the ground for hidden trinkets. With a story like this, it’s easy to see the appeal.