AMATEUR TREASURE HUNTER DISCOVERS 1800 ROMAN ARTIFACT ON A SITE WHERE HE HAD FOUND SOME COINS 1 YEAR AGO

Many of us as a kid loved to hear about the buried, lost, and hidden treasures. And by the time we grew up, we accepted that those stories were nothing more than just fictitious tales. But many people still believe in these stories and take treasure hunting as something to pursue.

Jason Massey was an amateur treasure hunter and was determined to find something big one day. This guy was a part of a search group that was known for finding ancient artifacts, but when he joined the group he might have not thought that one day he would stumble across an artifact that would completely change his life.

Myths And Legends

There have been many myths about treasures being buried in odd places and there is no assurance of these myths being true. But these cases become more interesting when some amateur treasure hunter picks up his tools, believes in the myths and gathers his buddies to accompany him on an unwanted adventure.

A Hobby

Some people have found their hobby in treasure hunting. But usually, their findings are not taken seriously by anyone and especially the archaeologists who consider them a joke. But Jason Massey was not a person who was to be taken lightly.

Jason Massey

Jason Massey is a hobbyist treasure hunter and also a part of a group called ‘Detecting for Veterans’. The group consists of various people who find ancient treasure hunting as adventurous. The group is known for finding precious artifacts and proving those archaeologists wrong who think that treasure hunting as a hobby isn’t a professional enough.

Profession

Jason Massey is a pest control officer who resides in the United Kingdom. But being a pest control officer is what he does for his livelihood but the thing he loves the most is finding hidden and buried treasures. But who would have thought that his love for treasures would take him to the most unexpected place?

Detecting For Veterans

Jason Massey is no stranger to the cameras and it is solely because of his group ‘Detecting for Veterans’. The group is known for some of the amazing and mysterious artifacts that they had discovered. But even Massey wouldn’t have thought that he would end up with the discovery of his life while returning to an old site.

Kevin Minto

Massey is always accompanied by his comrade Kevin Minto on his quest for hidden treasures. Their group is filled with adventure junkies like Massey and Minto but Massey always likes Minto to accompany him on adventurous trips.

A Detectorist

Kevin Minto who is one of the team’s detectorists was alongside Massey when a year ago they discovered an unexpected treasure. “I hit two Roman coins, then one to the left, right and above…then 18 and within 20 mins we were in the 50s,” said Minto.

Findings

The coins were not the only thing that this group found a year ago. It was just one of the things that Massey’s group had found.  Apart from that ancient Roman hoard, The group also discovered a rare Roman lead coffin.

Revisiting

Now it was time to go back to the same site a year later to find out what other treasures remain buried underground. They believed that the sites had many other things hidden beneath that ground, something of huge relevance, something important, something bigger.

Confusion All-Around

Massey was quite confused when they stopped after finding such a huge amount of treasure under that ground. He wanted everyone in his group to consider the fact that beneath that ground might be something that would be worth a fortune.

Persuading Everyone

Massey had to first get his friend Minto ready and excited to search for more on that ground. Once, he got Minto ready it was easy to get the rest of the crew ready and excited. It wasn’t an easy task for him but he trusted his gut feeling that something is hidden in that place.

Elated

Once he got the whole crew ready and rolling, Massey was one of the happiest people to go to the site and start excavation and find some other artifacts. One of Massey’s tweet was:

“Only 3 weeks to go until we return to the farm we found a Roman Hoard and Rare Roman lead coffin.”

Roman Lead Coffin

Yes, you heard it right!

They found an ancient Roman Lead coffin. And this was one of the things that were attracting Jason to that site. The fact that the detectorists had found several Roman coins and rings made Massey restless to visit that site again and find other artifacts.

Crew Onboard!

Meanwhile, every one of that crew got on board on the idea of revisiting the old site and soon the excavation process started again. Each and everyone was enthusiastic about the adventure that was to follow this process.

Tick! Tick! Tick!

But with every passing hour, their spirits starting giving up. And soon by evening, almost everyone’s spirit gave up. But Massey was still not convinced by the fact that there was nothing more beneath this land.

Half Crew Gone

The next day many of the crew did not arrive at the excavation spot. On seeing this sight Massey was depressed, but he was still not ready to give up. There is a saying that “Perseverance Pays”, but the real question was whether it was going to come true in this situation.

Give Up!

That afternoon Massey was walking all across the field with a metal detector in his hand. Almost everyone in the crew had given up and Massey was also ready to give up when his friend Minto suggested that they should extend their search for some time.

Extended Search

When Minto convinced Massey that there was still some artifacts that were yet to be found beneath their feet is when Massey picked up the metal detector and started walking in the field. Was his friend right or was he just consoling him?

Search Continues

After that point, Massey again started searching for the whole area. He was searching for the whole area of Crewkerne with newfound hope and great enthusiasm. But was his enthusiasm and hope going to be short-lived or was he going to find something?

Beep!

Then came a point where Massey was sure that Minto was wrong and was about to give up and while he was walking away, he heard something. He was pretty sure of the fact that it was the sound of the metal detector.

An Unexpected Sound

He was astonished after hearing that device beep because he was sure that he had crossed that place at least once with that detector in his hand. But did that sound mean that he and Minto were right? Did it mean that there was something buried beneath their feet?

What Is It?

Massey’s metal detector was beeping uncontrollably, it meant that there was something buried there but they weren’t sure what was it. This could be an artifact but it could also be some normal shred of metal or something insignificant.

Astonished

Massey and Minto kept their fingers crossed while they were digging the spot where the detector started beeping. Layer after layer everyone started getting anxious and curious. And when they found out what was causing the detector to beep, they were all astonished.

Expectations

When the digging started all that Massey and Minto expected was a piece of metal or two or maybe some ancient coins. But no one at that location, even in their wildest dreams would have thought that they are going to end up with the discovery of their life.

An Artifact?

But when they unearthed the thing that was the reason because of which the detector was beeping they were all shocked. They were hoping to end up with some ancient artifact and they ended up with the same.

A Ring?

The thing that they ended up with was jaw-dropping!

They found some strange form of jewelry. It looked a lot like a ring and that was no big deal for the group but the secrets that were related to it made it more interesting than it already was.

Everybody Gather

At once after he unearthed the ring, he immediately called for every team member that was present there. At once every colleague of his gathered at the place where he had found the jewelry. But no one was certain what value it had.

Gold Made

There was one thing on which every member of the crew agreed on and that was the fact that the ornament was made from gold. The way it was shining, it had to be gold. But no one was sure about what that ornament was and what was its relevance.

What’s Wrong?

Everyone present there could figure out that there was something wrong about that ring, but no one was able to figure out what. They were still not able to figure out what that ring represented and they were about to be surprised.

Idea!

Jason could not think of anything and suddenly something crossed his mind. He contacted an archaeologist and upon receiving the description of the findings the archaeologist’s curiosity in further studying the artifact reached its peak.

Expert’s View

The archaeologist and Massey did not even think that the results of their findings were going to leave them astonished. They both did not have any idea that a small piece of ornament that was found accidentally was going to give them the surprise of their life.

Further Investigation

The archaeologist then took the ring for further investigation. The results that the archaeologists reported to Massey were jaw-dropping. He informed Massey that this could be the finding of his life. Massey got to know that the ring he had found could end up in a museum.

Revelation

On receiving this news Massey was elated as well as shocked. What was about this ring that it was going to end up in a museum?

And the answer that Massey received was not the one he had expected.

A Special Ring

The archaeologists informed Massey that this was no ordinary ring. The ring that Massey had found might belong to someone of very high status in Rome. To be precise the ring had all the characteristics that only a person of high status would wear in ancient Rome.

The Owner

The ring did not only belong to someone of very high status, but it also belonged to a person who had played a vital role in the Roman empire’s history. And when Massey got to know this part, he was left speechless.

An Investigation Committee

As soon as the relevance of the ring was known to everyone, a committee was appointed to further investigate the case of Massey and that ring. Massey was excited to know that his findings were no more an ancient artifact, instead, it was becoming a national heritage.

More Surprises

But the surprises did not come to an end here. There was a story that was to be uncovered yet. The place where Massey had first found the hoard and now the ring was not an ordinary place but a place where once a  “very high-status Roman villa” stood.

High Profile Ring

The ring which is supposed to belong to someone who held a very high status in the Roman empire is now taken care of by the authorities and the experts in London. The ring is now in the hands of the officials of the British Museum.

Several Secrets

.

Even after numerous secrets have been revealed about that ring, several secrets remain hidden concerning the ownership and the identity of the person to whom this ring belonged and its significance and these mysteries are expected to be solved soon.

Real Value

One of the major information that has been deciphered by the experts about the ring is that the ring was probably made between 200 to 300 A.D and that too for someone important. But Massey was determined to find out the real value of his findings.

A Veteran

Jason Massey was a part of the British armed forces at the end of the 20th century. Massey always had a knack for finding out things and he was always interested in myths and legends about the lost or hidden treasures.

A Search Group

The curiosity he had for the lost and hidden items and artifacts made him join the group “Detecting for Veterans”, a group whose main target was to find out hidden and buried lost treasures and things and this is what inspired Massey to start searching for things in his free time.

Ancient Roman Villa

The fact that the place where Massey found out that ring was a place where ancient Roman villa stood was unknown to Massey at first. And even when he did not know that the place held major importance in Rome’s history he was still able to excavate so many artifacts from that place.

Monetary Value

Now the thing that was eating up Massey was the worth of that ring.

Massey was desperate to find out its monetary value but this was not going to be an easy task. But Massey was known for taking up an easy task or for not giving up easily.

A Tough Task

This job of finding the real value of the ring was going to be a tough job. And the main reason behind all it was the fact that there is no precedent of such a finding in the UK.

‘We have no idea how much the ring is worth – there is nothing like it in the UK,’ Massey said.

Profits

Massey will most probably share 50 % of the profits generated by that ancient ring with the lucky landowner who owned that place where the ring was found. And now both of them are waiting so that its exact value is determined by the British Museum.

Roman Artifacts

Detecting for Veterans is a search group that continues to find artifacts and various other precious items that date back to Roman times. The group has found more than 60 Roman coins, most of which are silver but some of which are gold and bronze.

Bronze, Silver, Gold

The ring had each and everyone astonished because it was made of gold and that was the reason Massey was so surprised to find it. Silver and bronze have been found many times by the group but gold findings are really rare because gold in that era was extremely rare and was owned by extremely rich people.

Engravings

The archaeologists started studying what is engraved on that ring. And the results were quite interesting too. According to the archaeologists, the ring depicts a chariot being pulled by the horses and the rider is touted to be the Roman goddess of Victory.

Retirement?

Most of us would assume that after finding such an important piece of an artifact that has become a national heritage, Jason Massey would like to retire from treasure hunting and be remembered for this ring being his legacy but we all are wrong.

A Hero

It seems like finding such an important artifact has made him more optimistic and ambitious and he is more excited than ever to find something as important as the ring pretty soon. It seems that after all Massey proved all the people who think that hobbyist treasure finders are not to be taken seriously wrong.