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Prince Charles criticised over metal detector beach charging plan

Prince Charles criticised over metal detector beach charging plan

Prince Charles's plan to charge metal detectorists £60 to sweep on Duchy of Cornwall beaches has been attacked. Photograph: Chris Jackson/AFP/Getty Images

Plans by Prince Charles to charge people for using metal detectors on beaches owned by his Duchy of Cornwall have been criticised by enthusiasts as cynical profiteering.

Metal detectorists will be expected to pay £60 for a permit to sweep on the foreshore of any duchy beach, despite being allowed to pursue their hobby for free on foreshores owned by the Crown Estate elsewhere in the UK.

The Duchy of Cornwall owns most foreshores – the area of beach between low and high tide water marks – in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, and has previously not permitted metal detecting.

The estate said the £60 would pay for an annual permit, but families on a two-week break could purchase a special discounted £20 permit for their stay.

Mick Turrell, who runs a metal detector business, said it was either a "cynical money-making exercise", or the prince, who studied archaeology at Cambridge and is patron of the Council of British Archeology, "must really hate metal detectorists".

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Seeking Lost Treasure After 94 Years

Rudolf Kavchik showing some old coins that he dug up while treasure-hunting with his Australian-made metal detector. By law, three-fourths of his findings belong to the Russian government.

Rudolf Kavchik showing some old coins that he dug up while treasure-hunting with his Australian-made metal detector. By law, three-fourths of his findings belong to the Russian government.

It’s been nearly 100 years since a jewel case containing family and imperial jewelry crashed through the ice to the bottom of Lake Baikal. The last hands it touched before disappearing into the watery depths were those of a Russian woman who was fleeing the country to save her life.

The year was 1917. The Bolsheviks had seized power, and White Russians were forced to move out of their homes or face execution.

Vadim and Zinaida Smit had no hope of staying in the country. Vadim was railway minister for the east-west Siberian route and a personal friend of Tsar Nicholas II, and Zinaida was the godchild of the queen mother.

With little time to think, they packed up whatever they could and fled St. Petersburg to China, from which they would catch a boat to Europe. They traveled by any means and walked when no transportation was available. They trudged through the Siberian snow and ice, losing their belongings in their haste to get to safety.



Read more: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/seeking-lost-treasure-after-94-years/447173.html#no#ixzz1cxtk0nbj
The Moscow Times
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Silver ring found in Sleaford declared treasure

Medieval ring found by teenagers in Lincolnshire

The ring, which bears the initials IS, is thought to be hundreds of years old

A ring found in a farmer's field in Lincolnshire by a boy using a metal detector has been declared as treasure.

Philip Ingram-Jannetta, 15, of Leasingham, Sleaford, was with a friend when he came across the silver-gilt finger-ring, believed to date from the late 16th or early 17th Century.

The ring is thought to have belonged to a member of the Shaw family, who were wealthy landowners in the county.

The Collection Museum in Lincoln has expressed an interest in buying it.

Lincoln district coroner Stuart Fisher declared the ring as treasure. It is currently being valued.

At an inquest hearing, Philip, who attends St George's College, said he found the ring three inches below the surface in the middle of the Sleaford field.

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Metal detector fan Darren Webster finds Viking hoard

The Viking silver

A metal detector enthusiast has found a major hoard of Viking silver in a field on the Cumbria-Lancashire border.

Darren Webster, from Carnforth, uncovered more than 200 silver pieces including ornate bracelets, coins and ingots in a lead pot.

He said he had searched the same undisclosed location several times before and found nothing.

The silver is now with experts at the British Museum, who described the find as "of national significance".

They will reveal their findings at the end of the year.


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