“It takes a bit of luck”
With his shovel, his satchel and his detector, indispensable to locate metal objects buried in the earth, Matthew prospects. He crosses strips of land and removes a multitude of objects from these areas.
From rusty nail to shrapnel, bottle caps and empty metal packaging, the harvest is successful. Not juicy.
“It takes a bit of luck”. And the authorization of the owner of the land. “I always ask for it. And the minimum is to fill the holes that are digging to get the object. I keep everything. This helps to clean up the terrain . By following this “code”, Matthieu wipes only a few refusals.
“The majority of homeowners agree. For them, more often than not, an old room is an old room .
Our prospector generally practices on vegetable land.
“State forests or D-Day beaches, for example, are prohibited from detection. I do that in the cultivated fields. The strips of land are released regularly. Fields have often been used as a spillway. We worked there on foot at the time. Things were falling from the pockets .
And he fills his own. But the ratio of object to waste is very unbalanced.
Never be confused.
If he only listened to the sound of his detector, Matthieu exonerated tons of waste.
“It’s random, but it sounds every 50 centimeters if the ground is very polluted” . Equipped with a headset, to better differentiate sounds that indicate a first information on the object, Matthew reads on the housing of his detector conductance values that specify the value of the detected object. The higher it is, the more it is worth digging.
“Below 40, it’s usually horseshoe nails. My detector can find an object buried up to twenty centimeters deep . “
Whether he raises a franc cent – “save it empty-handed” – or a Roman coin, Matthew is satisfied.
“It’s always exciting to find an object that has lived. Clean it thoroughly to reveal the details. To be able to identify it, which sometimes takes time. For many, it’s a simple piece of metal. But as soon as we can put a name on it, a date … “
Some well identified objects find the family of their owner. Matthew does it if he can. Others know a different destiny.
“My most beautiful find is a silver ring topped with a colored glass. I gave it to my mother .
Coins, buttons, religious medals, military badges … “His” treasures
Some coins have a market value. But our man is far from freeing a plump sum. “When I find an old piece, I look at its side. But anyway, I will not sell what I found .
For Matthieu Bonamy, the real wealth offered by his hunting parties lies in the research and identification of ancient objects.
“In the case of currencies, it allows to see their evolution. For example, “Work, family, country” is only read on the francs minted under the Vichy regime .
Matthew keeps the best kept coins in a box. Classified by era, he searched their history and is incollable.
“The two oldest are a sesterce and a Roman silver denarius of Faustine Mother (150 AD). I hope to one day find a beautiful gold coin, “he exclaims.
Other pieces, more “contemporary” end up in his little kitty.
It is common to find buttons. “From Napoleonic regiment, the two world wars of the XVII th … There are also loops British military belts, German … Or” eight “of the Middle Ages. Of course, there is ammunition and shrapnel, which is why the D-Day beaches are forbidden for detection ” .
“Not all prospectors are looters”
It is these testimonies of the past that motivate Matthieu Bonamy to dig. Not the lure of gain. “You can not bring back an object from the Bronze Age. It is forbidden to practice detection for archaeological purposes. If you discover a depot (for example a chest filled with coins), you must declare it to the department’s archaeology department ” .
There is a market for art and old objects that could motivate the use of a metal detector.
“Not all prospectors are looters. Some archaeological sites are also revealed thanks to the prospectors. There are more and more people to practice. From Caen, Bayeux, Banville … ” Like him, many of them” contract the virus “.
He finds (really) everything!
Discrimination
The first detections of Matthieu Bonamy have given him some nice surprises. They end up in the bottom of a trash bag or dump.
“Because the territory of Bessin is rich in history requires to be able to determine the value of an object” . For some things, discrimination is obvious. “My most worthless finds? Aluminum condom packaging! Follow packets of compotes and other bottles of alcohol. From the absynthe for the oldest that I have found ” . An “explosive” liquid.
“One day, on the Dieppe side, I found a grenade from the First World War. I immediately called the gendarmes. “Coins, buttons, religious medals, military badges …” His “treasures Some pieces have a market value. But our man is far from freeing a sum rondelet.
How It Works?The Principle
A metal detector can locate metal objects by exploiting the physical phenomenon of magnetic induction.
The prospector sweeps the surface of the ground with the detector disk, fixed at the end of a handle.
It produces current that generates a magnetic field. When a metallic object passes into this magnetic field, it in turn generates a magnetic field. The device then starts to ring, indicating the presence of a conductive object in the ground.
It analyzes the signal and can emit different sounds depending on the nature of the object. With experience, the prospector knows if it’s worth digging.
The detectors are equipped with a box displaying values (from 0 to 100) on a screen that depend on the type of metal.
This allows you to quickly differentiate objects. A detector can be “programmed” to ring only on objects targeted by the prospector.
A framed practice. To limit damage to the archaeological and historical heritage, the use of metal detectors is regulated by the heritage code.
It is therefore necessary to refer to it if one wishes to practice the detection.
Coins, buttons, religious medals, military badges …
Selected pieces: “his” treasures
Some coins have a market value. But our man is far from freeing a plump sum.
“When I find an old piece, I look at its side. But anyway, I will not sell what I found.
For Matthieu Bonamy, the real wealth offered by his hunting parties lies in the research and identification of ancient objects. “In the case of currencies, it allows to see their evolution. For example, “Work, family, country” is only read on the francs minted under the Vichy regime.
Over here the currency
Matthew keeps the best kept coins in a box. Classified by era, he searched their history and is incollable. “The two oldest are a sesterce and a Roman silver denarius of Faustine Mother (150 BC). I hope to one day find a beautiful gold coin, “he exclaims. Other pieces, more “contemporary” end up in his little kitty. It is common to find buttons. “Napoleonic regiment, two world wars, the seventeenth … There are also buckles of military belts English, German … Or in” eight “of the Middle Ages. Of course, there is ammunition and shrapnel, which is why the D-Day beaches are forbidden for detection. “
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