ENDORSEMENT BY JULIAN EVAN-HART
Its not often something innovative and fresh appears, often derived from existing foundations no doubt, but nonetheless something that also amounts to a very good idea :- and that is this new website!!!! Offering a discount to all concerned in the buying and selling of coins and artefacts etc. This website poses little threat to the established trade but I am sure will grow and will serve as a friendly efficient method and choice for all parties to sell and buy their unwanted or duplicated sections of their collections, or perhaps just single one off items. It should be of particular interest to detectorists who wishing to sell from or buy for their collections may not often be able to find the appropriate markets or do not wish to be subject to Dealer prices or Auction costs.
Any items offered for sale on this site i.e. coinage from a specified hoard or artefacts over 300 years old with more than 10% precious metal content must be accompanied by the relevant 1996 Treasure Act documentation (or legal copies of) with disclaimer from the relevant Government department. Other objects / coins from overseas or other regions or countries of origin must be accompanied by the required statutory official paperwork. For overseas purchasers I would recommend familiarisation with the relevant Export sections of the above mentioned Act before purchasing any item to avoid unnecessary disappointment later.
This is a niche that I have personally felt has taken some time to fill, in fact I was thinking of doing something similar, but Dean beat me to it and best of luck to him and all of you who I am sure will go on to utilise this excellent service. It is a pleasure to be asked to endorse this website in its early stages and from my own personal and individual opinion I do, but must make clear that this endorsement is made of an entirely voluntary nature, without any legal obligation or responsibility to any persons now or in the future from any matters whatsoever arising in connection with using this facility.
Julian Evan-Hart
Julian Evan-Hart
I was born in the small Hertfordshire village of Ayot St Lawrence in 1962. From here my family moved to another small village in Herts. called Weston and it was here that my fascination with history, wildlife, aviation and archaeology really grew. Even as a small boy I was ever curious:- checking rock pools when on holiday, collecting fossils from quarries and skulls of animals from local hedgerows. Aged 7 I would visit a local Roman Villa site and collect bags of grey ware pottery shards in the belief I would one day re-build a complete pot…I never did. Then in the 1970`s I heard about detecting, a friend of the family had one which they said I could borrow but this never materialised, so it was about 1980 when I first owned such a gadget. I did not find much apart from shotgun tips and Victorian pennies, but I was sure hooked. My twenties also saw me becoming involved in aviation archaeology and being involved in several major excavations all over the UK. It was not until the late 1990`s that enjoying all these hobbies I considered writing about them. Firstly I began writing for a metal detecting magazine, and then I was asked by them to help write a book which was later published titled The Beginners Guide to Metal Detecting. As the writing thing became more prolific I began to be asked to do talks to local societies on a wide range of subjects from aviation archaeology to experiences of metal detecting abroad. These in turn resulted in me being asked to locate a crashed Zeppelin site which would be worthy of excavation. This I managed to do choosing the crash site of Zeppelin L48 in Theberton Suffolk which later became the subject of a BBC Timewatch programme. The efforts and experiences of the group who completed this Zeppelin have just been published as a book titled “In search of the Zeppelin War-the Archaeology of the First Blitz. I am also in process of doing a county by county series of aviation books called the “War Torn Skies” series. War Torn Skies Hertfordshire was published last year and Cambridgeshire is due out in May 2008. I have also translated a book from a French author concerning the famous Amiens Raid, in preparation for being published in the UK at a later date. I also have the honour of working with several eminent archaeologists concerning World War One modern conflict archaeology which has led to me being invited to Jordan twice to search on Ottoman army sites. The finds have been prolific and ground breaking and confirm the incredible importance of the metal detector in modern day research. I belong to a loosely knit group of Metal Detectorists who call themselves “The Pastfinders” wherever possible I always promote the hobby of metal detecting, personally I believe its one of the most incredible past-times. It derives from World War Two mine detectors and assisted by today’s incredible technology in just some 60 years has developed into a science that can reach back to the dawn of mankind’s involvement with metals……….unbeatable!!!!!!
Julian Evan-Hart February 2008