Highland Metal Detectorists Facebook group delighted after charity day on Black Isle site unearths 11 silver coin hoard depicting King Robert II; Scotland’s Treasure Trove Unit to assess them
Stunned metal detectorists are overjoyed after they unearthed a “dream” find - their first ever hoard - during a charity event on the Black Isle.
Around 40 to 50 members of the Facebook group, Highland Metal Detectorists, flocked to a site on the Black Isle recently for one of the three charity digs they enjoy every year.
And as well as raising hundreds of pounds for a children’s cancer charity, they were delighted when one member discovered actual treasure - a hoard of 11 silver coins which they believe date back to King Robert II, the first of Scotland's Stewart monarchs who reigned from 1371 to 1390.
The group’s Terry Kay, who is its co-administrator, said the hoard was a cherry on top of what had been a fantastic day. He said: “On the day of the dig the finds were plentiful, a few hammered coins and a beautiful annular brooch. But to bring the day to a fantastic end Ian Deveney… surprised us with our first ever hoard discovery, which consisted of 10/11 silver coins. He has since reported the hoard find to Treasure Trove in Edinburgh.”
Ian said it had originally been thought the coins might date back to King David but that once they could have a better look it appears they depict Robert II instead.
Each of the 11 coins are groats, which were worth about 4d each when minted, “which was a lot of money at the time”, he explained.
The discovery came towards the end of the day, and after he had won the top prize in the charity raffle - a metal detector.
“I’d had an OK morning finding some copper coins and musket balls. We then had our lunch break and that is where the draw for the raffle was made. I won the top prize of a metal detector! What a lucky guy I was!
“The afternoon was quiet on the fields and I wasn't getting many signals. I was thinking to myself that I had had my lucky day winning the detector and that I should be happy with my lot and call it a day.”
But then that changed in dramatic fashion,
He continued: “I took a couple more steps forward and just then got a nice sounding signal, I dug it and goodness me there was a Robert II groat looking up at me.
“I was so excited, they are beautiful coins, I took a photo and recorded its position on the field then moved forward - then there was another one then the fragment of another! It turned into a a bit of a frenzy as we were coming to the end of the dig and losing daylight.
“A couple of my friends came up and helped. At the end of the day we had 11 coins, some broken. Finding a hoard is always something you dream about and here was me with the first hoard found on a Highland Metal Detectorist dig.”
Although it was the group’s first hoard, it wasn’t the first for Ian, who has been a detectorist since 2021 and previously unearthed a smaller one featuring two Robert II coins and one David II coin.
He added that members of Treasure Trove Unit, which is based within the National Museums of Scotland in Edinburgh, were planning to come up to assess the location where the coins were found in a bid to see if there’s any additional information to be had from the local archaeological context.
Mr Kay, meanwhile, said the day had been a big success for charity too, with around £700 being raised for the Children with Cancer charity, before a further £300 was kindly added by Mr Deveney after selling off his metal detector prize.
“[He]donated the proceeds [of the detector’s sale] to our total amount of £1060, which we are very grateful for,” said Mr Kay.
He added: “The dig was well attended with over 40-50 people from all over Inverness, Caithness and Moray. We [also] had a few newcomers to detecting who were grateful for the help offered by members.”
The Facebook group was created by Mr Kay in 2014 and has gone from strength-to-strength over the past decade.
“It has now a membership of over 2017 members,” he said. “It was created for the sole purpose of promoting like minded metal detecting enthusiasts through out the Highlands and the whole of Scotland.”
“We have members from all over the world from America to Australia.”
Raffle prizes on the day of the dig were donated by Minelab Detectors, Regton’s Ltd, Crawford’s Metal Detectors and Dragon Detectors.
The event was held with the help of fellow administrators Nevyn John MacDonald and Lori and Gavin MacGregor.
