Identification guides
Plain-English reference articles for UK detectorists. Tudor and Stuart hammered silver, Roman coinage, Anglo-Saxon sceattas, grading, and the Treasure Act — everything that comes up most often when we’re identifying finds.
Hammered coins
9 guidesHow to identify a Henry VIII coin
Four coinages, one king, and a famous debasement. Profile bust vs Holbein facing portrait, coppery surface vs fine silver, and how to spot the posthumous Edward VI issues.
James I vs Charles I: the facing-direction trap
Two bearded Stuart kings, same denomination, same reverse, opposite facing directions. Bust, beard, collar, legend — the four checks that separate them.
How to identify an Elizabeth I coin
A Tudor reign long enough that the initial mark dates the coin to within a couple of years. Bust, rose, shield and the long list of mintmarks explained.
Tudor monarchs: a coin-by-coin guide
From Henry VII's portrait revolution in 1504 to Elizabeth I's final issue in 1603. The Tudor century in a single reference, monarch by monarch.
Dating hammered silver from fabric alone
Anglo-Saxon, Norman, Plantagenet, Tudor, Stuart. The five-second triage that bins your find before you reach for a class number.
Edward I, II, III pennies: the broad Edwardian sequence
The longest-running coin type in English history. The 1279 reform that introduced the solid long cross, the trifoliate vs bifoliate crown, and the Brétigny treaty phases.
The Henry III long-cross penny: 1247 reform to Edward I
Henry III's 1247 reform replaced the worn Short Cross with a voided long cross extending to the rim — designed for cutting into halves and farthings.
Norman coinage: William I to Henry I and Stephen
Recoinage every two to four years, eight William I types, a fifteen-type Henry I run that ends with the dominant Type XV. Type-by-type framework for the Norman penny.
Stuart hammered silver: James I to Charles II
Sixty years, four monarchs, the union of crowns reflected in the new Stuart shield. The most prolific period of UK detector hammered finds.
Hammered gold
1 guideMilled coinage
3 guidesCharles II milled silver: 1662 and the end of hammering
1662 is the categorical boundary. Sharp circular flans, edge milling, fine portraits — and the end of three centuries of hammered English silver.
George III copper: the cartwheel and the evasion tokens
The biggest copper coin in British history, the unofficial halfpennies that look almost like the real thing, and the small-change crisis that drove both.
Victorian copper and bronze: 1838–1901
Three Victorian busts spanning 63 years, the 1860 bronze reform, and the bun penny — the single most common 19th-century UK detector find.
Roman finds
5 guidesRoman coin denominations: a UK detectorist's quick reference
Big bronze with S C, small silver with imperial bust, radiate crown, late 4th-century AE — what's actually in your finds tray and how to tell them apart.
Identifying a Roman emperor by bust style
Augustus to Honorius. The crown type narrows the century; bust style and beard pin the dynasty; legend confirms the name. The framework for placing a Roman portrait.
Roman bronze reverses: Gloria Exercitus to Salus Reipublicae
Constantinian and post-Constantinian reverses are the diagnostic when the obverse bust is generic. Seven motifs cover most UK 4th-c. AE finds.
Constantinian coinage: the most-found Roman in Britain
Constantine I and his dynasty produced the most common identifiable Roman coin in UK detector finds. Small AE3 / AE4 bronzes flood Romano-British sites.
Late Roman bronze: Valentinian to Honorius (364–410)
The final phase. Module keeps shrinking from 18 mm down to 12 mm, reverses settle into a small set, and clipping starts. The end of the Roman coin supply.
Iron Age & Celtic
1 guideAnglo-Saxon
2 guidesAnglo-Saxon sceattas: the primary and secondary series
Tiny silver coins, no king's name, abstract designs. The series-letter system explained, plus the four sceattas you're actually likely to dig.
Anglo-Saxon kings: Offa to Harold II
Offa, Alfred, Athelstan, Edgar, Æthelred II, Cnut, Edward the Confessor, Harold II. The Anglo-Saxon broad penny standard from the 8th century to 1066.
Viking-age
1 guideArtefacts
4 guidesBuckles through the ages: Roman to post-medieval
Second most common UK detector artefact after coins. The shape changes recognisably era by era; the right typology pins the date within decades.
Anglo-Saxon and medieval strap-ends
Tongue-shaped or rectangular, animal-head terminal or plain — strap-ends date tightly to a 50-year window once you know the typology.
Brooches by period: Roman fibulae to medieval ring brooches
Most common Roman artefact UK detectorists find. Trumpet, headstud, crossbow, plate — then Saxon disc, then medieval ring brooches.
Tokens and jettons: not coins, but worth identifying
Private trade-token issues 1648–72, Nuremberg counting jettons, modern lookalikes. The non-coin discs that fill detector finds bags.
Practical guides
5 guidesThe most common UK detector find misidentifications
Every detectorist has called the same Roman coin three different things by Tuesday. The confusion clusters that catch people out, and how each one resolves.
UK coin grading: Poor to Uncirculated, with hammered caveats
Grading drives valuation by an order of magnitude. The Spink/Noonans scale demystified, and why hammered coins are graded on what's there — not what's missing.
What to do with a coin you can't identify
Don't scrub it. The step-by-step process detectorists use to take a mystery find from 'no idea' to a confident attribution.
How to photograph a find for accurate identification
Good photos halve the identification time. Where to stand, what to put next to the coin, and the mistakes everyone makes on their first dozen attempts.
Cleaning and preserving finds: what NOT to do
Rinse with cold water. Pat dry. Stop. The five forbidden cleaning techniques, the inert storage options, and when to call a conservator.
Legal & reporting
1 guideGot a find you can’t place?
Snap a photo, add what you measured, and let DetectID work through it. Five free identifications per month and no credit card to start.
Identify a find