Wonderful women with metal detectors

Machine translation of the original editorial information.

Treasure-hunting stories, numismatics and history from the Detektor revue archive.

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Inside this issue

1. 8 · Klipa – the numismatic ‘squaring of the circle’
2. 16 · Barrel seal versus textile weight
3. 30 · Centuries-old samurai swords

Dear readers,

The fifth issue of Detektor Revue this year reaches you at the end of autumn, which so far – thank goodness – has been kind to our searches. And we certainly still have a few lovely trips ahead of us into the colourful autumn countryside before winter, following in the footsteps of the farmers, locks us out of our sites. So I wish you undisturbed expeditions and interesting finds. I hope these stories will leave you with some wonderful treasure-hunting experiences and memories, which you can also share with the readers of Detektor revue. I trust that everyone will find something of interest in this issue of our magazine – something that might inspire your own searches, or perhaps even prompt you to submit a contribution of your own.

So what can you look forward to?

In the opening section, ‘Artefact of the Month’, under the heading ‘A Sad Reminder’, we present a unique artefact from a long-ago aeroplane crash. ‘Wonderful Women with Metal Detectors’ – that’s the title we gave to the article in which the treasure hunter ‘Detector Lady’ proves that women can be just as passionate about treasure hunting as men. The discovery of a square ducat provided Kasander with an opportunity to take a closer look at coins known as ‘klipas’, as detailed in the article ‘Klipa – the numismatic squaring of the circle’.

‘Croatian Snorkelling’ is the title of an article in which Ozzy reports on the state of metal detecting along the Adriatic coast. Articles that deal with specific finds in greater depth and with expert insight are very popular and in high demand amongst you. One such article is ‘Barrel Seal versus Textile Weight’, in which Vladimír Orlík sheds light on the debate surrounding this topic. Tomáš made the most of his ‘confinement’ in South Moravia during the strict lockdown by going on a search – and he got lucky. He provocatively titled his article In the Grip of Government Measures. This is followed by an article entitled ‘Five Images of a Single Attic’, in which Wood, based on an old diploma and a decree found in an old farmhouse, sets out to trace the fate of one individual from the Second World War. In the thirteenth instalment of our ‘Let’s Save History’ series, we continue to follow how treasure hunters are helping to preserve our archaeological heritage.

In this issue, too, lovers of bladed weapons will find something to their liking; PetkoZberatel once again presents interesting additions to his collection and their stories in the article ‘Century-old samurai swords in the fires of the Second World War’. Can you let your imagination run wild over a find and picture its story? This is another question we asked treasure hunters in your favourite poll. A Long and Arduous Journey (II) – this is how Luděk Schmidtmayer described his quest to find his dream find, a tank division badge; in this issue, we bring you the second part of his story. You can find answers to your questions regarding button finds in the regular column ‘The Button Collector’s Advice’, prepared for you by button expert and collector Ivo Tomáš.

And, of course, we cannot miss another chapter in the history of weapons produced by Czechoslovak manufacturers, compiled for you by military technology historian Jan Škarka; in this instalment, he focuses on one of the Austrian Army’s finest heavy weapons, the 15 cm Autokanon M.15. And, of course, we conclude with a short story, this time penned by Zdeněk Jarchovský, which the author has simply titled ‘At the Three Oaks’.