Current Recommendations for Aura Photography of Buried Metals

A Canon EOS 350D (Rebel XT) DSLR camera or EOS 400D (Rebel XTI). Used cameras can be obtained quite cheaply.

A Canon Zoom 18-55mm EF-S ‘kit’ lens (normally supplied with camera). Set the focal length 24mm or above as low settings tend to cause a reflection of the lens to appear in the photographs.

A Cokin square filter holder, P series with adapter ring to fit lens (58mm diameter).

A Cokin P007 720nm Infrared filter. Cokin now only manufacture a round IR filter, which will only work in its own slot next to the lens on strong targets. To use this filter with the kit lens on small targets it is necessary to carefully cut or file two small flats on opposite sides of the filter ring so it will slide into the square slots in the holder.

Mount the holder onto the lens and fit the filter in the centre slot of the three square filter slots in the holder (the slot nearest the lens is for a round filter). Set the camera on automatic, no flash (that’s the selector turned fully clockwise). Let the camera autofocus through the filter. All other camera settings should be on automatic/default.

For best results the air temperature needs to be above 50 degrees F / 10 degrees C. Shoot in daylight at right angles to or away from the Sun although the Sun does not need to be shining.

Good results can be obtained with the camera hand-held but marginally better results might be achieved on small targets by mounting the camera on a tripod/stand.

The viewfinder must be kept covered either by the photographer’s eye (hand held) or a black cover if tripod mounted.

Strong auras can be seen on the camera’s backscreen but for weaker auras post process the images with Canon’s Arcsoft Photostudio (5.5) using the enhance facility.

Please note: Canon have upgraded their sensor a number of times and Canon cameras other than the two above may not work in the same way or at all for aura photography.

Also the internal IR blocking filter must not be removed.

The macro lens is optional for small targets or long distance but Sigma 105mm is the recommended macro – most others have not been tested.

There are Free videos here:

Finding Buried Treasure with Digital Cameras:

Filter and camera setup for photographing treasure auras:

Part 1 Photographing Infrared Pictures over buried Silver coins:

Part 2 Photographing Infrared Pictures over Silver coins:

The Successful Treasure Hunter’s Secret Manual is available in print (softcover) on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/3SCtchK

Or Kindle or Hardcover here: https://amzn.to/4fxtSig

Or most digital formats here (epub mobi pdf rtf lrf pdb txt): 

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/126811

Or most popular E-readers here: https://books2read.com/u/baELrv

More Treasures Found

 Coins worth up to $290,000 found under kitchen floorboards in England

Miners find 500-year-old shipwreck filled with gold coins in Namibian desert

Buried treasure from 17th-century Spanish shipwreck uncovered in the Bahamas

Treasure Reports

 RESEARCHERS FIND PREHISTORIC GRAVE CONTAINING 169 GOLD RINGS

https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/08/researchers-find-prehistoric-grave-containing-169-gold-rings/144425

One of the most exciting archaeological finds in the history of Irish art was unearthed on Tipperary's Derrynaflan Island by a man and his son using metal detectors.

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20220731-irelands-priceless-treasure-hidden-by-monks

Billionaire Explorer Reveals Lost Treasures of the Wonder Ship

https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/wonder-ship-0017088

Revising the definition of treasure in the Treasure Act 1996 and revising the related codes of practice

Hoard of Iron Age gold Staters

The UK Government Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, which is ultimately responsible for the Treasure Act and Code of Practice, has produced a consultation document outlining proposed changes.  While much of the proposals are little more than housekeeping there are some material changes that are of some concern.

At present, treasure is defined, under the Act, as any object other than a coin, at least 300 years old when found, which has a metallic content, of which at least 10% by weight is gold or silver. And all coins that contain at least 10% by weight of gold or silver that come from the same find consisting of at least two coins, at least 300 years old. And all coins that contain less than 10% by weight gold or silver that come from the same find consisting of at least ten coins at least 300 years old. And any associated objects (e.g. a pot or other container), except unworked natural objects, found in the same place as treasure objects. And any objects or coin hoards less than 300 years old, made substantially of gold and silver that have been deliberately hidden with the intention of recovery and for which the owner is unknown. From 1 January 2003 the definition of treasure was extended on prehistoric (i.e. up to the end of the Iron Age) finds to include all multiple artifacts, made of any metal, found together and single artifacts deliberately containing any quantity of precious metal.

It is now proposed to add:

·         Any found object over 200 years old with a value over £10,000

·         All single gold coins dated between 43 and 1344

·         Two or more base metal objects of Roman date believed to have been intentionally buried together

There is also a proposal to impose a legal duty on the acquirer of a possible treasure find to report it and to impose a presumption that acquired treasure finds were found after the Treasure Act. This is fraught with difficulties. Under the Treasure Act rewards are split equally between finder and landowner (unless there is a different agreement in place) so will private acquirers report potential treasure if they stand to lose half its value if it is declared treasure? Potential treasure items were being found for 25 years before the Treasure Act, so assuming half of today’s find rate, that amounts to some 12,000 exempt treasures somewhere, many probably in inherited collections. The presumption of found since the Treasure Act seems contrary to English Law – innocent until proven guilty. Does the acquirer take the seller’s word for when the item was found? It is often impossible to PROVE when and where an item was found. Surely it is up to the State to prove it was found after the Treasure Act. The findspot is held up to be vitally important but in these cases, it is likely to be erroneous or completely lacking, so what is the point?

Piggyback Cameras

Paul, from Australia, told me (and sent photos) of how he had mounted an Olympus D-360L camera onto the Canon 350d and can now take accurately pointed photos using the Olympus camera's view finder. This idea is working very well, also the Olympus is very useful being able to take a normal photo of the target area at the same time as the photo being taken by the Canon. You can actually see the area clearly that you were looking at which is rarely the case with the Cannon infrared image. Ideally you would hope to get the small orb auras, without a filter, on the Olympus to confirm the auras on the Canon although there is a small snag here in that the Canon seems to work best in the early afternoon while the Olympus seems to prefer low light conditions at dawn or dusk, like the Polaroid. Nevertheless it is a good idea worth pursuing and having a normal image in tandem with the IR image is useful, although that could be achieved with any compact, with a viewfinder, similarly mounted. Bear in mind that the lens on the Olympus is offset so the Olympus needs to be skewed slightly to capture the same view as the Canon. Stand mounting the set-up would be preferable.

Phot-R 1/4"-20 Aluminium Dual Nuts Tripod Mount Screw to Flash Digital Camera Hot Shoe Adapter

This is the adapter I used in the set up, they come with one or two nuts; although I prefer the two nut version as it holds everything more securely. The Canon’s pop-up flash is deactivated by fitting the mount, in case anyone was wondering.

Treasure Hunting for Profit: With and Without a Metal Detector

BOOK DESCRIPTION
If your dreams of finding treasure result in next to nothing, then this book is for you. David Villanueva draws on his 40 plus years experience to show you how and where to find, and profit from, many types of lost or hidden valuables in Britain, all year round. Treasure hunting is one of the few hobbies that can actually cost you nothing to take part but potentially bring you a fortune. Terry Herbert, the finder of the Staffordshire Saxon hoard received over 1.5 million pounds for basically a few hours enjoyable work with an old metal detector he bought for pocket change. But money is not the only reward; this fascinating pursuit breathes life into history and archaeology and offers healthy exercise to boot.
This book shows you how and where in Britain you can profitably:

• Use a metal detector
• Beachcomb for lost valuables
• Find Gold, Minerals, Gemstones & Meteorites
• Search for Fossils
• Hunt for treasure in innumerable places

If you dream of finding buried treasure, improving your finds rate or exploring new avenues for fun and profit… You can get the E-book and printed book from the SHOP at www.truetreasurebooks.net (Also available on Amazon, ebay, Smashwords and other online and offline retailers).
Please note: Most of the locations and contacts given in the book are based in the UK so if you live outside of the UK and are not planning a treasure hunting trip to Britain, then you will need to do some local research to get the best out of the book. Nevertheless I hope you all enjoy it and I always appreciate feedback– good bad or indifferent – it helps me be a better writer.

In Search of King John’s Treasure (Part 2)

The only field that produced a good aura was the same field that had given the curious orbs with the camera on the AV setting. While not the recommended setting, it does indicate that other camera settings work – perhaps as good or better. We had photographed the field from different points on adjacent sides of the field and obtained auras in the same place from both points and with both lenses, so there is definitely a substantial quantity of metal buried here, which may be silver from the colours obtained in the photographs. I should perhaps mention that this is not the field that Garry Brooker indicated but it is close by.

We now needed to contact the landowner to discuss the possibility of undertaking a survey to try and establish what is buried there and at what depth. It has now become quite easy to use the Land Registry online: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/land-registry to establish ownership and in this case it only took a few minutes. Writing a letter to the landowner took somewhat longer and as yet we have received no reply. Still no news is good news, they say! Meanwhile Aquila is seeking Yamashita’s gold in the Philippines so I am awaiting his return before chasing this project up…

HOW TO FIND BRITAIN’S BURIED TREASURE HOARDS

Every detectorist dreams of finding a hoard and this new book will increase your chances of doing so.

The rich history of the British Isles has led to the burial of thousands of hoards for many different reasons – some as offerings, some as savings or in an emergency, intended to be recovered later. Although of course nobody knows exactly where hoards are buried, understanding why hoards came to be in the ground will help you to search in the right places.

Covering the Bronze Age to modern times, this fascinating book, by David Villanueva,

also gives lots of advice on how to research possible hoard sites, from researching local maps and records to clues to look out for on Google Earth. Contents include:

• Tools & Resources
• The Bronze Age
• The Iron Age
• Roman Britain
• Saxons & Vikings
• Medieval Britain
• Religious Houses
• Battle Sites
• Modern Times
• Treasure Law

152 pages, A4, beautifully illustrated in colour. A must have book for all detectorists!

Available from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Find-Britains-Buried-Treasure-Hoards/dp/1897738625/ref=as_sl_pc_as_ss_li_til?tag=trutreboo-21&linkCode=w00&linkId=961d0dcc489de094b4b206f9590071bd&creativeASIN=1897738625

In Search of King John’s Treasure

A few months ago, out of the blue, an Australian, Garry Brooker, inventor of Rangertell, long range metal locators, gave me GPS co-ordinates, which he claimed to be the possible location of King John’s treasure. He didn’t tell me how he obtained this precise location, just that he and some American friends have become very accurate at locating various hidden metals using Google Earth.

I had only just thanked Garry for the information, when my friend, Aquila Chrysaetos, an accomplished dowser and author, contacted me to discuss King John’s treasure to include as a chapter in his second book, Dowsed Treasure Locations Around The World.

We thought it would be worthwhile to go and check the site out, so we pooled our dowsing and research resources and headed off for sunny Lincolnshire. Aquila had dowsed a number of targets in the area, including several quite close to Garry’s co-ordinates. We had been fortunate to get accommodation within walking distance of the fields, so after a hearty breakfast we set out photographing fields. The fields were under crop, so we could only photograph from the public roads and tracks running alongside.

I use both the Canon 18-55mm lens and the Sigma 105mm lens so I get two different takes on any target and I need to get a good aura with both to confirm a good target. So it was a matter of taking  enough shots with one lens to cover the field and then changing lenses and repeating the shots, plus one shot without the filter to identify the field later.

When photographing the second field I noticed this unusual orb formation on the camera backscreen.

It was only when photographing the third field that Aquila commented on how slow the camera shutter was operating that I looked at the setting and realized that I had the selector on AV, which is the setting I use when photographing finds, to get the necessary depth of field. So, moving the selector to the correct Auto-No Flash setting, we had to retrace our steps and take the shots of the three fields again. As it happens, we are both a bit overweight and undoubtedly benefited from the additional exercise!

Rule 1; always check the camera settings before taking photos!

To be continued…

Treasure of Charles I

Another major project of Jimmy Longton's was locating Charles I treasure in the Firth of Forth,Scotland. Almost everyone knows that Charles I, the only British Monarch to be executed by his subjects, lost his head but very few know that he also lost a vast treasure, not once, but twice! The second treasure was melted down by Cromwell and largely consisted of an expensive replacement for the first, lost when a ferry, The Blessing of Burntisland, sank in Scotland’s Firth of Forth in 1633. Jimmy located a definite wreck believed to be the ferry and some seventeenth century artefacts have been recovered from the site but diving conditions are extremely difficult and there have been no reports of treasure as yet.

King John's Treasure

Continuing Jimmy Longton's search for treasure... In 1216 King John's court - contained in several large wagons laden with royal regalia - was crossing the River Wellstream, now part of the Wash, East Anglia. They got caught by the tide and went down in the quicksand. Legend says the remains are still there - somewhere, beyond the range of metal detectors and ground penetrating radar. Another method is needed. Here two enterprising entrepreneurs, seeking to restore ancient English heritage, ask Jimmy to find the spot. Enjoy the three videos:

​

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgmew8Pg1ag

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iIrk9JqOrY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99lJRXDqd2c

Jimmy Longton

It is my sad duty to report that my good friend, Britain’s foremost treasure dowser, James (Jimmy) Longton, passed away suddenly on 02 May 2015 at the age of 84 years. He was buried in the churchyard of his home village of Euxton, (pronounced Exton) Lancashire, UK, on 15 May 2015 following a service at Euxton Parish Church attended by around 200 family and friends, myself included. Rest in Peace, Jimmy.

I could relate many tales of Jimmy’s exploits but I’ll just stick to his main achievements in treasure dowsing for now. Jimmy’s major claim to fame is his part in the finding of the Viking (c. 930 AD) silver brooch hoard near Penrith, Cumbria, in 1989. The two largest (i.e. longest) thistle brooches in the picture were found in 1785 and 1830 (largest) in a field called silver field. Jimmy and his friend Gerald Carter located and investigated the field in 1989 and recovered five more brooches, which were subsequently declared Treasure Trove. The award was more than £40,000 GB Pounds ($60,000 US Dollars)...

The Penrith Hoard in the British Museum Copyright 2010 Ealdgyth and reused under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license 

Bronze Age Founder's Cache

My latest treasure find is a Bronze Age founder’s cache consisting of broken axes and ingots – some twenty pieces in total. Bronze was a very valuable material 3000 years ago and the founder would have buried it for safe keeping until he wanted to use it to make new axes and other tools. Although not precious metal and of nominal intrinsic value, the find qualifies as potential treasure under the UK Treasure Act on account of its historical importance. I found the first part of the cache (as photo) in wintertime, quite unexpectedly as there are, of course, no real leads to anything this old. As such, I wasn’t using the camera but I was using a dowsing rod, which led me right to the main area of the scattered cache at the start of my metal detector search of this section of the field. I recovered twelve pieces on the first occasion. A week or so later the temperature had risen sufficiently to make use of the IR camera as I wanted to know if the main part of the cache was still in the ground. Although I had a weak aura from where I had recovered the Bronze Age material so far, there was no indication that there was a substantial amount of material in one place, waiting to be recovered. Extensive metal detecting of the area has so far recovered nine more very scattered pieces of the cache.