Ricky Clark, who works for Ardnamurchan Estate, was at the site on Friday using a metal detector to carry out a painstaking check of the material that came out of the moat. While some sections of the moat were excavated by hand, much had to be removed by digger. Ricky has already found cannon and musket balls, but his latest find is, if anything, even more exciting.
Ricky is busy adding to his previous finds - see earlier post here. Yesterday he found a number of nails, what might have been - but probably wasn't - a door knocker, a lump of lead, and various other unidentifiable metallic objects, all of which will go away to be investigated.
But his best find was a coin. Tom Addyman won't able to date Ricky's coin accurately until it has been conserved, but it's from the 16th or 17th centuries at the latest, and may be earlier - and is a significant find. It's about the size of a 20p piece but much thinner, and made of copper alloy, though it may also contain silver.
One possibility is that it's a sixpence, or 'tanner' as it was known. See the pictures of English sixpences here.
One possibility is that it's a sixpence, or 'tanner' as it was known. See the pictures of English sixpences here.
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