Pixillated Pilfering

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Those who pilfer their country's archaeological heritage for entertainment and profit might well be wary of showing their faces. So it is with "Dmitry from Moscow" who has been artefact hunting of local Medieval (12th to 16th centuries) site for over 10 years. He wants to share some of his outdoor adventures from his "long expeditions" with his new pals on the "Friendly metal Detecting Forum". So the airheads over there are so "friendly" that they fill a whole thread with "welcome from...." messages and little exhibitions of how little they know of Russia. Anyhow Dmitry gets them going by showing them his recent finds, crosses, coins, icon-plaques etc. A hoard of wire-money kopecks of Ivan IV (the terrible)  Then comes the "adventures of a backwoodsman" shots, east European forest roads, a jeep stuck in the mud (a tekkie leitmotif). But in each of them Dmitry has blurred the faces of both himself and his detecting buddy.

Dmitry resents being called a collector (02-25-2013, 04:17 PM ):

This is not a collection. I do not collect findings. Usually sell. That very much, just leave a memento. Not sick collecting.  Much more interesting to find new places.

On the hoard: (02-25-2013, 04:32 PM)

It is not expensive coins. On average $ 1-3 / pc. Find them often. And not just me.

These guys must have decent machines, they are really very small, light and thin, and the fact that losses seem to have been abnormally high in the sixteenth  and seventeenth century helps only a little.  Not all coins found however can be so easily dismissed (02-26-2013, 01:54 PM):

Finds. Top - an arrowhead. Coin rare and expensive. Moscow principality. Vasily I (1389-1425) $ 960, by the way.

More (02-26-2013, 02:57 PM):

Ivan V. III (1462-1505) + Vasily the Dark II (1425-1462) + Prince Dovmont (Pskov). Moscow and Pskov release. Together, we will take on $ 1200

So we might wonder how Dmitri might be finding these sites. Here he tells us (02-28-2013,02:56 PM):

Go on ... We drive to the goal. In the distance (arrow) Ghost town. Existed from the 13th to 15th century. Preserved only urban earth mound.

So he's searching the sites of the Gorodishche Городи́ще medieval (for the most part) earthwork strongholds - protected by law. On sites like this, it is possible to throw away items of importance. He was digging on a 16th century forge site, one where the tools had been abandoned (why?) recovering many metal items. Among them was one iron item the function of which was unclear (03-01-2013, 04:08 PM):

I usually do not clear any piece of iron with a no am taking. Most often, this is trash. I wanted to throw out, but partner identified that this is a very good find. Such items were on the excavation Tushino camp. This is 1612, the Polish intervention. This - combined service tool of musket. A very rare thing. (Although much like a bicycle tool ) Here is the after cleaning and conservation. [...] Do not rush to throw out things that do you think а trash.

He does not say how much he sold it for. A ring with a swastika was the opportunity for some of that pagan symbolism talk eastern Europeans history buffs love (03-03-2013, 11:00 AM ):

Ring around 13-14 century. "Swastika" symbol (in the Russian tradition - "Kolovrat") - symbolizing the universal cycle. [...] In general - a male symbol. Symbol of fire. There is also a woman's interpretation of this ring. Symbol resembles the mathematical symbol for infinity. In the Russian tradition - the symbol of water.[...] But the price of the ring, in fact - about $ 200.

Now why would a metal detectorist who sells his finds be pricing them in US dollars if the legal tender in Russia is the rouble?