A Cupple of Bottles Fer the Loot, It's werf It mate.

A detectorist from Stevenage cannot work out if he is making a statement or asking a question. (Facebook Yesterday at 11:36) "I don't know how many other detectorists do but Julian and I clubbed together and bought a case of mixed wines, etc., as a Christmas gift for the landowner of the estate we detect on?" Another detectorist added:  "Yeah me and my mate Pete do the rounds at Christmas, we have several permissions and some we only visit once a year, still worth dropping in with a bottle of wine, cost to us this year was over £200 but well worth it, I normally take a bottle with me when I venture out looking for new permissions [emoticon]". A metal detectng couple go one further: (23h): "we laid out close to £500 this Christmas when added up [emoticon]. Worth it though, as we don't pay to detect and they're a great bunch. Like you, some farms get visited more than others, but keeps them sweet". Another writes of: "Litre of Chivas Regal for my main farmer with 2000 acres. Great value for a years detecting when many are paying £20 a day".  And so on, there are several others who admit to the same thing (and actually giving back some of the farmer's own property in a 'display case of finds made during the year. It always goes down a storm and is very much appreciated'. One wonders if they are accompanied by printouts of then PAS records of those items (and the other ones they took over that year)   

The fact that some people will pay a farmer twenty quid a day (reported here) to get access to a productive site is due to many individual finds, some of them run-of-the-mill ones on the no-questions-asked antiquities market are worth ten to twenty quid (check some of the books pictured in this post, or have a look at the valuation pages of magazines such as 'The Searcher'). So if you are a collector its cheaper to find your own than buy them from  a dealer, and what is surplus to your own collection's needs can go to a dealer who will easily shift them on eBay or wherever. This is why Farmer Silas Brown is constantly reminding all who have anything to do with 'metal detectorists' that a mere permission note is not enough to ensure that finders have items licitly, openly and transparently. Landowners should be ap[praised of the actual value of each and every artefact the collector takes from their property before they can legitimately agree to render title to the finder.