Another in the series of 'This is older than your country ...'

(Aimed at my US buddies ...)

I met a 'Mudlarker' yesterday. He didn't have his teeth in, so was quite difficult to understand, but seemed a nice enough bloke. I was walking along the shore of the Thames under the Millenium Bridge, looking for nice photo opportunites (I'm getting into this now, which explains why I was walking round St Mary's Church at 8:30pm last night, as I was trying to get a nice sunset photo) when I met the Mudlarker and his metal detector.

I've often seen people walking the banks or digging into the sand or mud, so asked him what he'd found ... This:
Apparently it's a 'Piece of Eight'. And here's the other side if you're interested:

He said that from the markings on the coin, he can date it as from 1520 ... Yep, a coin my American friends that is older than your country ... To go with the vandals I blogged about here! (Pretty sure I blogged about something else that is older, but can't be bothered to look for it)

The shore had numerous bones scattered across it, dating from Roman and Saxon times the od guy told me, moslty animal but occasional human - so if I ever need to dispose of a body I now know where to do it:


But I got my photo, so came away happy.