A unique find, Wil Verbeek (59) from Wijk en Aalburg knew that right away. This weekend he found a bronze age spearhead in Berlicum. It is not the first time that he digs something up: “Every time I find something.”
He prefers to go out every Saturday. He calls it a fantastic hobby. “I can completely relax in nature,” says Wil. Together with his search buddy, Ton Snoeren, Wil goes into nature to look for treasures. Of course you need a few things for that: “A metal detector, a pinpointer, that is actually a small, more precise detector, of course a good shovel”, Wil sums up, “and a good mood!”
So it happened last Saturday. Wil keeps the exact spot a secret, but that he found the point in Berlicum is still blurry. After ‘two or three hours’ of digging, Wil found the spear point. There is no real tactic behind the treasure hunt. According to de Wijk and Aalburger it was just ‘lucky lucky’ as he puts it.
Until now, Wil has never had to go home empty-handed: “I always find something. Sometimes they are shoe buckles or belt buckles, but I have already found hundreds of coins, even once a ducat.”
He calls last Saturday’s spearhead a special find. He posted a photo of the spearhead on a metal detector forum. There it was estimated that the point is about 3500 years old. He also reported the find to Portable Antiquities Netherlands (PAN). This organization investigates finds such as Wil’s. They collect and share information about the archaeological finds.
After the spearhead has been examined, Wil expects it to be placed in a museum. According to him, it is no problem at all to give up his find: “The historical value is of great importance”, the treasure hunter concludes.