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Welcome to the National Council for Metal Detecting

Promoting, Protecting and Encouraging Metal Detecting for over 40 years.
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Welcome to the NCMD

At the NCMD we love metal detecting! For over 40 years we have promoted, protected, and encouraged metal detecting for our members and the wider Metal Detecting Community.

We are formally recognised by the UK Government and play a vital role in representing members on the creation of any changes to legislation that may affect our great hobby.

Our introduction video is a great way to get to know us and learn what we are about.

Getting started with metal detecting

About us

Who we are and why we do it.

Why join?

Benefits of joining the NCMD

Detecting advice

Get advice and guidance on metal detecting

News

Catch up on our latest news

Major finds help

Our Major Finds Excavation Fund can help you with important finds

FAQ

Our FAQs can help with additional questions/advice

NCMD merchandise products

The NCMD Merchandise Shop

The NCMD Merchandise shop is where you can buy branded items such as caps, tshirts, hoodies and mugs.

You can also buy Gift Vouchers, great for those struggling to buy something for that metal detectorist in their life. The voucher gets sent straight to the recipient and they can use it to purchase anything from the merchandise shop.

Please Note: Vouchers cannot be used to purchase NCMD Membership.

Shop Merchandise

The NCMD app

Our free mobile app is a great tool for NCMD members to log the position of find spots, take pictures, as well as adding key notes about the find. This makes it easier if it’s a reportable find, as you can look back on the information when talking with the FLO (Finds Liaison Officer).

You can also backup and save your finds data to a secure server, which only you have access to. A great option should you change/lose your phone. (The NCMD does not have access to the server.)

Members can also chat with each other through the online community forum, great for asking questions and sharing knowledge. You also have instant access to your digital membership card.

Once you have purchased NCMD membership you can download the app from Apple or Google Store via the following links.

Download on the App Store
Download on the Play Store

Latest news

The importance of doing things right.

Britain’s largest recorded Iron Age gold coin hoard has been secured for Museum of Chelmsford. The hoard of 933 gold Iron Age coins, thought to be linked to Julius Caesar, has been acquired by the museum through a lottery grant.­ While this is a fabulous find, it has highlighted the importance of doing things right when metal detecting. Some of you may have seen the news around this amazing discovery. Unfortunately it has been marred by the metal detectorist who

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2 June 2025 No Comments

April Finds Competition Winners

Congratulations to the winners of the April Finds competition. Judging is anonymous, they don’t know what each other has voted until our monthly meeting, when they get to see the total scores. This time we have 3 golds taking the top places. Our winners are below along with a selection of other entries the judges thought worthy of a mention. Well done everyone who entered. The May Finds competition is still open until midnight 31st May, so get your finds in

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23 May 2025 No Comments

Join the Scottish Archaeological Finds Allocation Panel (SAFAP).

Would you like to play a vital role in the Treasure Trove system in Scotland?  SAFAP provides advice to the King’s and Lord Treasurer’s Remembrancer (KLTR) about archaeological items discovered in Scotland, recommending whether the artefacts should be acquired for the nation, where they should be allocated and if a payment should be made to the finder.  Scottish Ministers are seeking to appoint two members to the Scottish Archaeological Finds Allocation Panel (SAFAP).  They are looking for one professional member

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15 May 2025 No Comments

NCMD Mobile App Upgrade

Following feedback from members, we have recently upgraded the NCMD mobile app to include the option to select a satellite map view when recording find spots, helping you to use visual markers such as hedges/trees. While it’s not always possible to get the best signal while out in the field, we hope this additional option along with the current longitude/latitude as well as What3Words will all help you record spots as accurately as possible.

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9 May 2025 No Comments

March 2025 Finds Competition Winners

Yet another fabulous selection of finds this month. The judges were very impressed with the entries and it was such a close call on the artefacts that there was just one point between the winner and 2nd place.    A selection of other entries from the March competition.

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2 May 2025 No Comments

Portable Antiquities Scheme – March Update

The latest update is provided by Michael Lewis- Head of the Portable Antiquities Scheme (England) Much has been happening at the British Museum and across the country, so this update is by no means comprehensive, but hopefully, it will give you a flavour of the Scheme’s work over the last month. In March 5043 individual finds (within 4273 records) were added to the PAS Database by FLOs, FLAs, interns and volunteers, including detectorist self-recorders, bringing the total on the database

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9 April 2025 No Comments

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