A man who dug up a 200-year-old set of false teeth while out metal detecting says he hopes the find will be his claim to fame when they go under the hammer in Derbyshire this month.
Peter Cross has found numerous objects during his 40 years of metal detecting but says the ancient set of upper dentures, made out of gold and possibly hippo ivory, is his most interesting find to date.
The teeth will go up for auction at Derbyshire’s Hansons Auctioneers on November 25 with an estimate of £3,000-£7,000.
Peter Cross thought the false teeth were sheep's teeth when he found them. He said, “I found them in March (2019) in a field near Waterstock Mill. Though that village is in Oxfordshire, I found them on a track across the river in neighbouring Buckinghamshire."
Peter Cross says the ancient set of upper dentures, made out of gold and possibly hippo ivory, is his most interesting find to date. Credit: HansonsA combination of ivory and gold have been fashioned to create the dentures, which are missing the bottom set Credit: PA
A combination of ivory and gold have been fashioned to create the dentures, which are missing the bottom set.
He added: “A dentist told me that bottom dentures would have been attached to this upper set. I’ve been back to the same area two or three times and searched a 20ft area around where I found the teeth but had no luck locating the other section. That’s because there’s no metal in the bottom section of the dentures, so it could never be found with a metal detector."
