Bill Wyman was the bassist for The Rolling Stones for three decades before leaving rock and roll behind in 1993. This was around the same time he bought his first metal detector and started wandering around England listening for the beeps that indicated he might have found an ancient treasure.
Many of his finds came from his country estate. He told the Guardian-Series, “I started to use a metal detector to find stuff in the grounds and in the local area, and I’ve built up the history of the place.” Of course, rock and roll money paid for Wyman’s extensive property, not metal detecting. “I do it more as a history thing than to find treasure to make me rich!” However, Wyman was successful enough in his searches that in 2017, he loaned some of the best pieces from his collection to a museum for a special exhibit. He also co-wrote a book on his finds and experiences, although he says it took him 20 years because he kept finding cool new things when detecting that he then needed to add to the manuscript.
Strangest of all, in 2007, the ex-rocker produced his own metal detector. In a statement (via NME) explaining his decision to sell such an unexpected product, Wyman said, “Metal-detecting is not just for anoraks or eccentrics; it’s probably the best and the most enjoyable way of learning about our history. On any garden, country field, footpath, woodlands, beach, or moorland you can find a huge variety of historical objects, all easily located with this high-quality metal detector.”
