Schoolboy hits target with shell collection

Published on 03/03/2007 11:55

A SCHOOLBOY has seen his collection of World War I ammunition rocket in value.

Nick Finlay, 12, from East Saltoun, East Lothian, has bought hand-engraved shell-casings with his pocket money for the past two years.

The first-year pupil took an interest in WWI memorabilia fascinated by stories of his great-grandfather's exploits in the Great War. He has since picked up 40 of the brass cylinders in France.

Loretto School pupil Nick paid just 200 for the shells, but experts recently valued his collection at 1500.

During the war, there was a craze for soldiers to carve intricate designs into the brass shells that were left behind after the live round had been fired out of artillery canons.

He said: "I started a couple of years ago when I was about ten.

"I first saw these kind of shells in an old book. Then I found my first pair at a car boot sale France.

"When I got them home, I started researching them a bit more on the internet and discovered that the engraving was very popular."