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View Full Version : AD Contest Best or Most Memorable Find



Epi-hunter
12-15-2013, 12:19 AM
Post your contest entries on this thread! :)

giant056
12-15-2013, 03:21 AM
I'm going to try duplicating the post from the original back in April 2008, I still have the compass

__________________________________________________ _______________________________________
I've always wondered if I'd find an old compass in the woods and I found my first one today. It says Ledawl, Reg U.S. Pat. Office, Taylor, Rochester N.Y. U.S.A., Pat. Jan. 8-1918, I got the usual shells and pulltabs, a couple keys and 3 cents. I was on a really steep hill when I found the compass (a spot I hadn't detected before on the other side of the preserve) and it VDI'd 79 and was down about 5 inches. Yes it is pointing north too, I can't believe it still works, if the condensation inside clears up I'll post another picture of it so you can see the amazing details.

35793

Here's a picture of the compass after the condensation is almost gone

35794
__________________________________________________ _______________________________________

I've still got this compass and it works great

35795

I recently posted my favorite zippo which came from this very same preserve on the forum a couple weeks ago.

Digger Don
12-15-2013, 06:54 AM
My most memorable find was on November 30th of this year. After researching an area on Historic maps & Google Earth, I found a farm field that was once home to a one room school house. My 13 year old son and I went out there on that Saturday morning. It took about an hour but we found the property owner and got his permission. Once we got there, we found our first silver coin ever, A 1907-O Barber Dime. It may not sound like much. But I will NEVER
forget the look on my sons face when he picked up that Dime. It still makes me smile when I think about it!!!!
3581435815

rsarge1
12-15-2013, 10:28 AM
The one post that is most memorable for me was the first year after I retired and I got back into the hobby full time.
I was detecting in an old park next to a tree on a hill that was overlooking a cemetery for an old nunnery convent, where I found this silver rosary cross. While researching the cross I found out that it was a cross that is issued to priests and nuns so I searched for where the convent relocated in efforts to returning it to its owner. there turned out to only be one nun left from the convent that used to be stationed there and she did not lose the cross. Just finding the cross and researching the history was enough to renew my interest in this great hobby.

3581635817

Ronandari
12-15-2013, 08:22 PM
While traveling for my work I got the chance to spend a morning in Henderson Ky detecting an old park. I found a shallow target that turned out to be a beautiful silver ring with pink and white sapphires. The ring was only valued at 3 or 4 hundred dollars but my wife loved it!:happy:. Up to that point she had tolerated my MD addiction but this was the find that finally got her full support. She had never expected that I would find anything beautiful or valuable buried in the ground but now she understands and wishes me luck each time I go out to find our fortune.
35838

Good luck all and Happy hunting.

Bell-Two
12-16-2013, 08:51 AM
My most memorable find is when I broke into the 1700's club. We had returned to an old house where we had hunted before with my hunting partner Doug had gotten two Large Cents and two Two Cent Pieces and I had gotten an Indian Head and a Large Dandy Button. We had only found a flat button apiece when I got a sort of trashy 12-42 signal along with some iron readings. I dug my plug and first the piece of iron popped out a rather good size piece. A bit to the left the pinpointer beeped on the good target here is how I described the ensuing drama.

The target was off to the side and on edge, imagine my suprise to pull out a Large Cent, it was very dirty so I just stuck it in my pouch, a few minutes later I got a solid nickel signal and out came a very nice 1920 Buffalo. We had to leave since Doug had to get back home. As we were driving I examined the Large Cent and I said to Doug for some reason I think this is an early one. I took some water and as I was dabbing at it I said, wouldn't it be neat if the bust was facing right! After a bit more water I could see it and you should have seen the look on Doug's face when I said "Doug the bust is facing right!" I could start to see the date and at first I said I think it is an 1806 then a bit more looking I said to Doug....oh my that is not an 06 that is a 96! Yes it is a 1796 Draped Bust Large Cent. We decided to stop at the coin shop to show it to Richard at the coin shop...well you know you have a good find when the coin shop guy does a double take and says "Wow"! The date is very readable full Liberty on top it is better than the picture. Back is slick with just a few details of wreath and faint lettering. A great day made better by sharing it with a friend!


35840

Epi-hunter
12-17-2013, 02:29 AM
I love these.... please keep them up!

POKIE73
12-17-2013, 07:30 AM
my best find was a suprise to me as much as it was to everyone i hunt with at my daughters house in rochelle ill i had hunted the property a few times finding a lot of silver and older coins but thie day was going to be a banner day for me i got a signal that seemed to be a large coin very deep dug down and to my surprise i found what at the time i thought was a old belt buckle i posted it and later found it to be a civil war breast plate the id came from this forum del was the one that said what it was it made the banner find on a few forums that i belong to plus it was on our own calender it will always be a special find for me

35869

Lodge Scent
12-17-2013, 08:21 PM
I think my most memorable hunt was I was out a site in the woods with a buddy. We were doing pretty good finding coppers, buttons, buckles etc. Towards the late afternoon I got a choppy signal and dug a button. It had some sort of design on it but I couldn't really see what is was. I hadn't admitted to myself yet that I need glasses :cheesysmile:. Any way, I gave a shout to my buddy that I dug a odd button, I put it in my pouch and moved on. A little while later we are packing up our gear for the hike out and he says "Let me see that strange button you dug." I fish it out of my container and toss it to him. He starts looking at it and I see his eyes get big and his face contorting. :shocked04: He shakes his head in disbelief and looks at it again. He finally says "You found a USA button and didn't even know it". I still laugh when I think of the faces he was making when he realized what it was that I had tossed to him.:lol:

http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j364/jeffhdfx2/1f080196-357d-416e-9bc4-e5f0777bed38_zps4791b9d2.jpg (http://s1082.photobucket.com/user/jeffhdfx2/media/1f080196-357d-416e-9bc4-e5f0777bed38_zps4791b9d2.jpg.html)

lee
12-19-2013, 09:57 AM
it happend about two years ago when i was still using the trusty coinmaster , it was a chilly day and it had been raining quite a bit the day before so i decided to hunt very close to home.
living in one of the older parts of ct i started looking at some old maps and found only a stones throw from my house a garden that the town leases out to people to grow veg on and looking at the map date (1660) i could see that there had been activity on this site for nearly 400 years !!.
30 seconds later there i was walking onto this bit of freshly tilled land and feeling my boots sinking 6 inches into the mud .....yukk !!!.
turning the coinmaster on and taking one swing to the right...bleep....bleep.....im like "no way" , it was reading a dime at half an inch .
turning over the very wet mud i see a glint of silver , wiping it of on me pants i see its a capped bust dime in bloody fantastic condition with a date of 1832 !!!! , at this point i sat straight back in the mud with surprise !!!!. ( its funny, i still get excited re-living it even now ).

http://i39.tinypic.com/30jjou8.jpg
http://i39.tinypic.com/vs0u29.jpg
putting it in my pocket i took another 2 steps and beep...beep this time it was a standing liberty quarter , another 10 steps and out pops my first large cent , then another then half a large cent then another one , i think i ended that day with like 5 large cents and not one of them deeper then 4 inches.
since then me and two mates over two years have managed 53 large cents a lot of buttons and even a spanish reale from a garden that gets turned over twice every year and is only 80 feet wide by 200 feet long !!!!!!!..... like wow!!!!!.

fyrffytr1
12-19-2013, 10:15 PM
This is my best find because of the history of it.

Here is the story of a find I made a few months ago. I posted this in another detecting forum so some of you may know about it.
Here is an artifact I found about two months ago. It is not valuable and, as you can see, it is in poor shape. But, the story behind the find is pretty interesting.
I will start by saying that I was having a pretty good day in the field. Three of us were detecting the old Starkville area. It was the county seat until 1871. Then it was moved to the present day site along the railroad tracks about 3 miles south.
It was a hot day and we were in a plowed field. None of us were digging any good targets. I was working a grid when I stopped to see what my buddies were doing. When I looked around nobody was there. I pulled my headphones off and listened for a few moments. I heard the beep of a detector in a small patch of woods behind me so, I headed for them and the shade they offered.
As I was walking down a cow path I got a good signal. I dug down about 4" and came up with a piece of fence wire! I stood up and swung my detector over the hole and got another signal. Again I dug up another piece of wire! Well, when I passed the coil over the hole I got yet another signal. I started to leave it as I figured it was more wire. But, I decided to go ahead and dig it. It turned out to be an 1880 Indian head penny. Thinking I had found what was there I stood up and hit the hole one more time. Another signal. This time an 1871 German coin about the size of a large cent. Another pass brought another signal. A Mexican coin with the date wore off. Then another Indian head and another until I had pulled 8 out. So, from one hole about 12"s wide I pulled 10 coins. Funny thing was, I only got one signal at a time. I did not get multiples.
After working the area for another hour without finding anything else we moved to another field. There were two old homesites that we hunted. Right off, my buddy got an indian head penny then I got a V nickel. Then I got an odd shaped piece of brass. It resembled a leaf and I thought it may have been from a decorative metal flower or something. I dropped it in my pouch and continued hunting. I pulled two small buttons from the same area and then things dried up.
As we sat on the back of the truck comparing finds my buddy looked at the leaf and said there was something on it. He thought it was a block I. We all thought that I had found a confederate ID tag!
As soon as I got home I washed it in some mild soapy water, dried it and started looing at it closer. That's when I made out more lettering. Finally, I was able to make out three words. Across the top was CLERK. Beneath that was SPIGGOT. and below that was what we first thought was a block I. It was actually the number 1. Across the bottom was METHUEN.
What is this? Well, google it I thought. So I googled Spiggot/Methuen and answered my question. It was a badge from the firetruck Spiggot in Methuen, Ma. The Spiggot was in service from 1846 until 1871.
But, how did it get 1250 miles south? I made contact with Joe( I don't know his last name) from the Methuen Historical society and this is what we have figured out.
The badge was carried into the war by a member of the fire department or a relative. He was captured and sent to the infamous prison camp at Andersonville, Ga. where he died.
So, was the badge taken when the soldiers were imprisoned or did the owner trade it to a guard for food.
I will never know the answer to that question and we are still researching to try and find the owners name. It would be great to know who he was.
So, that is the story of my "leaf". If I turn up any further info I will pass it on.

edit: While not completely positive we think we have IDed the soldier but I am not going to name him for the time being.

Epi-hunter
12-20-2013, 02:07 AM
Great stuff! Love the eye candy. Keep posting!

Staff is eligible too!

freemindstuck
12-20-2013, 02:12 PM
Hi everyone,
It's actually quite hard to pick my favorite find because it changes from time to time. But right now my favorite find is a piece a jewelry that is not very valuable but historically important to me because it most likely belonged to one of the founders of my town.
Thanks for the great contest!
35896
35897

driftwood1963
12-21-2013, 01:59 AM
Old Man Winters frozen grip has ended the season here in Iowa and looking back on the year many memorable hunts come to mind.
After thinking about it for a few minutes three things come to mind as "best find" or "memorable"!

The first I have to thank the American Detectorist "Hunt Buddies" forum for........and that was meeting a new friend and fellow detectorist @freemindstuck he definitely falls into the "best find" category!

The second is a spot that I was invited to detect by @freemindstuck that was deemed the "Banta" site.....It seemed to mostly undisturbed, gave us many great hours, and multiple finds over the season including my 11 year old son finding his first silver....."memorable" would be a understatement!

The third was the look on my son's face when he pulled this Junior Sheriff badge! (it also came from the "Banta" site)
3590235903

pulltabsteve
12-21-2013, 05:48 PM
Which to choose....

My 3 Reale day was a mind blowing experience for me... The silver thimble with the initials of the previous homeowner who died in the 1940s was exciting too...

But my most memorable find came in November of 2007. I was out at an old park that I love going to. Its on a canal that used to be a farm in the 1940s and 50s and WAY before that, in the late 1600s, was an indian village. It was only my 2nd or 3rd time there when I got a nice deep quarter signal on my Whites M6. I dug a good 8" of dirt and the target was still in the hole. I used my fingers to dig out some more dirt and I felt a coin slip into my hands. I held it up and cleaned it off and was amazed to see an 1802 Large cent in my hand! It was my oldest coin at that point in my short detecting career. What a rush it was! I was shaking for an hour after the find.

When I got home I took a picture of it, dirt and all. That's the picture I posted. I was so excited I wanted to clean it.... I searched google on how to clean dug large cents. I came across a post on a forum that explained how to clean it using hot hydrogen peroxide. Being a novice detectorist, and extremely impatient, I tried it. Im sure you all know what the outcome was... It took every detail off the coin except for the date. No bust left, no back left, only the date is visable. But I learned a valuable lesson. Now I very rarely clean any coins I find, as you can probably tell from my posts. :)

I've been back to this park many times since and have found coins as old as the 1600s. Love this place.

leslie(nova scotia)
12-22-2013, 04:29 PM
My most memorable find is not the coin itself but the circumstances . Wrote an article on it for the Searchers Mag in the Uk and have posted the link to the article on this forum perviously.

What makes it so remarkable is that I almost threw the find in the hedge. Thought it was a foil piece off the bottle of wine. Showed it to my m8 "Special K' and he put his arms around me and started jumping up and down like a crazy man.

Remember exactly what he said

"You wanky colonial thats a gold Hammie!"
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v518/leslie19/002-58.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/leslie19/media/002-58.jpg.html)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v518/leslie19/001-78.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/leslie19/media/001-78.jpg.html)

This was found on land Jim had found not an organized tour of the UK where Most Brit detectorists know what goes on with them.

Working to get Jim over here for a visit next year......it will be his first trip to the colony of Canada!

Robbie
12-23-2013, 05:10 PM
Well I have found a 14k wedding band but my best and biggest is this U.S Trade dollar.I shared this a few weeks ago.

skribnodsister
12-24-2013, 04:24 PM
My most memorable find was last year.. My dad passed away last year in may and my mom was having a real hard time she didn't want to do anything or go anywhere (they had been together for almost 59 years) so I went down there stayed every weekend. I had nothing to do when my mom would take her naps, so I thought I would take my detector with me. She said your not going to find anything cause they were poor when she was younger, so out I went and started finding stuff, my signal was a horse shoe but when I started digging out popped a clay marble and then another and another, I think I ended up with about 25 clay marbles and some glass ones too and a few wheat pennies and jewelry, which then lead to my mom getting off the couch and coming outside, next thing you know she has my brothers pinpointer and a big old deer knife out there digging with me! She did skip a few naps but one day she was going to take a nap so I said I would go out detecting and she said go find some gold....I was out there for a little bit hitting a lot of aluminum foil (who every invented that stuff should be shot...LOL) I got a foil signal with a little weird chirp to it and so I dug and out came this little itty bitty thing and I though that kinda looks like gold so I got out my loupe and I could see the date 1871 and I turned it over and I could make out half dollar cal. At first I got real excited did the happy dance, but then I thought this things so small it can't be real so I told my brother and when he came down and scanned it with his etrac he said yep it's real gold... I said to my mom that it was so odd that you told me to go out and find gold and I did.... So here is my little coin I found I think with a little help ( I think my dad was shining down on me that day).. Also My mom still goes out with here pinpointer taped to a yard stick and here deer knife...3601736018

Longhair
12-24-2013, 08:51 PM
My current favorite find is one that I made November 7th this year, not long after joining the forum. I posted about it at the time, but it really hadn't sunk in fully until I did the research on it later.
I had been looking at all sorts of old maps, located several old school sites, but nothing to get too excited about. Then I found the oldest map of my area (1859) that showed things that no other maps had. It showed how the road that I live on didn't always have it's current path, and in fact had had a dog-leg just south of me which had long since been straightened out. Right where the dog-leg came back into line there had been a house. It was built by one of the original settlers on land that was granted title by the Land Grant Office in 1837. The reason for the dog-leg to begin with was a sinkhole that is still there. They actually built the road through it in the late 1860's by starting with a log roadbed. Anyway, the lay of the land hasn't changed, and I determined that the high ground around the swamp came back to the current road where there was a flat spot before dropping off the other way (away from the swamp). And it turned out that there still is a huge ancient stand of lilacs just before the edge of the drop-off, so I determined that to have been the N.E. corner of the yard. It's been a planted farm for longer than anyone can remember, and it was in beans at the time of my discovery, which turned out to be good, as it gave me time to track down the owner and get permission by the time that they took the beans off.
My first trip there was sensational for me. I dug four LC's, the newest of which was a gorgeous 1850. My second trip produced the favorite, along with parts of an oil lamp and an OX shoe. The owner's brother had seen me out there and had joined me in strolling around, digging when I got a signal worth checking out. It was almost dark and I was about to call it quits, the brother had just walked away and started his car, and I got another hit. Ron hadn't even pulled out of the field and I had the day's first coin in my hand......but it was too dark to get a look at it at all. So I went all of about four hundred yards home to clean it up and see what it was. :shocked03:An 1832 Half Cent! Unfortunately it wasn't in as nice a shape as the LC's, but I was still excited because it predated the settlement of the area. Since then, I've done some investigating into Half Cents, and not only did they not mint them every year, but in 1832 they only minted 51,000 of them, making it my lowest mintage coin find ever!

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff67/Old_Longhair/Metal%20Detecting/Xterra%20705/11-07-131832HalfCentObverse_zps22bdd5e8-1.jpghttp://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff67/Old_Longhair/Metal%20Detecting/Xterra%20705/11-07-131832HalfCentReverse_zps80abd7aa-1.jpg

Digger Don
12-27-2013, 07:30 PM
lets move this thread back to the front of the line

coinnut
12-27-2013, 07:44 PM
It has taken me a while to try and come up with one find that is most memorable. I've been lucky over the years to have an opportunity to get out and detect some nice places. Although those places were fun, they were not as memorable as hunting for Native American points. As soon as Del and I signed on to hunt along side Archaeologists at a project with the Peqout Museum, I felt this feeling that we were about to be challenged in these hunts more then ever before. The level of excitement and determination reminded me of when I first started detecting. After many good finds there, this find is the one I pick. I can still feel the shock of digging that ratty nickel type signal, slowly peeling away the scruff of grass and roots, only to see the most beautiful conical Native point staring up at me. It was late in the day, and I was beat, but determined to find something that day. Other than cutting the plug, I did nothing else to retrieve the target...it was just there looking up at me less that 3" in the hole. It will be a long time before I can beat this find physically, emotionally and spiritually.36048

Tony Two-Cent
12-27-2013, 08:22 PM
It's a tough decision for me too, but I guess when all things are considered my most memorable find would be my 1808 Spanish 1 Real that I found in 1985. The find was made even more special by the fact that I was detecting with my dad that day. One of my dad's co-workers gave us permission to hunt his yard. The property is an old farm house that is on the outskirts of the town my dad grew up in. The town was founded in 1834 but has history dating back to the 1700s. It is documented that George Rogers Clark and his men passed directly through this spot in 1779.

Below is a photo of the farm as it appears today. The highway you see in the photo was once a historic trail that went from Vincennes, Indiana to St. Louis, Missouri in the 1700s. I found the 1808 Spanish 1 Real in the middle of the circle drive. That circle drive can also be seen clearly in the 1938 aerial photos.
http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb174/dubbl-t/CatoFarm_zpsb4b7f715.jpg


Here is the coin. It is still the oldest coin I have ever found.
http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb174/dubbl-t/Metal%20Detecting/Real-1808-Obv.jpg
http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb174/dubbl-t/Metal%20Detecting/Real-1808-Rev.jpg

midas
12-28-2013, 12:04 AM
The most memorable for myself was back in the days when my Dad and I would go out metal detecting at parks and beaches. Getting up before the break of dawn and heading out to find those treasures. It was not so much the great stuff we found but the time we spent together. For his birthday in 1982, I wrote an article for this magazine and what a thrill to get cover billing. That was a memorable "find".

Mr. Digger
12-28-2013, 09:24 AM
I had dabbled in detecting years ago but never put the time or effort in that was necessary to make any decent finds. My interest faded and I got away from the hobby for a long time. Last year I decided to recommit and I got a new detector, got some permissions and practiced the hobby and of course now I'm totally hooked. So, it's been 18 months of "firsts", but my top find of which I am most proud would have to be the 1888 Seated Quarter. I can still picture that baby in the hole. I had hunted for three hours in the heat that day and only found that one coin....not even clad or a wheat....but boy was I happy! My other top finds for 2013 included my oldest coin (1701 William III halfpenny) and a 3 coin pocket spill that included my first Shield Nickel and an 1864 L IH penny (shown with some other finds).
3606736068360693607036071

del
12-28-2013, 07:26 PM
I got back into this hobby again over twelve years ago and was now living in a very history rich part of the country (transplanted Arizona native) . For the first year I was detecting schools and parks and finding lots of clad with some silver and jewelry thrown in the mix. I wanted to find older coins , colonial coins in particular and after a bit of trial and error I did indeed start finding coins form the 1600's and 1700's . I found out that other items I was finding along side these coins were far more interesting . It was the buttons , buckles and other relics that made this more personally connecting to these early people and how they lived their lives and struggles they may have faced. So it was early on that I longed to find an early military hat plate , a tall order as they were made of very thin and fragile stamped brass or pewter. They are almost never seen found and when they are they're usually crumpled up and or broken in many pieces. Since that time I have found very few small pieces of some hat plates or hat badges but in 2011 I found one of the best examples of an early plate and a sense of connection with the site it came from . This is an officer's hat plate because of the border of laurel leaves around its edge and dates from 1814 to about 1825 and is one of my most memorable finds.

Dan

Epi-hunter
12-28-2013, 11:39 PM
Great stories and posts! Thanks so much everyone and good luck! First drawing is in 3 days :)

Timewarpdigger
12-29-2013, 11:56 AM
I have only been detecting since the end of May so may not have too many great finds to consider, but if I had to choose one in particular it would have to be the first hunt that I found silver coins. I need to explain why and I will try to keep it brief.
My wife and I have been married for 27 years and we have always found hobbies and put our time and efforts into doing things together and as a family. So when I took up metal detecting I did hope that I could convince her to join me on the hunts so that she could enjoy the finds, being out and enjoying the fresh air.
Well I finally convinced her to come with me on a hunt on one of the locale beaches and I was really happy she agreed to go. Well while she was enjoying walking the beach and me looking for pull tabs and bottle caps, her things were stolen. Needless to say she was emotionally distraught, and she refused to go with me again.
It took several months of me asking her to go with me again and finally she said yes. So we went to a park that she wanted to tour around and I agreed. Well needless to say she brought me luck when she said that I should check out a certain area of the park. At first I wasn't finding much until she returned.
I hit this great target and she knew that I had something good by my reaction so she came over and said what is it, I said by the tone and the vdi numbers I think it has to be silver, I had never heard that tone before or saw those numbers either. Well as I dug the hole she knelt down and we saw a silver coin in the hole and before I knew it she had it in her hand. The look and smile on her face told me that it was something good. She began to tease me to guess what it was. When she finally told me that it was a 1908 Barber dime I was in shock. I then did my form of a happy dance and she just stood there shaking her head. LOL
After that not 5 feet away I had a target that had an even better tone and numbers and as I dug the plug I saw silver again but this time I beat her to the coin, it turned out to be a 1920 SLQ..:shocked03:
Why is it so special, because now she wants to go with me every chance she gets to detect with me, this means more to me than any coin or relic I could find. Priceless!!!
Here are the pictures of those finds. Thanks Safe & HH


3613636137

TundraDigger
12-29-2013, 08:02 PM
My best find was an 1865 2 Cent coin. This was my first coin breaking into the 1800's. It was found in a park that has been hunted for years. The only part visible when it came out of the ground was the year and part of the shield. Also this was my first attempt at coin cleaning. Came out pretty good after soaking in mineral oil for 2 months.


3617636177

chief5709
12-30-2013, 07:32 AM
I'll have to go with my 1818 US Capped Bust Quarter.

May 2013, at the time there weren't many fields available to detect so I asked my cousin if he wanted to meet me at this small park. He wasn't to excited about it, he had detected there years ago and the power lines interferred with his detector and he didnt have too much luck there. So, at my insistance he met me there. He was right this park was bad, a lot of inteference and trash everywhere. As we were getting ready to pack up I spotted a small mowed clearing adjacent to the park. I made a quick inquiry with the property keeper and he said go ahead just don't leave me a mess. After about an hour and just a few keepers I was working my way back to the truck and got a strong 12-47 on the ET and had to dig it. As I turned over my plug out popped this beauty of a coin.

It was an honor to be voted coin of the month in May and it also made the cover of the Sept-Oct American Digger!

z118
12-30-2013, 08:36 PM
My most memorable find came in pieces back in 2009 which would have been my 3rd year detecting. I had gotten out for a nice evening hunt at a location that had been very good to me around that time. I was hoping for a silver coin but instead came away with a very nice silver cross marked "Sterling Chapel" on the back. It was very ornate and larger than any others I had found to that point. I was quite pleased with it, and spent some time that night poking around the internet to see if I could find anything similar and maybe figure out an likely age or any other info. I did wind up finding a picture of what seemed to be an identical item, except the picture on the internet also showed a small Jesus figure on the cross. Looking at the one I had found, I could see a bit of discoloration in center where the Jesus figure likely would have been attached. This really got me going; I tried to remember if I had rescanned the hole when I dug the cross but couldn't. I became convinced that the Jesus figure had fallen off in the ground and that I had failed to recover it when I dug the cross.

The next day at work I could think of nothing else but getting back to this spot and looking for the missing piece. Fortunately, it was something of a slow day so I stepped out for lunch and headed back to the location. It was a big spot, and I knew finding the exact place where I had dug the cross would be tough. I was also worried that being as obsessed as I was I would wind up stuck there all afternoon looking for it. It was a tricky sort of hunt as I wandered around looking for replaced plugs and scanning over them. I got lucky though, and after a short while found one that gave up a small, middle tone that seemed right for a small piece of silver. I pulled the plug back out and sure enough, there it was - the missing Jesus! I can't describe how excited and how pleased I was. I cleaned up both pieces and had them reattached by a jeweler. To this day this remains one of my favorite finds.

More than anything else, this experience drove home the lesson of always rescanning holes more than anything else could have. I can't tell you how many additional items I have found since by rescanning holes and plugs after recovering one target. Every time it happens I think back on the cross and the missing Jesus figure.

Perhaps even more incredible, 3 years later I found the very same item in a tot lot, except this time all in one piece and stamped "Chapel 14KT." I can't even begin to fathom the chances of this. In my mind it is concrete evidence that you just never know what kind of amazing treasure you may find.

ODA 226
12-31-2013, 05:16 AM
I'm new here, but I'm a serious metal detectorist and hope that my post will be accepted for this contest. These are definitely my most memorable finds of this year and they are, by coincidence, my LAST finds of 2013. I found these items on a hill on which stands a 400 year old church and on which a decisive battle was fought in 1613. This medallion has the potential to be at 400 years old or more and I'm trying to ID the two Saints pictured on the front and back.36243362443624536246

Happy New Year to all of my new friends at American Detectorist!

aloldstuff
01-02-2014, 02:06 PM
Well over the years I have made some good finds. Some military items including a militia belt plate (WE&T 2008 Best Finds), a militia eagle hat plate, a rev war era shoulder belt plate, some great coins but the following story is my most memorable find.

This happened in May of 2011 and I still remember it like it was yesterday. I have tried to find my picture of myself returning the ring to Barbara but I can't. Our local paper also ran the story.


Gold Ring Returned
If you happened to read my post from yesterday then you know that I recovered a wedding band. Today I got to return that wedding band to the widow of the man that wore it.. On the inside of the band were some initial B.E.C to A.G.C 12-21-81. While at work I decided to call The Westfield City Hall Town Clerk, told here that I was a metal detectorist and that I had recovered a wedding band and was trying to locate the owner. She thought that was the coolest thing she had heard in a very long time. Well I gave here the info on the inside of the band and she said that she would have to call me back. Well around noon I get her call (totally shocked me). She said that she thinks she has the info that I am looking for. Albert and Barbara Carrington were married on 12-21-81. She said that Albert was from Huntington and that Barbara was from Russell. I thanked her for her time and then Googled Albert Carrington. I found him but no info on Barbara. Searched a little deeper, found her. I got there phone number and called, Barbara answered the phone. I said is this Barbara and she says yes(very guarded), then I asked if she was married to Albert. She says oh my god, Albert passed away 19 years ago. I proceeded to tell her that I have something of his that I thought she should have. I told her who I was and that I think I have Albert's wedding band. Dead silence.....She asks what makes me think that the wedding band is Albert's. So I start to describe the engraving and she cannot believe it. Yes that would be her late husbands wedding ring and she remembered yelling at him for losing it. I told her that I would like to return the ring and she says that most people would have just sold it. I then had to tell her as a md'er if we find a ring, and the owner can be identified, that we make every effort to return the ring. I then make arrangements to meet with her at her house in Huntington, so my wife and I took a little trip to the hilltowns. She was a very nice lady, tried to offer me gas money. I told her no way, but if there was an organization in town that could use it please give it to them. I have posted a picture of the two of us. She also mentioned that she had told a lot of people of what was happening and everyone told her that it also was the coolest thing that they had heard of.

My first gold with my v3i is now back with it's rightful owner. More importantly I was able to put a smile on her face.

Thanks for reading and keep digging

Epi-hunter
01-05-2014, 01:34 AM
Thanks everyone for your kind words and understanding!!!

My daughter wrote everyone's name on a slip of paper last night (we both double-checked to make sure everyone who qualified was represented) and I put them all into a bowl (actually white plastic strainer - limited dishes here in the residence inn :cheesysmile: )

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc224/epi-hunter/drawing1_zps9496e542.jpg (http://s217.photobucket.com/user/epi-hunter/media/drawing1_zps9496e542.jpg.html)

Kali then drew two names - the first name was to be the winner of the Garrett ProPointer and the second name the winner of the Garrett AT Pro.

Here are the names!

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc224/epi-hunter/drawing2_zps2a879d9c.jpg (http://s217.photobucket.com/user/epi-hunter/media/drawing2_zps2a879d9c.jpg.html)

For this first round:

The winner of the Garrett ProPointer is freemindstuck

The winner of the Garrett AT Pro is longhair

Congratulations to the winners and thanks to all who participated! There is still one drawing left for identical prizes, which will occur in about 3 weeks or the end of January.

Winners please contact me with your address, thanks!

ODA 226
01-05-2014, 03:40 AM
Congrats Freemindstuck and Longhair!

Ronandari
01-05-2014, 07:28 AM
Congrats to the winners and thanks Angie and Bart for putting such a great contest.

giant056
01-05-2014, 08:41 AM
A big congrats to the winners!!!!!!!

..................:congrats:

Tony Two-Cent
01-05-2014, 08:43 AM
Congrats to freemindstuck and longhair and thanks to Angie for the great contest! :clapping:

coinnut
01-05-2014, 08:45 AM
Congrats Freemindstuck and Longhair on your winning the contest and for helping us make our forum a better place. :clapping:

Fire Fighter 43
01-05-2014, 09:26 AM
Congrats to the winners!!!

Digger Don
01-05-2014, 09:47 AM
Congrats Freemindstuck and Longhair!
Thanks to Angie for running this contest & and thanks to Bart for helping with the prizes.

TundraDigger
01-05-2014, 09:56 AM
Congrats to the winners.

pulltabsteve
01-05-2014, 10:56 AM
Congrats! Great contest Angie :happydance02:

Longhair
01-05-2014, 11:15 AM
http://i326.photobucket.com/albums/k416/CCJSmom/holycow.gifThank you AD, Angie, Kali, and Bart!
I only posted to be a forum participant, and never ever expected to win anything. I'm totally blown away!!

del
01-05-2014, 12:28 PM
Congratulations you two :cheering::cheering:

freemindstuck
01-05-2014, 02:13 PM
Thanks everyone for the congrats, I'm pretty excited! This is a great contest. I'd also like to thank Epihunter, Big Boys Hobbies, and American Detectorist.

lee
01-05-2014, 03:52 PM
well done to you folks.

driftwood1963
01-05-2014, 06:09 PM
Congrats To The winners and thanks again for the great contest!

aloldstuff
01-06-2014, 02:18 PM
:congrats:to our winners and also Angie and Bart for the great prizes.

tanacat
01-08-2014, 09:43 AM
Big time congrats you two!!! What great prizes! :perfect10:

rsarge1
01-08-2014, 10:20 AM
:congrats::perfect10:

ODA 226
01-08-2014, 10:50 AM
Congrats!

Timewarpdigger
01-08-2014, 09:24 PM
Thanks Angie and good luck hope everything works out and thanks for the contest. congrats to the winners. Safe & HH

fyrffytr1
01-09-2014, 10:28 PM
Congratulations to the both of you!

Tom
03-17-2014, 01:33 PM
Okay, so my most memorable/important find is this, although it is not valuable and I'm told the diamonds are not real and neither is the gold. :shocked03:

I believe it is an earring as it has what looks like the remains of a post on the back. I found it in the dry sand at Hampton Beach, a salt water beach on the coast of New Hampshire. I found it using an old Whites Coin Master-4D I had received as a gift from the widow of a neighbor of mine who had passed away. This neighbor was an avid coin collector and all around outdoors person, someone always willing to help and would give you the shirt off his back. I grew up with his kids and always had fond memories of those times.

I had spent many many hours with that gift, listening to beeps and watching the meter move all over the place without really understanding what it meant or finding much of anything besides pull tabs and foil. Then I stumbled across this find and I've been hooked ever since! :detecting: I can't help but believe that somehow my old neighbor was watching me from somewhere way off in the beyond with a great big smile on his face. Knowing that not only was his old detector still out there beeping along but also for knowing that I was enjoying it maybe as much as he had! I still have that old detector and although it is pretty beat up it still works. Every time I look at it it also brings back fond memories of my old neighbor, thank you "Gene" you will always be missed :thumbsup01: and never forgotten!

37645

scootergirl
03-23-2014, 07:03 AM
I've had my new AT Pro for weeks, just waiting for the weather to warm up and the ground to thaw. My husband and I have been planning where to go MD, taking some drives, scoping out potential MD areas and there is a small town lake by us. I've always wanted to go detecting on the "beach". I suggested going there Saturday when we were talking about it the night before, but he wasn't too enthused about it. Saturday morning we were getting set to go out, and he decided we'd give it a try. We arrived and there were two people out on the lake, ice fishing, but the beach was mostly clear of snow and the picnic area was clear. We started up there, but I wasn't finding too much and was really anxious to get onto that beach, so I headed down there and started swinging the AT Pro around. Within about fifteen minutes I had a weird signal - kind of bouncing around in the gold rang and it was a little broken up, but I figured eh, just dig it you never know. It was right at the 2 inch mark, turned over that sand plug and saw the bright yellow flash at me. Picked it up and I was still saying, no way, no way, NO WAY. I swear I dropped my shovel in the sand, stood up and ran across the beach to my husband, all the way just saying "oh my god, oh my god, oh my god" Dropped it in his hand because I still couldn't think - this still could be fake, right? It was a little squished but he was quite certain I found gold and after I calmed down we cleaned it up as much as we could and we were fairly certain it was gold. Later we found the mark on the back of the Claddagh where it says "Made in Ireland, 14k".....about a half hour later I was walking a little further down from where I found that ring, when I just saw the second ring on the surface of the sand. We know it's 14k Electroplated, but we are waiting for a test kit to figure out if it's silver with electroplate. This has got to be most memorable day for me so far.
37554

Tony Two-Cent
03-27-2014, 09:19 AM
This contest ended back on December 31, 2013. Thanks to everyone for their participation.

When we have the second round of the contest we will start a new thread for it.

Edit from Epi-Hunter 4/2/14: The second part of this contest will take place this summer.