It is a dream of all detectorists to find something weird, unique, or valuable. But some people actually get lucky enough to get a chance of discovering something significant enough. In this article, we have compiled a list of the 10 most amazing things discovered by non-professional or amateurs while using their metal detectors. So, enjoy reading the list of amazing metal detector finds.
Table of Contents
10 Amazing Metal Detector Finds
1. George Washington’s Cuff Button
One of the most interesting metal detectors finds is the discovery of the cuff button of America’s first president: George Washington. George Washington as we all know was the first president of America. He remained in the office for almost 8 years from April 1789 until March 1797. George Washington is considered to be the Father of the United States of America. He was not only an American Revolutionary War hero but also one of the founders of America.
You can hence, understand the worth of finding a lost possession of Washington in the 21st century; and that too an essential clothing item! Well in 2019, this unbelievable coincidence happened with Jon Tetreault. A resident of central Massachusetts, Jon Tetreault never expected that something like that would happen to him. One regular morning, when Jon was searching around with his metal detector he found a cuff button which turned out to be George Washington’s. Moreover, it was not an ordinary cuff button, it was the inaugural cuff button that Washington wore in 1789. Unaware of the nature of the value of his find, Jon returned home with it. He cleaned it to discover his amazing find.
2. 1956 Class Ring
Do you still have any souvenirs from your high school? An old jacket, or a diary or a class ring even! We cherish these possessions as each of these carries a version of us. One such piece of nostalgic memorabilia is a class ring. Class rings are a piece of novelty jewelry that was worn by high school students. It is a long lost trend but was in vogue among the college-going folks of the past.
One such piece of the class ring was discovered very recently in 2013. About seven years ago in 2013, Rick Vance found not one but three class rings with the help of his metal detector. A resident of Michigan, Vance discovered the rings in a span of a few days. He examined the ring and found out that it was a ring from the 1956 batch and belonged to a woman named Carol. The ring was lost in 1959. He went ahead to trace Carol and found her. He returned the ring to its rightful owner after 54 years.
In another similar incident, Roy Lloyd found a 1974 class ring with his metal detector. Interestingly, the ring had an engraving of the owner’s initials: M.B. Lloyd tracked the owner Miles Baker, who had lost the ring 48 years ago. Lloyd returned the jewelry to Baker.
3. Chilean Coins
It was a lucky day for Maurico Hernandez in 2013. The Chilean citizen was using his metal detector on one of the beaches in Chile. It was then that his metal detector beeped to indicate a find amidst the sand. Hernandez discovered the item to be a 20 cent coin. But what was fascinating about the coin was its date. The coin dated back to 1899. Apparently, that was not the single item there. On probing further, Hernandez found six more coins of the same type. Hernandez said that the coins might have been deposited there due to the tsunami of 2010. But no one knows for sure.
However, Hernandez is not the alone who has found ancient Chilean treasure. In another incident, Bernard Kohler found an ancient Chilean silver coin. He made the discovery near a goldmine near the city of Curacavi.
4. Silver Dollar
It was a regular day of May in the year 2014 for Gabino Vasquez. As his habit, he went to a playground with his metal detector for searching. Although with a malfunctioning LCD screen of the device he relied on the sound his detector made on finding certain items. He spent a good time there and was about to return home when his metal detector made a very unique sound. On looking into it, Vasquez found out that just half-inch below the surface was a silver dollar made in 1991.
5. Brass Candelabrum
John L. Mandeville was spending a very normal day with his metal detector when he unexpectedly stumbled upon some metal object. He was searching in the woods behind a local Catholic Church. He discovered very old fashioned candelabra. What made the candelabra valuable was that it was made of brass. The metal detector detected a total of 14 such pieces of candelabrum. All of which were very old and precious.
6. Copper Coins
Jeff Salt’s vacation proved to be very lucky for him. A resident of Utah, Jeff was enjoying a vacation in Puerto Rico with his wife, when he came across something unusual. He was searching in the sand at the nearby beaches and felt as if he has not found anything important. But, while going through the pile of his finds, something caught his attention. Salt was not able to identify one item from his stash. After much investigation, he realized that he has found Spanish 4 Maravedis coins. The coins were made of copper and dated back to the 15th and 16th centuries. Salt who initially thought his find is nothing more than garbage was quite surprised after learning the value of the old treasure.
7. Crosby Garrett Helmet
One of the amazing metal detector finds was an ancient helmet. Yes, you read right! A dozen pieces of an eighteen hundred years old helmet were discovered in a field in England. The local resident who found the pieces thought them to be of some monetary value. So, he collected it all and went to a local auction house to get some money in exchange for the broken helmet. It was then in the auction house that more than two hundred hours were spent on joining each piece and reshaping the helmet.
The end result was breathtakingly beautiful. The helmet is in the shape of a mask. It has a connected bronze cap and a griffin crest. The face of the helmet resembles the Roman style. The artifact is a brilliant example of an excellent civilization that has perished slowly in the hands of time. Not only historically, but the helmet has a financial value too. The auction house earned about 3.6 million dollars at the auction.
8. Axe Head
When we study about the dawn of civilization, we read about humans and their subsequent development. As a historian, Steve Hickling was quite familiar with all this. A native of Huyton, historian Steve Hickling, was enjoying his leisure by treasure hunting with his metal detector It was just another day for him and he had no idea that something was waiting to be found by him there, that very day. In the course of searching for anything, Hickling found something which demanded his attention. On looking into it properly, he understood that his metal detector has hit a jackpot. What he found was actually a very rare and very old head of an axe. The head of the axe was made up of bronze. But, the most important thing is, Steve’s discovery was not just some bronze ax head. It was an axe head from the actual Bronze Age. The axe head is supposed to belong to the 1850 to 1750 BC.
9. Meteor
In this story, you will learn that treasure is not always buried down, sometimes it also rains from above! So, this is an incident of New Mexico, where a young boy named Jason Lyons was busy in his daily activity of detecting things using his metal detector. All was normal and mundane until something caught Jason’s eye. The 13 years old used his metal detector to find something amazing and unbelievable. Jason found a big rock which obviously contained the traces of metal to be detected by the metal detector. On a more close examination, it was clear that the stone Jason discovered was nothing else but a meteor.
The “space rock” weighed almost 2 pounds. It was almost ten thousand years old. It was made up of nickel and iron. The most amazing fact about this find is that the meteor was found by Jason with the help of a basic model of metal detector made by his grandfather.
10. Ringlemere Cup
A British man named Cliff Bradshaw, stumbled upon his luck when his hobby of looking for treasure with a metal detector earned him a fortune. Cliff Bradshaw used his treasure finding skills in the English wheat field. It is here that he has found numerous artifacts. All his discoveries dated back to the 7th century. In the hope of finding more, he kept tracing the same area over and over again. Well, his guess was not wrong. He found an ancient cup made of pure gold at the same place.
This cup is expected to belong to a period from 1700 to 1500 BC. It is a historical gem that was carved from a single piece of gold. Although the cup has been crushed over the years it has not lost its value at all. It is in one piece and is currently in the British Museum who bought it for 529,000 dollars.
Final Thought
Metal detecting might just be a hobby but it has helped in unearthing great artifacts, treasures, and lost relics from time to time. No matter what the motivation is, money, fame, or research but whenever a detectorist finds a valuable item, it bridges the gap between our past and present. It opens a window through which we can peek into the time which has brought us where we are today.
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