Ring Found in Joplin Carnage

"A group of James River Assembly volunteers couldn't help but notice an 84-year-old Joplin man patiently searching the wreckage of his home with a metal detector Monday.

The volunteers, working nearby to rescue family photos, wedding pictures and valuable papers from an adjacent damaged home, walked over to see if they could help."

Read more HERE.

Image Credit: Mark Schiefelbein

MD Group Teams Up with Archaelogists

"Students from all over the country are gathering on the grounds of the Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson historic site in Winnabow for an archaeological dig.

Peace College Archaeological Field School is conducting a project aimed at mapping Civil War barracks and learning more about life for the troops who battled their way through Southeastern North Carolina in the 1860s."

Read more HERE.

Image Credit: WECT

Canadian Meteorite Hunt

"...

'It probably had a bigger entry velocity and higher beginning. This would also mean a somewhat smaller (than earlier expected) meteorite size on the ground.'

Still, meteorite hunters could head north from Wynndel and search east of Duck Lake. If there is snow, Nowell said, look for a hole in the snow. Otherwise, take a metal detector.

'Your metal detector would beep as it goes over it and a magnet would pick it up. It probably has a lot of nickel and iron in it,' said Nowell."

Read more HERE.

Oklahoman Lives to Discover

"When Justin Finley was 9 years old, he asked his mother if he could make a swimming hole in the backyard.

Finley never finished the pool, but he found a hobby buried in the dirt and clay of the family’s Sulphur home. He found a bottle buried in the yard.

It was old and had a skull and crossbones on it.

He later sold the bottle for a tidy profit.

'I was pretty much hooked from there,' Finley said.

These days, the 22-year-old lives in Del City. In his spare time, he grabs his metal detector and heads to any place he thinks might yield some treasure. But treasure hunting isn’t without its difficulties."

Read more HERE.

Image Credit: Bryan Terry / The Oklahoman

Hobbyist Honored for His Effort

"Bill Baecker set out last Saturday seeking a treasure he would never profit from, but of greater value than anything he had ever searched for.

Metal detector in hand and attuned to a high setting, Baecker walked the lonely, rainy corner of U.S. 42 and Utica Road in Lebanon, the site of tragedy a few days earlier. Shortly after 3 p.m., his detector alerted him to the prize he sought.

Baecker discovered the lost wedding ring of Sgt. Brian Dulle, the sheriff’s deputy killed in a high-speed chase last week, and had it returned to his widow, Abbie Dulle, on the day of Dulle’s funeral. He and two others were honored Friday by the Warren County Sheriff Larry Sims."

Read more HERE.

Image Credit: Greg Lynch / Dayton Daily News

Mudlarking? UK Offshoot of the MD Hobby

I found this article about what is seemingly an offshot of our metal detecting hobby, and even really an extension as many folks who enjoy this hobby in the UK utilize MD's in their adventures.

"...

'Mudlark' is an old term, dating back at least to Victorian river scavengers, and their modern-day counterparts took the name for themselves with a certain inverse pride. Ask a mudlark why he’s up to his knees in muck and detritus and you’ll probably hear about something he dug up in the garden when he was a little boy, or a childhood friend with a metal detector who pulled some brilliant thing out of the earth. (This is England, after all, a country my husband, the Irish poet Paul Muldoon, once said was 'coming down with history.')

..."


Read more HERE.

Image Credit: Emma Hardy / NY Times

Class Ring Returned After 40 Years

"For nearly 40 years, Cathy White believed her beloved 1971 class ring from T.L. Handy High School in Bay City was lost forever — somewhere in the sands at the Bay City State Recreation Area.

White, 57, of Midland was brought to tears Wednesday upon learning the ring had been found and would soon be returned.

'This is a dream come true for me. I still can’t believe it,' White said while slipping the ring on her finger for the first time since she was 17 years old. 'It’s one thing to misplace something and still have hope that you’ll find it, but it was totally different to lose my ring, and know that I would never get it back.'"

Read more HERE.

Image Credit: Lauryn Schroeder | Bay City Times

1794 Liberty Cap Large Cent for Auction

"Buried treasure really does exist.

A rare 18th-century copper coin that was found with a metal detector will be auctioned at noon today in Bethel Township.

Auctioneer Russell Wolfe Jr. said his client, a Myerstown-area man, was unsure when he found the coin, but he knew that he found it while metal detecting.

'He's been collecting close to 40 years,' Wolfe said.

Wolfe discovered the 1794 large cent with a starred reverse in a collection that was consigned for sale."

Read more HERE.

Image Credit: coinfacts.com

Uncovering Civil War Family History

"Walter D. Hodgson of Mercer County, Ill., joined the 124th Illinois Infantry at the age of 15 and went off to fight to preserve the Union during the Civil War.

About 100 years later, two of his great-grandsons, Don Finch of Bettendorf and his brother, Harry, packed up their metal detectors and set off to retrace their ancestor's steps through American history.

Don Finch estimates he has visited 80 percent of the Civil War battlefields.

'I got following everybody else's great-grandfather, too,' he said with a laugh."

Read more HERE.

Image Credits: Larry Fisher / QUAD-CITY TIMES

40 Years Finding What's Under Foot

"Dale Chapman has found that his metal-detecting hobby gets him out in the fresh air, gives him a little exercise and offers a return on his investment.

After four decades of metal-hunting, he is on his third detector, one that has more ways to indicate what lies beneath his feet. He can set the gadget to indicate coins, jewelry or relics.

'Silver dollars are always nice to get,' Chapman said."

Read more HERE.

Image Credits: Sam Yu / Frederick News Post