Dug this treasure today (yeah, I’m talking about the merc), which happens to be career silver #1300.  We always celebrate our milestones.

That toasted copper is a first for me, tho, a King George one penny (as opposed to the more commonly dug halfpenny).  You can tell by the size (half dollar size), and the weight (25 grams; it is supposed to be 1 oz, or about 28 grams — compare to the last KG III halfpenny I dug at less that 7 grams).  You can also tell by the raised rim, which let to these coins being called “cartwheels”.  This thing is thick as well as large.

It is of course dateless, but they were only dated 1797, so it is a 1797 KG III penny.  We also know it was actually minted in Britain cuz the colonists did not counterfeit these (most KG II and KG III halfpennies are colonial counterfeits).

I’ve actually never seen one of these posted, so in that sense it is an uncommon find.  Too bad it is still worthless.  Its the thrill that counts, I suppose.  It was about 10 inches down in a small park that was established in the 40s (and a new site for me).

The merc was really weird, came in at CO 38, which I rarely dig in a park, but since it was a new site, I wanted to see a wheate, and saw one.  Scanned the hole again, and got a 42 (ok, another wheatie), and found the merc instead (then the second wheatie).  Really weird.  The E-Trac is usually good at sniffing the silver out in this situation.

First, I found this barber dime at the same site as the “Bizarre Hunt” entry from the other day.

8 inches down, iffy signal, but a typical E-Trac silver.

Anyway, regarding the class ring, also from the “Bizarre Hunt” entry, it was rather quite simple in this case — found the yearbook online, the initials were unique, and a little bit of googling and I knew the guy’s life story within 2 hours.  Prolly had enough info to take out a mortgage in his name.  The internet is scary.

I’ll admit I did two things.  I looked at his house online to see if it was old and detectable (it wasn’t), and I looked to see if he was a good person (he was, volunteering, supporting firefighters and police, which, at least to me anyway, seems good).  I just didn’t want a bad person, like if he was a rapist or something, I would not have returned the ring.  Does the detectorist ethic allow the finder to judge and decide if they want to return the ring? Yeah, at least if it is me.

So, it was really cool, looking at the pic in the high school yearbook from the mid 70s, and a modern pic, and talking to him and all that about the day he lost the ring about 40 years ago, which he remembered quite well, the circumstances of why he was there, his girlfriend at the time who was with him, how he lost the ring, where he thought he lost it and how he tried to find it, and all that stuff.  I could prolly write a pretty decent short story on the whole thing; I just don’t want to, cause its his life.

All I can say is that he was happy to get the ring back after 40ish years.  And no, I did not nail this one, but how could I?  I would have loved to, as it is a great story, (but his privacy trumps my ego).

Anyway, that is what makes metal detecting cool — people who don’t know what they are looking at think it is about the money, as if finding loose change is cool — no, its about puzzles and stories of the past.  A story, in this case, so few will ever know, but it is so cool to experience just the same.  The tapestry of normal people living normal lives, experienced thru a lost ring.