TWENTY BEST METAL DETECTING RELIC/JEWELRY FINDS
Published by Larry on Tagged Cache Finds, Relic Finds, Coin Jewelry
While my main emphasis on this blog is building coin collections by utilizing metal detectors, I find many other valuable treasures in the form of jewelry and relics too. As I did on the post for 20 favorite/best coin finds, I am including date, metal detector used and how deep item was located. Most of these finds came from either the land or water around Tarpon Springs, FL
1. 4 Diamond 14K Star of Linde Sapphire Ring - Found summer of 1973 at Tarpon Beach using a White’s Amphibian (diver’s model). First water ring find - one inch deep.
2. W W I Gas Mask/ WW II Jeep - White’s two box instrument used on war training grounds in Tarpon Springs. Gas Mask 4ft. deep and jeep front end and motor 8ft. Backhoe used to retrieve and sold Gas mask for $150.00.
3. 1936 Sterling Silver Lighter - Fisher 1260 with mini coil used to find this workable lighter at about 8 in. deep in the median grass of Sunset Hills Elementary.
4. Confederate Soldier’s burial marker - Found in Tarpon ( 1992) using Garrett Master Hunter 7 on vacant lot being cleared for Fitness Center parking lot (only 3 in. deep).
5. 1926 Macy’s Department Store weighing scale - Found in remote undeveloped area in Tarpon called the “Jungle”. Medeford BFO with 5/12 inch combo coil used to locate at 2 ft. deep. It weighted about 200 pounds and not restorable (1970).
6. 1/3K diamond men’s 14K Ring - My personal favorite ring find of over 400 gold and silver rings. Nice fit found with Fisher CZ 20 at 3 inches deep at Tarpon Springs Fred Horward Park Beach (1996).
7. Ornate 14K and Sterling Silver watch band from Columbia South America and dated 1924. Found at old stadium field in Tarpon Springs with Fisher M Scope 11 (1976).
8. 18K Woman’s ring - I found this garnet ring with my Fisher 1260 with mini coil at about 2 in. deep. Ring had date of 1895 ( my oldest ring find) -dug up on Lemon St. lot.
9. Navy WW II sterling ring - Found on vacant lot on Levis/Lime St. and returned to owner who lost it in1942 just before shipping out. Garrett MH 7 with sniper coil used to locate ring 45 years later - 1987 at about 2 inches deep.
10. White Gold wedding band - Dated 1949, I found this ring at Tarpon High’s football concession stand on my first day of metal detecting - 12/25/69 with Medeford BFO at 2 inches deep. Returned ring to couple who lost it Fall of 1967.
11. 1921 Silver Dollar in S.S. bezel - Located at playground of Tarpon Elemtary in 1993. Fisher 1260 found this beauty at 11 inches deep.
12. Cache (45 BU) Bank Tokens - Bank of Commerce Tokens minted in 1918 and buried in 1929 with fall of Stock Market. Fisher 1260 used in 1990 on property of then 92 yrs. old bank president who buried them more than a foot deep. He let me keep all 45.
13. Antique 14Kt white gold onyx ring - My first on the beach non-water find made with Jetco BFO detector in 1970 at Dunedin Beach (one inch deep).
14. Cache of 13 coins/tokens - My 2nd cache- found on vacant lot on Oak St. in Tarpon using Fisher 1260 in 2000. Valued at over $2000.00 these coins were in a tobacco tin about 8 inches deep.
15. 1868 Gold Dollar coin ring - My first gold coin find(1985) using a Bounty Hunter Big Bud at Fred Howard Park. Ring was less than two inches deep in sandy soil.
16. 2 Tarpon Springs H.S. Class Rings - Found with CZ 20 on first time out at Fred Howard Beach (Spring Break 1985). Returned both rings and one belonged to one of my students. They were both less than 2 inches deep.
17. 3 (Live) WW II Artillery Shells - These were dug up in 1971 using Relco & Jetco BFO detectors at area used for artillery training in 1941-42. Shells were about 6-8 in. deep.
18. 1 Carat Diamond 24K Nugget Pendant on 22 in. gold chain - Appraised at $4500.00 and found with CZ 20 at Fred Howard Beach in shallow sand. Returned to owner.
19. 1880 Orange Belt Rail Road Brass Lock - Located along a spur line in Tarpon Springs at foot deep with Medeford BFO and a 12 inch coil.
20. Antique 14K Watch - Found in Clearwater, FL in grass area of shopping center parking lot with Fisher 1210 less than inch deep (2002)
June 28th, 2008 at 4:55 am
You sure have been busy! Some beautiful finds. I really like the story about the bank tokens. Did the 92 year old man tell you the story before or after you found his cache.
Mike
June 28th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
Before! He was apart of my research plan called the “Hometown Advantage”. I spent about 2 to 4 hours a week learning from him the secrets of our town. It paid off big time and I am enriched from getting to know him.
June 29th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
This post really motivates me to go out and continue searching for the “big find”. Congrats on your finds, they truly are great. I hope I can find something half as good as those some day.
June 30th, 2008 at 1:00 am
Shane,
Go for it! Have a treasure finding mind set as you go and your good finds will increase dramatically.
July 11th, 2008 at 3:44 am
Hi Again Larry,
I used to help an older neighbor with some of the handyman chores around his house.
He told me about the time when he dragged the garden area in his yard and started finding a bunch of old coins and tokens.
Apparently he busted a mason jar with someones cached “butter and egg money”. This was in an area known for small caches by the woman of the house… a garden directly in line with the kitchen window.
I hit the area with my brand new Fisher 1266, but got discouraged by all of the trash and rusted iron in that area.
I’d love to have a shot at that spot again armed with a small 3″ or 5″ coil, especially after getting to really know my detector.
Mike
July 11th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
You have a premier detector and they do make a 3 1/2″ coil that gets outstanding depth. You can also lower your sensitivity a little and set discrimination 1 at level to knock out iron and set discrimination 2 at pull tab level and recheck signals that way. I did this a lot with my old 1260X and found a lot of extra silver coin goodies that I would have otherwise missed. You might lose older nickels and gold items. Sounds exciting. I love those cache finds.