Incredible Metal Detecting Discoveries: True Stories of Amazing Treasures Found by Everyday People (14 page)

The two newlyweds were
vacationing with the groom's parents in Hawaii. What do you do while
you are in Hawaii? You swim. Who could say no to some of the most
beautiful waters in the world? Julie couldn't and it was not long
until her wedding ring slipped right off her finger and sank in the
sand below.

Frantically the two
newlyweds searched for the ring using snorkeling equipment. The ring
didn't show up. Was the loss of the ring an omen? Was it a sign that
they were married too young? Julie refused to believe it.

A week later, the father
of the groom ran into a local lifeguard who was metal detecting. He
told the lifeguard about his daughter in law's recent loss. The
lifeguard scoured the beach looking for the ring, but the ring still
did not turn up. Out of time, the entire family had to return to
their home state of Alaska without the ring.

A few days passed and the
lifeguard ran into another metal detecting buddy who just so happened
to be accompanied by his twin brother. Can you guess where the twin
brother was from? He was from Alaska.

The lifeguard and his
friend started talking about the ring when his friend exclaimed he
found that same ring a few days ago buried under 10 inches or more of
sand! Now they just needed to get the ring back home to Alaska. Well
how convenient is it that the man who found the ring had a twin
brother who was visiting from Alaska? They were able to get in touch
with the newlywed's father in law and when the twin returned home to
Alaska, he brought the ring with him.

Sam, the new groom decided
to surprise his wife with the returned ring. He wrapped it and put it
under their Christmas tree. What a great Christmas present!

Imagine the journey that
ring went through. It slid off her finger and quickly sank in the
sand, where it was recovered by a metal detecting enthusiast who had
a twin brother from Alaska, who would bring the ring back with him
over 3000 miles to be returned to its rightful owner! What are the
odds? Incredible!

Rings are almost always a
surprise, but John Hill uncovered one heck of a surprise ring while
metal detecting with his three grandchildren on some private farmland
in Sampford Peverell, Mid-Devon, England.

John's metal detector
alerted him to some possible buried treasure. He gathered his three
grandchildren around to uncover the treasure. They eagerly dug down
about 10 inches to reveal a shiny silver ring. Excitement filled the
air. They had uncovered a real piece of treasure, but as John got a
little closer to their newly uncovered ring, he looked up and told
his grandchildren to run!

The ring he was staring at
was the pull ring to a live grenade that was still buried in the
earth. John quickly notified the local authorities who sent out the
Royal Navy bomb disposal experts.

The entire area was fenced
off and the Royal Navy bomb disposal experts quickly went to work
setting a charge on the live grenade. The grenade was detonated and
the explosion was heard from a mile away. Luckily, John and his
grandchildren were all safe.

It is still uncertain how
the grenade got there, but remains from a 1961 Canberra bomber were
recently discovered nearby in a canal. It is possible the grenade
came from the cockpit of the old bomber.

It just goes to show that
you never really know what you might be digging up, and it also
teaches us the importance of a slow and steady recovery method. Had
John been using a large shovel to recover this item, he could have
pulled the ring and the attached pin never even knowing it until
BOOM! Always be cautious when recovering what you might think is
buried treasure.

Its not every day that you
get to recover a 17
^th
century gold mourning ring using a
metal detector, but in June of 2010 that is exactly what Peter Amison
did! Mourning rings were often worn during this century. They were
worn in memory of a loved one who had recently passed away.

These rings were often
made from gold and Jet, a black stone. On some mourning rings, a
small lock of hair was placed under the stone. Some mourning rings
even featured a portrait. The rings were also inscribed with the
deceased person's name and date of death. Mourning rings were
purchased before death and left in a will to surviving members of the
family. Peter made his find in the Newcastle, England area.

Peter
knew he had recovered a nice ring, but he had no idea the
significance of the ring until after he spoke with an antique trader.
The ring dates back to sometime between 1600 and 1700. The
inscription inside the ring reads, “death has surprised my
chiefest jewel.” The ring is made from 10% gold.

As
of this writing, the ring was being stored by the British Museum in
London. It was not currently on display. There are a few museums
currently trying to obtain the ring and put it on display. Think of
the history behind that ring. What an incredible ring find.

In 1998 a fellow by the
name of Ron Treadgold made a discovery that would become part of
history. His discovery was a ring, but it was not just any ordinary
ring. The ring he found would be called the largest gold signet ring
ever discovered, and he did it using nothing more than a metal
detector.

This incredible ring find
was near Raglan Castle, Monmouthshire, Wales in the UK.

Signet rings were used to
make impressions in wax. This was how people sealed private letters
and important documents. If the seal was broken, then it was quite
obvious the item had been opened. The impression that was made into
the wax also verified that the letter or document was coming from a
high ranking official.

The face of the Raglan
ring is designed with a lion on a bed of flowers. This would have
been the impression that was left in the fresh wax. There is also an
inscription around the lion that reads, “to yow feythfoul.”
Today this would translate to, “go get me a pizza.” I am
kidding of course. Today this would translate to, “faithful to
you.” On one side of the lion the letter W appears and on the
other side the letter A appears. These letters would have also
appeared on the wax seal.

This large ring was
obviously a man's ring, but the ring was so large that it would not
fit on the average man's hand. It could have only fit on the hand of
a giant. Historians believe this particular ring was so large because
it would have been worn over a leather glove. Historians also believe
this ring would have been used by an important officer, but they are
not sure who.

The Raglan ring is very
old. Historians believe the ring was made somewhere between 1440 and
1475. The ring is currently on display at The British Museum. It is
on loan from the National Museums & Galleries of Wales.

You can see this
impressive find yourself at the following web address:
http://www.britishmuseum.org/images/loan12077a_l.jpg

Could you imagine what it
would have been like to discover this impressive ring?

Michael Greenhorn did not
plan on making history when he went metal detecting in a field near
the village of Escrick, south of York, England, but that is exactly
what he did in 2009.

This particular find is a
ring, but it is a ring that is full of mystery. A team of over 30
archeologists and historians have gotten together to discuss the
origins of his incredible find.

At first glance, the team
determined the ring must have come from the early 10
^th
or
11
^th
century, but it appears that this ring is even older,
possibly 600 years old. That would mean this ring was over 1600 years
old. Think about that for just a second.

The Escrick ring is a
beautiful ring made from gold. Its craftsmanship is unlike anything
anyone has seen. It is approximately 1 inch (2.5 cm) across. It holds
some beautiful glass and a magnificent large sapphire is mounted in
the middle.

See this impressive work
of art yourself at the following web address:

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1062562/thumbs/o-ESCRICK-RI
NG-570.jpg

Who owned this ring over
1600 years ago? That is a question the group of historians and
archeologists have been asking themselves. They initially thought
this ring would have belonged to a bishop, but now they think this
ring belonged to royalty, possibly even the king of France!

This is what metal
detecting dreams are made of. Michael Greenhorn sold the ring to the
Yorkshire Museum for just over $50,000 or £29,792. It looks
like Michael paid for more than his metal detector with this
incredible ring find.

These are just a handful
of the incredible ring finds people are making every single day using
nothing more than a metal detector.

Finding a ring is always
nice, but could you imagine what it must be like to discover a ring
that is big enough to go around a person's neck. I don't mean a
necklace. I mean a torc, or as we would call it in modern times, a
choker. Maurice Richardson knows exactly what it feels like.

Maurice was no newcomer to
the hobby of metal detecting. He had been at it for about 40 years
before he made this once in a lifetime discovery, and he was not
using a new fancy machine either. He was using his old faithful metal
detector that was over 30 years old.

In February of 2005,
Maurice was searching in a field on the edge of Newark-on-Trent,
Nottinghamshire, England. It was no picture perfect hunting day
either. It was cold, wet and rainy, but that did not stop Maurice.

His trusty old metal
detector alerted him to possible treasure and his initial thoughts
were to leave it. It was raining far too hard and he was getting
tired, but he just could not get the thought of possible treasure out
of his mind. He had to dig it up. Who knows, it could be the find of
a lifetime he thought.

He started to dig and dig
and dig. Whatever it was, it was buried deep down in the earth. At
two feet, Maurice decided to get down on his belly and start digging
with his hands. As he started scraping away the soil, he caught a
glimpse of gold down in that two foot hole.

As he removed more earth,
the gold piece kept getting bigger and bigger. It took him over a
half an hour to remove this huge piece of jewelry. This was no little
trinket. It was a huge torc that weighed 1.5 pounds or 700 grams. It
was 7 inches or 20 centimeters in diameter. Could you imagine pulling
this thing out of the ground.

The
craftsmanship on this piece of jewelry is simply amazing. The end
pieces are covered in floral and point work designs, and the center
piece is made from eight thin rope like pieces that were twisted
together. The entire torc is made from a material called electrum.
Electrum is a natural mixture of gold, silver and copper. It was used
to make some of the first coins known to man.

Maurice
was so nervous about his find that he hid it under his floorboards
until he could get it to the authorities. Upon arriving at the local
authorities, Maurice set his find on the table. The first words
spoken in the room were, “My God! Where did you get that?”

The
torc was in such good condition that the officials told Maurice that
it could not possibly be real. It had to be a fake and it was buried
in that field as some sort of cruel prank, but they were wrong. The
impressive torc was real and it sold for a nice sum of £350,000
or $587,860.

The
torc is over 2000 years old and it would have been worn by the most
powerful men and women of ancient times. Maurice was well rewarded
for his years of metal detecting with this one amazing find. The torc
is now owned by Newark's Millgate Museum.

There are a few items on
my “must find” treasure list that still remain “not
found.” One of them is an ancient sword. I thought I found one
of these once, but it turned out to be nothing more than an old car
jack. Oh well. It was still fun to dig. The other would be an ancient
helmet like the Crosby Garret Helmet.