OK folks I'd like y'all to post a picture of your first significant find. I mean like when you first started detecting.

[Butch in Colorado]

Now I understand that some folks here have been detecting for quite a long time and maybe you don't have that really cool "first-first" anymore. I myself have been detecting since January of 2000 so I'm relatively new when it comes to detecting.

That's fine just post a reply here about what you found and a write up about it please.

My first cool find is this token that I found in the City of Colorado Springs. It was found in an old neighborhood that has since been razed and replaced by a new city park. The "America the Beautiful Park" to be specific. This was named in honor of Katharine Lee Bates. She penned the song "America the Beautiful" in 1893 while sitting up on Pikes Peak. And the park has quite the view of Pikes Peak.

Here is a link with info about the park and a few photos.
http://www.springsgov.com/Page.asp?NavID=5138

OK back on topic. While detecting at the old neighborhood I found this token. As you can see it says "TRILBY 2201 Market St." around the edges and "5

 

[Anonymous]

I got started in June of 2000. Within a couple weeks, I had already recovered some jewelry. Here's my first gold ring:

[attachment 33180 20000707goldring.jpg]

I've also seen several people post exact copies of this ring that they have found, so it's probably a mass-marketed ring.

HH from Allen in MI

 

[Butch in Colorado]

n/t

 

[MK_(MO)]

a bit of my history...
I got my first detector in 1969 ...(allentown PA) my grandpa got the bug and bought it but he never found much of anything with it. I used it a lot and found lots of misc coins etc ,,, but nothing of great value.
I pretty much just did random coin hunting for many many years in the different states that I lived.
(Utah, Montana, Oregon)
There were 2 significant events that really go me going on detecting..

#1. We moved to the beach in Oregon. I was looking for a good saltwater machine and T Ricks gave me a lead on a used excalibur. I started detecting the beach where I live.
I guess nobody had been doing it for a long time because I dug 1,300.00 bucks worth of clad in the first 4 months.
I still have a bunch of large coffee cans full of clad in my garage.
[attachment 33202 P8170004opt.jpg]

Over the years I dug a lot more and a few very good rings and a lot of old coins as well.
The yellow diamond was a great find, and there was another very nice diamond ring but my wife took that one...
[attachment 33203 P8170006opt.jpg]

#2. In 1999 I was at a friends ranch in central Oregon and I decided to detect an old homestead on their property.
I dug up a nice eagle I button.
Not being a relic hunter I didn't even know what it was so I put it on the net and got my answer right away.
[attachment 33201 P8170001opt.jpg]

That blew me away... a civil war button in Oregon.. and that was the start of my relic hunting phase.
I love finding old buttons and I love detecting old homesteads.

[attachment 33208 P8130007opt.jpg]
Located some great indian battle sites along the Oregon trail.
some 54 cal sharps, etc and general service buttons etc etc...
[attachment 33204 P8170007opt.jpg]

Here a the 2 buttons I found the other day... they cleaned up nice and are solid brass.. backmark Zell NYC.
Zell made mostly novelty buttons in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
[attachment 33205 P8170009opt.jpg]


I hope more of these guys will post on this thread !!
Great Post Butch !!

HH
Mike

 

[Craig in Alabama]

<center>
I started detecting when I was around 12 with a Jetco Huntmaster. It probably wouldn't detect a garbage can lid 2" deep but I hung on to it anyway. In 1997 I moved to my new house and had around 20 loads of top soil brought in and then put sod down. I left 1 pile for my wife's gardening. My son happened to see the detector in the garage and wanted to see how it worked. Well, I told him it probably didn't work but I put in a battery and it fired up...so then he said find something in that dirt pile. I laughed to myself that there wouldn't be anything but maybe some junk but I scanned the pile and low and behold it picked up a signal. I dug down a couple of inchs and dug this Alabama Sales token....

[attachment 33209 token.JPG]

Now, its not worth anything but it lit a fire in me and I immediately went inside and got on the net and researched metal detectors and in the process found the original White's forum of which has evolved into this forum over the years. As far as most valuable find I guess it would be this ring which is 14K white gold with 5 diamonds. Its not worth a lot but its still a keeper.

[attachment 33217 ring.JPG]

But the best finds that I have made have been the friends I have here on this forum

 

[John M (Ct)]

It was my first ever Colonial era coin I ever dug,A 1730 King George II Halfpenny in awesome shape. I dug it July 13 2003 at 9:10 AM, a time and date I haven't forgotten.The coin was 5" down standing on edge in nice rich black soil in the woods.The signal sounded good but the VDI was +95 and was almost not dug.But at the time I said to myself not to over analize the signal and dig it.I was pleasantly surprised and rarely pass on iffy targets now.

Take Care, John

[attachment 33229 Halfpenny1.jpg]
[attachment 33230 P8160055.JPG]

 

[Butch in Colorado]

Great finds Mike. That relic bug is a strong one for sure. I can't wait to get back to Va. again. I have found some buttons but no letters yet. Just general service ones. And I have found a N.Y. button at my friends place.

Really nice display of goodies there. Thanks for the post Mike.

 

[Butch in Colorado]

...And nice tax token. I have found a few out here. People out here groan when they find them but I enjoy digging them any chance I get. It is a welcome sight to dig aluminum and have it be a token instead of a chopped up piece of soda can...

Thanks for your post Craig.

 

[Butch in Colorado]

Very nice and very cool. That is something that is just not found out here. I would really like to find a large cent but they are really hard to find out here.

Thanks for the post John!!!

 

[John M (Ct)]

So you just never know what will turn up.Hunting here is like opening a box of Cracker Jacks because there is a surprise in every hole you dig.

Take Care, John

 

[Elson(La)]

n/t

 

[charlie (ky)]

Its a 1910 20 Franc..pretty nice shape too.

 

[MK_(MO)]

but finding it was fun at the time....
Now there are so many tourists with detectors and you wouldn't find it like that any more.
Beach clad is usually nasty and corroded. I'd have to run a couple lbs at a time in a rock tumbler for a week or so to clean it enough to where it could be used. Bank wouldn't take it unless it's clean.
After about 300 bucks worth I started to get tired of the tumbling which is why I still have so much of it around. Use it for car wash etc now. Should last the rest of my life at that rate.

 

[Butch in Colorado]

Every time I pull a minnie ball outta the ground I get the strangest feeling about it.

How did it get here, who dropped it, who shot it? Did it hit its mark? Gives me the goose bumbs every time I find one.

Thanks for the post Charlie.

 

[Butch in Colorado]

n/t

 

[Elson(La)]

n/t

 

[General Ray]

n/t

 

[Butch in Colorado]

It's like, yet another rule of marriage....

Section B, Para 4, sub para 8, section 9 of attachment 2000 of the rules of marriage states.

"While during the course of marriage, if said "spouse" hear-by referred to as husband commences to take up any hobbies to include, but not limited to, metal detecting or treasure hunting of any type and during the course of these activities the husband recovers any jewelry of any type, said jewelery shall become the immediate property of the wife.

It is the husbands sole responsibility to produce said find to the wife immediately upon recovery if the wife is engaged in the same recovery efforts as the husband. If the wife is not assisting in the recovery efforts, said husband must relinquish the jewelery to the wife in a timely manor upon returning to the home establishment.

Release of the recovered jewelry, by the wife to the husband shall follow the provisions detailed here. It is deemed too tacky, too gaudy or an emotional state of "not interested" is declared then the recovered jewelery shall be returned to the husband for inclusion in his ring collection.

Exemption to the ring collection rule will be the "changed my mind" provision that is called out in prior chapters of the marriage agreement. When invoked, the husband must surrender the selected ring to the wife with or without his prior knowledge."


Yeah, that about covers it??

 

[JSinkAZ]

n/t

 

[JSinkAZ]

n/t