20 Interesting Finds People Discovered with Metal Detectors
The world is full of buried treasures and relics from the past. With the help of a little luck and a decent metal detector, You never know what you may discover.
Published 10 months ago in Ftw
The world is full of buried treasures and relics from the past. There is so much history literally buried under the ground we walk on, we may never even know most of it, as it would require ripping up all the ground beneath our feet.
Thankfully though, as technology advances all you need is the help of a little luck and a decent metal detector, You never know what you may discover.
1
I've found a meteorite in Kansas. There is an area outside of Greensburg that is known to have had a meteor explode in the air before hitting the earth and dozens of smaller fragments are scattered over many miles. They are very deep and a lot of work to dig up, but my dad and I dug a 7 foot hole and extracted a nearly 30 pound stony-iron pallasite meteorite, which is worth nearly $2,000 a pound.
3
Literally only did it once with a friend when I was a teenager at a beach with a friend (he and his dad were really into it). We found a $20k watch in 1995 dollars. Wasn’t a Rolex, but can’t remember the maker. We took it to a jeweler who made a few calls and found out it was in a registry and the owner was called. He was elated as it was a gift from his wife. He sent us each a check for $1,000. The jeweler gave us each a cool fake gold chain on the spot. Jean shorts and high tops need the perfect neck accessory and we got it!
5
Some German metal detecting / WWII enthusiasts actually found pieces of my grandfather’s B-24 Liberator that he was shot down in. They were able to ID the plane by its serial numbers. Miraculously, my uncle was on the same forum they were posting their finds on and connected. They sent my grandfather the pieces of his plane.
6
Not my thing, but my brother was detecting just downstream from a popular swimming hole on the American River in California a couple of years ago, looking for dropped watches, phones, go pros, etc. Got a hit, flipped a rock, and found an 11.5-ounce gold nugget underneath. Miners tore the heck out of those rivers back in the 1849 Gold Rush, and amateurs have been panning it ever since, so it was pretty freaking incredible to find something that big.
7
Bit of a cheat as was working a site on a uni course in Northern England. Discovered the end of a Roman Dagger and a relatively intact boot replete with nails. Also found a beautiful fragment of a glass bangle; beautiful turquoise blue glass with a bright yellow wave pattern painted on it. Fellow student found and urn full of silver coins. Jammy git.
10
15 years ago, me and my siblings found a bomb from World War II in the Belgian Ardennes, using a $30 toy metal detector.
I remember walking off-road in the woods for hours until we found a spot that looked like nobody has been there in ages. We quickly found a couple of bullets and, while I was inspecting the bullets, my younger brother age 9 saw something sticking out of the dirt.
At first, we thought it was a rusty metal can, but when he pulled it out, it took us a moment to realize that he was holding a bomb. We didn’t know whether it was still intact so I instructed him to slowly put it down in a way that it could not roll off the hill and hit something.
We didn’t have any mobile phones so we rushed to the nearest road which we followed to get to a village to get help. We marked the trees so we would remember where we had hidden the bomb.
When we arrived at the village, we explained what happened. Luckily, they believed our story and called the local police. When he arrived, we couldn’t understand a word he said (he was speaking French, we only spoke Dutch) — but eventually he would follow us deep into the woods.
When we arrived, the bomb was luckily still there, and after an inspection by the police officer we were instructed to leave as apparently it was too dangerous and had to be picked up by the bomb squad — but not before we snapped a picture for the local press, posing with the bomb next to us. I still have that picture.11
I found a blacksmith’s shop in the middle of a farmers field. I was detecting for a historical society and their local expert told me to detect a certain spot that he calculated where the blacksmith shop would be. I did a 10x10 foot area with only finding small pieces of slag. I wasn’t convinced that the shop was there, but the expert wouldn’t have it. While everyone took a break at noon. I started a spiral pattern going farther and farther from his calculations. About 30 minutes later and 100 feet away, I got good strong signals and large slag pieces. I even found a single clay brick. One of the society members started an excavation at my spot. They eventually hit the corner of the shops foundation. They found a hammer and tools for the anvil and the rest of the blacksmith shop.
12
A few weeks ago I was driving on a country road near my house. There was a car pulled over to the side and a young couple was walking around obviously looking for something. I stopped and asked if they needed help. The girl told me, "We were arguing and I threw a ring out of the window." Seeing the guy was beyond angry, I told them good luck and I drove off. A few days later I got to thinking to borrow a metal detector from a friend who is into that. Went back and searched for about an hour, getting ready to call it quits when I found the ring. Sadly, I have no idea who the couple was and just hope they are OK now.
13
I took a metal detector to my grandparents’ garden when I was 10 and found some Civil War canister shot. It got lost in a move a few years later. Never found anything as cool as that since then. To make up for that, I spent the next ten years poring over war-era battle maps showing the positions of each regiment and battery over the course of a particular major battle that basically crisscrossed the whole area, comparing with modern topo maps, doing serious deep dives into primary sources, etc. Eventually, I figured out the exact hill the grapeshot had likely been fired from, and the side that fired it. I’m glad I got to experience finding it, at least, even though it got lost. It played a big role in my turning into a big history nerd early on.
14
I used to live near the railroad tracks near an airport and an old industrial area. They used to have a local station for the workers to shuttle into the area (late 1800's, early 1900's). They eventually tore down the station in the 30's/40's when the highways got built nearby. My dad used to take me with metal detectors and we would find railroad spikes, pocket watches, wrist watches, old silver dollars and other coins. Best haul by far was a gold locket with a picture of someone's wife/girlfriend ensribed "All My Love, Annie". It wasn't the prettiest locket, but you bet your bottom dollar someone was kicking themselves for losing that precious treasure.
15
Usually just found lose change people lost at the beach. However, I did have to go find a diamond ring once. Wife of a friend who was currently deployed CLAIMS she lost it while at the beach with her GIRLFRIENDS. It took me a day, but I was able to find it. She was appreciative. It wasn't until he got back that I found out that she lost it because she was taking it off while dating other men. I hated her ever since for playing me like that.
16
Been at it since 1999.
I've found a lot of stuff so what would be the coolest find would be subjective.
I've found a few gold rings, silver jewelry, silver coins, and civil war bullets including a couple of possible "bite" bullets and one union cavalry button.
Top finds would be... several silver half dollars (Walking liberties from the 1940s and ben franklins from the 1950s). my oldest coin find (an 1853 seated liberty dime) , my only seated liberty quarter (1877), my three gold rings (one that has 25 small diamonds, another that is a wide band wedding ring with three initials carved into the outside with inlaid silver metal, and an old Herf jones graduation/school ring that is basically a blank... nothing carved into it), an uncrushed 1930s silver thimble (most found thimbles are crushed).
I've never found a gold coin or a silver silver dollar or a pocket watch, or a two cent coin, or a three cent coin. :(
I live in Missouri so finds for the area will not be as old as say in the New England states. I DO know one guy who found an 1801 large cent in Kansas. I've found nearly every kind of coin from the 1850s to the present day (barbers, wheaties, seateds, Indian heads, standing liberties, etc. etc..). The only exceptions would be gold coins and silver dollars and some half dollars.18
My buddy and I set out to find an old gold mining camp. We followed the maps and were in the right place when we discovered that the town was actually on the other side of a canyon. We had to beat our way through some 12' brush and then started finding things everywhere. He found a pocketwatch right by the side of the old wagon road. We realized that the entire dump was still there. Like the place had become forgotten and finally recorded on the wrong side of the creek years before. We actually stopped hunting and told the Forest Service. We met and took the archaeologist up there. He was floored because everything was still in context. Felt pretty good about finding a whole town.
20
A couple of historians found some old journals about a battle in the Indian wars and started to theorize that it happened on the farm I grew up on. They have gone out on 4 wheelers with metal detectors on sleds and found canon shot. At one point where the soldiers started euthanizing their horses they found a row a slug with four horse shoes. Somewhere there is a canon, 2 Gatling guns, and a bunch of rifles that nobody has found yet.
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