Anyone have a story of finds that once looked impossible but later on you found?

coinman123

Silver Member
Feb 21, 2013
4,659
5,768
New England, Somewhere Metal Detecting in the Wood
🥇 Banner finds
2
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
Teknetics T2 SE (DST)
Spare Teknetics T2 SE (backup)
15" T2 coil
Pro-Pointer
Bounty Hunter Pioneer 202
Fisher F2
Fisher F-Point
Primary Interest:
Other
I have a couple like this. When I started metal detecting I never though I would find a wheatie, well you can guess later on I did. I never though I would find a large cent of any kind when I started 2014, I went to my coin shop and bought an 1801 large cent and said, "I will buy one because I will never find one" a month or two later I found an 1805 large cent. I would never dream of finding a 1600's coin when I started metal detecting, not even a 1700's coins. I never found a single 1600's coin... I found two! Another colonial button (or any other colonial artifact), in mid-2013 I found a colonial button, it was my find of the year, I never though I would ever find another one, in 2014 I found lots, record of 8 in one day, the best thing was finding a very similar button to my first exactly a year after finding my first. The biggest accomplishment was a find I doubted to exist. I read that some shoe buckles were made of silver in early 2014 after finding my first brass shoe buckle. I told my friend about silver shoe buckles and he said, "Yeah right, no one back then would have a shoe buckle made of silver". In November that year I found a 75% of a monogrammed ornate silver shoe buckle, I wish I found the rest of it. My friend was there to see me find it, I guess they do exist!


Anyone have any finds they never though they would find but later did.


Coinman123,
 

CincinnatiKid

Bronze Member
Nov 5, 2013
2,079
1,220
Cincinnati Ohio
Detector(s) used
XP Deus, Garrett ProPointer
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Mine is simple. A mere silver coin...
I started with a $230 off brand detector. Used it for almost a year. 5 gold rings and not a single silver coin. I began to think they no longer existed.
I then bought a much better machine. Silver first showed itself in the form of a 1953 Rosie. I was ecstatic.
Sad thing is, I never get that excited these days, unless someone is seated. ;)
Peace ✌
 

kingskid1611

Gold Member
Feb 23, 2015
8,135
6,682
Oklahoma
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Mine is simple. A mere silver coin...
I started with a $230 off brand detector. Used it for almost a year. 5 gold rings and not a single silver coin. I began to think they no longer existed.
I then bought a much better machine. Silver first showed itself in the form of a 1953 Rosie. I was ecstatic.
Sad thing is, I never get that excited these days, unless someone is seated. ;)
Peace ✌


Gold rings? I haven't found one of those. No gold at all. I find silver....trade ya!
 

Msbeepbeep

Gold Member
Jun 24, 2012
15,787
24,131
MA
Detector(s) used
M-6, pro pointer, pistol probe
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I have found unexpected things, an 1850 's button, a silver Rosie dime, an LC no date chain cent, a Barber dime, silver spoon. A musket ball. My neighbors wedding ring (retuned). These are my most prized finds.
I would like to Find a Pirates chest. But hey I can dream!
 

Metal Illness

Hero Member
Jul 1, 2011
610
722
Englewood, Ohio
Detector(s) used
Minelab E-Trac
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I have found unexpected things, an 1850 's button, a silver Rosie dime, an LC no date chain cent, a Barber dime, silver spoon. A musket ball. My neighbors wedding ring (retuned). These are my most prized finds.
I would like to Find a Pirates chest. But hey I can dream!

If you found a Chain Cent I believe 1793 is the only year they were made, that should date it for you. Great find!! Cross one off the bucket list!
 

foreverRich

Full Member
Mar 31, 2009
195
886
Portsmouth, VA
Detector(s) used
Teknetics Gamma 6000
,GTA1000, Discovery3300
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I had the good fortune of finding an item I didn't even know existed until I found it. For many years I had hunted the farm fields in Suffolk, Va. for Civil War relics. Finding buttons and bullets and the occasional old coin were the norm. After one of my seasons of hunting I was going through my find "culls" that I had put aside for further cleaning. Among those were a disk, about the size of a large cent. It was packed with dirt and not really recognizable. I had figured it was a large cent and of little value, since the soil is very hard on them. I decided to clean the dirt off of it and soon found that it was not a coin. It had a shield on one side and fine writing on the back. The shield side had War Of The Union and the date of 1862. The side with the writing had a soldiers name, company and unit. With research and help from the detecting community, I found out it was a Civil War Dog Tag. Boy was I excited !!! I had found something I didn't even know existed and ALMOST threw it away as "junk". To this day it is my most exciting find. That is what makes this hobby so great, you never know when that next target might be your find of a lifetime.
 

OP
OP
coinman123

coinman123

Silver Member
Feb 21, 2013
4,659
5,768
New England, Somewhere Metal Detecting in the Wood
🥇 Banner finds
2
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
Teknetics T2 SE (DST)
Spare Teknetics T2 SE (backup)
15" T2 coil
Pro-Pointer
Bounty Hunter Pioneer 202
Fisher F2
Fisher F-Point
Primary Interest:
Other
I had the good fortune of finding an item I didn't even know existed until I found it. For many years I had hunted the farm fields in Suffolk, Va. for Civil War relics. Finding buttons and bullets and the occasional old coin were the norm. After one of my seasons of hunting I was going through my find "culls" that I had put aside for further cleaning. Among those were a disk, about the size of a large cent. It was packed with dirt and not really recognizable. I had figured it was a large cent and of little value, since the soil is very hard on them. I decided to clean the dirt off of it and soon found that it was not a coin. It had a shield on one side and fine writing on the back. The shield side had War Of The Union and the date of 1862. The side with the writing had a soldiers name, company and unit. With research and help from the detecting community, I found out it was a Civil War Dog Tag. Boy was I excited !!! I had found something I didn't even know existed and ALMOST threw it away as "junk". To this day it is my most exciting find. That is what makes this hobby so great, you never know when that next target might be your find of a lifetime.

Wow! Incredible historic find. I wish that one of my toasted green disks will turn out to be something like that.
 

Oct 5, 2014
31,886
35,425
Massachusetts
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
Garrett: AT Pro, AT Gold & Infinium; Minelab: Explorer SE, II; Simplex; Tesoro: Tejon & Outlaw; White's: V3i
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
I have been detecting a long time and each and every item brings a smile to my face; yes sometimes even junk. The beauty of the is hobby is you never know what you will find during a hunt!
 

goldandbill

Jr. Member
Dec 2, 2013
47
23
Gold Beach,OR
Detector(s) used
Fisher CZ 7 and Mine Lab Eureka
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I was seaching an old site and found rusted up thingy.Asked a buddy with more background.He said it looked an1841 musket multi tool for cleaning,etc.I researched,sure enough thatis it.Same site found some buck and ball shot.
 

Zakon Krzyżacki

Hero Member
May 25, 2022
842
2,545
I have a couple like this. When I started metal detecting I never though I would find a wheatie, well you can guess later on I did. I never though I would find a large cent of any kind when I started 2014, I went to my coin shop and bought an 1801 large cent and said, "I will buy one because I will never find one" a month or two later I found an 1805 large cent. I would never dream of finding a 1600's coin when I started metal detecting, not even a 1700's coins. I never found a single 1600's coin... I found two! Another colonial button (or any other colonial artifact), in mid-2013 I found a colonial button, it was my find of the year, I never though I would ever find another one, in 2014 I found lots, record of 8 in one day, the best thing was finding a very similar button to my first exactly a year after finding my first. The biggest accomplishment was a find I doubted to exist. I read that some shoe buckles were made of silver in early 2014 after finding my first brass shoe buckle. I told my friend about silver shoe buckles and he said, "Yeah right, no one back then would have a shoe buckle made of silver". In November that year I found a 75% of a monogrammed ornate silver shoe buckle, I wish I found the rest of it. My friend was there to see me find it, I guess they do exist!


Anyone have any finds they never though they would find but later did.


Coinman123,
I once heard a story of a lost gold coin.
After gaining permission, it took me 21 years of searching 20+ miles of fence rows before I found it.
You should have seen the look on the great grandsons face when I handed him the coin that was still attached to the necklace that the coin was attached to that his great grandpa had lost.

Never give up!
 

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