Gypsy Heart
Gold Member
LEWISTON, Maine -- As a real estate agent, Winslow Frank of Auburn knows the importance of one element: location, location, location.
That's true when Frank goes treasure hunting with his new metal detector. He hit the jackpot on Thursday when he unearthed an antique 1.1-carat diamond ring buried 6 inches underground.
"I just stood there for a few minutes thinking, 'This is really exciting, but with my luck, it can't be a real diamond,' " Frank told the Sun Journal of Lewiston.
He was wrong. An Auburn jeweler appraised the European-style platinum ring with a diamond center at $4,000 and estimated that it had been buried for more than 50 years.
Mild weather has allowed Frank to use his metal detector a dozen times.
"I was hoping to find something that, at least in my mind, paid me back for my metal detector," he said.
His targets include sites of old carnivals and fairs, swimming holes, schoolyards, picnic grounds -- anywhere people might gather and lose something. Until Thursday, his biggest prize was a coin from the early 1800s.
Frank, an agent at Coldwell Banker Millett Realty, is not saying where he found the ring, on the chance that other treasures may be buried there.
The ring was appraised at Republic Jewelry & Collectibles, where Frank had bought detecting supplies. Dan Cunliffe II said it dates back to about 1920 to 1940.
Frank plans to travel next month to California to visit his son and search for gold.
He also intends to take the detector with him next year for parts of a hike along the Pacific Crest trail, from Mexico to Canada.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/12/24/in_maine_detector_yields_its_dividends/
That's true when Frank goes treasure hunting with his new metal detector. He hit the jackpot on Thursday when he unearthed an antique 1.1-carat diamond ring buried 6 inches underground.
"I just stood there for a few minutes thinking, 'This is really exciting, but with my luck, it can't be a real diamond,' " Frank told the Sun Journal of Lewiston.
He was wrong. An Auburn jeweler appraised the European-style platinum ring with a diamond center at $4,000 and estimated that it had been buried for more than 50 years.
Mild weather has allowed Frank to use his metal detector a dozen times.
"I was hoping to find something that, at least in my mind, paid me back for my metal detector," he said.
His targets include sites of old carnivals and fairs, swimming holes, schoolyards, picnic grounds -- anywhere people might gather and lose something. Until Thursday, his biggest prize was a coin from the early 1800s.
Frank, an agent at Coldwell Banker Millett Realty, is not saying where he found the ring, on the chance that other treasures may be buried there.
The ring was appraised at Republic Jewelry & Collectibles, where Frank had bought detecting supplies. Dan Cunliffe II said it dates back to about 1920 to 1940.
Frank plans to travel next month to California to visit his son and search for gold.
He also intends to take the detector with him next year for parts of a hike along the Pacific Crest trail, from Mexico to Canada.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/12/24/in_maine_detector_yields_its_dividends/
