Jim Owens and his $40,000 find
It is the possibility of The Big Find that gets the treasure hunter into his boots the day after a rainstorm. Any good jewelry is worth finding, especially rings with precious stones and gold and silver coins. But it is the thought of uncovering the antique ring, the special gold or silver coin that propels the searcher, keeps him searching tedious stretches of beaches, muddy park lawns, and weed-filled vacant lots. If the hunter is persevering, and if he can use his instrument, the finds will pile up; there will be satisfaction. But every now and then there will also be the great reward.
In California, this winter of 1982-83 has been difficult. Rain has fallen in destructive amounts, washed away beaches, and in many cases homes. Jim Owens has a roofing business in Seaside, and he has plenty of work (which he can only do when it isn't raining). He has plenty of complaints too. After a heavy storm, people call him demanding to know why their roof blew off, or why a tree fell on it. (One wonders who they complain to when their beachfront washes away.) It's been a frustrating winter for Jim, but he does have an outlet-metal detecting.
Jim Owens settled in Seaside in 1962. He married his wife, Rosie, and raised two children, Roseann, who is 20, and Gene, who is 18. In 1970 he started Owen's Roofing, and by 1972 he was ready for a hobby. A friend started him dredging with a 4" Keene Dredge. He enjoyed it, but the problem with dredging is that you can't do it in the winter, neither can you do a lot of roofing, so inevitably, in December of 1980, Jim took up metal detecting. He bought a Fisher VLF 555-D and had it modified for a body mount. (Hammering shingles tends to create wear on the bone sockets.)
Within two weeks he had found a large man's gold ring with a black star sapphire appraised at $2000, his first Blg Find. Within that first year he found eight thousand coins including one hundred and fifty silver ones, plus eight gold rings. Then, as is so often the case when valuable collections build up, the Owen s home was burglarized. All the fruits of all that labor, including the gold from the dredging were packed into Jim's own fishing tackle box and carried off, never to be recovered. The idea of his fishing tackle box being used to haul off the treasure was more than annoying to Jim. He also kept thinking of all those pop tabs he had dug up, so he hung up his metal detector.
But Jim is a man of enthusiasm. Energy whistles off of him; he has the brilliant steady eyes and alert expression of an inquisitive man. And the area where he makes his home is rich in history. It was inevitable that his lethargy would pass, that he would again begin to wonder what was buried around him. He researched. In the Monterey library and museum he pored over old newspapers, old photographs. Where had the parks been? The Del Monte Hotel had burned twice. What treasures were Iying, waiting where so many people and their structures had come and gone.
On Christmas Day, 1982, right after a particularly virulent storm, Jim and Glen Topper, a friend, went to the beach with their metal detectors. Jim found what he thought was a $5 gold piece. He stayed out a few more hours and found three silver dollars from the 1800s. All in all it was a superior treasure hunting day.
Back home, Jim got out his Commemorative and Territorial catalog, a 1974 issue. His daughter Roseanne was looking over his shoulder, one arm on each side of his neck. She recognized the coin first, and almost choked him to death. It apparently was a Shults & Co. coin, minted in 1851. Only a few$5 and $10 gold pieces had been minted to ease the coin shortage created by the Gold Rush. None of the $10 pieces is known to still exist. Possibly five to twelve of the $5 pieces have survived. The coin in the catalog was priced at $12,750.
The following day, Jim went to a local coin dealer. "I think I have a $5 Shults & Co. gold piece," he said. "No, you don't," the dealer answered, but he took the coin to look it over. After doing so, he contritely offered Jim $20,000 for it. Jim Owens had apparently made The Big Find.
The coin was turned over to Butterfield and Butterfield, Auctioneers and Appraisers since 1865. After several anxious weeks, they declared the coin genuine.
At press time, the coin was scheduled to be auctioned at a minimum starting bid of S25,000. It sold for $40,000.
In celebration of The Big Find, the Fisher manufacturers have given Jim a 1260-X and in one and a half weeks on a Carmel beach, he has found 485 coins: (310 silver), three gold rings, one solid gold St. Christopher's medal, and one 1 8K gold chain. In only one afternoon, he found 61 silver coins including 31 Mercury head dimes, 14 Barber dimes, and one Walking Liberty half dollar.
But overshadowing all of these is that solitary coin. It is possible to look at Jim's handsome face (as I did over an enchilada lunch) and think "lucky fellow." It is human nature to expect the vanity that usually follows a person's moment of glory - I looked for that also. But what I found was a man who had done his research, cultivated his intuition, and mastered his instrument. His strong character expresses itself in his gentle mannerisms, his endless sense of humor. (He plans to remove his wall clock and replace it with his 555-D which is is having bronzed.) When Jim Owens turned over that Shults & Co. coin he automatically became the stuff of legend.
How pleasant it is to be able to look at him and think "deserving fellow."
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