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Driving in his hometown of Sarnia, Ontario, Ben Rondeau was riveted by the sight of construction work underway along one of the city's oldest streets, not far from the mouth of the St. Clair River and Lake Huron. "I pulled over, popped the trunk, and grabbed my detector! Within half an hour I'd found an early U.S. cent... the date was incomplete but in the 1700s. Then I got a blast from a big piece of brass that had a crown and the number 41 on it. At the time, I didn't know what it was, but I added it to my collection of 'mystery items.'" Month passed, and then one day Ben noticed some valuable U.S. belt plates in W&ET and wondered if he might have found something similar. Letters and photos were fired off, and soon he had the answer: it was a British 41st Regiment of Foot cross-belt plate from the War of 1812, and worth about $2,000. "Maybe I should get those other unidentified finds checked out, too," he muses. "Anyway, I'm glad I asked about this one!"
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