- Jan 27, 2015
- 974
- 3,369
- 🏆 Honorable Mentions:
- 3
- Detector(s) used
-
Minelab Equinox 800
XP Deus 2
- Primary Interest:
- Metal Detecting
Hello everyone! This is a bit of a long story, so - buckle in.
For those who don't want to read the whole thing:
And now for the rest of the story...
Last year I posted quite a few times about a field with a "sidewalk to nowhere"; one of my final posts about the site was here and links to others about the location: https://www.treasurenet.com/threads/another-9-yes-9-silver-coins-from-the-sidewalk-field.659944/
Background on the property: the field is a 100 acre park that was part of a 110 acre estate. The estate included a 66,000 square foot mansion built in 1906 that became a convent and Catholic school in the 1920's and operated into the 1990's. My town bought the 110 acres in 2006, and recently sold off 10 acres - including the mansion - to a developer.
Yesterday I thought I'd try revisiting the park, and when I arrived I was shocked to see that at one end of the park, near the "private property" boundary signs associated with the developer's land, many trees had been cut down and some of the grassy/bushy areas had been cleared by some heavy machinery.
You know what that means: I now had access to some new ground! The area previously untouched was maybe 50' x 80', and over 2 hours I detected the whole area.
I'll talk about the finds from that area later, but I wanted to share a few really positive human experiences up front.
About an hour into my detecting - and just as I dug a plug with a good target in it - a group of woman (and one child) parked their cars up near the mansion and started walking around the estate grounds. They notice me and came over to talk. I learned from them that they were past students at the school, and they were visiting because the next day (today) the developer was beginning demolition of the mansion!
One of the women had their daughter with her, and since I had just dug a good target but not removed it from the plug yet I invited the kid to retrieve it. She said, "it's just a normal dime" but I asked what the year was and she said, "1953". I explained that the dime was 90% silver and that's why it was still shiny after all these years. I also said, "you can keep it if you want to." That put big a smile on her face.
The ladies returned to walking around the estate and I returned to detecting the new ground, and about 10 minutes later I got another silver signal. But this one turned out to be a sterling silver religious medallion, the kind that would be worn as a necklace. And then inspiration struck: I thought, "I should give this to one of those women who went to school here; maybe one will recognize it."
I walked over to the group of women and showed them the medallion. None of them recognized it, but they were super excited that I was giving it to them. I shared my thinking with them: the medallion means a lot more to them than it does to me, because of its and their connection to the school.
And then I remembered that in 2021 I found a bunch of these necklace medallions at the park, and (before really thinking about it) I said, "I have more of these at home - would you like to have them?" Of course they said yes, and I offered to run home (10-12 min drive) and meet them at a local tavern where they were going to grab a bite to eat.
When I got home I realized I also had four coat buttons with a distinctive religious image on them that I'd found at the school. It turns out these came from their uniforms, and when i headed over to the tavern I brought the buttons also.
As you'll see in the pictures below I ended up giving them eleven (11) different necklace medallions (a few were silver, most were other non-precious metals - but still "precious" to these ladies!) and the four buttons.
--------------------------
As for my finds, I didn't leave the park empty handed. In addition to the 1953 Roosevelt dime I also found a 1949 Washington Quarter (only 9 million of those minted), another Roosevelt (1954), a Mercury (1918) and only my second Barber dime ever (1902). Plus a bunch of wheat pennies.
And, most importantly, I left with a warm feeling in my heart, knowing that those medallions ended up with people who really care about them.
- Brian
PS - I left out the part about a police officer visiting (because the women were technically trespassing), so believe it or not I actually edited this story....
Pictures:
- the medallions and buttons I gave to the women who were students once upon a time at the school
- me and these women (holding their treasures) at the tavern
- The mansion/convent/school (before it's demolished)
- the dime that I gave away (1953)
- The Barber came out of the same hole as the Mercury (just peeking through the dirt)
- the finds I took home.
For those who don't want to read the whole thing:
- I was detecting at a park adjacent to a 1900 era mansion-turned-Catholic-school that I detected all throughout 2021
- some women who were students in the 80's stopped by because the school is about to be demolished
- I found a sterling silver religious medallion and gave it to one of the women
- she was so moved that I drove home and got 10 more religious medallions I found at the site last year and gave them to the women, who plan to distribute them to their classmates who couldn't visit.
And now for the rest of the story...
Last year I posted quite a few times about a field with a "sidewalk to nowhere"; one of my final posts about the site was here and links to others about the location: https://www.treasurenet.com/threads/another-9-yes-9-silver-coins-from-the-sidewalk-field.659944/
Background on the property: the field is a 100 acre park that was part of a 110 acre estate. The estate included a 66,000 square foot mansion built in 1906 that became a convent and Catholic school in the 1920's and operated into the 1990's. My town bought the 110 acres in 2006, and recently sold off 10 acres - including the mansion - to a developer.
Yesterday I thought I'd try revisiting the park, and when I arrived I was shocked to see that at one end of the park, near the "private property" boundary signs associated with the developer's land, many trees had been cut down and some of the grassy/bushy areas had been cleared by some heavy machinery.
You know what that means: I now had access to some new ground! The area previously untouched was maybe 50' x 80', and over 2 hours I detected the whole area.
I'll talk about the finds from that area later, but I wanted to share a few really positive human experiences up front.
About an hour into my detecting - and just as I dug a plug with a good target in it - a group of woman (and one child) parked their cars up near the mansion and started walking around the estate grounds. They notice me and came over to talk. I learned from them that they were past students at the school, and they were visiting because the next day (today) the developer was beginning demolition of the mansion!
One of the women had their daughter with her, and since I had just dug a good target but not removed it from the plug yet I invited the kid to retrieve it. She said, "it's just a normal dime" but I asked what the year was and she said, "1953". I explained that the dime was 90% silver and that's why it was still shiny after all these years. I also said, "you can keep it if you want to." That put big a smile on her face.
The ladies returned to walking around the estate and I returned to detecting the new ground, and about 10 minutes later I got another silver signal. But this one turned out to be a sterling silver religious medallion, the kind that would be worn as a necklace. And then inspiration struck: I thought, "I should give this to one of those women who went to school here; maybe one will recognize it."
I walked over to the group of women and showed them the medallion. None of them recognized it, but they were super excited that I was giving it to them. I shared my thinking with them: the medallion means a lot more to them than it does to me, because of its and their connection to the school.
And then I remembered that in 2021 I found a bunch of these necklace medallions at the park, and (before really thinking about it) I said, "I have more of these at home - would you like to have them?" Of course they said yes, and I offered to run home (10-12 min drive) and meet them at a local tavern where they were going to grab a bite to eat.
When I got home I realized I also had four coat buttons with a distinctive religious image on them that I'd found at the school. It turns out these came from their uniforms, and when i headed over to the tavern I brought the buttons also.
As you'll see in the pictures below I ended up giving them eleven (11) different necklace medallions (a few were silver, most were other non-precious metals - but still "precious" to these ladies!) and the four buttons.
--------------------------
As for my finds, I didn't leave the park empty handed. In addition to the 1953 Roosevelt dime I also found a 1949 Washington Quarter (only 9 million of those minted), another Roosevelt (1954), a Mercury (1918) and only my second Barber dime ever (1902). Plus a bunch of wheat pennies.
And, most importantly, I left with a warm feeling in my heart, knowing that those medallions ended up with people who really care about them.
- Brian
PS - I left out the part about a police officer visiting (because the women were technically trespassing), so believe it or not I actually edited this story....
Pictures:
- the medallions and buttons I gave to the women who were students once upon a time at the school
- me and these women (holding their treasures) at the tavern
- The mansion/convent/school (before it's demolished)
- the dime that I gave away (1953)
- The Barber came out of the same hole as the Mercury (just peeking through the dirt)
- the finds I took home.
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