I Got Smoked By an 8 Year Old Girl Today and Couldnt be Happier........

Garrett424

Silver Member
Jun 20, 2014
3,164
2,284
Granite, Maryland
Detector(s) used
Teknetics Omega 8000
Teknetics Delta 4000,
Deteknix XPointer,
Fiskar's Big Grip Digger & my old Army Trench shovel for the tough jobs
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I Got Smoked By an 8 Year Old Girl Today and Couldn't be Happier........

So I have a friend and she has two younger kids; a 13 year old boy and a beautiful, amazing little 8 year old girl. I've been calling her "the cutest kid on earth" since she was 4 years old. She truly is an amazing and really talented child. She draws incredibly well for her age. I have a pic she did of me playing guitar hanging at work. It actually really looks like me and is very detailed.

She's wanted me to take her treasure hunting for months and I made her a promise that I would. Her Mom and I just been having a hard time working it out schedule wise. The last time we had it planned a hurricane showed up and messed up our plans. She's been asking me for so long yet she's also been so patient about it.

She even drew a very elaborate picture of us treasure hunting and gave it to me a while back. Her Mom said she worked really hard on it for a couple of days. I have that one hanging at work too.

Anyway, we finally managed to get together for a hunt today for about three hours. She was SO excited when I got there she could barely contain herself.

So a few days ago, I worked out a little plan with her brother to plant a little 18K gold plated girls ring with one pink stone and two fake "diamonds" on either side so that she would at least find something she would like if our luck wasn't too good. I dug the ring about a year ago.

We hiked through the woods to a field where I've had pretty good luck in the past. I haven't found any really old coins there but I have scored some nice gold jewelry, a War Nickel and a 1947 Rosie just a week ago.

So I gave her a nail apron to put on with one pocket for trash and one for treasure. Then I adjusted my old BH Tracker IV as short as I could make it and got her all set up. I literally had to help her swing it for a little while. She's a tiny little thing. I also appointed her my official "pinpointer girl" and off we went. I was the official hole digger since I'm bigger.

Of course we immediately began digging the usual clad and lots of trash. She was all smiles when she found her first of three zincolns.
I had her brother distract her for a few minutes while I planted the ring. A little while later I kinda' led her to it and she located the target.

I have to say; when she pinpointed the target and pulled that ring from the hole it was as if she had found the greatest treasure in the entire world. She was SO happy and SO incredibly gracious. She hugged me, she thanked me again and again for taking her and told me this was the most fun she's had in "years". She couldn't wait to show it to her Mom.
I can't begin to describe the joy that she (and I) had.

This is an old pic of the ring from the day I found it. It was one of those heart stoppers and even had me fooled for a bit at the time. It's marked 18K HGE, which means it's triple plated and very convincing.

Ring # 14 Another Heartstopper 001.JPG


She also plays soccer and really loves it so I had her brother plant one more thing while I distracted her; a "silver" soccer ball I found a few weeks back. The ball is actually plastic but I think the clasp is silver.
We casually led her to the general area and sure enough, she found it. It's the one on the bottom.....

Another Silver Ring Sept. 27 2015 003.JPG

She says she'll be putting that one on a chain.


So that part was over, she was beaming with pure, unadulterated joy and we hunted some more. A few more nickels, dimes, pennies and quarters showed up as well as more pull tabs and lots of other trash.

She was getting a little tired and "freezing cold" so we decided to hit a few more targets before we wrapped things up and headed back. I took off my hoodie, put it on her over her jacket, rolled up the sleeves and zipped her up nice and snug. Then, off we went one last time.

She got a really bouncy hit. I figured it was more trash but of course we dug it anyway 'cause it might be gold. We flipped over the plug and she pinpointed the target.

She pulled the target from the hole and it turned out to be an 1895 Liberty Head V nickel, only the second one ever found with my equipment!! I just couldn't believe it given the many times I've hunted this field. The oldest coin I found there was a 1939 nickel; plus, she found it with my old $30.00 Tracker IV! It was bouncy because of the copper/nickel composition.

I didn't have a camera on me but I'll get a pic of the V Nick' to post next time I'm over there; probably in about a week or so.

Bottom line; I dug trash and clad and not only did she find the planted ring and soccer ball; she found and dug the 1895 V Nick' all by herself and walked away with the best and oldest find of the hunt; plus the oldest coin ever pulled from the field as far as I know.

So, both her brother and myself got smoked by a tiny little 8 year old girl. Her poor brother didn't find much of anything but he was happy for her.

I couldn't be any happier. It was priceless. This was definitely one of the best hunts ever. It's not always about the treasure.

She was so excited to finally go on her very first treasure hunt and walked away with a nice old coin and a nice little ring; clad in genuine 18K gold with genuine imitation diamonds and jewels. She LOVES the pink stone. Plus she has a "silver" soccer ball to put on a chain.

Seeing the pure joy in this child's eyes truly made my day and hopefully, this hunt will be as unforgettable to her as it is to me. This is one of those days that just makes you feel really, really good.

Oh, she wants a metal detector now. I think she may just be hooked.........
 

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Sleepy

Sr. Member
Jan 20, 2013
348
319
Alabama
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White's DFX White's Spectrum XLT, 2 Fisher CZ21's, 2 Tesoro Compadre's
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That's awesome and has planted a seed for sure. I was around that age when I discovered the hobby. If you get serious about a detector for her you may want to check out a Tesoro Compadre with the small coil. You may be familiar with it already but it only cost about $160, which may sound like a lot for an 8 year old but its not a toy and will last her for a long time. I've got two of them, the small coil version and one with the 8 inch coil. The small coil version is sitting and waiting on my three year old grandson to get a little bigger. It only weighs 2 pounds and can be made really small and is easy to handle. I bought mine to hunt tot lots with and they are deadly on finding small gold and jewelry. Good luck and thanks for sharing that cool story.
 

Gridwalker306

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Nov 10, 2010
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Great story, kids need people like that in their lives! I planted a little ring for my daughter to find a couple years ago, she was thrilled. It's awesome that she found the V haha!
 

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Garrett424

Garrett424

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Jun 20, 2014
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Granite, Maryland
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Metal Detecting
Great story, kids need people like that in their lives! I planted a little ring for my daughter to find a couple years ago, she was thrilled. It's awesome that she found the V haha!

I was definitely more surprised then she was when that V Nick' showed up. I also can't believe I never found it as many times as I've pounded that field. I explained to her that they don't turn up very often and what a great find it is. Apparently it was waiting for just the right person to pick it up. It was meant for her; not me and I think that's just fantastic.

Plus, this child has gone through a pretty rough time over the last year so anything I can do to make her a little happier; I'll gladly do any time. I won't elaborate publicly but needless to say, I think today did her a world of good.


Somebody up there was watching over that hunt today; that's all I can say. It was just all too perfect. I can't tell you how good I feel about this.
Days like this are what life is really about.

Plus, I may have a new little hunting buddy for years to come. She may really get into it and take her own kids treasure hunting one day.
 

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Old Dude

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Very nice deed Garrett. My first " older " coin was a 1902 V and even though I am 45 years older than she, I was quite proud of mine too lol. I am sure your kindness will be paid back to you over time with some things to make you proud.
 

bigfoot1

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love it...good job..:occasion14:
 

Loco-Digger

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Jun 16, 2014
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The memories and her feeling so elated are the priceless treasure. Kudos to you.
 

T-Bone

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Mar 22, 2013
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Great memories were made that will be with you all for a lifetime!!
What a positive impact you had on a childs life and thus is the circle of life!
May God Bless You!
 

parsonwalker

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She will remember you for a long time. Maybe forever. Well done, my friend.
 

against the wind

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Jul 27, 2015
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Nice story,, and it hasn't come to an end yet.
Take a coin folder with you when you visit again. Put the date and location where that V-nickle was found, on the folder. That way the nickel doesn't end up mixed in with other coins and possibly lost.
The joy in her eyes must have been priceless. You have made a little girl very happy and should be proud of yourself . Definitely a positive reflection of a great hobby.
 

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jojobama

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Aug 22, 2014
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great thing u have done! ty 4 a great deed 2 our hobby. give her your tech. 4000 see what comes up.
 

HD Paulie

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Thanks for the story, as it provides a insight into your detecting day, and makes for a great read!! Nice finds, and thanks for sharing!!! :icon_thumright:
 

OutdoorAdv

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One of the best posts I've read on here in a while. Well done Garrett424!

I take my nephew, who is about the same age, detecting when he is in town. On the last trip he dug a Sacagawea Dollar in a tot-lot... as soon as he saw it he said "WOWA, I think its a DOLLAR!" and I still had no idea what it was. ha It doesn't get much better than that. While I might prefer to swing the machine over the old stuff, there is nothing better than taking a kid out to dig up some treasure and make memories they will always remember.
 

mikeraydj

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I vote Honorable Mention. Bravo!
 

CASPER-2

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uglymailman

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Feb 3, 2010
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Good Juju headed your way over this. An "Atta' Boy" to the Big Brother for being co conspirator in your plot. Good luck.
 

Rustic

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Thanks for sharing that sweet story, it brought back fond fond memories of my own girlhood when my step dad would take me with him to the gun club and would teach me to shoot, and just overall include me in all the activities at the club. He gave me the gift of a lifelong love of the shooting sports, just as I am sure you are giving your step-daughter and step-son a love of metal detecting (especially if you continue to lightly seed it for them the first few times...)

Good on you for making great memories for you and those kids. 😊
 

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Garrett424

Garrett424

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Jun 20, 2014
3,164
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Granite, Maryland
Detector(s) used
Teknetics Omega 8000
Teknetics Delta 4000,
Deteknix XPointer,
Fiskar's Big Grip Digger & my old Army Trench shovel for the tough jobs
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Thanks to all.
I woke up this morning still feeling good.
 

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Garrett424

Garrett424

Silver Member
Jun 20, 2014
3,164
2,284
Granite, Maryland
Detector(s) used
Teknetics Omega 8000
Teknetics Delta 4000,
Deteknix XPointer,
Fiskar's Big Grip Digger & my old Army Trench shovel for the tough jobs
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Good Juju headed your way over this. An "Atta' Boy" to the Big Brother for being co conspirator in your plot. Good luck.

I already got my good juju from just being there and experiencing the joy.

I'm gonna' slide the older brother a silver coin for his help and collusion. We planned to do this months ago and really decided how to go about it a few days before the hunt. He already knows he has something coming 'cause I told him I'd make it worth his while. I see him pretty regularly because he hangs around our shop pretty often plus I give him guitar lessons.

He did well and it all went perfectly.
That V Nick' was just an added, unexpected bonus that could not have shown up at a more perfect moment.

Since I don't believe in coincidence and totally believe in synchronicity I have to believe it was all meant to turn out just the way it did.
 

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