The most valuable find!

The Urban Prospector

Bronze Member
Oct 18, 2014
1,181
1,903
Wherever I am.
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2
Detector(s) used
Tesoro Eldorado,
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Human eyes
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Everybody is curious as to what the heck us "metal detectorists" are doing. Without fail THE #1 question that I am asked is, "What is the most valuable thing you have ever found?" So.....I thought it would be fun and interesting to ask all of you that very question.

What is the most valuable item you have ever found?
 

Upvote 9

scaupus

Hero Member
Apr 20, 2011
888
523
Not too far from a beach
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
great thread! good idea. My favorite find is my avatar. Probably not my most valuable find, which I know is the purpose of this thread, but it is valuable, and is my favorite, and the most intrinsically interesting of all my finds, imho. Found it very early in my metal detecting career. It's a mexican biker ring, which were made from demonetized coins in the 1930s-1950s. This one is very unusual in that its finely sculptured, most of them are pretty crude. They generally feature Indian chiefs, horses, or skulls. They are highly collectible, especially the skulls, calaveras. This one is up there with the skulls because of its unusually high artistic quality. The paint on the feathers was still there after decades in the ground. The nickel bezel and band, copper cartouches on the side, and the brass table I cleaned up, but I left the face with the dark bronze patina as it came out of the ground.

Don't ask about buying it, I sold it when I found it, which I regret. I've sold other rings and jewelry, no problem, just sold one of my most recent finds for $300 on ebay, will sell the latest one as soon as its cleaned up, but I should have kept this one, it was special, for one thing, because I found it in the parking strip just inches from the road in front of my dad's 1925 house.

indianheadbikerringmexicantop2.jpg~original

after clean up and

as it came out of the ground
Indian2ringsv50-1.jpg~original
 

Last edited:

greatwun

Full Member
Feb 21, 2012
150
44
Orlando, FL
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Garrett AT Pro / Garrett Pro-Pointer
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Other
I found this in a lake almost 3 years ago.
It has never been appraised, but the diamonds test good.
I think its 3-4 carat.
Its an anniversary ring found right before my 25th anniversary.
My wife wears it everyday.


attachment.php


attachment.php


Wow, what a find!!!!
 

Reiska

Full Member
Aug 2, 2014
131
401
Detector(s) used
GM4 Pro
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
American 18K ring. Melt value 250€.

IMG_7626.jpg

Rare hammered coin (Less than 10 exist). Not worth much but the most valuable coin i've found anyway.

IMG_7646.jpg IMG_7647.jpg
 

flashyace

Full Member
Sep 26, 2013
103
115
southern Michigan
Detector(s) used
Bounty Hunter IV
no good yet. Found a silver wedding band very 1st time out with my daughter..we started acting like the diggers on TV she was so excited. She wants to go all the time now and wants a detector for Christmas. She says EVERYDAY I want to find something from the 17th century. It make me smile so big....AND SHE ONLY 9.............but I think she has an old soul!!!!!!
 

bill from lachine

Gold Member
Oct 30, 2011
22,616
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Quebec
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Interesting thread.....I'd say a couple of the rings in my avatar would retail around $2,000 or so.

Regards + HH

Bill
 

DaiJen

Jr. Member
Dec 11, 2015
29
16
North-Central Ohio
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Pro
Garrett Ace 350
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I'm pretty sure I would give up anything I have two of to have been the guy who found that after so many years. Breathtaking.
 

bearbqd

Bronze Member
Jun 20, 2007
1,094
624
Shenandoah Valley
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Minelab EXP II w/ Sunray X-1 probe, Garrett AT Pro/Propointer
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Man, there's some amazing finds on this thread. I guess my most valuable are either of these southern civil war buttons which, from what I have read, image.jpg image.jpg may each be worth between $6-800 because of condition and rare back marks.
 

against the wind

Gold Member
Jul 27, 2015
24,797
24,976
Port Allegheny, Pennsylvania
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Great post,, the only piece of gold that I exchanged / sold in payment for a gift I wanted to give a lady, was a Paloma Picasso Brooch. It consisted of 4 X's made of 14kt gold.
One X had 9 nice diamonds. It appraised at $900.
I didn't think to take pictures back in the early 90's.
 

Last edited:
OP
OP
The Urban Prospector

The Urban Prospector

Bronze Member
Oct 18, 2014
1,181
1,903
Wherever I am.
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
2
Detector(s) used
Tesoro Eldorado,
Garrett AT Pro,
Minelab Excal II,
Minelab Equinox 800,
Nokta Legend,
Garrett Pro Pointer,
Garrett Pro Pointer AT,
Human eyes
Primary Interest:
Other
Thought I would dig this old post up to see if anyone has topped their "most valuable find". Also for the newer members, please post your most valuable find ever. I love going thru these, it is so encouraging. It basically gets my mind back to what is important. TREASURE
 

RTR

Gold Member
Nov 21, 2017
8,180
32,468
Smith Mt. Lake Va.
Detector(s) used
Teknetics Liberator
Falcon MD-20
***********
Blue Bowl
Angus MacKirk sluice
Miller Table
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Thanks for waking this great thread up :)
 

bill from lachine

Gold Member
Oct 30, 2011
22,616
88,899
Quebec
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1
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Metal Detecting

worldtalker

Gold Member
May 11, 2011
21,029
29,059
Western Mass.
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XP Deus
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bill from lachine

Gold Member
Oct 30, 2011
22,616
88,899
Quebec
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Chris,

Unfortunately not...heck when I found it he gave me a bear hug and almost crused me....lol.

I managed to at least snap a picture of him with it for posterity.

Regards + HH

Bill
 

Ahab8

Gold Member
Oct 15, 2013
8,408
8,288
Topsham, Maine
🥇 Banner finds
2
Detector(s) used
Teknetics T2 SE w/15' SEF Coil/ Minelab GPX 4500/2 Garrett Pro Pointers/3 Sets Killer B Headphones/ Koss Headphones/ Detekniy Wireless headphone Adapter
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Glad to see this thread again. I was offered $2000 for the pine tree Shilling but would never sell it. I found a pretty darn scarce 1749 regal error farthing that I found at a colonial mill site that was owned by one of my ancestors. Way less of these known than the tree coin. They’re just not nearly as collectible. I had no idea it was an error for months. Just happened to notice one day that the A in Britannia was missing the cross bar. The error is termed as an Unbarred A regal error. This site gave up several beautifully detailed early coppers. This one is the nicest.
ImageUploadedByTreasureNet.com1521410507.811357.jpg
ImageUploadedByTreasureNet.com1521411056.031093.jpg
ImageUploadedByTreasureNet.com1521411080.836144.jpg
That’s it for me guys. Hopefully that NE Shilling comes out of the dirt this season. I know it’s in Maine somewhere and I plan on digging enough holes in early dirt to find it
 

White Wolf

Sr. Member
Sep 8, 2016
432
928
Toronto, Ontario
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
X-TERRA 705, Equinox 800.
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
great thread! good idea. My favorite find is my avatar. Probably not my most valuable find, which I know is the purpose of this thread, but it is valuable, and is my favorite, and the most intrinsically interesting of all my finds, imho. Found it very early in my metal detecting career. It's a mexican biker ring, which were made from demonetized coins in the 1930s-1950s. This one is very unusual in that its finely sculptured, most of them are pretty crude. They generally feature Indian chiefs, horses, or skulls. They are highly collectible, especially the skulls, calaveras. This one is up there with the skulls because of its unusually high artistic quality. The paint on the feathers was still there after decades in the ground. The nickel bezel and band, copper cartouches on the side, and the brass table I cleaned up, but I left the face with the dark bronze patina as it came out of the ground.

Don't ask about buying it, I sold it when I found it, which I regret. I've sold other rings and jewelry, no problem, just sold one of my most recent finds for $300 on ebay, will sell the latest one as soon as its cleaned up, but I should have kept this one, it was special, for one thing, because I found it in the parking strip just inches from the road in front of my dad's 1925 house.

indianheadbikerringmexicantop2.jpg~original

after clean up and

as it came out of the ground
Indian2ringsv50-1.jpg~original

Comesta Amigo! My best and most valuable find of 2017 - Mexican Biker ring too. Found it at my favorite site ever.:icon_thumleft:
 

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