kbmetald
Jr. Member
- May 11, 2008
- 30
- 0
- Detector(s) used
- Whites XLT
Well, as I promised, here is one of what I'm sure will be many posts of my experiences metal detecting.
In August 1996 I was in Georgia for two weeks for some training at Robins AFB. I brought my detector to fill in the time when I wasn't in class. In the two weeks I was there I made some awesome finds.
Driving around I noticed that there was some construction being done in front of a school. The sidewalk had been completely removed. I knew this was a very small window of opportunity and parked the car for some quick detecting. I scanned the whole length of where the side walk had once been and the detector remained silent until I only had about a foot of available dirt left. My XLT sang out nickel at 1 inch. I dug and pulled out a nice 1908 V nickel, at that time it was my first. Little did I know this trip would be loaded with firsts.
I noticed an older church near the hotel I was staying at and decide to give it a try. I didn't find anything old but I pulled out a huge gold college ring. (Another first). The year on the ring was 1977 and there were initials on it. The college was about 30 miles away and I had less than 2 weeks to track the owner down but I would give it that ol’ college try. I made a call to the alumni office of the college and explained why I was calling. They were very helpful and told me that there was only one individual that graduated in that year with those initials. They gave me this persons last known address but they did not have a phone number. More research for me.
In between class and tracking down the owner of the ring I continued detecting all over the local area. I drove to the Macon County fairgrounds and put the detector down along the cement like dirt covering the fairgrounds (did I mention it was August). I pulled out a merc dime, a silver Rosy, and a dropped civil war bullet (another first). I knew that General Sherman and his troops had marched through the area on the way to Savanna and I could only imagine that one of the solders had dropped the bullet along the way. I thought it was extremely neat.
Back to the ring; I found the phone number after searching through a few phone books and made the call. A woman answered and I explained why I was calling. After I told her she sounded excited and called to her husband who was the owner of the ring. I only had one more day left of my stay so we set up a meeting at the hotel. I was excited to be returning the ring to its rightful owner. When the couple arrived I stood patiently in the lobby with a big smile on my face. I looked around for a camera crew and a reporter for the local paper hopping that maybe the owner was as excited as I was and wanted to have the ring reunion in the news, but that was not the case.
We made our introductions and I presented the ring. The woman leaned over and said “He doesn't even remember getting a ring.” I looked over at the husband and noticed he wasn't smiling like I was. It was infectious because the smile on my face was fading as well. I told them that the college assured me that you were the only person to graduate in ’77 with those initials and then I asked him if he did indeed graduate from that college. He said yes. Then I said well then this is your ring. He seemed to take the ring reluctantly. I was taken aback by the whole thing. I told him I spent a lot of time tracking him down to return the ring. He reached into his wallet and handed me ten dollars. Now I was incensed. I almost threw the ten back at him and wanted to tell him what to do with his ring. I didn't care about the money, I wanted to see an excited ring owner ecstatic about being united with a long lost friend. I wanted a thank you with a big huge handshake with a bunch of “wow, I can't believe you found it!” But I didn't get any of that. Needless to say I didn't think it was a good experience. Whenever I see a picture in the news paper with two big smiling faces captured around the headline “MAN FINDS RING, REUNITES WITH OWNER”, I get a little jealous.
The dime in the picture with the ring is just for size. It's not the silver Rosy I found, that is in the bottom picture with the ten dollars I kept from the ring owner. All the other objects are the culmination of 2 weeks of detecting.
HH,
Ken
In August 1996 I was in Georgia for two weeks for some training at Robins AFB. I brought my detector to fill in the time when I wasn't in class. In the two weeks I was there I made some awesome finds.
Driving around I noticed that there was some construction being done in front of a school. The sidewalk had been completely removed. I knew this was a very small window of opportunity and parked the car for some quick detecting. I scanned the whole length of where the side walk had once been and the detector remained silent until I only had about a foot of available dirt left. My XLT sang out nickel at 1 inch. I dug and pulled out a nice 1908 V nickel, at that time it was my first. Little did I know this trip would be loaded with firsts.
I noticed an older church near the hotel I was staying at and decide to give it a try. I didn't find anything old but I pulled out a huge gold college ring. (Another first). The year on the ring was 1977 and there were initials on it. The college was about 30 miles away and I had less than 2 weeks to track the owner down but I would give it that ol’ college try. I made a call to the alumni office of the college and explained why I was calling. They were very helpful and told me that there was only one individual that graduated in that year with those initials. They gave me this persons last known address but they did not have a phone number. More research for me.
In between class and tracking down the owner of the ring I continued detecting all over the local area. I drove to the Macon County fairgrounds and put the detector down along the cement like dirt covering the fairgrounds (did I mention it was August). I pulled out a merc dime, a silver Rosy, and a dropped civil war bullet (another first). I knew that General Sherman and his troops had marched through the area on the way to Savanna and I could only imagine that one of the solders had dropped the bullet along the way. I thought it was extremely neat.
Back to the ring; I found the phone number after searching through a few phone books and made the call. A woman answered and I explained why I was calling. After I told her she sounded excited and called to her husband who was the owner of the ring. I only had one more day left of my stay so we set up a meeting at the hotel. I was excited to be returning the ring to its rightful owner. When the couple arrived I stood patiently in the lobby with a big smile on my face. I looked around for a camera crew and a reporter for the local paper hopping that maybe the owner was as excited as I was and wanted to have the ring reunion in the news, but that was not the case.
We made our introductions and I presented the ring. The woman leaned over and said “He doesn't even remember getting a ring.” I looked over at the husband and noticed he wasn't smiling like I was. It was infectious because the smile on my face was fading as well. I told them that the college assured me that you were the only person to graduate in ’77 with those initials and then I asked him if he did indeed graduate from that college. He said yes. Then I said well then this is your ring. He seemed to take the ring reluctantly. I was taken aback by the whole thing. I told him I spent a lot of time tracking him down to return the ring. He reached into his wallet and handed me ten dollars. Now I was incensed. I almost threw the ten back at him and wanted to tell him what to do with his ring. I didn't care about the money, I wanted to see an excited ring owner ecstatic about being united with a long lost friend. I wanted a thank you with a big huge handshake with a bunch of “wow, I can't believe you found it!” But I didn't get any of that. Needless to say I didn't think it was a good experience. Whenever I see a picture in the news paper with two big smiling faces captured around the headline “MAN FINDS RING, REUNITES WITH OWNER”, I get a little jealous.
The dime in the picture with the ring is just for size. It's not the silver Rosy I found, that is in the bottom picture with the ten dollars I kept from the ring owner. All the other objects are the culmination of 2 weeks of detecting.
HH,
Ken
Somehow she lost her ring, and considered it gone forever. She was able to buy another class ring to replace it, in time for graduation, and never gave the matter another thought. Just the story of the how she lost the ring, and her recollection of the beach party, etc... was fun just to connect to this ring that washes out of the dunes in a storm 30 years later. 
