METAL DETECTING

A gentleman from somewhere around the small town of Washington on the South Fork of the Yuba river, in Nevada County, California, was metal detecting some old mine tailing piles. Struck it rich. He found a 100 oz nugget of gold, valued at $135.000. This hummer weighs in at over 6 pounds!

Now just think of all the things that you could do if you found this. I would love to find just a few ounces of the yellow stuff. But, of course, I do not live in California. So I will stick to the stuff that I can find here in Colorado.


Some of the things that I have been able to metal detect are:
Pop tops (lots & lots of pop tops)
fishing sinkers
pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters (from modern back to the 1940's
toy cars
keys
washers
nails
a gold pocket watch
rings, earrings, a chain, necklace
tent stakes
foil
rat tail file
and -- did I mention? -- pop tops (they seem to be everywhere)

Not to mention the things you just see on the ground sometimes. I found $20.00 on the ground one day; it was in the gutter.
Marbles. I have found lots of marbles, pop cans, pop bottles (you used to get a deposit for those)

Think about the yard around your house. How old is your house? Is there a vacant lot near your home? Once, when helping my grandmother break ground for a new flower garden, we dug up 3 little toy cars. The spot that we dug was right next to a big old elm tree. It gave great shade in the summer. I have often wondered about the toy cars. I still have them to this day.

When I come across them now, I wonder how many hours of play did some child have with these? Was the child a he or a she? What did s/he look like?

I also dug up, in grandmother's backyard, some broken china from a play tea set. It had one little tea cup with no handle, a few shards of what I think were from a saucer or two, and the spout off the teapot itself. I kept those also and still have them, put away in the stuff that I have hauled around with me since I was about seven years old.

To some, it may seem like so much trash. To me, it was -- and still is -- treasure. I enjoy metal detecting and have taught Kathi to metal detect. The first time she used her metal detector, she discovered over $4 in change along our driveway. It is fun and you get some good exercise along the way.

There are so many different places to detect, like beaches, lakes, parks, campgrounds. There are even trips you can take to detect old ghost towns or civil war areas. Some places are even older.

Just check out a local metal detector shop or group. If you know of someone who lost a ring, you can have these people come out and look for it for you. Maybe rent one and take a class on how to use it. It is not all that hard. And who knows? Maybe you will find your very own piece of history, right in your own backyard!