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51 years later, RHHS class ring back with owner
- Published 04/8/2009
She didn't pay but $9 and change for her Rock Hill High School class of 1942 ring. But that doesn't mean Wilma Peebles hadn't missed that little ring for so many years.
“I remember Daddy gave me a $10 bill, and I had never held so much money before, and I got some change back,” Peebles recalled about getting the ring.
But 51 years ago, she was planting daffodils outside her Harmony Road house south of Rock Hill. Her late husband, Alton, had dug a trench for the bulbs on that day in 1958. The ring somehow slipped off, but it wasn't noticed that it was gone until later. 
New York beaches expect to see more treasure hunters
- Published 03/31/2009
BY Matthew Lysiak
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Sunday, March 29th 2009, 4:00 AM
The big accessory at the beach this summer might not be sunglasses or a bucket and shovel - but a metal detector.
With the economy at low tide and gold near record highs, the city is likely to see a spike in treasure hunting this season, experts told the Daily News.
"Oh, New York City will be looking at one hell of a gold rush this season," said Bob Lundy, president of the Empire State Metal Detector Association.
JR/News
Eight X-marks-the-spot locations in the city, according to treasure hunter Michael Chaplan.
» Read MoreIke may have uncovered Carolina
- Published 03/10/2009
The ghostly image of an object recently found on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico just off Galveston Island is little more than a shadow.
But experts believe the sonar scan could be that of a well-known but never before discovered ship that sank nearly 150 years ago as it tried to break through the federal blockade of Galveston during the Civil War.
The Carolina, also known as the Caroline, was a merchant ship that left Galveston in July 1864 with a load of cotton.
Federal gunships followed the ship for hours until its crew ran it aground in shallow water between Galveston and San Luis Pass, then set it ablaze rather than let the enemy capture it.
General Land Office
Experts say this sonar image, taken by crews surveying the Gulf of Mexico for Hurricane Ike debris, could be that of the Civil War-era merchant ship the Carolina.
Norfolk is illegal metal detector hotbed
- Published 02/16/2009
Illegal metal-detectorists or “nighthawks” are plundering historical sites in Norfolk on a weekly basis, but too little is being done to arrest, prosecute and punish them, heritage chiefs are warning.
Norfolk is one of the richest areas in the country for archaeological finds, but has the second highest number of cases of nighthawking after Lincolnshire, according to a survey published by English Heritage. Suffolk was in third place.
Of 240 sites reported as raided between 1995 and 2008, 23 were in Norfolk, including a number of protected scheduled ancient monuments. Roman sites at Saham Toney, Brampton, Brancaster and Walsingham were among those targeted.
Barrie Sharrock, 67, has been a metal detector for the
last 26 years and is chairman of the local group of detectorists.
» Read More
Treasure seekers strike back
- Published 02/14/2009
Metal detecting clubs are mobilizing to lobby the city to reverse a decision that has banned them from Prospect Park and Owl’s Head Park since the summer.
“They are discriminating against us as a group, said Carter Pennington, a board member of the metal detectors’ New York/New Jersey Task Force. “We do a lot less damage than dogs and their owners.”
Pennington, a 48-year-old watchmaker by trade, has been looking for coins, buttons, jewelry and all manner of ephemera for 30 years. The upstate New York resident said part of the joy of looking in Prospect Park is its rich history. “I found an Indian head penny there dated 1868. Just the fun of finding something with a date, knowing that someone was walking in that park over 100 years ago and dropped it.”
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| Members of the New York Search and Recovery Metal Detector Club. Their hope is that the city reverses the ban on Prospect Park and Owl’s Head Park. Photo by Steve Solomonson |
Gold diggers scan the land
- Published 02/9/2009
Waving their metal detectors over the ground like magic wands, the members of the Lancaster Research & Recovery Club turn lost into found.
Leon and Leona Ogden have dug up more than 400 rings and thousands of coins.
George Hickman unearthed a Civil War-era silver pocket watch and antique toy soldier.
And Paul Means has discovered handfuls of jewelry lost in the surf.
Searching for Treasure Using Google Earth
- Published 02/9/2009
By RYAN OWENS and GINA SUNSERI
REFUGIO, Texas, Feb. 9, 2009
He caught it when he picked up a book on American treasures and read these words about a mythical Spanish barkentine and its gold and silver lost in south Texas: "Whoever finds either of these treasures would possess wealth beyond imagining."
The Los Angeles musician started hunting for the ship -- legend has it blowing ashore south of Refugio, Texas, during a hurricane in 1822. His search started with Google Earth. What he saw when he zoomed into a spot north of the Aransas Pass prompted him to get into his car and drive non-stop to Texas.
Nathan Smith has gold fever.
Delta waterways can provide fertile hunting ground for treasures
- Published 01/17/2009
Stockton and the surrounding area can be an out-and-out treasure trove of historic artifacts - if you know where to look. Estate and garage sales, antique shops and thrift stores make up the bulk of the usual hunting grounds. But what about the dedicated guy with just a metal detector and an abandoned, out-of-the-way stretch of terrain? Or the guy who goes combing through the Delta for abandoned watercraft and their nautical riches?
Huge Iron Age haul of coins found
- Published 01/17/2009
One of the UK's largest hauls of Iron Age gold coins, which would have been worth in today's money up to £1m, has been found in Suffolk.
The 824 so-called staters were found in a broken pottery jar buried in a field near Wickham Market by a local man using a metal detector.
Jude Plouviez, of the Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service, said the coins dated from 40BC to AD15.
They are thought to have been minted by predecessors of Iceni Queen Boudicca.
Ms Plouviez said their value when in circulation had been estimated at a modern equivalent of between £500,000 and £1m, but they were likely to be worth less than that now.
Mystery solved: Clayton man receives
- Published 01/14/2009
For Joseph Barbour, Austin Pond used to be just a nice little fishing hole west of town.
Now it holds a special place in his family history.
Last week, Barbour received a phone call out of the blue from Bryan Bauman, a 45-year-old firefighter from Goldsboro whose hobby is metal detecting.
Bauman told Barbour he had his father’s World War I dog tags. Barbour was a little skeptical.
“I had no idea what he was doing,” said Barbour, 75, who was raised in Clayton on East Second Street and now lives on Hardee Street downtown.
Bauman explained he had discovered the tags after a flood in the mid-1990s – he thinks it was 1994 – caused Austin Pond’s dam to burst, resulting in partial drainage of the pond.
