Treasure Hunting

It’s truly the gift that keeps on giving.

A week after receiving a metal detector for his seventh birthday, Lucas Hall’s gift is already paying dividends for the first-grader.

While metal detecting with his father, Gary, on private property outside Berryville, Lucas had a feeling the two needed to stop and look.

His hunch paid off.

Buried six inches deep was a sword thought to have been used during the Civil War.

“We stopped on the four-wheelers and Lucas said ‘right here,”

Gary recounted Monday.

“So we started digging, and not a minute later, there it was.”

“I was excited,”

Lucas said.

But the pair was still unsure of their finding until they started digging deeper.

“We originally thought it was an old fence post,”

Gary said.

“I started pulling it out of the ground, and when I saw the handle I went ‘Oh my gosh.”‘

Lucas’s passion for metal detecting skyrocketed, his mother, Tina, said, after their neighbor gave him a few Civil War-era bullets he found while metal detecting on his property.

Lucas also likes the Science Channel show “Meteorite Men” - a program about two men who look for meteorite pieces with metal detectors.

“(The neighbor) gave me a lot of bullets,” Lucas said. “I like digging for them.”

“Lucas really likes the pursuit,” his mother said.

The family is still unsure what kind of care is needed to preserve their discovery, which has been sitting on a towel in their living room since it was found.

“That’s the biggest thing right now, just touching it makes it disintegrate, and I want to preserve this for him,” Gary said. “We haven’t had it to an expert yet because we aren’t sure who to take it to.”

Gary Crawford, president of the Kernstown Battlefield Association, examined a picture of the sword.

He believes it is a light cavalry sabre model 1840 or 1860, but said it’s too difficult based on its condition to determine where the sabre was manufactured or which side used it.

The handle design, Crawford said, helps narrow down the time period of manufacturing.

“There is really no way of knowing (which side used it) because many of these sabres were manufactured in the North before the war and stocked in southern armories,” he said. “When the war started, the South just took those weapons and passed them out to their troops.”

Crawford said that about 18 inches of the blade may be missing.

“It may still be in the ground,” Crawford said, “or it may have been broken and thrown away - that wouldn’t have been uncommon.”

Regardless of any monetary worth the sabre might possess, the family isn’t interested in selling the relic, Gary said.

“This is really just fun for him, and I want to keep it that way,” he said. “Lucas doesn’t have a concept of the Civil War, he just knows what we tell him. But when he gets older, I want him to look back on this and appreciate it.”

Tina said the sabre, and other findings, will be incorporated into home-schooling lessons for Lucas and his 9-year-old sister, Samantha.

Lucas has also found several Civil War rifle-musket and minie ball bullets.

“Now we can teach a unit on the Civil War,” she said. “When they dig something up, we can try and learn about it.”

Now that this boy has inspired you to go out and start your own adventure, make sure to visit Kellyco to find the perfect detector for you and maybe you too will be able to share a story about your amazing finds.

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A three-year old boy playing with his grandad’s metal detector struck gold when he found treasure worth an estimated £2.5million - a 500-year-old gold locket.

James Hyatt struck gold when he unearthed the 16th century artifact in a field on his very first outing using a metal detector.

Experts believe it is one of only four of its kind in Britain and could have belonged to royalty.

James’s dad Jason said:

‘He was so excited when he realized he had found real treasure.’

‘He is one of the luckiest people ever. He’ll put his hand down the sofa and pull out a tenner.’

James, who lives in Billericay, Essex, was out walking with his grandad and dad in nearby Hockley when he asked if he could use the detector.

The boy, who has now turned four, said:

‘It went beep, beep, beep. Then we dug into the mud. There was gold there. We didn’t have a map. Only pirates use treasure maps.’

The 2.5cm pendant has a picture engraved on the front of the Virgin Mary clutching a cross and five bleeding hearts on the back.

Its sides carry the names of the three kings who visited Christ after his birth. It has been officially declared treasure and will be offered for sale to the British Museum and other institutions.

A similar artifact was bought for £2.5million by York museum.

The proceeds will be split between the unnamed landowner and James’s family.

This find was made with an Fisher F75. The Fisher F75 as well as many other top-of-the-line detectors are readily available at Kellyco. If you felt inspired by this story and would like start your own search for treasure, make sure to visit Kellyco to find the perfect detector to suit your needs.

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Between 1413 and 1433, seven fleets of Chinese ships were sent out under the command of the legendary Admiral Zheng He, a contemporary of Christopher Columbus. The last of these expeditions sailed to the Straits of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf and were wrecked, and still lie on the ocean floor today.

Associate Professor Phil Mulhearn, from the Ocean Technology Group and School of Geosciences, designed the advanced underwater imaging system used to conduct the ocean floor surveys.

The first survey, conducted in 2009, uncovered another 10 sites where treasure might be found, and a second survey is to be completed in 2011.

These wrecks are so important because any discovered sea treasure will reveal hidden secrets about the exchanges between the Far East and the West in the early 15th century.

“Sea treasure is far better preserved than treasure found on land,” explains Professor Ian Jones, the Adjunct Professor for Climate Change in the Ocean Technology Group.

So, while artifacts found above sea level will have been weathered and degraded over time, treasure found underwater on the seabed will be in almost pristine condition.

Earlier this month, the Confucious Institute held a public seminar at the University of Sydney where Professor Mulhearn and Professor Changqing Hu presented their expedition findings so far.

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Villupuram, INDIA: The district police and revenue officials recovered 19 gold coins each weighing 300 grams, part of a treasure unearthed by three construction workers. While one man surrendered before the police and handed over 19 coins, two others are absconding with 27 gold coins in their possession, police said.

P Munusamy, 55, hailing from Pillaiyarpalayam in Kancheepuram district and two others whose identities have been withheld, found a gold treasure while demolishing the walls of an ancient temple in a remote village, Kuzhi in Villupuram district. They were thrilled to find 46 ancient gold coins in a pot buried in the ground. The elated workers divided the gold coins among themselves and absconded.

Meanwhile, the contractor based in Kancheepuram, who engaged the three workers to demolish the temple wall, came to know about the treasure. He called Munusamy over phone and instructed him to hand over the treasure to him, or face severe action.

The scared worker approached the Tiruvanainallur police and narrated the events leading to the treasure being unearthed. He surrendered 19 gold coins weighing totally 64.5 grams that he took from the temple site and also disclosed the identities of two other workers to the police. He claimed that the two persons are in possession of another 27 gold coins.

Police engaged a jewel appraiser, who ascertained that the coins were made of gold following which they seized the valuables and registered a case under section 102 of CrPC. They later alerted the revenue officials about the seizure.

A team of revenue officials led by Tirukoilur tahsildar R Bhama recovered the priceless antique coins and handed it over to Tirukoilur sub treasury. “The district collectorate will hand over the coins to the Archaeological Survey of India, the appropriate authority to reveal more information about the coins,” Bhama told TOI. Tiruvanainallur police have launched a hunt for two other construction workers, who fled with 27 gold coins.

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WINDSOR, UK: A metal detecting enthusiast has had one of his finds – a 3,000-year-old gold necklace – classified as treasure after an investigation by a coroner.

Crown Wood treasure hunter David Conway was hunting near a gravel extraction site in the Windsor area on Sunday, December 6, last year, when his metal detector picked up a strong signal. He had previously found a small golden ring on the site and asked the landowner to let him search again.

The latest find was a gold Bronze Age torc – a kind of necklace – of which the first ring he found was part.

Under the Treasure Act 1996, a coroner has to establish that a find is more than 300 years old and has a gold or silver content of more than 10 per cent. Berkshire coroner Peter Bedford held a treasure trove inquest in Newbury on Wednesday, August 4.

During the hearing Mr Bedford said the torc was authenticated by Gillian Vandell at the British Museum who dated it back to between 1300 and 1100BC – more than 3,000 years old. She also said it is 83 per cent gold and 15 per cent silver.

During the hearing David explained that he nearly did not make the find because the landowner did not want him to search on the land.

David told Mr Bedford: “He turned me down at first, but I kept asking.”

Mr Bedford classified the find as treasure meaning it will be valued and offered for sale to an appropriate museum.

If a museum does not want to buy it, the item can be sold privately.

Ownership is usually negotiated between the landowner and the finder.

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Historians are becoming increasingly convinced that a villa uncovered 20 miles from London was once home to Britain’s Roman Governor.

Since Lullingstone Roman Villa was first uncovered in the 1930s experts believed it was once the home of a leading Roman or wealthy Briton, but archaeologists were unsure of the owner’s identity.

Now experts have re-examined treasures found at the site, near Orpington in Kent, and say it was almost certainly the home of Publius Helvius Pertinax.

The governor is known to have fled the villa at the end of the second century amid a mutiny by his soldiers. The men then looted it for gold and silver.

Roman experts believe the looters prised the seal from a gold signet ring and then left it behind as worthless. There are signs the seal has been gouged with a knife.

Historians also say two portrait busts left behind were of the governor and, almost certainly, his father.

The one of Pertinax was left decapitated in an act of spite, probably carried out by an enraged soldier.
Joanne Gray, English Heritage curator of Lullingstone, said:

‘We have always known that the site must have belonged to someone of high status because of its size, the quality of its mosaic floor and the archaeological finds.

‘The image on the seal is one of victory. It is an image often used by Romans as a sign of imperial power.’

She said the research had been carried out by archaeologists Martin Henig, who lectures in Roman art and culture at Oxford University, and German archaeologist Richard de Kind.

Mrs Gray said: ‘The research that has been done points quite strongly to Lullingstone being the home of Britain’s governor. Everything seems to fit.’

Visitors to the villa, near the village of Eynsford, can still view the basement and foundation walls of the villa.

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These are the kind of events that makes Metal Detecting a truly honorable hobby.

Black Mountain, Asheville, NC — A group of metal-detecting enthusiasts helped police find some stolen jewelry last week.

The jewelry was stolen in a string of home break-ins last month. Five town residents were arrested in the case. The Police Department approached the metal-detecting hobbyists and gave them the approximate location of where they thought the suspected criminals disposed of some items.

The treasure hunters did the rest of the work.

“They did a good job,” police Sgt. Rob Austin said.

Mike Post, a Swannanoa Valley resident and dealer for Minelab brand metal detectors, recruited members of the Blue Ridge Metal Detecting Club and posted a message on Treasurenet.com, a website for hobbyists. They converged on the site Aug. 5 at the end of Vance Avenue and Montreat’s In the Oaks campus, and began sweeping the area, Post said.

Another man out for a walk discovered some jewelry boxes after the searchers told him what they where looking for. They were able to use their metal detectors to uncover the jewelry hidden beneath the leaves and dirt.

“It doesn’t take long for this stuff to bury itself,” Post said. “It settles once it rains and the wind blows.”

Club members came from as far as Sylva, and one man who was traveling through the area from Illinois made a detour to attend after seeing the post on Treasurenet.com.

“It was a good idea,” Austin said. “It panned out.”

The jewelry is now being processed as evidence. Austin is reviewing descriptions from police reports filed immediately after the break-ins to match the jewelry with the owners.

He said the case underscores the need for homeowners to document their possessions with photographs and record the serial numbers of possessions. Having photos can help homeowners claim their stolen goods if they are recovered, and serial numbers can help law enforcement officials track items through nationwide databases.

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Chichester, West Sussex, UK: A skeleton dating back to Roman times has been unearthed on an estate.

The rare find, which is believed to date back to the first and third Centuries, was found during a metal-detecting exhibition earlier this year.

An inquest in Arundel was told how a silver ring and a bottle that may have contained ashes were also unearthed next to the lead coffin.

The find, which was made by Ken Mordle from Midhurst, on April 7, near Chichester, was examined by the British Museum on May 12.

Under British Museum guidance the media are asked not to reveal the exact location of important historical finds.

The ring, which was dated to between AD43 and AD250, was found to be more than 10% precious metal and is therefore considered treasure by the Coroner of West Sussex Penelope Schofield.

The inquest was told that Chichester District Museum has already expressed an interest in exhibiting the ring.

It is not yet known how much the find is worth. This article is referenced from the Argus, UK news posting.

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The Sofia Echo news page reported later yesterday that archaeologists from Varna discovered one of the largest medieval treasures in recent times. This is also the largest discovery in 2010 during excavation works in the medieval city of Kastritsi in Euxinograd, on August 4, news agency Focus reported.

The treasure was discovered embedded in the floor of a home within the medieval stronghold, the report said.

According to associate professor Valentin Pletnyov, head of the Regional History Museum in Varna, the treasure consisted of a small jug dating back to the 14th century, containing 166 silver coins from the era of Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria and his son Mihail, Focus reported.

The archaeologists also unearthed parts of utensils and swords.

“We hope that more artifacts will be discovered during the excavation works ahead,” Pletnyov said.

According to the professor, this is one of the biggest medieval treasures found in Bulgaria in 2010.

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This morning, I came across a new event that the website www.welostourgold.com made videos which gives clues to unlock the mystery of where their “buried treasure” is to find.

An individual can now view the first video and unlock one of eight video clues since yesterday. The site claims there is $10,000 in US currency buried in a wooden chest somewhere within the five boroughs. All you have to do is decode the videos, and the treasures all yours.

“We wanted to create a real treasure hunt.” says a message posted by on the site by its creators.”And there’s a chest of “gold” waiting to be found. We’ve always wanted to experience the excitement of searching for pirate treasure, so we decided to give that feeling to everyone else.”

While the website is called “welostourgold.com” the creators say there’s no real gold out there. “The treasure is 10,000 US mint one-dollar coins. Most of them are Sacagawea dollars, or the new presidential one-dollar coins,” is posted in the frequently asked questions on the site. They also note that the new coins are gold colored so it will give you the pirate feel.

The site is leased through godaddy.com, and was created back in October of 2006, no owners are listed and the landlubbers say they are not telling.

We don’t know where the treasure is buried, but we can tell you that it’s not buried in Central Park. The site’s creators say they love the City but don’t want to encourage anyone to start digging up the park or anywhere else.

So you’ll have to trust the three puppet pirates and the ninja, watch the videos, and hopefully uncover the buried treasure hiding under New York City. Or else just be roped into the latest viral marketing campaign

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