Treasure Hunting

A new movie staring Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey is coming out this Friday (2/8/08) and it’s about one of my favorite things in the world - TREASURE HUNTING!

This movie looks like a hybrid of romantic-comedy meets treasure-adventure, and actually seems pretty good. Director Andy Tennant says “It’s an adventure comedy. It’s like ‘Romancing the Stone’ or even ‘North by Northwest.’ When I started witting I felt that, yes, this was about a married couple on the brink of divorce who go on one last adventure, which ultimately leads to them rekindling their marriage. But what I also took from it was that financial pressure can ruin a marriage. And that it didn’t matter whether you were treasure hunters or an accountant.”

The treasure hunt starts out as a search for legendary Spanish treasure lost in the Florida Keys (Who hasn’t dreamed of beautiful Spanish gold?). When the couple teams up with a millionaire and his daughter they hash out their treasure search in yachts, bars, underwater, in a cemetery, on an airplane and at gunpoint. Sounds like the kind of treasure hunt I’d rather watch than participate in, so count me in for a movie on Friday night!

Let me know if you guys end up going to see it and whether or not you like it!

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This post is a little more on the frivolous side but I thought it was really interesting and wanted to share.

Suzanne Donegan, owner and founder of Mannin Studio’s was an avid collector of rare artifacts and objects. Apparently she scours the world to unearth items of historical significance and she incorporates those items into jewelry. “The pieces in the Mannin collection are an unexpected mixture of museum studies and haute design, a clever blend of history and the present.”
“The meticulously curated designs include distinctive cultural legacies from the past such as rock crystal carved intaglios, rose gold and jet Albert chains, monogrammed seal fobs and gold sovereign cases that are juxtaposed into innovative and thought-provoking pieces of art. Donegan views herself as a cultural anthropologist, rediscovering forgotten craftsmanship from decades past.”

Her website has some excellent examples of how she’s incorporated rare antiques into her jewelry designs. One of my favorites is the “Quin Collection / No. LXVIII. Not one piece of the necklace was created after 1900. It includes a rolled gold book chain from 1880, a gold and quartz intaglio seal from 1860 and a collection of links and clasps from early 1900.

The Mannin website is a great place for inspiration. It shows us that while things we find certainly do impress people from outside their glass cases, those things were created to be appreciated and there’s more than one way to show ‘em off!

Check out the Mannin Studio to kill some time and get inspired!

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I got a kick out of an article I read this morning about a nurse, Vicki Armstrong, from Shreveport, LA who is planning to FINALLY cash in her collection of pennies - All 55,000 of them!

Apparently Vicki has been saving her pennies for almost 19 years! And while she’s definitely no treasure hunter, I couldn’t help but be impressed by her appreciation for the value of a penny. How many times have you been out there, swingin’ the coil, and you find perfectly good pennies sitting right on top of the ground, thrown away and completely ignored as real currency?

Well Vicki might not have a metal detector, but she has certainly bent down and picked up every penny she’s seen in the last 19 years. She “knows the $55.00 won’t make her rich, but says the symbolism reinforced frugal spending habits and helped be a little bit more conservative in her lifestyle.”

If you’re wondering where she kept all those pennies - apparently she stored them anywhere she could! Vases, bowls, even shoeboxes were fair game! I wonder what this woman could do if she had a metal detector!

Remember folks - A penny saved is a penny earned. And if people laugh at you for stoppin’ to pick one up, just laugh right back… on your way to the bank!

Check out the original article at The Baltimore Sun.

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Yesterday I found the article about a Czech man who died and left behind a ton of great artifacts with no documentation and I really understood the importance of keeping records of what I’ve found and where I’ve found it.

Today I stumbled onto this website for all you U.K. metal detectorists - Portable Antiquities Scheme. I figured anything with the word “finds” in the web address can’t be too bad and their “search” feature is excellent - the “visual search” is pretty much the most amazing thing ever and their images are mind blowing! I figured anyone could use this to help identify finds or even just kill some time - lord knows I just did!

The coin featured left was silver, hammered shilling found in Hampshire. It was made during the rein of Elizabeth I (Post medieval: 1558-1603) and features her bust on the obverse side, and the royal shield as seen here. I can’t imagine what it must be like to hold something that old and with that much history.

Here’s some quotes from their website:

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Since 1994 a television show about professional archaeologists has been gaining popularity in the United Kingdom, and this weeks episode caught my attention!

Time Team is a show that focuses on a team of archaeologists and is usually hosted by either Mick Aston or Francis Pryor. These archaeologists convene at a site with a team of trained professionals, usually in the U.K., that is locally known for an unsolved archaeological mystery or is personal property that has never been excavated and may have interesting items buried underneath. The Time Team uncovers as much as they can about the history of the site in three days and excavates any promising signals, often in conjunction with the local archaeological unit.

This week’s episode of Time Team caught my eye because the issue of “Archaeologists vs. Metal Detectorists” is address. Hosted by Tony Robinson, the show is focused on a possible Viking boat burial in Yorkshire, England. Metal detectorists made the initial discovery of coins, silver and swords and now a team of archaeologists is set to find the source of the objects.

But as Robinson follows the dig he discovers an uneasy relationship between archaeologists and the country’s 50,000 metal detectorists.

The episode is listed on My Park Mag.uk with the description: “For some, the hobby of detecting is all about learning more about the past, but for others it’s the lure of making money by selling what they find on the open market. At a time when the government scheme designed to promote better understanding between these two factions is under serious threat from budget cuts, the programme reveals just how precarious the relationship can be.”

This episode aired yesterday and is certainly worth a look. I’ll keep you folks posted on when it will air on the Discovery Channel UK, or maybe it will pop up on YouTube. Either way - this is one I don’t wanna miss!

Click here to see the Time Team’s page on the Discovery Channel UK’s website. Or click here to check out their Wikipedia page.

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You call yourself a metal detector? You think you know your coins? We found a little quiz for you to see if you really know your stuff about coins.
The quiz tests you on the new quarters introduced a few years ago, so if most of your finds consist of modern coins, you should be in good shape. It shows you the back of a quarter, and has two states listed below. All you have to do is click on the correct state for that quarter.

Take the quiz, and let us know how you do. I thought I aced it, but turns out, I was way off. My final score? 55

Technorati Tags: fun, game, time-waster

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