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Snowy
09-05-2010, 10:19 PM
Had a great day today... 7 hours detecting at my aunt and uncle's house that's over 200 years old. They live in the original house, which has been very well kept, and they mow the accompanying fields as part of their lawn.

I had some good finds today, but this one made my day. I was kinda all over the place, scanning areas I thought might have been active over the years.

When I headed for the front lawn I thought I'd get a larger amount of trash, but that wasn't the case. Signals were plentiful and the finds all over the place were enough to maintain interest.

I detected my way toward one of the trees in the front yard. Under the shade of one tree I got a solid silver signal. I pulled up a chain thing I thought might be a piece of wind chime from one of my uncle's bird feeders. I knew at a glance it was something else. I didn't dare to put it in a pocket and after a quick thought I headed for the house. I lifted the latch on the old refinished door and headed toward the bearclaw-style cookstove in the kitchen. Aunt Toddy met me at the table where Uncle Billy was sitting.

&quot:grin:shocked04:es this look familiar?

Aunt Toddy took one look at the piece I had found and she gasped. It was a charm bracelet she bought during her class trip when she graduated high school in 1951. She was in awe and couldn't believe it was found. She said she had forgotten about the bracelet, but after some thought she was able to determine it was lost over 50 years ago.

After we chatted, I left the bracelet with her and she stopped me before I reached the door. Hey, finder's keepers! I told her no, it was hers. It's silver and will clean up nice. All it needed was a cleaning and the clasp replaced. There was a missing charm, but I didn't discuss that with her. I headed back to the hole I had dug under the old tree and scanned for another signal. There it was... solid silver. It was the missing charm. I scanned again, and there was yet another charm.

I was unable to recover the clasp, but brought the other two charms in to Aunt Toddy. By now Uncle Billy was amazed, shaking his head. He had put his pen and paper down, his attention drawn to the bracelet. All he could do was shake his head and look up at me. Aunt Toddy was equally in awe.

I wanted to bring the bracelet and detached charms with me today to have them cleaned, repaired and returned in new condition, but I couldn't bring myself to take them from the table.

All the flat buttons, Civil War button, silver and other items recovered from the ground today simply didn't compare.

CyberSage
09-05-2010, 10:49 PM
...and this is what it is all about. No greater reward, no greater treasure than to actually see the face of the soul who lost the item so many years ago. How many great finds have we dug from the earth? How many personal items that have laid buried for decades, centuries, have we chanced to unearth and bring back to the light of day? Only to realize that there is no way to ever know who it once belonged to. This is is a find of a lifetime Snowy. Well done. The hoard of the shady tree. Fantastic!

Jack

Lowjiber
09-06-2010, 06:44 AM
:clapping: Great story Snowy!!! That just made my day. Thank You!!! :clapping:

coinnut
09-06-2010, 04:17 PM
Well done Donna :clapping: I bet they will be holding that charm bracelet for years to come. Imagine when we get old enough to have someone return something from our youth. That is a priceless gift. I bet they never kick you out of that yard detecting lol

Cheap Thrills
09-06-2010, 04:53 PM
Got to love those those Happy endings . thumbsup01 :clapping:

hockeyguy
09-06-2010, 08:28 PM
Awesome, simply awesome story!

Snowy
09-07-2010, 05:56 AM
Thanks, gang. It was a fun find, for sure. My cell phone has been ringing for the last couple of days because Aunt Toddy has been telling everyone and they've been calling me. Everyone wants to see it. I wish it was cleaned and repaired, but she would have never believed I found it had I done that before returning it to her. I also found one of her son's old Army cap gun. That brought back some memories for her as well.

I only wish we could find Uncle Billy's Mason ring he lost 10 years ago. It's under the bulb of the red Maple tree they planted in the front yard. We'd have to excavate to get it, though.

We found all kinds of stuff out there and we werent' digging any trash. Every signal was something. We'll be back. That house holds some serious history. Old, blue bottles and old silver dollars were found in front when they excavated for the tarred driveway years ago. All nice stuff to find, but things like the bracelet are the best, for me, anyway.

kenfen
09-26-2010, 09:07 AM
That's a great story and a wonderful thing you are doing. I'm sure with all that good press you'll have old yards by the dozens to search.

Regards, Ken

RobW
09-27-2010, 09:07 AM
Sweet story!

tanacat
09-27-2010, 11:01 AM
What a great story!!! Wow 50 yrs... I'm glad this thread got bumped- I missed it. :)