Tried using a metal detector on a dig site as a joke, found a coin from 1782

We were surveying a field in Virginia for a colonial homestead, and the grad students kept finding pottery shards. I brought my old Garrett Ace 250 as a gag, thinking it would just beep at nails. On the third sweep near a tree line, it screamed. Dug down about eight inches and pulled out a Spanish silver real, dated 1782, in decent shape. The professor just stared at me and said, 'Well, I guess we're scanning the whole grid now.' Has anyone else had a silly hunch turn up something real?

3 comments

3 Comments

robinc252mo ago

Always thought those things were just for tourists, guess I was wrong.

max4892mo ago

Robinc25 makes a good point, it's easy to write stuff off as just for visitors. What gets me is how often the locals are the ones keeping those places alive in the off season. The little weird museum or the old diner, they become regular spots for people who live there. It's the community that gives it a real purpose beyond the postcard.

mia_singh241mo ago

Oh man, that reminds me of my buddy who went magnet fishing as a joke. He pulled up a rusted old rifle that turned out to be from the Civil War era. It's like @max489 said about locals keeping things alive, sometimes a random idea just connects you to real history. His garage is now a mini museum for his neighbors.