Metal detecting is the archaeology of Kentucky. It is an affordable hobby that will actually pay for itself in the long run, plus it gives you access to the past that most people never have the opportunity to experience. You see, Western Kentucky has a very colorful and long history, as most towns and areas having been populated since the early 1800’s and some even before that. Throughout time, people have changed in a lot of ways, but not in the case of clumsiness. We drop things. People have been dropping and misplacing various items for centuries, and the Western Kentucky metal detecting fanatics are the ones that find them.

Initially you will need a metal detector. Decent ones can be bought at various department stores or online for reasonable prices. The price is only relevant for the first short while. After metal detecting for awhile, you will find that you end up digging enough coins from the ground to pay for the detector. My metal detector cost me $100.00. Since I bought it 4 years ago, I’ve made right around $340.00 in change alone. It has paid for itself several times over. On that note, I suggest you keep up with the modern change you find so you know when your detector has paid for itself.

Once you have your detector, get to know it before you take it out into your ideal treasure hunting spot. Get something silver, gold, aluminum, brass, and something made from plain iron. Take your metal detector across each of these, paying close attention to the sound that it makes. Memorize the sounds so you know what you’re coming across. Most detectors have filters that you can turn on where you won’t pick up certain types of metal, like iron. This is for those searching mainly for the really good stuff, such as rings and coins.

Once you have gotten to know your detector, it’s time to get your gear together. A digging tool is a necessity. Personally, I prefer a bowie knife, but some people use things as simple as a small garden shovel (really small) or even a screwdriver. It’s best to avoid big shovels as you don’t want to pack a heavy shovel throughout your trip. Another item you will need is a bag or pouch of some sort to put your findings in. Lastly, wear gloves. Don’t mess with the thin cloth ones. You need something tough. All too often detector fanatics have come home with sliced up hands from digging into a broken bottle or sharp steel edge.

Now, one last thing before you hit the road. Pick a good spot. Your spot depends upon what you are looking for. If you’re just in it for modern coins, a local ballpark is a good idea. Any place that has a large crowd at least once per year, such as a fairground or flea market, should do the trick. If you are into relics, as I am, do some research. Find out where an old cabin stood over a hundred years ago, or even a settlement.

Now, with all that out of the way, it’s time to hit the dirt and start digging up the treasures. Before you do, however, here are a few tips for you. First, make sure you have permission to enter the land and to dig up small holes. Next, always put the dirt back into the holes, or else the owner will likely ban you from the spot. Never, under any circumstances, metal detect in or too near a cemetery. This is a felony crime, no matter how old the cemetery is. Finally, expect a lot of aluminum. Metal detector fans will all tell you that they find more soda bottle tops can tabs, and aluminum cans than anything else. Don’t let this frustrate you. It’s just part of the journey hobby.

I will leave you with a little something to think about. Most people wonder if it’s really all that great of a hobby. In my four years of metal detecting I have discovered several gold and silver rings, gold and silver necklaces, antique metal army buttons, one shotgun, one pistol, several knives, and even an old wax stamp like those used in the 1800’s to seal envelopes. As coins go, at the moment my oldest find is an 1889 silver dollar. You see, there are actual treasures out there to be found. Keep in mind that in the old days, most old-timers didn’t use banks. They would take their money and put it into coffee cans and old mason jars and bury it in the ground.

Grab your Fedora, your whip, and crank up your Indiana Jones theme song, and don’t forget the metal detector. Have fun on a real WK Archaeology quest. Until next week, we will see you in the woods…or perhaps on the water. The fish should be biting soon!

Under the proposal, geocachers, which use GPS devices to locate caches as part of a scavenger hunt, would be still allowed to advertise and seek out “virtual” caches in these areas, which reference already existing features such as waterfalls and scenic vistas.

One popular area that would be affected by this rule is the Bent Creek Experimental Forest near Asheville. A list of all affected areas is posted on the forest website (www.cs/unca/nfsnc).

The agency said the order will protect the wild values found in the wildnerness and on designated rivers and will avoid items conflicting with research activities.

Federal regulations already require geocachers get permission from the local ranger district office prior to leaving a cache anywhere on the forest.

The agency said in one recent incident, an unmarked and unapproved geocache was left in an ammunition box not far from Asheville. The geocache appeared to be a threat to public safety and cost law enforcement personnel a lot of time investigating it, the forest service said.

Detailed information on geocaching requirements can also be found on the forest website.

The second rule would prohibit possession or use of metal detectors outside of designated areas.

The agency said that many archaeological sites on the forest have been significantly damaged from treasure hunting, by those who loot sites to sell artifacts, and by others who are unaware that it’s illegal to disturb and remove artifacts from federal land without a research permit.

Several forest areas have been identified that would remain open to recreational metal detecting for modern items like coins – primarily swimming beaches. These include Lake Powhatan Swim Beach, Jackrabbit Swim beach, Cheoah Point Swim Beach, Flanners Beach (Croatan NF) and Kings Mountain Point Beach (Uwharrie NF). Permission for one-time use of metal detectors to help find lost personal property could still be granted by Forest Officers.

Additional information on these closures can be found on the forest website (www.cs/unca/nfsnc). Comments on this proposal should be mailed before March 15 to the National Forests in North Carolina, 160A Zillicoa Street, Asheville, 28801, or sent to “comments-southern-north-carolina@fs.fed.us”

Monday, January 18th, 2010

GARDEN CITY — A 200-yard stretch along the Boise Greenbelt in Garden City was closed for about three hours today after a resident discovered an old artillery device buried in the area.

Police reported that a treasure hunter enthusiast with a metal detector located an unexploded “artillery ordnance device” that was found a few yards from the pavement near 47th Street in Garden City. Police in Garden City summoned the Boise Police Department Bomb Squad, which removed the device with a remote-control robot.

Officials said the device was transported to the Mountain Home Air Force Base for destruction.

Ted Tyler in civil war era clothing at Fort Pulaski, South Carolina

Visit “The Treasure Depot” web site and look at the relic hunting forum, or the sponsored hunts category, GNRS. In a few days people will begin to post their relic finds. Enjoy looking at the fabulous relics found at the Castle Hall Plantation. 

http://www.thetreasuredepot.com/

ASHLAND, Wis. – Ever since Scott Mitchen unearthed his first Indian-head nickel at the site of an old country store parking lot in Benoit at the age of 10, he has been infected with allure of treasure hunting.

“It just sparked my imagination, and from then on I knew that I was going to be involved in some kind of exploration and hunting for treasure and antiquities.”

But unlike many who seek the riches of lost booty, Mitchen has always wanted more than mere artifacts, he has wanted to know who lost these things, why they wound up in lake and swamp, ocean and hidden under the ground. It’s an insatiable curiosity we can all relate to — who hasn’t found a misplaced valuable and wondered how it could have gone astray, to be lost and then found again through luck or fate.

Therein lies the premise for a reality based television series Mitchen hopes will one day result in the world sharing his fascination for finding treasure, whether they be gold and jewels or a lowly GI dogtag lost for decades.

“It’s been in the making for several years,” Mitchen said. “And now it is coming to the point where we are getting a pilot episode.”

The main premise of the show, to be entitled “Handing Over History” is something of a cross between the historical appeal of “Antiques Road Show” and the emotionally charged elements of a docu-soap like “The Crocodile Hunter,” Mitchen said.

“It could involve anything from a lost class ring to a shroud we found for a Synagogue in Illinois,” he continued.

Mitchen is the first to say that the series isn’t about him, that it involves a team affiliated with his International Explorations organization. It is being produced by LifeLike Entertainment Corp. of Valley Glen, Calif., a firm with lengthy credentials in creating programming for many television networks.

However, Mitchen is uniquely qualified to head up a project like “Handing Over History.” With over 25 years of treasure-diving experience, and a one of a kind resume that goes from finding sunken Spanish treasure to raising lost old growth timber from Lake Superior, his real life experiences read like something out of a Clive Cussler novel.

But for Mitchen, it has never been just about the dollar value of the treasure he seems to have an uncanny knack of finding.

“Over the years I have collected so many neat things that I have wanted to try and find who they belonged to,” Mitchen said. “I don’t know that I have ever been in it just for the gold. Some people are in it solely for the material things, to convert it into cash, and though I have a collection of things, I have always wanted to return things that could go back.”

The pilot episode is a remarkable tale of just such an occurrence, outlining the story of a Zippo lighter Mitchen found on the floor Lake Delavan in the southern part of the state in the 1985. Mitchen was diving in the area of an old swimming beach at the site of a lake lodge that dated back to the 1880s.

“It was dirty, encrusted with crud and tarnished,” Mitchen said. He set it aside in his collections until the winter of 1991 when he finally got around to cleaning it off.

He was astonished to find the name of Spc. 4th Class Don Sunstrom on the lighter, as well as the emblem of the 101st Airborne “Screaming Eagles.” More time passed as Mitchen couldn’t begin to figure out a way to contact the former trooper. It wasn’t until November, when thanks to dogged determination and some Internet sleuthing that Mitchen was able to contact Sunstrom, now 65 and a resident of Blaine, Minn., and speak to him about it.

“I asked him if he had been in the 101st Airborne, and he said yes,” Mitchen said. “I asked him several questions and the pauses between his answers got longer and longer. Then I asked him if he had ever had an engraved cigarette lighter with the 101st Airborne crest on it and he got all choked up.”

The story Sunstrom told was even more amazing than the fact that Mitchen had recovered the lighter.

“I told him that I found it in a lake in Southern Wisconsin, and he told me that was impossible, because he had lost it in the jungles of Vietnam,” Mitchen said.

Mitchen said Sunstrom recalled the day he bought the lighter from a vendor, attracted by the Screaming Eagle logo on the brushed stainless steel side of the lighter. The vendor embossed his name onto the side, adding the motto “I’m sure to go to heaven because I spent my time in Hell. Viet Nam 68-69.”

The motto was the clincher, Mitchen said. There was no question it was Sunstrom’s lighter; returned 40 years after he lost it in the jungles of Southeast Asia.

How did it find it’s way to southern Wisconsin?

“Some other soldier probably found it and kept it, and lost it again at the lake,” Mitchen guessed.

While that part of the story may never be told, Mitchen takes immense satisfaction in returning a simple lighter, which cost only a few bucks, but is priceless in the memory of a combat veteran.

“He said he would keep it with his other mementos, but that he would probably take it out 20 times in the next couple of weeks and recall the memories of that time,” Mitchen said.

Sunstrom’s lighter is only the beginning of the possibilities, Mitchen said. Among the artifacts he has to research is a bracelet of the kind worn by World War II aviators, clearly identifying “Lt. Richard C. Hobbie AAF Pilot,” along with a serial number. The collection to be checked also includes a shipbuilder’s brass identification button with a stamped serial number.

“They all have their own story,” Mitchen said.

The unmistakable appeal of such a show has put “Handing Over History” to the top of the pile of story ideas being pitched for production at LifeLike.

“We went to number one out of 24 shows, being considered,” said Explorations International Secretary-Treasurer Pete Viater.

“That’s because, as they said, you can put a face to the treasure,” said Mitchen. “No one has ever done that before.”

That makes it different from the traditional treasure hunter’s quest.

“I can’t return a ring intended for the Queen of Spain in 1750, but I am sure to get a smile from a prom queen when I return her class ring from 1939,” Mitchen said.

Thirty-five years ago, I purchased my first metal detector. My intention at that time was to search local parks and schoolyards for coins and jewelry lost by others. However, throughout the years, the hobby of metal detecting has taken me on a very exciting journey.

I have been to places that most people can only dream. I have searched for buried treasures, and in my searches, I have observed secret encryptions from ancient societies. The metal detecting hobby not only allowed me to search for buried treasures, in exciting places, but it has also allowed me to produce a TV series, “Exploring History’s Treasures,” which is all about metal detecting, treasure hunting and history. Metal detecting is a hobby for anyone, and you can receive some great benefits from it as well.

To get started, all you need is a basic metal detector. You do not have to spend thousands of dollars on a high-end detector. For $300-$350, you can purchase a metal detector that performs just as well as a detector with all of the bells and whistles. The most important point I need to stress is this. Whatever metal detector you purchase, read the owners manual, and learn the proper use of the detector. If you do this, you will enhance your chances of finding more lost, and dropped items. The person with the least expensive metal detector, who understands how to use it properly, will do much better than a person with a high-end detector who does not understand all of the bells and whistles, or how to properly use it.

You will also need a set of headphones. Again, you do not have to spend a lot of money. For approximately $25 -$35, you can get a pair of headphones that work well enough in any outdoor environment.

Headphones are important because you need to hear the soft signals emitted from your metal detector. These signals specify a target, or item beneath the ground. Headphones help to eliminate any outside noises, which gives you a better chance of hearing the signals from your detector.

  Written by Frank Pandozzi Frank W. Pandozzi is an author, TV Producer and treasure hunter. He began his “treasure hunting” days twenty-five years ago metal detecting parks and schoolyards. Today Frank Pandozzi is the…  -  Full profile

Metal detecting Saving History: Diggin’ in Virginia XII

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Diggin’ in Virginia III – Day 2 Part 1 – Metal Detecting Blast From the Past

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Diggin’ in Virginia III-Day 3,The Finds! Metal Detecting Blast from the Past

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