According to the Watertown Daily Times in New York, holes were found in Champion Park and Village Green Park left there by a metal detectorist. This initiated a meeting of the city council in which they passed a new local law banning the use of detectors, digging, and removing artifacts from the park.

Councilman Thomas E. Stewart was quoted saying, “We found someone was up there with a metal detector and was digging around. It just wasn’t right.”

My thoughts: I believe this is ignorance on the part of both the council members and the person who dug the holes. As many of you know, there is a code of ethics we as treasure hunters like to follow which includes asking permission and leaving the area in either the same condition you found it in or better (i.e. filling in your holes!). This law seems to have been passed under the assumption that metal detecting is some sort of desctructive scavenging which damages property and should be looked down upon as a crime.

Metal detecting is a hobby that provides many benefits to the community. Detectorists all around the world have returned long lost heirlooms to their owners decades after they were lost. We remove trash from the parks including sharp metals (even needles) which makes it safer for our children. We find history that can be shared with the community and the hobby also benefits people with a healthy low stress excercise.

I for one wish law makers would consider the positive impact the majority of us make instead of punishing us all for the ignorance and maliciousness of a small minority.

I have begun a new form of treasure hunting that is turning into an interesting little side business for me. I wish I could elegantly call it Urban Treasure Hunting but I suppose “going to auctions and yard sales” is a better description. Here are the two big finds for the month:

Apple iPod Nano 8GB Graphite 6th Gen: Got this in a storage auction where I purchased a single box for $20. The box had a few good items including a bread maker worth about $30 or $40 so I easily got my money back right there. This little beauty was also in the box, brand new still in the wrapping, and I turned around and sold it on Ebay for $120.00. Turned out to be a decent profit!

2006 African American Holiday Barbie by Bob Mackie: Picked up this Barbie at a yard sale for $5.00. She was willing to take $3 but since I already knew how much it was worth, I gave her the full $5. I then flipped it on Ebay for $51.00! I learned an interesting fact with this item: The ethnic Barbies in this series tend to command a higher premium and seem to be less common. That means more money in the long run!

So keep your eyes peeled the next time you are browsing yard sales, flea markets, and auctions because you just never know when you will get a great bargain treasure!

Want to know how to find new areas to treasure hunt that may be completely untouched? I’ve had luck with this technique in the past and would like to share it with you all. This method works best if you have two metal detectors but can also work just fine with one. Here is the technique:

1. Login into Craigslist.org and find your local area.
2. Start a post to the “Barter” section.
3. Think of a clever title that will grab people’s attention like “Your Property Has Buried Treasure”.
4. In the writeup, explain how you are a treasure hunter who follows a digging code of ethics. Explain that you are looking for permission to treasure hunt areas that may have history or large people gatherings. The barter portion comes in when you explain that in exchange for permission to hunt, you will allow the other person to use your other detector and hunt with you teaching them about the hobby.
5. Wait for the replies from curious property owners to roll in! TIP: The way you write your ad is very important because you want to pique the curiousity of the reader and help them think about what may be buried on their property.

This was sent to me and I felt compelled to post the story. Enjoy

I was hunting in Tulsa, Oklahoma near Pine and Peoria in an area that had houses but had been cleared. I had found several nice items in past hunts so I wasn’t surprised when I dug a silver quarter. The quarter had been smoothed on both sides and I noticed that there was engraving on both sides of the quarter. It said “In memory of Dick Bourland died 1873 and burried in Gravett, Arkansas–For his son John Bourland”. The last name I am not sure about but in order to tell the story I am suggesting a name.
I thought this was interesting because I had been hunting for 25 years and had never dug a “funeral token”. I place it in my bag and continued hunting for a while. I decided to go by Transmississippi Electronics where Terry Humphries and his mother Sylvia ran a detector shop. Sylvia asked me “did you find anything good”. “yes, I have something here I have never dug before, it is a funeral token.” I read it out loud “says ” In memory of Dick Bourland—-”. Sylvia made a sound as if someone had just struck her. “OOOhhh” she said. I took a closer look at her to make sure she was o.k.. She had this stack of books on the table and she was doing geneology on her family–The Bourland family.

She looked up her relative Dick Bourland and they did not know when or where he died. In one dig I answered both questions and this was only the beginning because in the following months I received many emails and letters from the Bourland family, thanking me and getting me to tell the story over and over.

This story is almost mystic to me and so improbable and yet it happened.

And yes, I did give her the quarter!

1892 map of Civil War Battlefield locations. Click for full screen: