This past Sunday I had to go on a little road trip up to my mothers to help her with a chore. I brought along my ETRAC just in case I would have time to get out and give it a try at a local park. Once the chore was finished, she made dinner. While eating dinner, I happened to look at a picture on the wall of an old country church and ask her exactly where that was and how to get there just in case the park did not work out. Even though the temp was in the 20's and the ground has started to freeze up, after dinner I headed over to the park. I spent about 2 hours messing around in the park but did not find anything other than some clad. I kept thinking of the country church and decided the last hour of day light I would spend there.
Once I got to the church, I thought I had made the wrong decision as the ground was covered with about an inch of ice from an ice storm a couple days before. However, the south side of the church was pretty much ice free. The wind must have been out of the north during the ice storm. After digging a couple of newer coins on the south side of the church, I noticed two large evergreen trees in the front of the church, both had area's under and to the south that were ice free. Under one of the trees, I got a reading 12 - 13, which to me says NICKLE. I pinpointed it and dug a small plug and at the bottom of the hole stuck out the backside of the ring. I pulled it out and cleaned it off and it read TOLNA HIGH SCHOOL. I knew that school closed a few years back but my wife's aunt and uncle had taught there. Well we emailed them and they supplied me with the name, address, and phone number of the person who they thought it may belong to. I called him this evening and at first he didn't think the ring could be his as he lost his 25+ years ago. But he was able to remember that he had lost his ring at this country church while helping a friend work on a car. The ring is 14K and weighs 18.6 grams.
Even though this ring will not be part of my collection, it is nice to see it going back to its original owner.
Once I got to the church, I thought I had made the wrong decision as the ground was covered with about an inch of ice from an ice storm a couple days before. However, the south side of the church was pretty much ice free. The wind must have been out of the north during the ice storm. After digging a couple of newer coins on the south side of the church, I noticed two large evergreen trees in the front of the church, both had area's under and to the south that were ice free. Under one of the trees, I got a reading 12 - 13, which to me says NICKLE. I pinpointed it and dug a small plug and at the bottom of the hole stuck out the backside of the ring. I pulled it out and cleaned it off and it read TOLNA HIGH SCHOOL. I knew that school closed a few years back but my wife's aunt and uncle had taught there. Well we emailed them and they supplied me with the name, address, and phone number of the person who they thought it may belong to. I called him this evening and at first he didn't think the ring could be his as he lost his 25+ years ago. But he was able to remember that he had lost his ring at this country church while helping a friend work on a car. The ring is 14K and weighs 18.6 grams.
Even though this ring will not be part of my collection, it is nice to see it going back to its original owner.