Back in the late sixties or maybe the early seventies my Dad, in his fifties at the time, bought a Whites metal detector.
I think it was called the Coin Master, but my memory is hazy about it though.
I never tried his machine, but somehow the seed thought that it might be a fun hobby was planted in my mind and in the early eighties I bought a Whites 6000DI detector form a dealer who would become a friend and my source for fine machines.
Ultimately, I bought two Garretts 500XL water machines and a Garretts signal tracer type locator I could use to find buried wells too.
It made sense to me to own a detector because I lived (and still do all these years later) only a short walk from an active public beach on the shore of Long Island Sound in Connecticut.
This was to be a very convenient hobby for me as I could easily fit it into almost any work day, sometimes for only a half hour or so.
I spent much of that first year of hunting learning how to get the most out of the DI and using it found my first gold ring.
It was an Art Carved wedding band with flowers and scroll work wrapped around the ring and a lovely 14K jewel it was.
It had no inscription and was buried in the dry sand well up on the beach.
When I got it home and my wife tried it on it became her second wedding ring and she has worn it ever since putting her original ring away for one of our granddaughters one day perhaps.
This is how the ring looks today after all those years of being worn by a hard working woman.
[attachment 142362 Todaysringfinds9-14-9047.jpg]
I have found many gold rings since then, but none so wonderfully appreciated as this one.
In all the years I have gone metal detecting my wife has not complained once about the time I have spent hunting or the money I have spent on machines and equipment for hunting!
Perhaps she has something to remind her that it is a great hobby?
CJ
I think it was called the Coin Master, but my memory is hazy about it though.
I never tried his machine, but somehow the seed thought that it might be a fun hobby was planted in my mind and in the early eighties I bought a Whites 6000DI detector form a dealer who would become a friend and my source for fine machines.
Ultimately, I bought two Garretts 500XL water machines and a Garretts signal tracer type locator I could use to find buried wells too.
It made sense to me to own a detector because I lived (and still do all these years later) only a short walk from an active public beach on the shore of Long Island Sound in Connecticut.
This was to be a very convenient hobby for me as I could easily fit it into almost any work day, sometimes for only a half hour or so.
I spent much of that first year of hunting learning how to get the most out of the DI and using it found my first gold ring.
It was an Art Carved wedding band with flowers and scroll work wrapped around the ring and a lovely 14K jewel it was.
It had no inscription and was buried in the dry sand well up on the beach.
When I got it home and my wife tried it on it became her second wedding ring and she has worn it ever since putting her original ring away for one of our granddaughters one day perhaps.
This is how the ring looks today after all those years of being worn by a hard working woman.
[attachment 142362 Todaysringfinds9-14-9047.jpg]
I have found many gold rings since then, but none so wonderfully appreciated as this one.
In all the years I have gone metal detecting my wife has not complained once about the time I have spent hunting or the money I have spent on machines and equipment for hunting!
Perhaps she has something to remind her that it is a great hobby?
CJ
I would love to hear from some of the veterans about their first ring find, where and what became of it.