Date 1-11-08 Location Type Modern Park Detecting Time 4.5 hours Detector Whites DFX with 8" EXcelerator DD coil

I do not know if I am like most detectorists, but I have periods of time where I don't hunt a lot and times where I am absolutely obsessed with hunting and I have to get out whenever possible. This week I have been wanting to hunt very badly and decided to take Friday off work (vacation day) and hunt a soccer park I've been hitting recently. So, I was under some self-imposed pressure to find some good stuff. I have hunted this park for the last couple of months using the Bigfoot (10 silver, 2 gold total, including this hunt). Today, I decided to use a smaller coil and hunt the high traffic areas.

Soccer Fields

I started hunting slowly on the end of the section I wanted to hunt. I was digging pretty much everything, even the 26 VDI pulltabs that infest the site if it was a solid, narrow signal. Shuffling along, I got a dime signal and it warbled between 77 and 78 as clad dimes do. I was going to pass it up since I was after gold and silver, but I dug it anyway and came up with a smashed 925 German cross ring. It did not have the smooth silver tone since it was an irregular shape.

Smashed 925 German Cross Ring

Smashed 925 German Cross Ring - Fixed

That was a good start since I had only been hunting less than five minutes. I kept covering the area and within the next five minutes I got a nickel signal (19 VDI) and pulled out a cool fake-diamond studded cross. It rang up like gold, it is heavy, it has no hallmarks and it is well made...I will run some tests on it to see if I can figure out what it is made of. It is a nice little piece regardless.

Fake diamond cross...no hallmark, but heavy and rang up like gold

Fake diamond cross...no hallmark, but heavy and rang up like gold

OK...feeling pretty good since it is so early in the hunt and I have some goodies in the pouch. The pressure has eased off a bit. Continuing on, digging up all types of pull tabs and slaw, I got a shallow, solid 14 VDI. I figured it was some well shaped slaw and did not use the proper care when extricating the target. Thankfully, I did not damage it, since with the first pry of the sod knife a nice 14K white gold (rhodium plated) 1.03 carat diamond ring popped out. I saw the ring shape and was thrilled and then saw the settings and said "No Way!" and then picked it up and saw the diamonds and knew it was real. I just left my gear in the field and went to the car. I put on my grampa glasses and took a look at the hallmark. 14K and...what..."1.03"...crap, they are real! The number had to refer to the carat weight of the stones. I sat and stared at it for a while.

14K White Gold 1.03 Carat Diamond Ring (9 diamonds)

14K White Gold 1.03 Carat Diamond Ring (9 diamonds)

Real diamonds!

5.4g of gold and diamonds

I almost called it a day, but I had only been hunting for less than an hour and had to see if the streak would continue. It did not, but I did find a foreign coin, a 1946D wheat cent and a few other odds and ends.

1994 Twenty Pence Elizabeth II DG REG F.D.

1994 Twenty Pence Elizabeth II DG REG F.D.

1946D Wheat

I talked to one of the Park Rangers for about twenty minutes. Those guys (at least in our privately owned, non-municipal bedroom community) are really nice. It is always a good feeling to know that the powers that be are more than happy to let you detect the parks in the area. He was flabbergasted as to why Precinct 4 does not allow detecting. I told him that some sloppy Precinct 4 detectorist probably ruined it for the rest of us. At this point a ton of student soccer players started arriving in buses. Exit stage left. A great day!

UPDATE: I went to a jewelry store and found the exact same ring. It retails for $2,150. Makes me feel a bit better about the money I spend on detecting equipment ;-)

Soccer park hunt total

HH! The Beep Goes On