Temerity Magazine Feb. 2012 Volume 2 Issue 1

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~ Index ~ ~ Cover Photo ~ Features the six relic and treasure Pickers that we are blessed to have in this issue of Temerity Magazine Pg. 3-Index Pg. 4– Temerity, The First Word By Editor Chad T. Everson Pg. 6– Who is Thomas J. Smithers? By Farenheit1100 Pg. 8- Two Weeks of Finds By Umrgolf2000 Pg. 12– The Thrill of the Hunt By Troy Howerton Pg. 14– My Hero, My Aunt, By Jeanine Menton Reckinger Pg. 16– Temerity Magazine is 1 year old By Chad T. Everson Pg. 18- INTERNATIONAL COIN SHOOTERS By Perry Smyda Pg. 22- Gem Hunting for Sapphires in Central Queensland. By NQ Explorers Pg. 28– Garrett ProPointer Review By PondGuru Pg. 34- This is one of my best spots to hunt By KevinNiefer1 Pg. 38– Clad to PinPointer By TheBottleFreak Pg. 42- Getting permission through salesmanship By Farenheit1100 Pg. 45-Wanted! People with Temerity By Editor Pg. 46– Yard Sale Mania in next issue By YardSaleMania Pg. 48- Searching for ...A Genealogist’s Perspective. By Teresa Mercier Pg. 52– The Adventures of Frankie & Bobby By Fred C. Dobbs Pg. 56– Farenheit1100 Hot YouTube Channels By Farenheit1100 Pg. 58– It’s the Story By Chad T. Everson Pg. 66- GOODWILL “TREASURE” HUNTING By Aun-ti-que YardSaleCzarina Pg. 70– Treasure Hunters All By Barry Flett Pg. 78- Metal Detecting Review of 2011 – A Year to Remember. By Janhyooz Pg. 84– Why I love Metal Detecting by Ryan Cowden RecoveringRelics Pg. 88- Treasure Hunting in South Africa By: Peter Gill Pg. 92– The Yankee Picker Corner By TheYankeePicker Pg. 94– Mantiques By Terminal99 Pg. 98– Your Invited By Ruben Garcia ™Temerity Magazine is a product of Theodore Media LLC owned and operated

by Chad T. & Michelle Everson 32128 160th St, Princeton, MN 55371 763-260-0120 ©2012 All Rights Reserved

Editor– Chad T. & Michelle Everson Please contact editor@TemerityMagazine.com for all Advertising, and Inquiries.

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Temerity, The First Word…

On a long hunt, you may find yourself talking to a square nail or two, but it is usually a one way conversation. The nail is listening and mocking you as you were sure it was a silver coin this time. Often online today, you can feel like that square nail. Someone is shouting at you and you have no mouth or gesture that communicate how exactly you feel about the message they are trying to yell at you.

I have worked long and hard making sure that Temerity Magazine is not that one way conversation. On our blog and website www.TemerityMag.com I have posted pages for each article in Temerity Magazine. On these pages you can comment and even share your insights and stories so that the author and you can have a two way conversation.

Look for this icon in the lower right hand corner of each page on every article as it will link you to the articles page on TemerityMag.com where you can join us in that two way conversation.

Online today, if you can’t have a two way conversation, don’t bother.

With Temerity Magazine, we pride ourselves at providing a platform for all relic and treasure hunters to share their stories and passion for this great addiction. Comment on our blog, and even join us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and don’t forget we want you as an author right here in Temerity Magazine.

If you find yourself talking to square nails and want to make some relic and treasure friends, join us! Get Grizzly!

Chad T. Everson Editor & Owner of Temerity Magazine

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Bret Reckinger I was born in MN and though I have lived elsewhere for part of my career, I have gravitated "back home." I have always been fascinated working with electricity in some form since I was a little kid; and have enjoyed adapting that knowledge into the prosthetics field.  Spent about 10 years in the Otto Bock Custom Fabrication Services Department, Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Spent seven years in Salt Lake City, Utah, mastering Motion Control's Utah Arm as well as finding solutions to extremely difficult patient care challenges and gaining extensive experience with the development of custom robotic applications designed to mimic human biomechanical movement.  Three years partnered with Bracemasters, LLC of Milwaukee, WI  Since 2005 Prosthetic Specialties LLC is located near Princeton, MN and has worked at producing complex upper-extremity myoelectric prostheses, including systems employing hybrid component technologies.

13143 Lake Place Rd. Zimmerman, Minnesota 55398

Cell 763-607-3372 Fax 763-856-0184 —————————-——

Bret Reckinger Director of Laboratory Services

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Who is Thomas J. Smithers?

By Farenheit1100    

 

He was born in Delaware in 1864.

He was a soldier in the American Civil War. He held the lowest rank in the Union Army.

He served in Company G of the 4th Delaware Volunteer Regiment that was part of the Army of the Potomac.

He survived the war, became a dentist and died in 1929, Now that you know the basics, what made him so special?

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The answer is a very simple one. He kept a daily personal diary for the year 1864. Here are a couple of snippets of his daily life:

Sunday, June 5, 1864 The wounded coming in. Some from our Co. Joseph Palmer wounded in the hand. Hackett killed. Several of the men went to tend the wounded.

Thursday, June 30, 1864 I received a letter off father, Retta, and mother. Went to division hospital. Seen Fletcher’s grave and marked it with ink and a Cedar Shake by it.

If you are interested in history made 147 years ago and are tired of the stories of what the generals did, read his entire diary of daily life for the year 1864 that will be published as an eBook and also excerpts shared in the next Temerity Magazine for the first time ever. Now you have a chance to read it. Go back in time and walk in his boots.

Temerity is looking for photos of your Civil War relics to include with the publication of this diary. Readers out there can join this effort and celebrate the 150th anniversary of this conflict by sending photos of your Civil War relics to

editor@temeritymagazine.com

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We all strive for the same thing. Whether you’re a storage auction hunter, a treasure picker or a metal detectorist, we’re all hunting for the same kill. You know what I’m talking about.

When you first set eyes on the prize and the adrenaline rush kicks in. The feeling of victory is the same whether you've just dug a $5,000 ring out of the ground, scored a prime storage unit, or picked the ultimate treasure.

We're all driven by the desire to find that “nugget” or “big hit.”

We search for the one that makes you a $1,000 instead of $100. When you spend time in any of the businesses, storage auctions, picking or detecting, it’s all the same. You can buy dozens of storage units and make a little off of each until you hit a nugget. You can go to the swap meets for days and not find that $100 item that will bring you $1,000. Then, all of a sudden, you get it! Searching for relics with a detector is similar. It can take you weeks of searching until you find that big payoff. We all just want to make the big hit. That’s what keeps us in the game.

As anyone who’s been in the business can tell you, the big hit doesn’t come easy. We have to work hard and the big hit is just (Continued on page 13)

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a pay off, or bonus, for our hard work. You have to get your fingernails dirty, work till your back hurts and your wife complains because the house is full of stuff. You have to chug along until something good happens to you. If you stay determined and work hard, it will happen. We work our butts off in this business and the harder you work the luckier you get, or at least that's

how it works for me. I truly believe that if you work hard

and keep your moral compass in check, great things will happen to you.

With the economy in the dumps and families struggling just to get by, hard work sometimes might not be enough. Folks like us need to have the treasure hunting skill set. You have to stay on top of your game and perfect your skills. If you need some advice, come check us out. Good luck and happy hunting!

Troy Howerton

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by Jeanine Menton Reckinger

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Let me begin by suggesting to you that my hobby may be different from most of you but then again it is actually quite the same . . . “relic and treasure” seem to be bywords in this community of interest and for the most part that means tangible items, something you need to first locate, then you may have to do a little or a lot of traveling, then a little or a lot of digging, then there is the cleaning and figuring out what you have and what is its value . . . but it is normally something can see and touch, something you might even exchange for cash!!

I choose to share this picture as one of my relics . . . I had to do a lot of hunting in order to locate it, I had to promise my life that it would be returned unharmed if I could just copy it. So though our work is different, it can be equally elusive, daunting, time consuming and frustrating before the satisfaction of having it in your possession and calling it yours. I will share with you the treasure that comes along with this picture and others, which is the story of this gentle woman’s pioneer life, in the next issue.

Let me just introduce this lady that I never met but wished all my life that I had!! My aunt, Jessie Belle Menten, was born to Peter Wm and Ella (Davis) Menten at their home farm on Lake Washington, Blue Earth County, MN in 1888. She was the sixth child born to this couple along with five younger of which two died as infants. Jessie died at Minneapolis, Minnesota February 4, 1920 at the age of 32 as the result of battling influenza and winning only to contract bilateral pneumonia, which took her life. ~Editors Note: Jeanine makes the case better than I ever could that yes, genealogy is a hunt for relic and treasure and those that choose to swim in these deep waters and retrieve these stories all embody Temerity! I can’t wait until the next issue! ~Editor

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Temerity Magazine is 1 year old!

We are on pace to really grow in 2012! We will be publishing 4 issues in 2012 as well as some great e-books for you, the relic and treasure hunter. Temerity Magazine is truly a unique and accessible platform for any relic and treasure hunters or businesses to share their passion for this exciting hobby and industry. One of the challenges in growing and having such great success is finding ways to monetize the effort so we can continue to grow and provide great products to our growing readership.

One of the basic goals I had was to offer this magazine for free so that no one would be kept from enjoying reading our great publication and authors. So, subscriptions are not an option for monetizing the effort. My hope was that businesses would want to pay to advertise in our publication to reach this growing and dynamic relic and treasure audience. We are about 5000 strong in readership right now. We will double and triple that early this year.

I wanted to take this opportunity to ask our readers for ideas on monetizing this effort. I am always encouraging our authors and readers to join me in providing great products to our readership. I am looking for t-shirt and promotional product businesses to partner with or buy a license to offer Temerity Magazine products to our readership in the hopes that income from this could put food on both our tables.

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Some of our e-books we have coming out will be free to our readership, while others we will be charging minimal fees after I can raise the $500 to upgrade my publishing account.

There is a possibility of Temerity Magazine running some metal detecting seeded hunt events in the future to raise much needed funds and encourage more to join us in this great hobby.

I am looking for any and all ideas on how to monetize this effort while still reaching out and providing opportunities for those with Temerity to put food on their tables as well.

Since I am a one man shop, if a sales person would want to take on procuring advertising for Temerity Magazine and my other efforts, I would gladly split the proceeds with them for their hard work! Being a one man shop, it is not easy to carry out all the tasks that need to be done to grow Temerity magazine. The sales would be a great way for someone to create their own income stream and in turn assist Temerity Magazine with its goals and growth.

I am not ruling out charging subscriptions in the future as I must do whatever it takes to monetize and keep this effort going. But, if I can be creative enough, I would really love to keep Temerity Magazine free for our readers!

The single most effective assistance that you could offer Temerity Magazine is to write for us and promote our magazine to your friends, family and contacts through email and social networking. Feel free to embed the magazine on your site and forums! The more readers the greater chance to attract advertisers.

If you would like to gift Temerity Magazine you can send through Paypal a monetary gift to GrizzlyGroundswell@yahoo.com All other ideas and if you have questions or would like to advertise contact me through my email address below!

editor@temeritymagazine.com

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Saturday~ Aug. 25 ________________ 8:00-9:00 Registration~ Sign In, Door Prize Ticket, Meet & Greet Everybody, Last Minute to Check your detector 9:00-9:30 Clad Hunt ~Clad Nickels, Dimes, Quarters, Half's, Gold Dollars, Prize for the Most Odd Junk Target !

9:30-10:00 Seed for Token Hunt~ Bury Tokens 10:00-12:00 Token Only Hunt~ Consists of 100 Stamped Tokens Only1~21(Great Britain Large Pennies), 22(Smashed Copper Coupling), 23~32(Pirate/Treasure Chest Aluminum Coins), 33-61(Smashed Copper Couplings), 62-100 (Copper Lincoln Pennies>60's & 70"s) 12:00~1:00 Lunch/Supper-I.C.S. will supply the Main Course., and some Side Dish (if you wish), Bring Cakes, cookies, chips, pretzels, etc....

1:00-2:00 Hand Out Prizes from I.C.S Token Board~ Our Club hands out the Prize Tokens a Little Different than any other Club, We Start out with the token board, (L. to R.), pick the #(cardboard #), out of the raffle cage, (one of time), and jot the number from the cage, to the first prize (Continued on page 20)

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on the Token Board and so forth, etc..., until we end up to last prize on the Token Board ! This is Fair to Everybody !

2:30-3:00 Seed for Silver Hunt 3:00-5:00 Silver Hunt~ Silver Nickels, Dimes (Seated, Barber, Mercury, Roosevelt), Quarters (Seated, Barber, Standing Liberty, Washington), Halfs, Dollars, Silver Canadian & World Coins 5:30-???? 50/50, Raffles~ Fields Open Sunday~ Aug 26 ________________ 9:00-9:30 Registration~ Sign In, Door Prize Ticket, Meet & Greet Everybody, last Minute to Check your Detector 9:30-10:00 Poker Hunt~ Best Hand WINS !~52 Cards + 2 Joker’s (WILD) , Each Team member goes out finds a Wheat Penny w/ a card face down, soon he/she finds 1 card, then next member goes out until the team is done~ 10:00-12:00

Temerity Magazine Sponsored Pulltab Hunt 12:00-1:00 Lunch~ Leftovers( LOL ! ) Probably Hamburgers & Hot Dogs, Chips 1:30-2:00 Seed for Main Old Type Coin Hunt 2:00-4:00 Main Hunt~ Old Type Coin Hunt~ Indian Heads, Buffalo's, "V" Nickels, Canada Large Cents & World Coins & Tokens for other Prizes like $$$$ 4:00-???? 50/50, Raffles, Trophy~ Finds the Most Coins (Both Days), Fields Open

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Note: “Fossicking” is an Australian term for precious gem and gold hunting.

Gem hunting or gem fossicking is a popular pastime throughout Australia, firstly because of the wealth and variety of gemstones which can be found in most states, and secondly because the respective State Governments have designated large areas of Crown Land as fossicking areas. Some of these areas are accessible to conventional cars, but many are in remote locations requiring a well-equipped four wheel drive, and an “exit strategy”, allowing for the distance from medical services, dirt roads which can become impassable following rain, and open creek crossing requiring a high-clearance vehicle.

In the southern winter of 2008 (July), Colleen and I ventured into the Central Queensland gemfields in search of sapphires. Here, large fossicking areas have been set aside, some are in former commercial mining areas, (Continued on page 23)

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and some are located in ‘virgin’ ground. Private mining leases also exist, dotted throughout the bush. These camps are invariably inhabited and worked by a strange array of bush ‘characters’.

We had done plenty of gold fossicking and gem hunting for topaz and agate, but this was our first trip out on sapphires. With the four wheel drive well packed with sieves, classifiers, picks and shovels, wash screens and tubs, and plenty of tea for the numerous ‘breaks’ we were anticipating, we headed down a rough track into the bush, in search of the fossicking area.

Our first encounter with a local was in a remote spot where accommodation comprised little more than a run-down old caravan and several sheets of rusty corrugated iron.

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Concerned we were not on the right track, we decided to ask for directions. The resident was a rather dishevelled, bearded character, who looked like he had just stepped out of the 1860s!

“Sorry to bother you mate, but is this the right track to the fossicking area?”

The laconic reply: “Do I look like a street directory?”

Half an hour later we were back on the right track, across a couple of dry creek beds and soon there was evidence of old diggings, comprising shallow pits in the bush where previous visitors had tried their luck.

The next gemhunters we came across were a little more helpful. They were an elderly retired couple, now keeping themselves occupied as fulltime fossickers (Continued on page 25)

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“Just set up on one of those old holes and keep digging, you’ll get sapphire eventually”.

On reflection, we made two mistakes on the first day; firstly, it was cold, and this made ‘wet sieving’ of the gemstone wash pretty uncomfortable, and secondly, it was overcast, and sapphires are generally dark blue to black and you need bright sunlight to identify them as such.

Nevertheless, we dug and expanded the hole all that day, utilizing a home -made “classifier” (see pictures), which screened off the larger stones and deposited the dry “wash” into a tub. This tub of wash was then processed through the sieve shaker (on ‘nested’ 6mm and 3mm gemstone sieves), and the retained material then washed in the water basin. The next procedure was to invert the contents of the washed sieves on an inspection table, and pick out the gems!

We picked out any interesting looking coloured rocks and continued to dig and expand the hole, stacking the larger boulders (locally known as “billy boulders”) into a mullock heap on the side of the hole.

By mid afternoon, tired and rather despondent that we hadn’t “struck it rich”, Colleen made the observation that I probably didn’t know what a rough sapphire looked like! She then suggested that we should visit one of the many sapphire shops and galleries in town and inspect the rough sapphires so that we knew what we were looking for in the bush.

More than a little offended, I replied: “Of course I know what a (Continued on page 26)

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sapphire looks like - I’m not wasting money on some tourist trap just so I can find out something I already know!”

Duly, the next morning we fronted up at the sapphire shop at opening time, after a quick tour and a bit of a browse around, we purchased a bucket of sand ‘wash’ guaranteed to contain sapphire ‘chips’. We processed this on site - now we knew what raw sapphires looked like!

After lunch we were back out on the dig, in the same hole as the previous day. After a couple of hours of pick and shovel work, sieving and washing, Colleen exclaimed “Hey, what’s this?” - and held a small stone up to the weak sunlight. It was an 8 gram yellow sapphire! It had a lovely natural ‘flaw’ with a bright red streak through it. We have included a photo of our finds, but cannot do the stones justice as they have to be viewed in bright light to show their lovely facets.

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In all we spent four days digging on the sapphire field, and came home with a handful of lovely blue sapphire ‘chips’, and the large ‘yellow’ as the main prize.

Our next purchase will be some lapidary equipment to start cutting and polishing all the gemstones we have collected over the years. The logic here is that while we are young enough to get out and dig stuff up, we should do so! All the ‘finds’ are stockpiled in buckets in the shed for processing when we are in our ‘80s and can’t swing a rock pick or metal detector coil!

Happy Hunting/Fossicking/Rockhounding everyone!

Warren and Colleen NQExplores YouTube Blog Queensland, Australia.

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Before reading this review, consider the following: “In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.�

Now continue...

Before determining the marks out of 10, let's ask the question,

'Why use a pinpointer?'

The answer is simple. You don't want to damage the possible find of the month / year / lifetime by putting your spade or trowel through it and you want to recover your find as quickly as possible so you can move onto the next target. Your pinpointing feature on your detector will only be a good guide, not a perfect one.

I use a Minelab Etrac with a variety of coils for differing conditions and while the accuracy of the pinpointing is excellent (even when using the 18" (Continued on page 29)

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x 15" SEF coil on deep targets), the soil conditions, orientation of target and proximity to trash can throw the indicated location away from its true position.

Target size will also have some bearing on how deep it registers on the detector. A small target may be only 1"-2" deep but show as being 6"-8", so naturally, we dig a hole a little over depth, allowing plenty of clearance around the projected target location only to find nothing in the excavated hole.

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A brief scan over the turf with a handheld pinpointer will often quickly locate a small surface coin and save digging an unneccesary hole. If no signal is given on the surface and a hole has been dug to locate a deeper target, checking the underneath of the turf with a pinpointer will often reveal a target which may otherwise have gone unnoticed.

If the target is deep, using a pinpointer will enable you to scan the walls of the hole and check the base for any signs of the object which, if in great condition, will possibly be a keeper. Coins or rings which are orientated vertically or are near ferrous trash need to be excavated carefully as the signal they give may render the reading from the detector coil incorrect; close but not exact.

This is where the Garrett Propointer comes in very handy. It may simply be luck or more likely thanks to the Propointer that I haven't scratched any of my best finds - and many have come from the walls of the hole (Continued on page 31)

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pinpointed and excavated very efficiently. 'Quick and precise' would probably define most of my digs. On the few occasions when I have left the Propointer at home, 'long and frustrating' would be a more accurate description of the target recovery process - digging blind is not recommended.

The Garrett Propointer uses a simple 'beeping' audio output which increases in volume and frequency as it nears the target, becoming a constant tone when in close proximity to the find. It is audible even when the detectorist is wearing headphones but is often drowned out in high wind conditions. That's where the vibrating feature comes in handy...

In a similar fashion to the audio signal, the Propointer vibrates with increasing frequency as it nears the target. The vibration, in conjunction with the audio signal, is akin to an excited child, desperate to show what 'treasure' s/he has discovered and easily guides the user to the target without the risk of spade or trowel induced damage. Then there's the light....

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A single white LED delivers just enough light for easy find recovery in total darkness; great for people like myself who get very little time to hunt during daylight.

A scraper blade molded into the lower body of the Propointer ensures easy spreading of excavated soil - another feature to speed up target recovery. In fact, everything about the Garrett Propointer has been designed to aid the rapid detection of tricky targets and their swift, safe recovery. It has a robust belt-mounted holster, too.

With all the benefits mentioned above, coupled with the fact that this super useful pointer is fully weatherproof (which allows for worry free cleaning) and the single 9 volt battery being good for around 20 hours of use, the Garrett Propointer is an essential part of any detectorist's kit.

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If you are shopping on a budget and consider the Propointer to be too costly, I have the following advice: Don't waste money buying an inferior pinpointer and buy a quality product instead - this one.

In summary, don't go on a hunt without the Garrett Propointer. If you do forget, go back and get it - I do.

Marks out of 10? What else? 10.

Youtube channel www.youtube.com/pondguru Shop website www.tynevalleyaquatics.co.uk Landscaping website www.pondguru.co.uk Shop: Tyne Valley Aquatics, Prudhoe, Northumberland, NE43 7BT. 01661 844 005

E-mail: pondguru@btinternet.com

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This is one of my best spots to hunt.

By KevinNiefer1

I have been treasure hunting for about 25 years. I have hunted all over the place from Calgary Alberta to California. Some years I get out more than others. Some of the places I enjoy detecting are schools, parks, beaches, greenbelts, yards, railway stations, and lakes. Now I love beaches the most because the odds of finding a gold ring there is better.

My first detector was a Fisher 1210. It was a basic detector, but I did find a lot of silver coins and rings. From 10k -18k, with and without stones, silver and junk rings as well. My first water machine was a Fisher1280. This detector has paid for itself over and over.

My best or favorite place is a man-made lake in Calgary Alberta, Canada. It is in our city limits and it is a provincial park. They fill the lake every May for the (Continued on page 35)

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summer swimming and they drain the lake after the September long weekend every year. It takes about two weeks to drain. Thousands of people go to this beach every month and they lose stuff everyday. When it is totally drained, all the treasure hunters hit the beach and the wet sand to find all the goodies.

When I first started going to the lake, I would hit the water in the beginning years. What I found is that I would go at 8 a.m. and then there would be two or three others. So, then I would go earlier, and then it became crazy because it was getting earlier. Then the park warden stepped in and said nobody could be in the water till the life guards where on. So that left the sand and beach area only. But like anything else. some hunters went in anyway. So, at that point, they started kicking people out.

Then one day, they put a fence around the lake and all the buildings because of all the people going into the park after hours. So, that stopped all the free hunting. Now, you have to get a permit each year just to go into the park. Then you can only go in at 8:15-10 a.m. before the public comes and get the key to the gate

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from the office. This year, every day, there were about 3 to 4 people each day.

The biggest thing is you can't go into the water until they drain the lake. Because I’m a realtor, I have flexible hours. So, when the lake was drained, there wer only 3 or 4 of us at the lake the first 5 or 6 days. This worked out well instead of having 20 people out there in the first few days. This is why I had such a good year there this year. I found about 40 rings out of there plus over a hundred dollars in clad. I even found a silver dime. I found sunglasses, cell phones, toys, and paper money, as well as a lot of other goodies.

Some years you find a lot and others less. When hunting this lake and beach, I always grid it. I go slowly so I don't miss anything. I have pulled out thousands of coins here and tons of jewelry from junk rings to silver rings, gold rings. and even diamond gold rings.

At the beach, you still pick up a lot of junk, but you also find watches, cell phones, toys, paper money, and so much more. I can't wait until next year to see what comes out of the sand.

Kevin Niefer Tv Metal detective Happy Hunting

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OK, first let me say that my name is THEBOTTLEFREAK on YouTube and second, I would like to thank Chad Everson for giving us an opportunity to share our metal detecting stories here in Temerity Magazine!

I live in upstate New York where the season is short, and this year winter held on until mid April and the snow didn't melt off until May. I had set my sights on 50 silver coins and I was well on my way to achieving this goal when half way through the season my metal detector died and I got frustrated.

I waited about a month and contacted the Fisher F4 manufacturer and was given return authorization to return my detector, which I did. The mail took over a week to get it there. Then it was there almost a week and it took another week to get it back. It was back to its former self once again but I had less opportunities to get out at this time.

When I did get out I only (Continued on page 39)

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could hunt for about a hour or so each hunt. Silver was in short supply in my local parks so I set my sights on another goal. My new goal was to get enough clad to buy a Garrett Pro Pin Pointer.

Well, a few dollars in clad here and there added to my already big clad count and by the end of the season before the weather turned bitter and the ground froze and the snow moved in, I amassed quite a clad count.

So now came the task of counting my clad. Well, to my surprise, I met my goal of having enough clad to buy the Garrett Pro Pin Pointer. So I'm setting my sights on that 50 silver coins for next season and hopefully with my new pin pointer in hand I’ll be able to achieve this goal.

I believe this is one of the only hobbies that actually pays for itself.

Thanks again Chad and I hope you get Grizzly next season and share a lot more of your very interesting videos!

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Getting permission through salesmanship

By Farenheit1100 For anyone who is starting this hobby, the hardest thing that they can overcome is the awkwardness of asking permission to hunt on another person’s property. Those of you who read the title of this article may be wondering what salesmanship has to do with getting permission to metal detect. The connection can be made with one phrase “pea vining.” For those of you who have no idea what “pea vining” means, I will explain this through an actual incident that happened to me many years ago as follows.

I went with one of my buddies to a site of a Civil War battle in Virginia to relic hunt. The area was all private posted property so it was necessary to ask permission to hunt the battlefield site. We went up to the property owner’s home to ask his permission. We knew who owned this property through a relic hunter that had tried to seek permission a couple of years before but wasn’t successful. We found the gentleman at home on this particular Saturday morning. My buddy was the first to speak to him about permission and it was apparent that the situation regarding us getting permission to hunt was not going to be easy. Just at the point that it became apparent that getting permission wasn’t going to happen, I remembered seeing an April 1965 article in National Geographic magazine. I asked the gentleman if it was indeed his home that I had seen in the magazine and he replied “yes.” I then replied “that it was a terrible shame that those Yankee soldiers had vandalized your home.” At that point the situation changed into our favor. He invited us into his home and we actually got to see the same scene that was depicted in the magazine. There were sword cuts to the bannister from Calvary sabers and all the family oil paintings of his ancestors had been slashed by the Yankee troops. After that we were given permission to hunt as much of his property as we wanted and to be sure and come back again if we were interested in doing more hunting. Sadly, the gentleman (and I mean that he was a true (Continued on page 43)

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gentlemen) passed away a couple of years later and his farm was acquired by the National Park Service for inclusion into the Five Forks Civil War Battlefield.

If any of you have ever been involved in purchasing for a company you will probably recognized what had happened. All of the good salesmen that visit companies looking to sell a product or service do “pea vining.”

The term means to find a common ground with the person that you are trying to sell your product or service and develop a relationship with that person. Often, they are not put off by one turn down and will return again and again until they get that first order. . The example that I just related to you was a good example of “pea vining.” By knowing something about the property owner, I had managed to turn around what would have been a negative outcome into something positive. I have to admit that I had somewhat of an advantage when it came to dealing with salesmen when I was working. My job involved both purchasing and selling so I was familiar with the tactics that they used to try to sell their products.

There are many ways to accomplish “pea vining.” My most favorite way was to look at the automobiles that they drive. Look for bumper stickers, window decals, make of car, baby seats, kids toys, gun racks, or anything else that relates to his situation. If he has all of the above items, we could know that he loves Ford vehicles, cheers for Green Bay, follows NASCAR, has kids or grandkids, and/or hunts. All of these facts give you an invitation to talk to the person on his terms. There are many other ways to accomplish finding out about the person. Ask a friend, neighbor, co-worker, or anybody that you can find that has met him. When you do meet him look at see if there is a logo on his cap if he is wearing one. Any opportunity to find out about the person will help. All you need is information.

When you are asking permission, you are trying to sell yourself and the hobby. You are selling yourself by being polite enough to ask permission and the hobby by making sure that all the holes are filled and the trash is removed. Getting that first foot in the door can lead to more opportunities to hunt. Many times that first person will recommend a property for you to hunt and sometimes even make a phone call to the property owner to get (Continued on page 44)

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you an invitation to talk to the other property owner. I have even had a person’s neighbors come up when I was hunting and invite me to hunt their property if “ I chose to.” Sometimes the offer became a challenge when I was told “ you won’t find anything but go ahead and try “. Very seldom was there nothing to be found.

Many times you can build yourself up for failure by your own action. .

That is because you started by having the wrong attitude. Always try to be positive in your dealings with the property owners. You never know if they just had something bad happen before you arrived at their door or are just a negative person in general. Even if you are turned down, be polite. You never know who is watching or listening to you. I have had property owners turn me down only to be invited by a neighbor to come on to their property. Sometimes they are curious about what is there to be found or just curious about the hobby. Either way you win.

Just remember, one turndown by a property own doesn’t mean that you have failed. Here is a story that I have always remembered. During the Second World War an American Marine Coronel was invited to dine with a British regiment. After the meal he was taken to their Trophy Room. He was informed that a flag in one of their cases was one of their trophies that had been captured during the American Revolution. His host remarked that the flag had been captured at “Breed’s hill, which you colonials call Bunker Hill. We still have the flag.” To which the American officer replied “Yes, but we still have the hill.”

So in closing I will repeat a phrase that I had heard many times from my own father: “Nothing beats a try but a failure.”

Good Luck and Good Hunting.

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WANTED PEOPLE WITH TEMERITY!!!

TO SHARE YOUR ADVENTURES WITH THE WORLD. YOU TOO CAN BE PART OF “THE FRANK AND BOBBY STORIES.” YOU CAN REMAIN ANONYMOUS AT THE SAME TIME. SEND YOUR ADVENTURES TO:

editor@temeritymagazine.com BECOME PART OF THESE SEMIFICTIOUS STORIES. YOUR ADVENTURE WILL BE WRITTEN INTO ONE OF THE FUTURE EPISODES AND ONLY YOU AND WHOMEVER YOU CHOOSE WILL KNOW THE TRUTH.

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Yard Sale Mania is a series about finding great deals on a weekly basis. In the next issue of Temerity we will be sharing details on the newest application for fellow yardsalers, called "Mogasa"! This app allows users to rate Garage sales and share tips on whether the Garage sales they visit are worth the time or not. You will also be able post pictures of the Garage sale to highlight specific items that are on sale. Stay tuned as we put this application to good use as the weather warms up in the East Coast. look for us on our website yardsalemania34.com

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48

Searching for the St. Frances du Chantal Church, Greenbush Township, MN: A Genealogist’s Perspective.

By Teresa Mercier

| Flickr | website |

In the 1860s, when settlers came to Minnesota they arrived in a land that could best be described as having a “mixed reputation”. Minnesota was known for two things: courageous settlers taking advantage of the wonderful resources the state had to offer – farmland, timber, and mining - and terrible tales of accidents and misadventures that beset these same settlers.

In the mid 1860s the Civil War between the Northern and Southern States was just ending. Minnesota’s Civil war – the Dakota Conflict – was winding down. People from the east or Europe were heading west… but individuals weren’t always interested in or could afford to be “the first” of their acquaintances to take on the risk. Instead, they would wait for some of their more adventurous friends and family to take the initial challenge, staying behind to hear the tales as the early adventurers would “write home”. When those waiting behind heard success stories from the early adventurers, successive waves of travelers would then set off to meet up with them. Many communities in Minnesota were founded and developed in a similar manner, by settlers who had all known each other “back home” or in the “mother country”.

“The French Settlement” in Greenbush Township, Mille Lacs County, was one such community. Over 250 friends and relatives left the Franklin County, New York area and settled here between 1865 and 1890.

By 1870 the beginnings of the French Settlement had been established by the children, siblings, in-laws, cousins, nieces & nephews, of the Jesmer, Robideau, Grow, Plamondon, DeShaw, Mallotte, and LaFontaisie families, all from the Franklin County, NY area. My great-great grandparents, Peter Robideau and Julia Jesmer, arrived in Greenbush in 1868. These settlers were French-Canadian, some with ancestors that had come to New France (Canada) as early as the 1660s.

Some of them descended from French soldiers who had arrived in Canada in the 1750s, as troops in the French-Indian War against the British. Many of the families had strong parish and family connections to the St. Regis Akwesasne Mohawk Indian Reservation that straddles the NY and Ontario/ Quebec border, half in Franklin County.

The earliest use of the moniker “French Settlement” in the Princeton Union Eagle was in 1878, when referring to this community within Greenbush Township.

Settlers connected to these early families continued to arrive from the Franklin County area through the 1880s. As word of the settlement spread through the area unrelated FrenchCanadian families came to be part of the community, including the Fradette, Rocheford, Greenwood (Boisvert), and Raiche families.

The New York members of the French Settlement may have left their connections to the Mohawk community behind when they left St. Regis, but when they arrived they developed friendships with the local Native Americans. My great-great Uncle Ernie told how when (Continued on page 49)

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he was born the neighboring Indians came to visit the new baby, and my great-great Uncle Nels regularly traded with them. These Native Americans (Ojibwe?) were probably from an area called Indian Hill (the Norwegians in the area called it “Indianerhaugen”), just on the other side of the Mille Lacs county border from the French Settlement, in Glendorado, Benton County.

The French-Canadian families held their Roman Catholic faith as a core value in their home and in their community. When they arrived in Minnesota in the 1860s they would seek out any local priest who would come and share the Sacraments of the church; the earliest priest assigned to this community was Father Prosper Maurer in 1868.

A mission church, St Frances du Chantal, was dedicated in Greenbush Township in 1880, adjacent to the local cemetery. The property for both the cemetery and church had been donated by Joseph A. Jesmer and his wife, Marie Anne Robideau (Julia Jesmer’s brother, and Peter Robideau’s sister) In 1898 a new Catholic church was built in Princeton and unfortunately the diocese closed the St Frances du Chantal Mission Church in 1936. The building sat empty for years until it was razed, circa 1947. The French Settlement – which had been a thriving community until the church was closed – faded away in a very short time. Now all that remains is the cemetery and a few local descendants with fond memories.

Over the past few years - both inspired and required by my genealogy research - I have learned a great deal about the French Settlement. One sad aspect of the settlement is that all of the church records for St. Frances du Chantal had been intentionally destroyed in the 1960s, including the cemetery records. Between the lost records, people buried without headstones, and headstones that had decayed there wasn’t a complete record of who was buried in the cemetery or where. The cemetery was made inactive at the end of the 1990s, and future burials would not be allowed.

People were still hopeful that a solution could be found, though. A few years ago the cemetery’s board of trustees even brought in a company in to survey the cemetery with Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), but the effort to find graves was unsuccessful. But even if the GPR had successfully found graves, we still wouldn’t know whose grave it was. I decided that even though we couldn’t know where people were buried I could at least try to determine who was buried at the cemetery. So I set out to try and “rebuild” the cemetery records.

After hundred of hours of document research (obituaries and newspaper articles, death certificates, &c) - plus networking with a few other people who were also interested in this project - I was able to determine that although there are only 62 headstones at the cemetery that at least 104 people are buried in the Greenbush Catholic Cemetery. It’s my belief that research of this nature is meant to be shared freely, so I posted it online; as soon as the names were posted people started contacting me about their family members.

(Continued on page 50)

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Yet I still wondered about the actual placement of the graves. At one point I even tried to find headstones through the minimally invasive technique of poking the surface soil with a stick, without success. It was so frustrating: I could look across the grass and “see” where the grass changed because of probable graves, but none of the graves could be found.

When people think of genealogy they imagine a researcher looking through rolls of microfilm, flipping through file cabinets, and reading old newspapers. However, genealogy research also includes much more tangible and hands-on research. My research on the French Settlement and the St. Frances du Chantal Church included not only poking the cemetery grass with sticks, but also digging through attics, poring over photos with magnifying glasses, and driving country roads to local churches hunting for the old church’s pews.

More recently my genealogy research has included working with Chad to actually unearth some of the remains of the St. Frances du Chantal Church.

While I was driving around looking for church pews Chad had heard about the unsuccessful GPR attempt at the Greenbush Cemetery and his curiosity was piqued. An online search brought him to the research I had posted about the cemetery and he emailed me.

He asked about the cemetery and what I thought about him trying to find the missing graves. As the cemetery has a board of trustees it wasn’t my place to say whether a cemetery search would be possible, but I put him in contact with one of the trustees in case the board might be interested in another search. Chad’s enthusiasm for a possible dig was not lost on me, though. I started thinking about other potential sites related to the French Settlement; the idea to attempt to find the foundation of the old church came to me right away. A few years earlier I had gone out to the area attempting to find the church foundation. Being unfamiliar with the area, inexperienced in “finding” anything of this nature, and not knowing exactly where I should be looking I soon realized that my plan of “wandering in a field until I tripped over the foundation” just wasn’t going to work. All I found were a lot of wood ticks.

When I suggested the church as a possible site to Chad he felt that looking for the church might be an interesting challenge. I shared everything I had about the church with him, but unfortunately I still hadn’t found any specific information about where the church had once stood. We were at a loss.

And then last fall Chad found a photo of the church in a University of Minnesota database of historic aerial photography. The picture was dated 1939: after the parish had been closed, but obviously before the church had been razed. I was fascinated by this picture, looking at it over and over again. I was fascinated by the shadow of the steeple on the north side of the church, and I kept trying to imagine it from a perspective other than “birds eye view”.

It was only the second “full” photo I had ever seen of the church that I had researched so fully, and it made the church seem so much more…real.

(Continued on page 51)

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Most important, though, the picture allowed us to determine the exact placement of the church.

We both contacted the owner of the land where the church stood. From the owner of the adjacent property Chad found that when the church had been razed the remains had been bulldozed off the land where it stood and onto the neighboring property, just to the east of the church.

With this info and Chad’s relic hunting experience he was able to find the remains of the St. Frances du Chantal Church. Incredible.

The first time I arrived at the dig site Chad showed me the things he had found: glass, nails, iron, foundation concrete, bricks, and river stone that had been part of the foundation walls. Then I got to help dig. I haven’t been able to visit the dig site very often, but the time I have spent there has been exciting.

Every time a square head nail was found in the soil sieve I would touch it and my heart would beat faster, knowing that this nail used to be a part of the St. Frances du Chantal Church. And every piece of plaster that still had interior paint on it allowed me to visualize the inside of the church just a little bit more.

To any relic hunter reading this article I would say: find a local genealogist and team up for a project. Working with Chad has been a positive experience for both of us – a classic “win-win” scenario.

I was able to share with him a potential dig site that turned out to be successful… and he made it possible for me to touch a little bit of my family’s history.

By Teresa Mercier | Flickr | website |

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53

The Adventures of “Fearless” Frank and “Bobby” Episode One “Don’t Fence Me In” Frank got the nickname “Fearless” Frank based on a continually told story of an exploit as a kid that had been retold from person to person like the old game where a secret is whispered from ear to ear and what comes out the other end does not resemble the first whispered comment. It had taken on a life of its own during the years of retelling. The story of the incident is as follows: One of the others in his group of kids that he ran with had bet him that he could not jump his bike over a deep ditch. Frank raced towards the ditch with all the speed that the bike would make. He closed his eyes and by the grace of God cleared the ditch and landed in one piece. He never tried that stunt again but the “Fearless” name stuck now as an adult he would forever be branded from an incident that he would love to forget.

Bobby was really not his given name. Bobby’s real name was Sherman. For a kid to grow up to adulthood in the South, it did not help to have the same name as a Yankee General who happened to be a pyromaniac who destroyed most of Georgia. So he told everyone that his name was “Bobby.” He finally admitted to Frank that his real name was Sherman and told him that he had picked it to avoid the ridicule of his real name. Frank still calls him Sherman when he wants to make a point.

They had met several years ago when they ran into each other on the beach during a terrible winter’s day storm. Each thought that they must be the craziest person in the world to be out in such a storm until they ran into each other. The visibility was so bad that they each made a swing of their respective detectors and smacked coils. From that instant on they had become detecting buddies.

And so the adventure begins…….

At O-Dark-Thirty Fearless Frank’s phone rang. With his head clouded by sleep, he picked up the phone and immediately dropped it. He picked it up again and answered “Hello.”

The voice on the other end responded” Frank, its Bobby.”

Irritated, Frank barked “Sherman, do you realize what time it is? Call me back when normal people are up.”

Bobby stammered “No, wait, wait it’s important.”

Franks’ wife asked “Who is calling at this hour?”

Frank said “It’s Bobby.”

(Continued on page 54)

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“How could I not know that answer?” Frank’s wife groaned and dropped back onto her pillows Bobby said, “I got permission for us to hunt the old Woolwine place. I went by the construction trailer and ran into Mr. Greer who is developing the property into a shopping center. To make a long story short, we have to do it today. Mr. Greer said it’s now or never. The security fence goes up tomorrow.”

“O.K. Bobby, I will be over to get you in about an hour. So be ready to go for a change. I have got to get some coffee and food into me first. Also, don’t forget the batteries that you owe me.” answered Frank and hung up the phone.

Exactly an hour later, Frank arrived at Bobby’s house and saw the usual mad frantic rush to get his detecting gear together. No matter how many times they had hunted together, Bobby always managed to turn this simple task into an Olympic event. Frank beeped the horn and 10 minutes later Bobby managed to hoist a load of equipment into the truck that would make Charles Atlas proud.

They drove over to the property to find the site ready for construction. The volunteer fire department had turned into something out of the novel Fahrenheit 451 and burned the house to the ground for practice. The roof tin had also been removed and the old wire fence had been pushed over but had not been removed. It became apparent that this would be “nail city.” The finds came slowly as they worked the site with a lot of discrimination. First wheat pennies and then old Buffalo and Jefferson nickels, but no silver. The junk finds quickly filled a 5 gallon bucket. After 4 hours they decided to break for lunch.

Frank ate his lunch while Bobby inhaled his. Something bothered Frank.

Something about that old fence didn’t look “right.” But he could not figure out what it was that was keeping his mind going while Bobby plowed through his lunch and babbled about how good the site should have been.

“Let’s go somewhere else where there are no nails, like the beach. All we have found is a few wheats and some stinking nickels.” Bobby pleads “No Bobby, something is bothering me about that fence. We are going back.

The beach will always be there and that site will soon be full of shoppers and cars,” explained Frank.

They went back to the site and both walked over to the fence. It had been pushed over by the bulldozers but the wire was still attached to the posts. Frank stood there looking at that fence while Bobby observed that it was just an old tired fence.

“Bobby, look at that one post. It is shorter than the others.” Said Frank “It has probably been broken off by the dozers,” offered Bobby.

(Continued on page 55)

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“No, that post is not rotted. It has the a nice even saw cut. I read once about how the old timers used to distrust banks and hid their money in ‘post hole’ banks. They buried their stash and put a fence over it They knew which fence post to go back to by counting from the corner post. That post is number seven from the corner. Seven is my lucky number. Let’s hit this spot again and dig everything,” said Frank.

With the first swing of Bobby’s old detector the tone just about blew his headphones off his ears. He called Frank over and they both started digging Soon they had gotten down to the top of an old deteriorated zinc Mason Jar lid. With a lot of effort the jar came into the daylight. Bobby was disappointed. The jar was filled with green mold and water.

“Frank it’s just an old jar. The lid has leaked and it is filled with water and slime...” moaned Bobby.

“Bobby, look closer. I am seeing what I think are dead president’s faces staring at me from what you think is slime. Let’s see if we can get the cap off,” ordered Frank.

With the first effort, the jar slipped from Bobby’s hands and landed with a crash on an old piece of cinder block and was smashed into two unequal halves.

The green mush of paper money gave way to a carpet of silver. There were silver halves, quarters, and dimes all over Bobby’s and Frank’s feet. The green mass was no longer recognizable as bills. The only thing that had kept them recognizable was the confines of the glass jar. It took them the better part of an hour to gather up the coins that had spilled. By the time they were finished they had gathered nearly 50 dollars face value in silver with the newest coin being 1929, the year that so many banks had failed. They divided the coins into two equal piles and flipped to see who got the first choice of piles.

On the way home, Frank turned to Bobby and said “Now I guess that you can afford those batteries that you still owe me.”

“Sure, sure you’ll get’em Frank,” said Bobby.

Frank had heard the same reply many times before. But friendship is worth more than a pack of batteries.

Author’s Disclaimer: The names have been changed to protect the innocent and the facts altered to resemble the truth.

Be sure and read the next episode of Fearless Frank and Bobby’s new adventure

Episode Two “The One that Escaped the Scrap Metal Drive”

56 Farenheit1100 began highlighting his favorite YouTube channels on his channel in this last year, and it has been a great success introducing new and exciting channels of relic and treasure hunters to those of us who love to learn and be entertained with great videos of relic and treasure hunters out in the field.

I asked Farenheit1100 to share his lists here in Temerity Magazine so we can lift up our fellow relic and treasure hunters through his great lists and introduce them to new viewers. We provide this great service here in hopes that more will take advantage of the great talent and skill offered today on YouTube today!

You can always learn a new skill or be entertained with the great characters who faithfully produce great videos of relic and treasure hunting. If you have suggestions for future lists please email them to: editor@Temeritymagazine.com

With Farenheit1100’s Hot List in the subject line.

November

December

November was a video voyage to the land Down Under. Australia rocks. They have an amazing variety to offer to us that watch the videos. They have bottle hunters, Gold prospecting, and of course, coin hunters and relic hunters.no other country that you could go to offers such variety. This continent varies in climate from tropical to.

Desert.the channels go from the extreme northern tip of Australia, North Queens land with Warren and Colleen (NQ Explorers) to the rest of the channels scattered all over the country from Sydney to Melbourne to Canberra toDumbleyoung. If you’re not watching these Australian channels you’re missing great videos. Give them a look. They never disappoint.

In December my choices are born in the USA. These offer a variety of aspects of the hobby. I have listed relic honors like The Cajun Coin Hunter and DigginDeepSouthLA, both of whom Hunt around Port Hudson, Louisiana.

We have hunters from Maine, New Jersey, Indiana, Minnesota, and many other places around the USA. It has a variety for you to enjoy. We have coin hunters, bottle hunters, and relic hunters. An amazing selection for everyone to watch. From the East Coast to the West Coast to the Extreme North and theEextreme South of the country .Be sure and give them a look.

robsue gullyhunter1 eucyman

PlaneJet42 NickTheMainer RedDirtDigger GrizzlyGroundswell American Coin Hunting

JerseyMetalDetector

AussieDetecting

Izman65

SuperSnoopy36

JackSquatDigger

LostTreasure.com.au

Crunch7077

GemQ1

SwingingSouthJersey

SpannersMD

DigginDeepSouthLA

OzziePete55 IrocOn2 EchucaDigger 1963Willo

CajunCoinHunter MrSilver9759 MichaelSwan66 JustanotherPullTab

PullTabPirate

NQExplorers (Continued on page 57)

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January In January we went across the pond to the land that my ancestor left 13 generations ago. One of his sons came to America so I ended up as an American. All the channels listed are amazing finds from those that hunt hammered coins, Roman relics, and of course modern and old coins minted in Britain and Ireland. This country offers an amazing variety of finds. Check them out. You won’t be disappointed. The sheer fact of how long humans have had to lose items in that country provides for amazing variety of finds.

PeaceHavens Janhyooz SuperPaulR

February For February we go across the channel from the British Isles to Europe. We start at the far northern end of Norway with North Cape Detecting. We then go to Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, and France.

All of the hunters with the exception of the French speak English in the videos. But don’t give up on the French, because they speak the language that all of us understand that is metal detecting.

You can listen to them long enough and you begin to recognize words that correspond to the English. All the people I’ve listed have amazing channels. Give it a try I think you’ll enjoy the videos that they have posted.

DetectingNorthCape

DiggingHedmark Hellsmetaldetecting

CoinageBritannia

krisje44

desasta

MrVollenberg

OldGold1100

Visby87

Magpie307

Fouasy

diggerkilroy

PassionDetection

Richard Joynson

MrDreamlandboy

Bentley240

napo6287

historybeneathmyfeet

1979MDG

SuperJammygit sidnallie47 TheTony111111 PGill147 Fluoridekid

DiggingBergen DetectMan77 TheGarry2008 MsVitellius floy80

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By Chad T. Everson Why do we do what we do? This is a question we often get posed to us by family, friends and certainly by people we encounter out in the field. For me, it is all because of the story.

I am not talking about the stories of the one that got away or even the value of the relic and treasure recovered, but rather the story that relic or treasure has to tell us if we only dig a bit deeper.

My assertion that every site has a story is not far fetched. Actually every site and every find has a multitude of stories to tell. Each piece was conceived, produced, sold, bought, utilized and lost. Now that is a legion of stories, even for those rusty old nails I have come to love rather than hate. NebTrac on YouTube once commented to me that “every find tells you something, listen to it.� That nugget of wisdom stuck with me as I grew in skill and experience in this great addiction.

I wish to impart upon you the reader that indeed, every find recovered is trying to tell you something and if you listen close enough, dig deep enough, you may recover a handful of these stories.

(Continued on page 59)

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These stories and finds, when added with other finds you recover at a site, begin to weave the over arching story this site wishes to share with you about the people that once walked this property.

If you and I hunted the same property, listened to what each find recovered was telling us, and each constructed the story that we individually recovered from a site, it would most likely be two distinctly different stories. There would no doubt be common threads, but if you want to get philosophical about it, I feel each site and the finds you find there are all catered to you for that day and that hunt.

There are a lot of variables here as with any narrative. Where you come from and what belief system you have grown into or have adopted will bias the stories we are willing to tell, let alone the stories we are willing to hear.

Your equipment, skill level and technique also have a great deal to do with what you are going to find. If you only are interested in cherry picking what you can in a few hours, your story is really going to be different than the person who spends a good month there hitting the site with a whole grizzly arsenal of techniques and technology, not to mention research prior to and even after the hunt.

My bias that I bring to each site is that I am a 42 year old North Dakotan who grew up in the city but always had horses and was able to farm to an extent at my grandfather’s farm. This is why I love hunting old farmsteads.

My Conservative political views also inform my approach to any site. A Conservative looks back to the past to inform the present and lead into the future. I admire the Temerity of our pioneers and believe that pioneer spirit is what Americans lack today. My hope is that my hunts and the stories I tell from what I learn, (Continued on page 60)

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recover and share may inspire others to once again have the Temerity to embody the Pioneer Spirit.

My bias also steers me clear of sites that the pioneer spirit would be impossible to recover, although, finds of a monetary value maybe recovered. Honestly, those sites and that approach to relic and treasure hunting just do not ignite my imagination. Yet, for many, they do, and their videos can also be found on YouTube if that ignites your imagination.

Again, those sites may have a story to tell that only you can tell and if that excites you, then get grizzly with them and share the stories recovered!

In 2011, I focused on only a small number of sites. There was the old historic general store, the old one room school house, the pre-state Catholic church, and the Kelly Farmstead. Now I had fun with some coin shooting park hunts and other sites as well, but the majority of my time hunting was spent on multiple hunts of those four locations.

Each site had its own challenges to finding its story. I did not know that much about any of the sites before I set foot onto them since the sites I had counted on hunting seemed to fall through in 2011. But it is funny how these sites pull you in and won’t let you go!

For some sites, I feel I failed to recover the story, and for others, I think I hit it out of the park. Between the poison ivy and the highly mineralized soil we have here in my grizzly backyard, I faced a number of challenges at each site. Some sites I hit multiple times with my metal detector and never truly found the story and only when I privy or dump dug did I find that story.

(Continued on page 61)

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The general store was the least successful I feel. I was never able to truly get deep enough to recover anything older than the 1920’s. There is still a story to be told, but habitation is still current and ownership of the property has buried and brought in yards and yards of aggregate so that the early 1800’s are 4-5 deep on this property. Without more research, I doubt if I will dig deeper at that location, but never say never, right?

The one room school house sits alone at the corner of two highways and many, many people have combed over it before I ever got permission to hunt it. I did pull a 1909 Wheat penny out but I also did it through a patch of Poison Ivy that had been mowed and I did not recognize until the damage had been done. Still, it was worth the horrific pain. The rest of the finds with the metal detector were 50’s-60’s evidence of children, with the most interesting being a child’s silver ring and a 007 gumball ring. I did find a basalt arrowhead there while metal detecting and that fits with this area being a hunting ground near Rice Lake where wild rice has been harvested for who knows how long!

It was not until I started privy digging that I actually started finding relics that not only told the story of that site, but also embodied the one room schoolhouse. I found the remains of desks, glass ink wells, an old quill pen, (Continued on page 62)

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and even chalk nubs that were too small to use so they were discarded. I could not believe that I was finding pieces of chalk! What a miracle.

I hope to recover interviews and stories in my research that match up to the relics and treasure recovered in future research. Many still live in the area but I am unsure if any who attended this school are still alive. That is what is so exciting during research, is unlocking and recovering those stories that I will tell about this site in future.

The Kennedy Farmstead, was probably the most exciting for me, because there were no buildings standing and I had no idea what I would find if anything. I quickly found that these are the sites, these time capsules, that I really love to hunt. Everything dug up was old and from the time period when the farm was an (Continued on page 63)

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active and productive farmstead. The only information I had was a small dot on the 1914 plat map and a 1930’s aerial photo that gave me a rough idea of where some of the buildings stood.

I had a number of metal detectorists join me on this site and we found great finds that tell this sites story. I personally found a W. D. Hoard Official Badge of the Hoard’s Dairyman Junior Club Watch Fob! Now this is somewhat valuable monetarily but more importantly it told us that this was one of the many Dairy Farms in this area. It also told us that there were children here at this farm that considered themselves dairymen, so much so that they sent off to join this club and more than likely received the Hoards Dairyman periodical. So this one find, really told us a number of things about this site. It also told me that twice a day they had to go from their home to the dairy barn to take care of the gals! So that trail between the home and barn would be a great place to focus my efforts, and indeed I even pulled out a marble on that very trail.

Now there were other great finds at this site that also ad to the story and give us a picture of this farmstead in its glory days. Seven axe heads were found and this area was known for its rich bounty of forests. We also found harmonica reeds and even an old squeeze box reed. The funny thing is they were found where the dairy barn once stood. Did these farmers play for their cows? It is commonly known that music is enjoyed by dairy cows and they produce more milk when serenaded! Again, finds recovered telling us bits of the larger story.

I wish I could share with you the story of each of these sites, but even though I have invested countless hours on each site, the process is not complete and may (Continued on page 64)

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not be complete for years. I like to give it at least two seasons on any given site because with the hard frost we get, targets are rolled and pushed around in the sod and you never know what will turn up come Spring.

My ideal strategy on each site if possible looks like this:  Initial research to choose the siteand gain permission to hunt  Metal detect the site  I have upgraded my equipment and will always continue to do so. I try to hit the site with each metal detector and even with multiple coils if the site calls for it.  Minelab Erac with standard and smaller SEF coil  Garrett GTI 2500 with Treasurehound and two coils  I won’t rule out dowsing but not every site owner will permit its use, but I am no expert with dowsing either. I have known it to work and figure if the Spanish explorers could find water, gold and silver with it, then it is good enough for me.  Privy, Dump Digging– If possible I always enjoy digging deeper!  Cleaning and cataloging of finds– A very important step that is often overlooked, but do it in the Winter so you don’t waste time cleaning when you could be out hunting.  Researching site, finds and interviewing neighbors, leads and experts that can shed some light on the story you are seeing emerge.  Revisit the site for a second season  Metal detect the entire site with one maybe two detectors in relic mode.  Then focus on areas of interest with the right metal detector for the soil and conditions.  If time jump into privy or dump digging  Spend the majority of time on areas of interest that may have been recovered through research and interviews.  Wrap up, write the story and produce media products to share that story.

Now this is the ideal, but not every site or owner calls for such dedication. But you do what you can. One of my pet peeves is not finishing something I started.

So if possible, I hunt until I am satisfied that I have captured that site’s story.

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Yet, remember, no place is hunted out. Each year the earth turns and the soil heaves and rolls new targets to be found by future generations. There is this stinking thinking on some forums and with some of the metal detectorists that there is only a given number of targets to be found. Well, actually, that is correct, but in practice, we miss and cannot reach 70-90% of what actually is lying beneath the sod even with the great technology we have today. Sure it is not as easy as it once was, but nothing ever is and that is why they call it a hunt.

When the harvest comes, you better be ready to harvest.

I just hope I have began to inspire you to tell the story recovered! I pray you share them here in Temerity Magazine.

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GOODWILL “TREASURE” HUNTING

By Aun-ti-que Yard Sale Czarina Here it is the middle of January in Maryland, cold, dark and boring!! No yard sales, no estate sales and no flea markets! The auctions are packed and the bidding is outrageously high! OMG!!! What’s a picker to do?? Well, my mainstay during the winter doldrums is thrift stores. In my area (Washington DC, Baltimore & Annapolis) there are a ton of wonderful thrift and consignment stores, but recently, I’ve re-discovered the Goodwill. I used to frequent Goodwill when I was a college student. I furnished my house with antique furniture, some of which I still have to this day, and dressed like a “hippie” in wonderful vintage clothes and jewelry. Flash forward 30 years and I’m back at the Goodwill. There are 8 goodwill stores within 15 miles of my home and over 30 in the DC/Baltimore/Annapolis Metropolitan Area.

I primarily shop at the Annapolis Goodwill. I’ve heard people say that the Annapolis store is one of the best is the country, so I may be a bit spoiled. If you don’t have a Goodwill store in your area, I’m sure that you can find some good thrift or consignment stores. If not, then you should open one of your own !!

History of Goodwill – A little bit of background on Goodwill Industries Inc., and their mission.

In 1902 Edgar J. Helms, a Boston minister, conceived the idea of collecting unwanted household goods and employing jobless men and women to refurbish them for re-sale in simple storefronts.

Dr. Helms said that he wanted to give people "a chance, not charity." The Goodwill concept of self-help worked and the movement gradually spread across the country. In the first 100 years more than six million people achieved better lives through Goodwill. Today, Good will is a $3.2 billion nonprofit organization that provides job training services to people with disadvantage and disabilities. (condensed from Goodwill.com) No longer just a place where people go to find great Halloween costumes (although it is still really good for that), Goodwill has become mainstream shopping for people from all walks of life who appreciate recyling, community (Continued on page 67)

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service and a great bargain. “My” Goodwill is a mecca for antiques dealers and ebay resellers.

What Can You Find At the Goodwill?

The easy answer is, what can’t you find at the Goodwill?

You can find all kinds of treasures! Typically, Goodwill has clothing for men, women and children, ranging from designer duds (like Prada bags or Pucci shirts) to brand new donations from stores like Target. Some locations have Boutique stores that only sell designer clothes, shoes and accessories. Books are an incredible value, as are housewares (china, crystal, etc), art, furniture, accessories and you never know what else. I’ve seen a grand piano, incredible antique furniture, great art pieces and even a huge brass artillery shell from WWII. People donate all kinds of wonderful items. I often wonder why they don’t just sell them? I suppose some people just don’t want to hassel with selling items or they aren’t aware of the value - some young people think that “grand-ma’s” stuff is just old and worthless.

I’ve heard people complain that Goodwill’s prices have gone up and they have, but you can still find great deals.

A friend of mine paid $20.00 for an oil painting that he sold for $6,000!! I bought a ceramic vase for $5.00 that is worth $500.00!! I seem to do really well with art.

They tend to price the newer (mass produced) paintings at higher prices, but overlook the wonderful vintage pieces by well know artists.

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Tips for Shopping at the Goodwill Tip 1: Watch for discount days. Goodwill stores usually have a "color of the day" deal, where certain price tags automatically get a 50% discount. They also have Senior Day (in my area it’s Wednesday) where anyone over 55 gets a 20% discount on everything! Some stores also have monthly midnight madness promotions where everything in the store is 50% off. You can’t beat that!! Just don’t go out partying before you go…. No telling what you’ll come home with!!

Tip 2. Things to bring. Bring a magnifying glass or a jeweler’s loop, a magnet, and a phone with internet connection to check prices.

Tip 3. Be wary of Ebay Price Printouts. Some stores will have ebay printouts displayed with certain items, but

they often cite the listed price NOT the “completed sales” price. For example, the Annapolis store has a Vintage Eskimo Cooler that they are asking $100.00 for. They have a print out of an Ebay listing for $175.00. However, if you check the “completed sales” on Ebay, 5 of these coolers have sold recently ranging in price from $20.50 to $69.99 with an average price of $50.00 One was listed for $74.95, but didn’t sell. I plan to go back to the store with my print out of completed sales and see if I can get the cooler for $20 - $25. In most cases, the staff is uninformed and doesn’t know how to check actual sale prices on Ebay, so you might have to tactfully educate them.

Tip 4. Shop often…. New merchandise is put out throughout the day. I know people who go 5 or 6 times a day! Unfortunately, most of us don’t have that much time to invest. I personally think that weekends are best. Think about it, when would you have time to drop off donations at the Goodwill??

Tip 5. This is probably the most important tip! Scrutinize the items thoroughly, as they are often donated due to flaws or condition issues. The staff who do the pricing don’t necessarily check the condition of the items. Most stores tend to have set prices for certain items regardless of condition. For example, at the Annapolis Goodwill, accordians are priced at $150.00 without knowing whether they play or not. I know this because I bought one. I tested it out in the store.

Tip 6. Goodwill Stores have a cash-and-carry policy, meaning you'll need to have a way to haul that big couch home as soon as you buy it. In most cases, they won’t hold item overnight.

Tip 7. Caveat Emptor! All items are sold as-is, and cannot be returned or exchanged. So “scrutinize, scrutinize, scrutinize” Tip 8: Be realistic. Don’t buy things that are damaged or that need lot of work. You probably won't restore that dilapidated piece of furniture, and condition is very important when reselling. It’s not worth it!

Have fun shopping at the Goodwill!! Remember to donate too!! Please don’t discard useable items. Recycle, restore or repurpose.

Aun-ti-que, Yard Sale Czarina

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Treasure Hunters All

Yes, I am a real picker.

I have been in the antiques biz, as my primary (and usually only) source of income, for half my life‌20 years. Add to that the fact I have been “intoâ€? "treasure hunting" of one sort of another for as I can remember!

I briefly owned a metal detector, but it was pretty much the cheapest one on the market....I could see metal objects it had passed over, barely settled in the grass, which the unit could not seem to locate no matter how many times I carefully moved the head over the spot!

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Why did I buy such a crappy detector? Dreams of a kid, and one I wanted to fulfill as soon as was possible. My parents worked hard for every dollar, and had little to spare, aside from the 25 to 50 cents allowance I acquired every Saturday. Thus I worked hard for pretty much every cent I ever had, also.

That crappy metal detector was paid for with hard earned nickels and dimes. The dollars were painstakingly accumulated, 5 and 10 cents at a time. I searched for soda and beer bottles high and low on weekends, holidays, and after school. I dug them out of clumps of winter killed weeds on boulevards and rescued them from their precarious perches amongst thorn spiked hedge branches. On family camping trips I scavenged them from cigarette butt strewn campsites. I popped them up out of the sun baked mud of roadside ditches, snagged them from their hiding spots in waist high grass, all the while shivering, soaked to the skin, the result of early morning dew wicking off the switch grass into the denim of my jeans and shirt sleeves. I even tolerated the stench of the clumps of rotting cigarette butts, insects and mouse corpses, some of which stubbornly stuck to the insides of their glass walled coffins. I am all too familiar with the stench these mini-greenhouses can create out of the mish-mash of debris that may end up in them. The goo sometimes lost its battle with centrifugal force, mid-swing. I can vaguely recall moments when a piece of chunky slime would shoot out of the bottle neck, then, to my horror,

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took an unintended, but oddly graceful acrobatic arc, seemingly in slow motion! Sometimes I dodged the wad of rot, the ground being its final destination. Other times my shoes, jeans or shirt became the landing sites.

On my return home from such an outing, there may have been the disposal of a pair of favorite -one-sole worn-through-running-shoes. They were given a proper burial in the outside trash can. Sometimes a pair of knee patched jeans or shirt followed them.

If it was clothing I was fond of, or I knew I'd catch heck for throwing out, the article would become part of an existing laundry pile, usually in my bedroom closet. Sometimes they shared their odorous prize with the rest of the clothing until washday, on the occasions that I forgot to make mention of them to my mother.

(Sorry, Mom!) I had found & cashed in literally hundreds of “deposit” bottles to pay for that detector.

I guess the word “found” is not actually correct. The term really should be "picked."

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Hmmm, come to think of it, I have been honing my "picker's eyes" for a LONG time....since I was 6 years old!

That is the thing with picking, you rely on your eyes quite a bit. However, a really good picker uses all his/her other senses, also. Yes, every sense we have, we use.

While walking on trash/debris strewn wooden floors of old buildings, I have learned to be highly aware of what is underfoot, not just being aware of things in my line of sight. You never know, you could be far closer to a real treasure than your eyes can see, or even your arms can reach. But, of course, safety is very important, too. I want to be able to go out picking for a long, long time.

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I can be walking along, stepping gingerly, feeling the floor's boards give slightly, listening for the structure underneath the planks creak just a little more than in an average old building. I strain for that initial sharp splinter of wood fibers, groups of them simultaneously letting go of their 100+ year grip they had on their neighbors...sort of a timber's own nearly-too-latewarning-scream of "OH CRAP!" Or, it could be the barely audible squish of waterlogged, sponge-like, rotten wood fiber, ready to imitate that trap door on a stage, and in a blink of an eye, recreating that classic magical illusion of "now you see him, now you don't!"

So, all the while I am walking, I listen carefully, feeling each step, making sure I am not about to fall through a floor to my demise, or in impale my foot on yet another rusty nail. With the next step, the feel and sound of that footfall is noticeably different than the previous. The general "feel", combined with the tone, echo (etc) of the sound differed dramatically from my previous footfalls. It is likely not something anyone else who has tread on the same spot has taken any notice of in the room's 75 years of human traffic.

I realize there is metal beneath that foot's resting spot! No electronic metal detector required.

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Moving aside, still aware, but with some anticipation clouding my usual careful steps, I brush the debris aside. What is revealed is a sheet of metal. Brushing away all the debris past the surface's edges reveals a streaked mix of smooth, streaked glassy, but grunge smeared surface.

With a slight shift of my eyes, they follow the flashlight beam tracing the outer edge of the whitish smeared chunk of steel. Visible upon careful inspection, almost obscured by an oily floor wax/dirt residue, are holes at the corners and middle edges. Most people would not have even not noticed them, but the smears of green, indicative of verdigris growing on the brass grommets the holes sport, are obvious to me.

The odds very high that it is an old enamel sign covering some hole! Maybe even a very VALUABLE sign!

Experienced 'digger's are familiar with these sorts of feelings, I am sure. The detector sounds, you bend or crouch down to the spot, and get out your equipment. With the first push of "whatever preferred excavation tool you use" into the ground, you hear/feel the pebbles, rocks, rotten wood, tree roots, and anything else it rubs against, or hits, including the target your detector sounded when it skimmed over the ground's surface.

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Odds are you even have a pretty good idea of what it is, or at least it's composition. You may even know the object's shape and size, just from the feel of that little vibration.

These skills are the things we develop. We fine tune of our senses; hone them for, and by the pursuit of, our specific treasure hunting interests. We really think little about them, until they are pointed out to us. I am referring to observations by that friend/relative who tagged along with you. They come along with you on a hunt, maybe invited, sometimes out of curiosity, or maybe from pure avoidance of chores they needed to get done around the house.

Besides, it is a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Over the afternoon's hunt, you have calmly ignored their rolling eyes and their bored yawns. It is mid-afternoon, and over the past 2 hours you have politely answered their moronic or/and annoying questions, which are getting close to being akin to a five year old's whining queries of "why?"

As you bend down, and excavate the target your detector sounded on, you audibly mutter that you think the item is only a 1950s quarter.

After you excavate the prize, and show your companion for the afternoon, their eyes widen and with an amazed and almost incredulous tone say: "How did you know it was going to be a quarter and not another bottle cap? And how the heck did you know it was from the 1950s????"

Yes, it is like that for me, as a long time picker, also. I don't know how many times people have said things like: "I can not believe I walked by that thing pretty much every day, for 40 years, and had no idea it was there!!!"

Diggers.

Pickers.

We are all part of a worldwide treasure hunting fraternity. The treasuring hunting experience is something that unites us in more ways than we realize.

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Barry Flett – Fedora Antiques & Collectibles Oak Lake, Manitoba, Canada Websites: www.pickersjournal.blogspot.com www.buzzingbeebandb.com (Our B&B’s site) www.fedoraantiques.com (under construction) www.hardcorepickers.com (under construction)

78 Metal Detecting Review of 2011 – A Year to Remember.

Looking back over my first full year of metal detecting, since I returned home from overseas, it struck me that I’d really had a year of ‘firsts’ in what has been an exciting year of detecting.

The first three months of the year were relatively quiet with the usual assortment of finds, but then in March, I hit on my first complete silver hammered coin, a Roman denarius of Hadrian dating to AD119 to 122 [Fig. 1a & 1b]. This was not only my first hammered coin but also my first complete Roman coin. I have to make the distinction because my first Roman find of the year was a broken Roman Severan silver denarius dating from AD 183 to 235. This find was followed by my first medieval hammered silver coin, a very nice Queen Elizabeth Ist silver three pence, dated 1572 [Fig 2a & 2b]. My first Roman artefact, or more correctly partefact, of the year was a fragment of bronze that I nearly dismissed as scrap but was then identified by the museum as a fragment of a Roman terret ring, used on chariots to thread the reins through when guiding the horses.

Another first find that was almost dismissed as lead scrap was my first medieval artefact that was identified as a medieval pilgrims ampulla, the equivalent of a souvenir brought back from making pilgrimages to holy sites.

Since these finds came up I’ve been lucky enough to find another eight hammered silver, Roman and medieval coins over the remainder of the year, as well as many other silver coins dating through the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. [Fig 3a & 3b].

Another first associated with the Roman coins was my finding of a Roman bronze Sestertius of Emperor Vespasian, dating to around AD 76, which, while not in particularly good condition, turned out to be, not only my first Roman bronze coin, but the first Roman coin of any sort found and registered from the parish where I was detecting. This was quite surprising in view of the fact that I’d been detecting within a few miles of Hadrians Wall.

My next first came through my recently acquired habit of picking up pottery shards when I’m out detecting and came in the form of medieval daub fragments from a wattle and daub wall, (Continued on page 79)

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together with fragments of medieval pottery. These finds, together with my first medieval artefact finds from this site, a medieval axe head, an annular buckle, copper jettons, patterned lead spindle whorls and another silver Elizabethan coin, gave me valuable pointers to the possible location of a ‘lost’ medieval village, although the actual location is still not certain, hopefully to be discovered in 2012.

One memorable site that I detected in 2011 brought me my first James II hammered coin, a nice silver sixpence, dated 1686, rather worn, but a really good find just the same. Further James II coins were also found at the site but I wrongly identified these as curtain or hem weights when, in fact, they were tin farthings and halfpennies dating to 1685-87.

As anyone who has watched my videos knows, I do have a habit of wrongly identifying some

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very interesting finds and my New Year’s resolution for 2012 is to learn not to open my mouth only in order to put my foot into it, though I’m not sure how long this resolution will last.

One of the more enjoyable firsts of the year was a trip to the Isle of Wight with a metal detecting club. I had not been detecting with a club before, in fact, had rarely detected with anyone else at all, normally being in the habit of lone detecting on land that I’d researched and obtained permissions for myself. This was due more to there being few local detectorists in the vicinity than any unsocial trait within my psyche. However, this trip was memorable in that I came to realise the benefits of detecting with other people, great fun, broad depth of knowledge of detecting and history and a lot of cross linking of ideas and history swapping. Also, I came (Continued on page 81)

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up with another silver hammered coin, a silver penny of Edward 1st dating to 1280-1281 [Fig 4a & 4b], and though this was enough on it’s own to make this trip memorable, it was the easy acceptance of strangers by the club members and the number of new friends I made by the end of the five day trip that was the most memorable part of this detecting outing.

Of course, the ‘first’ that I’m most proud of, in terms of detecting, is the publication of my first written article in Temerity Magazine. I had often thought of writing but never actually got around to doing anything about it until Chad asked me to write a short article for his online magazine. Once I actually sat down to writing, I found that it was actually fun and brought another dimension to my metal detecting hobby, to the extent that I also had another article published during the year.

Towards the end of the year, I had yet another first, when I was asked to loan some of my finds to the first exhibition of metal detecting finds in Cumbria and Lancashire, at the Carlisle City Museum, Tullie House. The exhibition is running for three months and includes some incredible metal detecting finds from the area including ten of my better finds for the year, the largest hoard of Chinese coins ever found in the UK, part of a hoard of roman silver and bronze coins, together with many other finds dating back to the bronze age, all of which were found in the Cumbria area. Two other metal detecting hoards found in this area are included in the exhibit by photograph and article only, as the finds themselves, two separate Viking hoards, are currently under evaluation in the British Museum. I really feel quite honoured to have been asked to include some of my finds to go on show amongst such historically significant and impressive finds.

All together, 2011 has been an extremely enjoyable and interesting year from the perspective of my metal detecting hobby. So, what’s left to look forward to in 2012? Well there are so many other things that I want to find that I hardly know where to start, so, in no particular order, I want to find my first hoard, I’m not too bothered about the period it comes from, though the Finds Liaison Officer at the museum has asked me to find either an Anglo Saxon or Viking hoard for preference, though she has asked for me to wait till after July to find one as she’s really busy cataloguing the finds from 2011. I’m not sure that if I do find a hoard earlier than July that I would be able to wait though.

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I would like to find at least one Anglo Saxon coin and artefact, but another item on my list is a Celtic coin, I may have to travel for this as I don’t think there have been any found yet in my local area. Of course, high on my list of ‘must have’ finds is the gold find. I haven’t had a gold find since I found a gold ring in 1998. Again, I don’t care in what form the gold find comes, though a nice gold hammered coin would be very welcome as would a gold medieval or roman, ring or artefact. Also, of course, I intend to go back to the site where I came up with the medieval artefacts in the hope of making further discoveries that may lead to the site of the ‘Lost Medieval Village.’

One of the other things that I do intend to do is to make sure I undertake more ‘social’ metal detecting. I have already had several invitations from detectorists in other parts of the country to go down South, or up North, to go detecting with them and intend to do so, if at all possible.

I have already made a booking to return to the Isle of Wight and am looking forward to meeting up with the club members there again and getting some more detecting in, together with the (Continued on page 83)

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subsequent nightly and obligatory festivities.

When the weather is too bad to go detecting, a common occurrence around here, I spend a lot of time cleaning, identifying, photographing and cataloguing my finds before putting together videos of my detecting hunts and publishing them on YouTube. In return I get a lot of messages from detectorists round the world and I try to answer each one as soon as possible. This part of my hobby often takes as much time as I spend detecting but I do not begrudge a single minute as it has opened up a whole new dimension to my hobby and I intend to keep this aspect going as far as possible in the coming year.

So it just remains for me to wish a Happy and Prosperous New Year to all at Temerity Magazine and to all my subscribers and new detecting friends around the world, good luck and happy hunting to you all in 2012.

Ian Hughes Janhyooz on YouTube

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85 Metal detecting has been part of my life since I was seven years old. I have many memories of my first detector and of me going out into the woods and finding old cans, pieces to bikes, and other scrap metal. Even as a little kid, I got the thrill I still get today when I’m recovering a target. It’s amazing to locate a signal in the ground and then dig down to possibly find an old coin or a relic. The years went by and I eventually forgot about my metal detector; until early in my middle school days I once again wanted to start metal detecting. I got my first real detector somewhere in between sixth and seventh grade. I haven’t stopped detecting since and I know I’ll be doing this for the rest of my life.

Metal detecting is my way of learning about history and of days gone by. I love being able to go to an old cellar hole, or foundation out in the woods, and recover relics of those who came before us. There’s something about how people lived back then that I appreciate and wish I could experience that lifestyle for myself, and metal detecting is the closest I can get to these people and their lives.

Finding old coins, relics, or jewelry can bring me back in time and let me try to understand why a certain object was recovered where it was, or how an item was lost. I often wonder how did this get here? How was this lost? Who lost it? Did they ever try to find it? It’s hard for me to find a button and not imagine it falling off of someone’s jacket, or an old coin falling out of someone’s pocket. It’s the history of the find itself that I enjoy the most.

Metal detecting is a great way for me to learn about history. You can learn a lot about an area or the people who lived there by metal detecting and trying to put the pieces together with every find you make. There’s always a find you will never be able to explain. For me, it’s my 1820’s Phoenix Button. It came from Haiti and was shipped to Oregon where it was then traded up and down west of the Rocky Mountains. Mine was found thousands of miles away in Massachusetts. It’s a find that will forever puzzle me but it was the find that reeled me into this great hobby, and the find that will motivate me to never give up, no matter what. To those of you who are new to metal detecting, take my advice, and never give up. Your find of a lifetime is out there and is just waiting to be found.

RecoveringRelics on YouTube

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Treasure Hunting in South Africa By: Peter Gill Email: pgvhome@yahoo.com Webpage: http://petergill.webs.com YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/pgill174 I am Peter Gill and live in a small town called Westonaria which is about 50Km away from Johannesburg in South Africa.

I was born in Northamptonshire, England in 1959. I left England for Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) in 1973, stayed there for 8 years before coming to South Africa in 1981. I have been working for Johannesburg Water (Pty) Ltd since 1990, and am an Operational Manager in wastewater treatment.

I got interested in treasure hunting on the 4th of June, 2005, after joining up with “TreasureNet,� the treasure hunting forum.

Although treasure has always intrigued me, after looking at all the finds on TreasureNet, I was hooked.

To see that so much stuff could be found in the ground was very exciting.

I started having problems with the electrics of the heart for which I ended up having five operations before it was repaired. I was told by the doctor that I could not exercise as my heart rate jumped up to 239 bpm (should be between 60 and 90 bpm) So I was getting very dizzy and just felt like I was dying with the palpitations I was having.

One of the members on TreasureNet heard about my problem, and decided to send me a Tesoro Silver Sabre II metal detector to help get me started. This was the start to my detecting, which was great for what I thought would be a little bit of exercise. After my first trip I could barely walk for a week as I was so sore.

My journey into a whole new world started at this time.

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In the next couple of months, I spent much time learning how to use the metal detector, and also how difficult it was to find places to search. But slowly I started to find sites to search, and also learnt the detector pretty well.

From reading all the topics on TreasureNet, I learnt about software like GoogleEarth © and also about websites like YouTube © for which both are a valuable tool for the treasure hunter, from then on I was moving very quickly in this great hobby.

I then started learning the history of South Africa, and found myself loving all the stories that were told about the 2nd Boer war (11th Oct, 1899 – 31st May, 1902). I then decided that these were the sites that I wanted to detect, and to try and bring life through the relics that were found.

Unfortunately, South Africa does not seem to have the money to look after their historical places and monuments, therefore sites are being damaged or even stripped down for the material that they are made from, and used to build other structures or sold for scrap.

Through making videos and placing my finds on my webpage, I am hoping to help keep South Africa’s history alive.

Boer War Blockhouse There are numerous Boer war sites throughout South Africa, which are great to visit and detect around. Being national monuments, detecting can only be done around the outer edges of the sites, but this is fine, as most finds are not in the buildings, but are around the outside.

Digging the finds at these sites is very exciting, as you never know what is going to surface knowing that they have been buried more than 100 years.

Klipriviersberg Fort Finding a relic is only the first stage in treasure hunting, finding out what the relic is, and preserving it is another.

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To find a relic and let it rust away is not acceptable, the relic would have been better off left where it was buried as nobody can learn from a piece of rust. I made it my priority to find the relics, and then to preserve and display them, hopefully I have done justice to the finds and the hobby.

Other great sites that we have in South Africa are the beaches at the coast, parks, and old house sites. These are generally places of modern finds, but are great fun to search.

South Africa is rich in history and in culture. We are living in an exciting place, at an exciting time, with great weather for metal detecting,

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which we can do for most of the year, only being hampered by the long grass in the winter months. The winter months are the time when research takes place, and new sites are found for the following detecting season.

I hope that this introduction into treasure hunting in South Africa, has given you an idea of what we have available for the person who wants to get involved in this hobby.

There are few people with detectors in South Africa, so there is no shortage of sites with great finds available.

Please visit my website and YouTube channel if you would like to see more on South African treasure hunting.

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As a lifelong treasure hunter, I know this time of year can feel a bit stagnant, especially for those of us in the colder parts of the country. We have researched and catalogued our relics, we have listed or sold many of our picks, and we have gone over our plan of attack for the upcoming season a thousand times in our heads. With a few more months to kill before we can unleash our picker prowess upon the world, we need something more to tame our thirst for the hunt.

Perfect time to get an education!

The picker community is filled with talented individuals who unselfishly offer up their picks and tricks, in the hopes of helping others put a few more shillings in their pockets. In our current economic environment, their knowledge has become a welcomed gift to more and more people. Taking the time to learn from others only proves you are truly a hunter of treasure.

The following is a list of generous people who have offered up the fruit of their labor for us to benefit from. Their areas of expertise are as diverse as their personalities. I recommend you keep one eye on them as you keep the other eye on the melting snow. I promise your picking will be more grizzly for it!!

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The Yankee Picker Corner Channels with Picking Temerity ~ In no particular order ~ 

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Theredneckpicker - All roads lead to Troy. Too humble to admit it, he is the backbone of the online picker community. terminal99 – Experienced and level headed, with a passion for weapons and militaria.

YardSaleCzarina – Vintage tools and collectibles abound for this handsome couple.

Castlesandattics – Art and antiques are no match for this cool dude.

MrFamousturtle2010 – If making money is your game, come see how it’s done. thevintagefetcher – An absolute staple for any serious pickers library. ounitproductions – The epitome of hustle. marionspings – Who says you can’t be good and have some fun. LOL. ThePaperCastle – What it’s all about. Making your life better.

Preacherpicker – No denying holy intervention in this man’s picks. somelikeitused – Charm is their calling card, challenge is their game.

YardSaleMania - Get back to your roots! For many of us, the yard sale is where our passion for findinding treaures began!

RetroRetail - Picking through college. Even with a full plate, this team will show you it can be done!

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My wife and I like to browse antique stores. I'm a picker and going to these shops is a great way for me to further my education (you can never know enough) about what to buy and get an idea how much things are worth. Also, there's always the chance of finding something that I can buy cheap and resell at a profit. I love the thrill of the hunt!

As we were leaving a local antique mall, my wife asked me what I thought of the place. I told her it was nice, but there were no mantiques. My wife has become familiar with the term mantique.

Mantique is not a real word. It's definition I've come to understand is that it's an item which appeals mostly to men. Military collectibles, tools, automobilia, guns, knives and taxidermy are a few things that make up the (Continued on page 95)

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mantique category.

Pretty much anything that hangs on the wall of a garage or mancave is probably a mantique.

As a picker, mantiques have always been good to me. When out picking, I never just look for one type of item to buy though. In order to maximize your profits, you must be open to any good deal that presents itself. That being said, mantiques are at the top of my list of things I love to find. They sell very easy - not to mention that they also appeal to me personally. I'm always adding to my own mancave!

By Terminal99

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98 You are invited to come down and peruse Ruben Garcia’s fabulous meteorite specimens in Tucson, AZ. I'll be at the TUCSON GEM and MINERAL SHOW - Jan 26, 2012 till Feb 10, 2012 at the HOTEL TUCSON Room 234 (old Inn Suites) where I'll be buying, selling and displaying meteorites.

If you can't attend please remember I'll also be broadcasting LIVE via webcast from my room in Tucson.

Click the link below to watch. http://www.mrmeteorite.com/livevideofeed.htm PLUS - I'll be hosting a LIVE FEED - Feb 3, 2012 -from the "Meteorite Men" birthday bash!

Don't miss the antics of the Science Channel's "Meteorite Men".

From: The Onyx Room 106 West Drachman Street Tucson, Arizona If you can't make it please tune in and watch Geoff Notkin and Steve Arnold LIVE right here!

http://www.mrmeteorite.com/livevideofeed.htm

Ruben Garcia Website: www.MrMeteorite.com Articles: www.meteorite.com/blog/ Videos: www.youtube.com/user/meteorfright

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Email: pgvhome@yahoo.com Webpage: http://petergill.webs.com YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/pgill174