Gold Chain Lost & Found On Studland Beach
For Mike Biddlecombe of Christchurch Dorset, the exciting prospect of a new metal detecting hobby nearly turned into a disaster on his very first day!!
After sharing an interesting conversation over a coffee in Swanage with another Metal Detectorist, Mike was keen to take up his new hobby and soon purchased a new CTX 3030. He took his new machine to Studland Beach with the prospect of finding treasure on the new exposed shallow sands after recent storms had uncovered large areas. Like any new Detectorist using a brand new complex machine and being a novice the machine sang a cacophony of sounds on every sweep. A few items 1940’s coins turned up and plenty of trash too- a few tips and machine tweeking were desparately needed!
In the frustration of digging hole after hole, bending down, sifting sand and losing targets Mike tugged at his gloves several times to remove them and clean his finds. What Mike didnt realise until he left the beach that removing his gloves he had also pulled off and lost his gold bracelet which he’d owned for some 40 years! He tried using his machine to locate the item but yet again the series of sounds and chatters just confused the matters.
After meeting Mike on the beach I grid-scanned an area twice the size of a tennis court. The sand level had dropped through the storms considerably and I found 26 coins from 1940’s til modern. This coin shooting would have been good fun on any other day but today we had a significant recovery to make! I’d almost given up having covered the probable area and thought I’d give one more scan along the furthest edge. As any Detectorist knows gold chains make difficult targets to detect, however due to the colossal size of each link of his 65 gram chain the CTX moaned as I hit the target.
Mike and I met a few days later and very relieved he is pleased to make a donation to the Margaret Green Animal Sanctuary in Church Knowle Dorset.
How many people have been given a very special gift only to loose it shortly after receiving it? Jared got a unique gift from his mother for Christmas–a silver pendant– and lost it two days later while playing soccer! He is a good friend of mine and knows that I enjoy helping people find their lost rings and things. And the field where he lost his pendant is just across the street from where we live so I figured in my spare time I could begin a grid search of the 70X50 yard field. So early the next evening I set up my Whites DFX in Coin and Jewelry mode and started down the middle of the field. And as it was a very recent drop and the pendant being silver I figured it would give a loud signal and be just under the grass. Sure enough on my 5th pass down center field, there hidden in the grass was Jared’s pendant! So glad to help out and thanks Jared for the reward!
Friday, December 19, 2014
