Back in October of 2011, I purchased a Minelab E-TRAC after watching numerous videos on YouTube of success stories. My previous unit was a Garrett Ace 250 which I had for only about a year.
The majority of my detecting takes place at private residences as the city parks and public areas have been over hunted and full of trash. I reach out to landowners by sending letters offering my service and 50/50 split to whatever is found.
In July of 2012 I sent a letter to a homeowner that lived near the Governor's Mansion south of Grand Ave in Des Moines. The assessors site lists house being built in 1883, which still had a brick sidewalk in front of the entire property. In August I detected this property and found a few wheaties and silver dimes but as I neared the end of my hunt, between the sidewalk and street, I had a 12-29 signal about 5 inches deep.
Carefully I dug, and out of the plug, I could see a shiny gold class ring. I couldn't believe it. This was only my third ring, but it was a good one. I wiped the dirt away and could see Roosevelt High School 1971 with a blue stone. Once I got back home, I was able to identify three initials on the inside of the band.
The next day I called Roosevelt High School and the secretary put me in touch with the director of their alumni foundation. I was able to give them my phone number and they made contact with the owner. On Labor Day 2012, I received a phone call from the owner and absolutely could not believe what I had found. How the ring was lost is the real treat to the story.
The owner told me that back in 1970 after a high school football game, he was riding around with his girlfriend south of Grand Ave, when a normal girlfriend/boyfriend high school argument ensued, and she proceeded to throw his precious gift from his parents, out the window. There the ring laid for 42 years between the street and sidewalk on get this, "42nd street."
I was able to hand deliver the ring to the owner in January and he again stated to me, the reason he didn't go back and look for it, was because he was driving so fast and thought she had thrown it so far that he figured it was gone forever.
Nathan - IO, USA
