When I arrived Tuesday to detect the volleyball courts, two of the park workers that take care of the courts were there grooming the courts as they do every weekday. The pair also help manage the volleyball league. They told me they had received a call from one of the players who lost his wedding ring on the far court on Sunday. They had tried raking the sand to find the ring. No luck.
I hunted the edges of the courts while the workers finished raking out the 8 courts. I asked who I should contact if I found the ring and they said just come back the next day and give it to them and they would contact the owner. They left and I went to work trying to find the ring. On the last pass of my gridding of the court, I got a 15 reading on my Equinox 800, which is a little high of a VDI number for gold. Gold often shows up around a 12-13 VDI. It surprised me how deep the ring was. I had my 15 inch coil on the Equinox and somehow the ring was about 10 inches deep. I was pretty sure it was a rusty bottle cap when I was digging it.
I put the ring in my pouch and started gridding the next court. A short time later, I looked up and saw this guy dressed business casual with an Ace 250 walking my way. I finished my pass on the grid and met him at the edge of the courts. He said he was a newlywed and had lost his wedding ring and his wife was pretty upset about it. He had brought about 20 of his friends to the courts the day before and they got on their knees trying to find it. He had just rented the detector as a last ditch try to find the ring.
I told him it sounded like he was in a lot of trouble and so he better take his ring and I dropped it in his hand. He was so happy. He wanted to give me something so I told him he had to take a selfie with me. I was so happy to return the ring to him, this way the picture can always be there to remind me of the moment and the look on his face. It made for a great day for me. Priceless.
Thomas – Ohio, USA