ollievon
Elite Member
Hey all, last year I was detecting near a college campus and hit a deep silver tone - dug down about 7" and pulled out a sterling silver ID bracelet. I was pretty psyched, there was a full name on it, and an ID number (not SSN), the reverse said "Cora 1945". I decided to do the right thing and take it to the alumni office and see if anyone by the name had attended the college, indeed they did!
The person graduated in 1948 and the college had a contact phone number down in Florida for the alum, however, he never answered and there was no voicemail. On a recent trip down to Florida last month, the alumni director decided to find the address of the alum and see if he was home, unfortunately as fate would have it, he died in November 2017.
His spouse Cora was still alive, although she was in a nursing home suffering from dementia - luckily their son was home and welcomed the find. After a little digging the son decided to send discharge papers that matched the bracelet ID, pretty amazing. The family plans on bringing it to the mother in the nursing home and seeing if it jogs her memory since it was most likely a gift for him while heading off to war.
Yes, I could have kept the ID and sold it at a jewelry store for a few bucks, but that isn't want this hobby is always about - monetary treasure. Finding lost items that have value, authentic "value" to someone else is always far more rewarding in my opinion, even if it is the next of kin.
I'm hoping you all have this experience in this hobby at least once, it's the best feeling in the world to reunite an item that is sentimental to the owner, or owners family.
Happy hunting!
The person graduated in 1948 and the college had a contact phone number down in Florida for the alum, however, he never answered and there was no voicemail. On a recent trip down to Florida last month, the alumni director decided to find the address of the alum and see if he was home, unfortunately as fate would have it, he died in November 2017.
His spouse Cora was still alive, although she was in a nursing home suffering from dementia - luckily their son was home and welcomed the find. After a little digging the son decided to send discharge papers that matched the bracelet ID, pretty amazing. The family plans on bringing it to the mother in the nursing home and seeing if it jogs her memory since it was most likely a gift for him while heading off to war.
Yes, I could have kept the ID and sold it at a jewelry store for a few bucks, but that isn't want this hobby is always about - monetary treasure. Finding lost items that have value, authentic "value" to someone else is always far more rewarding in my opinion, even if it is the next of kin.
I'm hoping you all have this experience in this hobby at least once, it's the best feeling in the world to reunite an item that is sentimental to the owner, or owners family.
Happy hunting!
