Wholesome Stories of Metal Detector Finds With Lots of Happy Endings

Author image for Ada Elder
Ada Elder
Mar 4, 2022 6:00 PM EST

As a kid I'd often visit the beach with my grandparents, just to peacefully watch the waves crash for an hour or so, and maybe look for sea glass or rocks that I'd later find were only pretty when wet from the sea water. On these trips we'd often see a man or woman slowly walking down the beach with a metal detector, smoothly hovering the thing over the sand. It was fascinating. I'd imagine what they would find - old coins, perhaps - maybe in a treasure chest, abandoned by the nonexistent pirates of Cape Cod. The truth, I'd later find after annoying one of the metal-hunters, was much less romantic. He told me that he mostly would find coins, the odd piece of scrap metal - a zipper, or a fastener. He'd found jewelry but always tried to find its owner rather than horde the precious metals and gems himself. I was a bit disappointed, and abandoned my dreams of becoming a full-time metal detector/scavenger.

It seems that the man I spoke to on the beach shares a code of honor with most people who wield the devices. They use them for good and for novelty, and not to gain wealth. A recent thread from u/TheRealJayAre provides great proof of this. After asking people who metal detect to share their greatest finds, the responses consisted mainly of being a happy child playing with a detector, or people finding priceless heirlooms and returning them to their rightful owners. So wholesome. The gratification of finding a lost wedding ring or sentimental locket is completely palpable in their stories. A good read for anyone having a bad day, week, month, or year. And perhaps enough goodness to convince a person to take up a new hobby.

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  • 01
    Font - People who metal detect on beaches, in parks, etc; what's your best find? 金 23k |↑, Share 3189 BEST COMMENTS V MR_INFINITY_SCP88888 · 5d 2 Awards honestly the best thing i ever found was a metal mustard gas can, an now it is in a local museum G Reply 8.3k 3
    via u/theRealJayAre
  • 02
    Organism - human_stuff • 5d 6 Awards I got a cheap metal detector for my birthday when I was a kid. To test it out, I took some of my grandpas coins from his coin collection without him knowing and I tossed them in the yard. Never found any of them. Miss you grandpa. G Reply 4 4k 3
    via u/theRealJayAre

    It seems a lot of people associated metal detectors with their childhood and spending time with grandparents. Here's a similar story from u/SHPLUMBO: "Never found much with a handmedown detector as a kid, but I did end up with the strange habit of burying my toy cars with little notes, with the intention that someone like me excitedly finds them one day. RIP grandmas backyard in Yakima" 

  • 03
    Font - robo-dragon • 5d 1 Award Back when my neighbor was into metal detecting, I was curious what he could find in my yard because I live in a house that's over 100 years old. So I told him to have at it so long as I can tag along. He found some horseshoes, some various metal bolts and pins, and a few other metal objects that were pretty much just bits of scrap metal, but the coolest one was a little steel toy car that I lost when I was a kid. I used to play with it outside in the dirt all the
    via u/theRealJayAre
  • 04
    Font - mshell734 · 5d 3 Awards Someone with a metal detector found my husband's high school class ring on the banks of a local river. He had lost it during a rowing event about 15 years prior. The guy contacted my husband's high school and they tracked him down- I have the ring in my dresser right now! My husband didn't care too much but I was amazed by the work the kind stranger put in. I mailed him a Buffalo Wild Wings gift card lol. G Reply 4 7.9k 3
    via u/theRealJayAre
  • 05
    Font - Weak_Dog7271 · 5d 33 Awards My fiancé found a locket with a photo of a woman in black and white. The locket has indications on it and we were able to trace it back to a little shop in Italy. Through email, they gave us the information of the owner as they loved a couple of states away from us. No phone number was on file, just a name. We found them on google! We then traveled to them and knocked on their door. It was a old man. The locket was of his wife who passed away years ago. He wore
    via u/theRealJayAre
  • 06
    Font - WindyGrado ·5d 7 Awards My friend lost his wedding ring in a lake while splashing around with his kids. We searched the area and the water was only waist deep but we still had to dive and feel by hand which was an exacting task. We almost gave up when we spotted a guy with a metal detector so we asked for his help. It took him half an hour but he did find it. My friend offered him $100, but the guy refused and just had a couple of beers with us. He said just the fun and excitement of find
    via u/theRealJayAre
  • 07
    Font - inu_yasha • 5d 5 Awards I was metal detecting a beach just outside of Tokyo and found a platinum wedding band. I was searching a different area when a local came and mimed that he lost a ring. Within about 5 minutes I got the clearest, loudest tone I have ever heard and it happened to be the one he lost. His (new) wife was so happy and kept nudging him to give me something, he kept miming for drinks or cash but I turned him down. It was amazing to be able to actually find the owner, and I
    via u/theRealJayAre
  • 08
    Font - mutherfuqq · 5d I found an ox shoe on a road in the woods near my parents house that is documented as having been used prior to the civil war. There are several home sites in the area as well. Other finds in the road have included tobacco tins, dog collar, and a 1942 quarter G Reply 1 2.6k 3
    via u/theRealJayAre
  • 09
    Font - NorthEasternDunes · 5d A custom white gold tennis bracelet lined with diamonds and sapphires. Literally everyone tried to rip me off for it so eventually I removed all the stones and would sell 2-3 links at a time for cash like some peasant from the bronze age. G Reply 4 6.8k 3
    via u/theRealJayAre
  • 10
    Organism - squeagle · 5d A metal detecting guy called me about 10 years ago from the East Coast. In the woods he had found a class of 1946 high school ring with initials. He called the school and tracked it down to my mom (she thinks she lost it horseback riding). We gladly gave the guy a finder's fee, and she put it back on her finger 70 years after she lost it. G Reply 4 1.1k 3
    via u/theRealJayAre
  • 11
    Font - HalfChineseJesus · 5d 1 Award I found a buried safe and it had an entire families passports, money clips with ~$700 worth of money and 2 PS vitas Unusual to say the least. Reported it to the resort I was staying at and it belonged to a family whose hotel room was robbed earlier that day. I'm still confused as to why it was buried G Reply 4 9.4k 3
    via u/theRealJayAre
  • 12
    Font - Violet_Ultranova · 5d I tried out my metal detector a few years ago on our last day in a national forest. The best we could find is a pendant that said "I'm a Catholic. If in an emergency, call a priest." G Reply 4 1.5k 3
    via u/theRealJayAre
  • 13
    Mammal - livingfortheliquid · 5d My wife does this. One time she gets out if she car to metal detect at around dusk and a lady comes up and asks her to find her engagement ring. 45 minutes late she finds it. Lady Venmos her $300 G Reply 4 2.9k 3 ...
    via u/theRealJayAre
  • 14
    Font - SingzJazz · 5d I found a bronze spearpoint that the museum I gave it to estimated was 4k -5k years old. That was really pretty thrilling. Just imagining what the world looked like when it landed there, and who was the last person to touch it before me. I've also found many coins from the 16th - 19th centuries. I'm detecting in NW Spain. Anything of interest that I find I run past the museum. Oh, I also found a grenade once, in a public park. I called the Civil Guard. It ended up being a m
    via u/theRealJayAre
  • 15
    Font - erritstaken •5d Not my find but I think it kinda fits. I got married on the beach and my brother had the ring and he dropped it in the sand and we couldn't find it anywhere. Everyone was panicking. About 5 minutes before the start some guy is just walking along the beach metal detecting and my mum runs over to him and gets his help to find the ring just in the nick of time and saved the day. G Reply 1 144 3
    via u/theRealJayAre
  • 16
    Font - NeilDeWheel· 5d My dad used a metal detector on a beech in Suffolk, England. He had a very clear signal so started digging. Every time he checked the same signal came through so deeper he went. After a while someone else took over but lost the signal so my dad had to show them how to use the device properly. It was soon discovered that only my dad could get the signal. It was then quickly realised that the metal being detected wasn't in the hole but was the metal in my dads leg that was p
    via u/theRealJayAre
  • 17
    Font - SenorPierogi · 5d 1 Award A buddy and I went out drunk metal detecting after a New Years Eve rager a few years back and found a 14k gold ring that weighed in at ~9 grams. It was in bad shape but gold nonetheless. I ended up taking the ring to a jeweler to melt down to forge it into my wedding band which l'm currently wearing. It also has bits of gold from my wife engagement ring, from when it was resized, and my mothers old gold earrings. It's a pretty special piece and a memory l'll hold
    via u/theRealJayAre
  • 18
    Font - obese-mongoose26 •5d This wasn't my find, but my brothers. Some important context is that my family and I used to live in a small town in Pennsylvania (where my Dad grew up), but a few years ago we moved all the way to Oregon (where my Mom grew up). Anyways, one day my brother went metal detecting on our family's property and he came across a golden colored lock. When he later got it cleaned off he noticed that it had a manufacturing date and said where it was made... well, it turned out
    via u/theRealJayAre
  • 19
    Font - Beach_Good· 5d When my brother and I were about 10 years old, we were playing in our grandmother's garage and found an old metal detector that we begged our grandmother to show us how to use it. Surprisingly, it still worked after years of sitting in dust! My brother and I took turns scanning her yard and found an odd coin and small, rusted chunks of mystery scrap metal and were thoroughly excited. On our last pass, we scanned by a little lighthouse garden ornament and found a ring! We ru
    via u/theRealJayAre
  • 20
    Font - Porscheguy11 · 5d My grandfather would take me metal detecting at a popular beach on a big lake whenever I would visit. His wife liked jewlery and so he'd always make a quick stop to the malI. l'd get an ice cream cone and he'd chat with the nice lady at the jewlery counter for some reason. He'd take me out and kinda help guide me. I found a silver necklace! it was crazy. Still in the box and everything. It looked BRAND new. I was so excited i got to give my grandma a necklace. Smoothest
    via u/theRealJayAre

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