M E T A L M A N 9

M E T A L M A N 9

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July 9, 2026 - Parc Grandmont Park, St. Norbert

July 9, 2026 - Parc Grandmont Park, St. Norbert

July 9, 2026 Parc Grandmont Park, St. Norbert. Apparently, I have a link into the Grandmont family lineage. My great great grandfather married a Grandmont way back in 1873. The Grandmont’s became a well-established family in St. Norbert. This city park and the adjoining street carry their family name. City parks are always a challenge to detect. This park was no exception. I don’t have any history to share about the park but I don’t think it’s very old. It’s in a newer portion of St, Norbert and it’s also far from any river or stream so most human activity here would be from recent times. The challenge comes from the vast amount of unwanted “stuff” that one ends up digging up. I did find 11 pennies and 2 nickels and fortunately, very few pull tabs and or bottle caps, so that in itself is not bad. Canslaw is always present as are pieces of chain link fencing. For some strange reason, pencil tips, the metal part that holds the eraser, called a ferrule, often show up in city parks. The “I Love Canada” button, although damaged, was a pleasant find. I often talk about the feel or the flavor of different sites. Take the time to compare the finds features this year alone between farm fields, city parks and the next post… beaches. Metal detecting in different locations will help you decide what your favorite places are to go metal detecting. I even went metal detecting deep in the wood at Sandilands Provincial Forest years ago. That too provided interesting and unexpected finds. Roger Reference: https://ingeniumcanada.org/channel/articles/crossroads-of- identity-french-heritage-and-street-naming-in-saint-norbert- manitoba

July 10, 2026 - St. Laurent & Twin Lakes Beachs.

July 10, 2026 St. Laurent & Twin Lakes Beaches. Finally, after all of the rain, a break in the weather before it gets too hot, two of us were able to get away and go metal detecting. Monty and I headed for the beaches. These public beaches are smaller and probably less known and less frequented then say, Gimli Beach or Winnipeg Beach but that might also mean that the site has seen fewer detectorists. We might have been right about these beaches being less detected as the finds came quickly and without too much effort. My first find, other than the fence post cap complete with stingers was a .25c piece. At first glance, I thought it might be silver but a magnet quickly disproved that. Below is a list of datable finds: coins and shotgun shells. I have also provided the links to a fantastic website that lists countless shotgun shell head stamps and dates of manufacture. An item of interest found was a PB wristwatch. The corrosion, call it marine or aqueous corrosion, is incredible. I could not dislodge the stones and gravel from the metal wristband and watch surface, and this is in fresh water. I can only imagine what salt water does to metals. Many of the coins were also coated in an almost cement like coating. At the shore, where the sand meets the water, I spotted a fossilized bison tooth. Always keep your eyes open for non-metallic items like this. You never know what you’ll spot at the beach. Highlights of the finds. Coins, St Laurent: $1.00 Australian 2003 Centenary of Women’s Suffrage. .25c Canada 1969 .10c Canada 1999 & 2016 .05c Canada 1960 .01c Canada 1962 (100% Nickel) & 1965 Shotgun Shell Casings, St Laurent: Maxum Canada 12 12 (Valcartier Industries) 1976 – 1998 issue Remington UMC Nitro Club No 12 1911 – 1914 issue Winchester Leader No 12 1897 – 1943 issue 1 x .35 and 2 x .22 Long shell casings. Shotgun Shell Casings, Twin Lakes Beach: Dominion Maxum Made in Canada No 12 1935 – 1955 issue. 2 x .22 Long shell casings. Roger References: https://cartridge-corner.com/shotgun2.htm https://cartridge- corner.com/Canadashot.html

July 10, 2026 - St. Laurent & Twin Lakes Beaches

July 19 & 23, 2026 - St. Ambroise & Both Steep Rock Beachs.

July 19 & 23, 2026 St. Ambroise & Both Steep Beaches. Well it looks like beaches are the flavor of the month for July. Randy and I made it out to St Ambroise one week and I made it all the way out to Steep Rock the following week on my own. I’ll travel a longer than usual distance at least once in the year to go and metal detect at a new location. Highlights of the finds for: St Ambroise: Silver charm bracelet bells. Soapstone fish Fishing line with lead weights Strange aluminum beads and shapes from fire melt. Beach glass Rare $2.00 ruby centered Twoonie… Shotgun Shell Casings, Dominion Made in Canada Meteor No 12 1929 – 1948 issue, and 3 x .22 casings. Highlights of the Coin finds for: St Ambroise: 1 x $2.00 Canada 1996 1 x .25c Canada 2010 1 x .10c Canada 1975 2 x .05c Canada 1993, 1997 4 x .01c Canada 1942, 2007, two others are unreadable. Now Steep Rock has two beaches that you can metal detect on. One is simply called Steep Rock Beach. It is free and open to anyone but… It has very little sand. It is all cobbles; round and flat rocks that are on average 2 to 4 inches across. The other beach is in a private park and hence is called Steep Rock Park Beach. The admission cost is $5.00 for the day. It’s a very reasonable fee. The beach is bigger than the public beach and the sands are fantastic, both in and out of the water. The big difference between metal detecting in the water verses on the beach itself is just how much cleaner the water portion is. In the water, one does not find buried beer cans, nor pull tabs, nor foil gum and food wrappers in the water. There is a lot less “junk” therefore when you get a hit, it tends to be worth the while to scoop it out. I even managed to scoop up two coins at once on one occasion where I was getting a mixed and jumpy signal. Nice !!! Highlights of the finds for: Steep Rock Beaches: 1 x ladies engagement ring 1 x base metal and sparkly plastic resin ring 1 x cosmetic type earing 3 x .22 shells and one actual .22 bullet 1 x yellow marble 1 x Mepps Syclops 2 - fish hook 5 x lead fish line weights OH… and a 19” long pipe wrench, wonderfully encrusted with sand and stone. Highlights of the Coin finds for: Steep Rock Beaches: 2 x $2.00 Canada 2003, 2008 3 x 1.00 Canada 1994, 2011, 2018 6 x .25c Canada 1984, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2022, 2024 2 x .10c Canada 1974, 2003 5 x .05c Canada 1994, 2002, 2002, 2024 2 x .01c Canada 1999, and one is unreadable. Enjoy detecting on the beaches this summer and hopefully well into the fall too. Roger Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobble_%28geology%29

July 19 & 23, 2026 - St. Ambroise & Both Steep Rock Beaches