M E T A L M A N 9

M E T A L M A N 9

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September 6, 2024. Detecting Downtown Winnipeg

September 6, 2024 Detecting Downtown Winnipeg

September 6, 2024 Detecting Downlown Winnipeg There is a long and narrow park, complete with benches and shade trees that runs north - south along Balmoral Street. This park is directly west, behind the Canada Life Building. Monty found some interesting game tokens in this space some days earlier. But, contrary to general appearances, it is not a public park but rather it is Canada Life Property. Monty and I found this out when a courteous and polite security guard came out and informed us of such. In an effort to appease our insistence that we make nice clean grass plugs when we dig and leave no visible damage, we were told: “It’s Ok for you to metal detect… You just can’t dig any holes”. Aaaahhwwww…. How does that work exactly… So, being responsible citizens, we focused our metal detecting efforts on the grass between the street curb and the sidewalk, all of which is public property. Here, we can both detect and dig. A word of caution however: This is downtown Winnipeg. There were some very interesting two legged wildlife walking around the area. Being two detectorists together adds a degree of personal safety. Also one has to be cautious of syringes and needles. I did detect a hash pipe and we also came across a glass meth pipe. Why detect here. Well Monty started it… It’s his fault. Actually, the Canada Life Park area was the initial draw. It’s a good sized open space. And older downtown streets and parks have the potential for older treasures. A part of this hobby is about learning. Metal detecting in different sites and at different locations helps gauge what to expect. Beaches and farm fields and old boulevards all offer different challenges and rewards. Monty and I met up at about 6:00 PM. We spent about an hour and a half on Balmoral and at 7:30ish, we moved west, two blocks, to what on Google Earth looked like a park or green space on Young Street. This is an older park. Lots of additions like sand pits and play structures can be found here. There is a soccer field too. Finding parking is difficult. We metal detected until dark and then called it a day. So… about metal detecting in Downtown Winnipeg. The finds were Ok. Mixed and varied. The better finds of the evening were a 1944 Canadian penny. Lots of pennies remain to be found off of Balmoral Street but clearly as seen with the two pop cans which were buried at over six inches, there is a lot of fill that has been added over the years. I’m sure the clock mechanism would have an interesting story to tell. Over at the Young Street public park, Monty dug up a nice matching pair of earrings that I estimate date back to the 1950’s. Note the turn screws to tighten the earring onto your ear lobe. Monty also found a 1989 Soccer Medal in good condition. I believe C.S.B. stands for Canadian Soccer Business. Omnium is a series of challenges in sport. Good work Monty ! I separated the finds from these two locations with a ruler. On the left is Balmoral, on the right is the Young Street finds. I’ve mentioned this before, bottle caps ring up the same as nickels. It’s difficult to pass up on such a hit. That explains the bottle caps. Unfortunately, no nickels were found. It’s all part of the hobby. If nothing else, we're helping to clean up the environment. Have fun, explore, metal detect new places, and be safe. Roger Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omnium

September 14, 2024 Beach Bonanza - Bird’s Hill Provincial Park

September 14, 2024. Beach Bonanza - Detecting Bird’s Hill Provincial Park

September 14, 2024 Beach Bonanza - Detecting Bird’s Hill Provincial Park It’s called a “Seeded Hunt”. It’s a big deal with well-organized Metal Detecting Clubs and organizations. Wow, what a day. This was my first time at such an event. OK John Metal Detectors, a Winnipeg business run by Robin Paul Pare was the host and organizer for today’s seeded hunt. Bird’s Hill Provincial Park, specifically the beach, was the site. Robin had a full crew to help him set up: his family, including the boys and Randy Gerylo. The organizing, the funding, the finding of sponsors, getting the park permits and insurance, preparing lunch for the 55 plus registered participants and accompanying people, and setting up this same morning all of the finds and flags… What a monumental task. Well done Robin and crew. One could not have picked a better weather day for an outdoors event in September. The day was divided up into 3 main hunt events. The first being called “Treasure Hunt Challenge”. About one third of the beach area was cordoned off with green flags and within its boundaries were hundreds of domestic and foreign coins many of them being silver along with the odd bottle cap, Match Box type toy cars and at least one souvenir spoon. There was a Kids Dig too. There were a surprising amount of children on site. It bodes well for the future of the hobby. After a quick break, in the yellow flag zone was “Rings of Glory”. Yes, that’s right… rings. Some just bling, others gold, and a massive NFL replica ring as a grand prize for the event. Lunch was provided for and we had some time for some R & R with friends, new and old. A set of game challenges were offered complete with prizes for the winners. The main event followed in the pink flag zone which was called “Keys to the Chests”. Yet another large portion of the beach had been set aside and flagged. Within these boundaries were about 40 keys, oh and coins too, just to throw you off the hunt for keys. I never thought I’d ever hear myself saying “Oh darn, another coin” Really…. Who says that while metal detecting? I did find one key. Three and only three of these keys open the treasure chests. The third chest contained a graded and framed ancient Roman Coin. The second chest was won by a couple from Edmonton. Yes, they drove all the way to Bird’s Hill for the event and won a brand new high end sand scoop and I’m sure they picked up lots of coins and rings too. The final chest and the grand prize of the day was a new XP Deus metal detector. It was nice to see that many of the prizes were won by our own club members. The coins with a number painted on it, # 2 and # 81… Ok so it’s 18, won me two bags of swag. Included in my swag bags was an 8” Garrett Digging Tool and two pairs of gloves for detectorists and two Garrett hats. T-shirts with the OK John logo were given to all participants. Garrett and Deus and OK John were some of the big sponsors of the event. So this is a seeded metal detecting hunt. Wow, what a great day for all. See you all at next year’s seeded hunt. Roger Reference: https://okjohnmetaldetectors.com/ https://www.treasurenet.com/forums/events.56/

September 10, 2024. Rand’y Lair

September 10, 2024 Randy’s Lair There is an expression “Careful what you wish for, you might just get it”. Overwhelming is all that I can say. Field of dreams with a nightmarish twist. It started with an invitation from Randy for me to come out and metal detect with him on a field for which he has permission. I’d mentioned at some point that I’ve always hoped to find a Canadian Large Cent coin. 1920 was the last year of issue. Both the large cents and the smaller version were actually issued for that same year, but they go back to 1858. You see, the field in question has a secret. Someone, decades ago buried what is referred to as a “Coin Cache”. Randy has found well over a hundred and fifty of these Canadian large cent coins strewn all over what is probably a ten acre area of this farm field. In fact, his story and that of the field and the coins were featured in a publication called: Western Eastern Treasures, in 2003. However what Randy didn’t tell me is just how much STUFF is also strewn over this same part of the field. I cannot fathom how a field can get this full of stuff. Screws, nails, tools, flat iron pieces, round iron pieces and rods and door parts and machine parts like pedals, swather cutter teeth, hand cranks, and on and on it goes. There was a homestead and a farm yard here once. They must have just plowed the house and the barn and the workshop right into the ground and it has since been spread all over by yearly farm field work. You can’t swing your detector coil two feet without it reporting some kind of a hit. I do not want to sound ungrateful because I’m not. Very happy to have been invited to metal detect on this site. But my God… where to start. It’s too much ! I tried to focus on copper hits. We are here to hunt for large cents remember? Pennies and similar size copper items tend to ring up as 25 / 26 on my Minelab Equinox 800. Nickels ring up at 12. Anything that hits the 30’s plus range tends to be aluminium or at times better items. 16 and 17 tends to be junky… scrap iron. Or so I thought. Back to that later. Old iron like square nails and these old ornamental iron decorative pieces usually show up at higher numbers. Notice the round iron washers. I found a few of these today. How could you not. But there was also a lot, and I mean a lot of what we call big iron to be found. So much so that some of it is right on the surface, other pieces buried at depth. When big iron is buried a little deeper, it affects the signal and presents as a higher number which in turn means that I’m digging a hole. I came back home with 3 – 5 gallon pails of iron. Oh and did I mention the glass and the ceramic and the pieces of old crocks. I even managed to spot a nice piece of Uranium glass. It glows bright under ultraviolet light. This field sparkles… I’m rather fond of old glass. That’s my fault but my god where does it end? Are you feeling exhausted yet? Randy did manage to hit on one large cent. I did not. The condition of these coins is incredibly varied. The one that Randy pulled out (Shown) was extremely corroded. Others found earlier came out clean and legible as though someone had just dropped it out of their pocket yesterday. Fertilizer and, or prolonged contact with a different metal, or just the grade of copper used will affect a coin in the ground. Randy found a skeleton key. Nice. I found a white heart shaped brooch made from what looks like a shell. We also found two Schrader Model-T tire valve stems, an intact glass bottle stopper, a lock plate and another crank of sorts. Now I’m only featuring the better and more interesting items found on my post today as there is simply too much material to clean and process for pictures. Now that’s a first. Oh and there’s a step-up pedal for a buggy. Five door hinges and lots of clothing or boot rivets and grommets, horse tack and one bullet casing. Randy was kind enough to give me two of these elusive coins. One dated 1902, the other 1919. Once home, I tested them with my metal detector. The first rang up at 17 the other at 21/22. I’d clearly missed the preverbal boat back at Randy’s Lair. I’d skipped many possible hits to avoid digging up scrap iron. And then again… did I really miss any elusive large cent coins? I got washers! In all fairness I must say “Thank You” Randy for taking me out to one of your favorite locations. Metal detecting is a lifelong learning experience. Whether you’re downtown on Balmoral Street or on a stretch of the old Pembina Trail or at your Local Park or school yard, or at an abandoned railway town called Decimal, you learn something. Today’s hunt really opened up my eyes to something new and unexpected. Simply put, I was not prepared for what I encountered. It actually messed with my perceptions of what a homestead is like to detect. I will be much better prepared for the next time I run across a similar site or for whenever I return to Randy’s Lair. Roger Reference: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=coin+cache https://www.dictionary.com/browse/lair See: June 22, 2023 Decimal. A return after 48 years. September 6, 2024 Detecting Downtown Winnipeg.

September 10, 2024 Randy’s Lair

September 25, 2024 The Ridge

September 25, 2024. The Ridge.

September 25, 2024 The Ridge The “Ridge”. One has the image in mind of a long climb up a steep incline. Well, not here. We are in the Red River Valley after all, where elevations are often measured by a few feet over a one mile stretch. No, this natural ridge is at best two or three feet higher than the surrounding drainage at its sides. The Ridge is naturally occurring. The lay of the land here is in part the result of thousands of years of river flooding, of prairie grass growth collecting air and water borne soil. And undoubtedly the result of soil depositions under what was once Lake Agassiz. One can actually see bits of this ridge and other similar structures using Google Earth Satellite imagery. They tend to run in a north west - south east direction and can go on for miles. At ground level, a tell-tale sign of top of “The Ridge” is the abundance of yellow clay soil. The top soil on the top of the ridge is somewhat eroded. The lower layers of this soil column tend to be heavier yellowish clay and it’s peeking through. Some gray clay can also be seen. By eyeing the area at about a foot above ground level, one can see the variations in elevation however subtle they may be. The idea here, as it relates to metal detecting, is that people would have naturally used “Higher Ground” to travel on. This is a floodplain and being close to the Red River, the surrounding landscape would be wet or flooded most every spring. We are about one mile from the river. The old Pembina Trail runs much closer to the river than we are and that was to facilitate much needed access to water for the settlers. River lots are long and narrow in design to allow more people access to river frontage for water and for transportation. So, back to the ridge... The land owner is certain that it has been used for millennia as a high and dry way to travel. I’m hoping to find evidence to support this theory. I had asked a metal detectorist friend, Monty, to join me today. We can cover more ground with two metal detectors going at once. The field had been seeded in Canola, harvested and stubble tilled in. Being recently tilled is a great thing because canola stubble is extremely difficult and even painful to metal detect in. Canola stalks are hard and sharp once cut. We had some good luck today. The better finds were a brass Peephole Thimble with the glass in the peep hole still intact. Very nice. We found the bottom of a Dominion 12 Gauge Canuck shotgun shell, complete with remnants of cardboard casing. This dates it back to the 1920’s. No glass or ceramics were found, not a good sign to prove human activity, but a few square nails were unearthed. A good number of old iron pieces were also found. The beaver tail pull tab… Well shame on you for discarding this modern trash and not taking it back home with you, whoever you are. So there! The detectorist’s code of ethics asks that you leave nothing behind and that you take any trash that you find, out with you. So we did. The second set of pictures and finds are from River Lot # 157 where we finished off the remainder of the day. This area is right on top of the old Pembina Trail. Found were: Horse tack, a butter knife, the end of a silver plated jam spoon, an unfired 30-30 bullet. One can still see the crimp markings at the base. The bullet casing with a “D” is either a 25 mm or a 32 mm rim fire. Roger Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Agassiz