Can We Help Just a Little?

My wife Fay is an avid photographer, and one of her haunts is White Rock Lake, in Dallas. She always seems to find something to shoot there, and it’s  an area that attracts all kinds of birds, from pelicans, coots, herons, mallard ducks, and yes, even parakeets. Truly a bird photographer’s dream.  She always comes home with beautiful photos, mostly birds, sometimes flowers, people, but yesterday she came home with a couple that upset me.  The following  should explain…..

A Great Find by the Detecting Diva!

The Detecting Diva has found a dandy!  The 1786 Connecticut Copper she dug a couple of weeks ago (see her  finds link), and didn’t think too much about,  wound up being a  what they call a “variation”

A Milestone for the Malamute Saloon…

I decided to share John Howland’s most recent post here, as well as on his Malamute Saloon link. Why? Because it is his 100th, and that my friends is monumental for a couple of reasons.  First I didn’t think he had that many words in him, nor did I think he could actually hang in there that long without some sort of  remuneration, as in money, beer, wine or scotch. Secondly, I thought surely one or two arkies would have done him in before now. Then again his two favorites are  more limp than tenacious….

A Guest Post by Lisa Hume MacIntrye, Archaeologist…

Over the past couple of months I have gotten to know Lisa MacIntrye a little better, and have to say that she is my kind of arkie (so far anyway).  That should be very telling because I am not on their “Top 100 Friendliest Detectorists” list, and it’s no secret that I do not hold them in high regard.  In any  case I asked Lisa if she would consider writing something for my blog, a “view from the other side” if you will. She readily agreed, and I thank her very much….

Grave Robbers Identified…

Thanks to Eddy Current for the following update on the Burke County cemetery situation.  Apparently those responsible  were drug dealers, not treasure hunters, and I am very happy to hear that. 

Ignoring Things Won’t Make Them Go Away!

I have read and reread the article that Scott Clark forwarded me about the Burke County cemetery damage (see last post), and I think we’ve made a mistake in not  addressing it and not doing something to help. Apparently the prevailing attitude was that since it did not specifically blame relic hunters, better to  ignore it then to give it “more legs”. I beg to differ!

Progress on Two Fronts…

O’Fallon Missouri

Good news. Both the Task Force, and the FMDAC have contacted the city, and apparently they have agreed to make changes to the ordinance. They are asking for detectorists help in making these changes, and here’s hoping a few local  TH’ers take them up on this offer. You can find more information, inlcuding the individual to contact, on the Task Force’s website  under “Current Situations”.

Don’t Laugh, This is for Real!

Butch Holcombe, publisher of American Digger magazine, sent me an email yesterday to alert me to a problem area,  and I wanted to share it right away….

The city of O’Fallon, Missouri (just west of St. Louis), has decided it wants to prohibit metal detecting, but at the same  time wants a piece of the action.  Yep, don’t laugh.  If you are able to find a spot to detect in O’Fallon, you are obliged to turn over anything you find to the city.

In case you think I am kidding, read all about it…

Tragedy in Boston!

I was just starting this post when the explosions in Boston occurred. Needless to say I stopped and was glued to the television for a few hours.

It probably hit home a little  more because I went to school in Boston,  and love the town dearly. It was a town that offered everything I wanted at the time, and still does. Entertainment,  shopping, parks, architecture, and sporting events (Fenway Park is the only place to watch baseball).  It’s also a college town, and when I lived there it offered  lots of young gals, and their dorms were up and down Commonwealth Avenue,  just steps away, but that’s another story for another time.

One of My Favorite Gals!

Most all of us, whether relic hunters, coin shooters or collectors, have a favorite coin, almost always an old one.  One of mine?  The Mercury Dime!

In 1916 all three United States silver denominations were changed, and the Mercury dime was introduced as the “Winged Liberty Head Dime”. It was rumored  that the designer, Adolph Weinman, used Elsie Stevens, the wife of lawyer and poet, Wallace Stevens, as a model, but that has never been confirmed.