Digger Fever
Have you ever wished you could find buried treasure?
Greg Wallace finds lost treasure all the time with his metal detector. He became interested in the hobby of metal detecting about five years ago. He attempted to buy a metal detector in New Brunswick, but discovered that none was available in the Atlantic Provinces.
Greg ended up purchasing a metal detector online from the Garrett Company and has enthusiastically searched for lost and buried metal artefacts ever since.
He’s had so much fun with this hobby that he decided to get in the business himself. He now offers a variety of kits, metal detecting tools and gadgets and gold panning supplies out of his Tobique Narrows home.
He’s found lots of neat artifacts. Much of what he digs up is not treasure…metal detectors unfortunately can’t tell the difference between a railroad spike and a diamond ring!
But he’s certainly found some wonderful vintage items, and a number of silver coins, a variety of medals, musket balls and other relics.
In the photo you will see a small collection of the goodies Greg has unearthed. The spoon is a silver plated advertising souvenir for the Rolex Watch Company.
These spoons were handed out by hotels in Switzerland to promote the Bucherer Watch & Jewelry store.
One of the best finds he has made so far was when he located a wedding ring that had been lost 30 years ago. His cousin had had the ring custom made for his wife and it slipped off her finger somewhere in their yard…where it remained lost for the next 3 decades.
Greg brought his metal detector over and found the ring in 10 minutes!
In fact, in addition to equipment sales Greg now offers Heirloom Recovery Services to the local community. Many people know the basic location of where they lost their item, as was the case with Greg’s cousin. If you have an idea where your lost treasure is, for a basic fee of $20 Greg will bring his metal detector over and search for an hour. Additional time is also $20 per hour.
became a metal detecting enthusiast.
Metal detecting is a great hobby for people of all ages. The detectors are reasonably priced and you might even make a find that will pay for your kit!
The basic Garrett Model 150 Detector is easy to use and only weighs about a kilogram. It has just 3 buttons, making it simple to operate for kids and beginners alike. This kit is priced at $179.95 and the price includes the tax.
The Garrett Model 250 sells for $239.95 (which includes the tax)
It offers more buttons and discrimination options so you won’t waste time digging up a lot of nails!
For $329.95 you can upgrade to the sport model 250, which includes a backpack and headphones.
Greg started with this unit. The headphones are handy because only the wearer will hear the beeps of the detector as it sounds for metal objects.
If prospecting for gold tickles your fancy you can get started right away with the Garrett Deluxe Gold Panning Kit for just $59.95.
The equipment comes from a Canadian company, so if Greg doesn’t have it in stock, an order only takes 3 days to arrive.
There is gold in New Brunswick…where you find quartz you’ll find gold and there’s plenty of quartz in our rivers and streams!
Perhaps you’ve heard of the tale of Giberson’s Gold? Local legend has it that George Giberson found a chunk of quartz near his camp on a brook that runs into the Riviere de Chute near Plaster Rock in 1846.
This piece of quartz was supposedly eventually assayed (there are conflicting stories about this!) and found to have a high gold content.
George had passed away by this time, and so the location of where he’d found the quartz was never known, but this story has inspired gold seekers ever since!
Greg plans to eventually offer classes and begin a local metal collecting club. There is so much history here to explore and discover.
There is even a new TV show called Diggers, wherein a couple of guys travels the country looking for lost relics with metal detectors.
Beaches are always good places to look for lost treasure. People lose jewelry swimming all the time, and our coastal waters have seen their fair share of shipwrecks. Coins and jewelry are found along beaches all the time, having been finally washed ashore from these old wrecks.
Gold panning and metal detecting are fun for the whole family. Instead of just camping out, why not hunt for treasure too?
Greg says to always ask permission before you prospect or detect on private land, and to fill any holes you dig.
You can check out Greg’s website here or give him a call at 273-2582.
Happy Treasure Hunting!
Stephanie Kelley
I must say…this is a great article and a wonderful product for all ages. Who loves to go TREASURE HUNTING! We all do!
A wonderful article on Digger Fever. Your Black Fly Gazette is a local paper that tells so much of what we do not know thats right in front of our faces. Good job! I keep EVERY issue!