Brian Brouillette's Story of Locating a neighbor's Gold Wedding Ring (Lost for 30+ Years)

First a little background.  When I bought my house in New Fairfield, CT in 2000, the real estate agent mentioned that the current house was located where the original farmhouse had stood before the 100 acre property was sub divided.  I only started metal detecting in 2013.  At first, I found only square nails and modern clad change around our yard.  After upgrading to a better machine (Minelab ETrac), I searched my yard again and soon found an 1817 Large Cent (15 star variety).  Since one of my neighbor's yard is only about fifty feet from the spot where I had located a large cent, I knocked on Pete and Sandy's door to ask if they would allow me to search their yard as well.  Sandy replied, "Oh sure!  Detect to your heart's content.  Who knows?  Maybe you'll find my husband's lost wedding ring!  You probably won't find it, so don't worry about it.  He lost that over thirty years ago out in the yard.  Good luck, though.  Have fun!"

A gold wedding ring, lost for over 30 years, right in my neighbor's yard???  I was a bit stunned with this revelavtion.  You never know what twist or turn may happen from knocking on a door for permission to detect.  I set about searching the small yard in a grid pattern.  After about an hour, I obtained a clear, repeatable, 12-19 signal, from both directions.  In case this was their missing item, I cut a wide semi-circle (to avoid damaging what could be a solid gold ring), making sure to leave a wide hinge of sod attached.  Sure enough! Out popped a gleaming, gold ring in the bottom of the overturned plug.

I took a couple of pictures and called my wife to come over, letting her know that I was about to reunite our neighbors with their long, lost ring.  At first I showed them the assorted clads and a plated, badly weathered watch that I had found.  Then I said, "Oh, and perhaps you recognize this?" as I dropped the wedding band into Sandy's palm.  You can imagine the instant reaction of smiles, handshakes, and hugs!  Somehow we all managed to maintain our composure, but it was a very emotional event!  They agreed to pose with it for me in the yard for a few pictures and to let me borrow it for an evening display in our club's next "Find's of the month" competition.  I was grateful that the first solid gold ring I found was for a good neighbor.

Brian Brouillette
(November 13th, 2016)