Metal Detecting in Construction Sites

CURTIS THE CONSTRUCTION HUNTER
Contributed by Brian Clark

Being in the military, I've had the chance to metal detect in many different parts of the US and Korea. My last station was at Fort Bragg near Fayetteville, NC - where I got started. Each weekend I would travel far away from home trying to find the proverbial lost civil war campsites in the deep woods. I eventually ran across a possible Revolutionary War site, but never found much besides bags of fired and unfired 69 caliper shot. Having no luck at finding any civil war stuff despite much terrain and historical research, I gave up on this quest and decided to start hitting sites closer to home. Then, I met Curtis.

Curtis was one of the nicest guy I've ever had the pleasure of meeting (as with all other treasure hunters I've met since). He was a good 'ole boy who spent hours in the hot summer sun at construction sites downtown. He had been hunting these areas since he was a kid, and his collection would astound even the most avid collector. He proudly displayed numerous union and confederate beltplates, buttons, and other really nice civil war artifacts in an entertainment center he built himself. Next to it, he had a bucket of what he called his junk (large cents, mercury dimes, silver halves, wheats, indians, one or two colonial cents, and etc - I'm not exaggerating!!).

Curtis taught me a number of lessons, but the most important was that you need to figure out why you are in this hobby to begin with. If you enjoy the connection of a historical event to a real artifact from that period, then that's what you should focus on. If you would love to find a diamond and gold ring, then go to areas where you're more likely to find one. Just because some things are more valuable to some people, doesn't mean it will be valuable to you. Don't spread yourself out too thin. Narrow, pinpoint, and discriminate your search. One word of advice though, don't throw away or give any curious object you find which you can't identify (Curtis Rule #1).

Curtis also taught me that metal detecting doesn't have to be hard work as I always made it - it can be the most adrenaline rushing experience you've ever had when you hit the right spot. "People back then must have had a lot of holes in their pockets - 'cause all I seem to find lately is their pocket change" he would say.

How do you find the right spot? Some sites are honey-holes of relics, but others have more than their share of modern trash. Answer this question: Are you more likely to find a civil war era button in a cornfield or downtown? The answer is of course, it all depends on the field's history and how old and where the town is. Recently, a friend of mine and I discovered a "cache" of US beltplates (total of 50!) all in one hole in a cornfield. Prior to that, I dug a North Carolina State Seal button in a bulldozed lot downtown. Visualize what things looked like 150 years ago. While appearances change, our predecessors left a lot momentos of their lives for us to find that are still where they dropped or buried it.

Now, what's so good about construction sites anyway? Many downtown areas have been going through "revitalization efforts" lately. When they bulldoze parking lots and buildings that have protected the ground from modern pulltabs since the horse was replaced by the automobile, you have a potential gold mine of coins and relics waiting for you to pick up. We spent hours during the summer of 1999 in a large lot downtown. I finally found my confederate buttons and even a real nice Artillery Officer's beltplate from the War of 1812. And get this, you know all those slave tags they've been finding in Charlestown, SC that are worth upwards of $10,000 piece? They found them in downtown construction sites!

Do research, put in your time, and the rewards will come. Don't give up and put that detector in the closet! It took me 5 years to finally hit the "Big One," but it wasn't the destination, it was the journey! I know I've drooled over National Historic Registered sites, battlefields, and etc, but now I know from experience that the great finds are made where you would least expect it. Don't get frustrated with laws, but just look for the orange cones, yellow dozers, and fresh dirt. You'll never see any archeologists sweating in the hot sun out there to recover relics before they are lost forever - and you'll never have a better day!

P.S. Concerning the "secret spots" though, keep them secret! Word travels fast, and while I love to go detecting with buddies, I'm not going to bragg in a bar about a motherlode of pure gold ore nuggets I discover - dig it, clean it, display it, and then show it off. Nobody is immune to the fever.

Good luck Curtis, I hope to hunt with you again sometime!!