#how to find a gold ring in the sand Tag | The Ring Finders

Lost 1982 Class Ring Found in Old Orchard Beach, Maine, with a Metal Detector. Returned to Owner

  • from Old Orchard Beach (Maine, United States)
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On Friday , February 9, 2024, I decided to brave the cold windy beach conditions and take advantage, of the negative low tides , here in Maine. We have had some big winter storms in the last month and a lot of sand has been moved.

I found lots of crusty coins, a Milwaukee Electric Saw (crazy things under the sand) and a 10K 1982 Class Ring. As soon as I got home, I got the magnifying glass out and determined the ring was from Billerica Memorial High School, in Billerica, Massachusetts. Billerica is approximately 90 miles from the resort town of Old Orchard Beach, Maine, that I found the ring in.

The ring is very small and most likely a woman’s ring. I then searched the inside of the band, saw a 10K mark and the initials of JMG. I then performed an internet search and to my amazement, I found an online yearbook, for the 1982 school year. I found two different students, with those initials. One was a male and the other a female. I just knew it had to belong to the female, because of the very small size.

On Monday, when the school reopened, I sent an email to the principal, of the High School and explained I was trying to return the ring and if they could help with contact information. His reply was that they do not have contact for past students, but the Alumni Association, may be able to help. I contacted the Alumni Association but they would not respond, other than one time and never responded back to me again.

I then posted the found High School ring on many of the local Billerica Facebook groups, including Billerica Memorial High School Class Of 1982. I received lots of comments and everyone knew that the ring must belong to Jean, a 1982 graduate. I was able to get a phone number and when I called, I was able to speak with Jean’s Husband, Bill. I explained to Bill what was going on and he wasn’t sure if Jean had ever lost her ring, but he would ask her when he got home.

Bill called back and yes, Jean did not have her ring, as it wasn’t in her jewelry box. As a matter of fact, Jean didn’t even know that the ring was missing. When I told them the ring was found in Maine, Bill told me the only place it would have been lost in Maine, was in Old Orchard Beach, where they often went to, on vacation. When I mentioned I found the ring with my metal detector, down in the wet sand, at low tide, I was told they the family would always lay on the beach, in front of Palace Playland, an amusement park, right next to the Old Orchard Beach Pier. Well, that is exactly where I found it. As far as Jean not knowing the ring was missing was easily explained. Jean’s daughters would often wear the ring and also a granddaughter. They were allowed to wear it but were to put it back, when not wearing the ring. Although, none of the daughters or granddaughter will admit to it, It most likely was being worn by one of the girls, when it was lost, as they swan, in the water. The ring was most likely lost sometime between 2012 and 2019, as the family hasn’t been back to Old Orchard Beach, since Covid started.

On Saturday, March 16th, my wife and I drove to Billerica to return the ring. Unfortunately, something unexpectedly came up and Jean could not be there to get her ring back personally. She instead, sent her Husband, Bill and youngest daughter, Katie. Although it was disappointing not to meet Jean, I was extremely happy to have returned the ring to her family.

There is no better feeling than to return these precious items back to the rightful owner.

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Men’s Wedding Ring Lost In The Snow, While Ice Fishing On A Maine Lake, Found With A Metal Detector

  • from Old Orchard Beach (Maine, United States)
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On Sunday January 21, 2024, I saw a text, on my phone, that had come in at 10:44am. It was now 12:40pm, 2 hours later. The message stated

“Hey, I lost my wedding ring yesterday while ice fishing in east waterboro. I am relatively certain that it is somewhere on this approximately football field sized patch of ice underneath an inch or two of snow. I found your number online. Do you have the opportunity and ability to search for it at some point”?

I immediately called back and told Luke that I was available to go search and could be there around 2:00pm. He had lost his ring, he thinks on Little Ossipee Lake, in East Waterboro, Maine. This was about 20 miles from my home. Luke told me he was home with his infant daughter and would not be able to meet me at the location until his wife, returned home , in the late afternoon. Luke sent me a photo of the area he had been ice fishing in, along with the address, of his friends lakefront camp, they had been at.
I arrived at the address right at 2:00pm, after a 30 minute drive. I saw the tracks and ice fishing holes, on the ice, that were in Luke’s photo. I texted Luke and let him know I had arrived and with such a large area to cover, should I start on the right side of the area or the left. Luke said the drilled holes on the right side 1st and drilled more holes to the left. The area may have contained 10-15 ice fishing holes, plus all the tracks going from hole to hole. I decided to start where Luke had started and detected the tracks, to the holes on the right side, of the area. Being a frozen lake, with approximately 2 inches of snow on it, I was moving along quickly, with my 17 inch CTX-3030 coil. Being above the lake, I was receiving absolutely no signals at all and this expedited the search.
After approximately a 1/2 hour, I received the unmistakable low tone sound of gold, along with a VDI reading of 12-19. Definitely a great Non- Ferrous target, in the gold range. I took out my Garret Pinpointer and located the target. I started wiping the snow away with my pinpointer and I saw the outline of a Gold Wedding Ring. I had found Luke’s Wedding Ring.
I sent Luke 2 photos of the ring and his reply was “You Are The Man”. I then asked Luke if he lived local because I could bring him the ring, where his wife was still not home. Luke provided his address, about 10 miles away and I drove right over and gave him his ring back. Luke was smiling ear to ear and said his wife is going to be so excited and happy.
I just love being able to help and return such sentimental and precious items to people. Although the temperature was only 16 degrees and I was detecting in the wide open, in the shade, I warmed up really fast when I saw the ring. Another happy day, all around.

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Men’s 14K Wedding Ring Lost on Old Orchard Beach, Maine Found With A Metal Detector

  • from Old Orchard Beach (Maine, United States)
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I received a call from William on Monday morning, 9/11/23. William had lost his 14K wedding ring, the previous night, as he and his wife Sarah, enjoyed their last evening in Old Orchard Beach, Maine.  After leaving a local restaurant, William and Sarah returned to their oceanfront hotel for their last night in town and decided to sit on the beach and enjoy the fresh air and beautiful views, around 8:30pm to 9:00pm. When they decided to go back to their room, they were covered in sand, from where they were sitting. William brushed off the sand from both his and Sarah’s pants. Once they got back to their room, William noticed he was no longer wearing his wedding ring. He and Sarah immediately went back down to the beach to search for the ring, but with no luck. William then tore his hotel room apart, praying it was in the room, but still no luck. They both searched the beach again, the next morning,  9/11/23, still no success. William then called me after receiving a couple of very strong recommendations and referrals.
I told William that I would be right there to meet him, as I live less than 5 miles from their current location and being retired, I am able to just get up and leave. He and Sarah needed to start their 5 hour drive back to Sherbrooke, Quebec but would stay to show me the location. Once I arrived, about 10 minutes later, William showed me the area where he thought they were sitting but it now looked different because of the daylight and the tide was different. I searched the area where they thought they were sitting but absolutely nothing. He then said they 1st went to a bench and then moved down to the sand. Still nothing around the bench. At this point, I knew I would need to perform a grid of an area of about 75’ X 75’. I started near the bench and searched down to the high tide line, then back up to the sea grass, turn around and back to the high tide line, etc.. I was finding the usual trash of pull tabs and tent stakes but not much else. After about an hour and as I was at the top of the slope, heading to the high tide line. I received a very loud low tone on my Minelab CTX-3030. VDI screen was reading a very solid 12-24. I stuck my pinpointer into the dry sand and found my target. I caught a small glimpse of yellow and I just had to break out in a big smile. I pulled the ring out of the sand, turned around to show William and Sarah, who were now sitting in the sand up near the sea grass and said, “I got it”. As William saw the ring, he jumped up and said “No Way” and broke out in a smile from ear to ear. He then came over to where I was and we shared a nice big enthusiastic high five. The ride back to Sherbrooke, Quebec just became much more bearable. A Beautiful Day indeed

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Handmade 14K Wedding Ring with Diamond Chip Lost While Bodysurfing in Scarborough Maine, With A Metal Detector

  • from Old Orchard Beach (Maine, United States)
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On Sunday night 9/3/23, which is also Labor Day Weekend, I received a call from Ric. Ric told me that while Bodysurfing at Scarborough Beach State Park, in Scarborough, Maine, his wedding ring fell off, into the very rough surf water. Ric said he was referred to me by members of the lifeguard crew, including Greg, the supervisor.
As it was already closing in on 4:30pm and the State Park closes at 7:00pm, I told Ric that because I wouldn’t be able to make it from my current location, to the State Park until close to 6:00pm, I would go down 1st thing in the morning and perform a grid search, at low tide. Ric was not going to be available to show me the location of where the ring was lost, but gave me a very detailed description of the location. He was just to the left of the webcam pole and approximately 50-60 feet out into the water, approximately “mid chest deep”.
I arrived at Scarborough Beach State Park the next morning at 8:00am and was greeted by Greg. Greg told me that he didn’t see Ric lose the ring but that it was in the general location described by Ric. I decided to overshoot the area by about 30 feet on each side of the Webcam pole, in case the ring was moved by the rough and strong surf. Starting down near the low tide line, I slowly gridded the hard packed sand, up towards the shoreline. I was finding a few trashy targets, like lobster trap bits and small pieces of aluminum, mostly likely from discarded cans. As I worked my way up towards the shoreline, I finally received a great sounding low tone. Looking down at the CTX-3030’s VDI Screen, I saw a reading that put a smile on my face. I had a great sounding low tone and a 12-19 on the VDI screen. Definitely in the gold range. I pressed my scoop into the sand, with my foot and dumped the sand out next to the hole. I ran the coil over the dug up sand and got the signal. I still couldn’t see it so I pulled my pinpointed out and ran it through the sand. Once I found the target, I put my fingers into the wet dug up sand and pulled out a large chunky ring with a small diamond chip in it. I had Ric’s ring. I called Ric and then sent a photo to him. He replied “That’s it, 100%”. We then made arrangements to meet in 20-30 minutes at a local restaurant, on my way home. The exchange was made and Ric explained that the ring was actually handmade, by a friend, and presented to him for his wedding. As The Ringfinders say, “every ring has a story “ and this one has a very sentimental story. Another great happy ending.

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Water Shutoff Valve Found Outside The House In Old Orchard Beach, Maine

  • from Old Orchard Beach (Maine, United States)
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On Tuesday August 1st, 2023, I received a text message from Tish. She and her husband needed to find the outside water shutoff valve, at their home in Old Orchard Beach, Maine. She told me they were available until 11:00 am and it was 9:00am now. I immediately texted her back and told her that I would be there in 15-20 minutes. This call out would be a first for me. I had never tried to find a water shutoff, in the past. How hard could it be?

Once I arrived, Tish and her husband explained that their inside water shutoff was rusted and could not be shut off, in the case of an emergency. They wanted to find the outside valve to shut water off to the house, so that a new inside shutoff valve could then be installed. As I started detecting the area, I started getting lots of hot rocks that had been placed over the lawn, and we removed them as I found them. I also found an old, large rusty railroad spike and lots of old rusty nails, but no shutoff valve. As the trash was being removed, I received a very loud signal on the CTX-3030, showing it to be in the iron range and at a depth of 0-1 inches. We scraped back the rocks, dug a very shallow hole and the spade hit something solid. Scraping back a little more soil brought the water shutoff valve into the daylight. Now Tish and her husband may contact the local Water Company to come shut their water off and have their new inside shutoff installed.

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Heirloom past down from Grandpa FOUND on CottonWood Beach, Camas, OR.

  • from Vancouver (Washington, United States)
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I was headed out last week to metal detect on my own for the morning when I received a call from a young man that had lost his ring on cottonwood beach the night before sitting by the fire.  He had been searching all day and had borrowed a construction locator/detector but couldn’t find anything.  I rerouted and met him out there.  We found it within 5 minutes, along with his pocket change that fallen out at the same time!

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Two Lost Gold and Silver Family Birthstone Rings Found in The Sand and Returned

  • from Old Orchard Beach (Maine, United States)
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On Thursday July 20, 2023, I received a text, just after 8:00pm, from Leslie. Leslie’s text stated, “Hi! I’m on my annual girls’ trip. At the beach all day and accidentally lost my two family birthstone rings in sand. Can’t find them. Retraced my steps. It’s getting late and I think they go over sand in the early morning. Can you help me? – Leslie”. She is concerned that the town of Old Orchard Beach, Maine cleaning machine would be there early in the morning and swallow up her rings and they would be gone forever. I immediately made plans to meet Leslie at 8:45pm, at the location where she lost the 2 rings. When I arrived , just prior to 9:00pm, I was surprised to see so many people at the beach, sitting on blankets and listening to music from a local beach bar and awaiting fireworks that were to start in less than an hour.
Leslie explained that there were 11 friends sitting around all day and she had taken the two rings off to apply suntan lotion and placed them in the cup holder, on her beach chair. As the day progressed, she had forgotten the rings were in the cup holder and when it was time to leave, folded up the chair and left. Once she realized the rings were missing, she and her friends searched the area they had been sitting in, without any success. They also retraced her steps after leaving the area with the chair, again, with no success. Leslie then attempted to find and rent a metal detector in a Beach store, next to where she was staying. The beach store owner told her they didn’t rent metal detectors but knew of me and recommended that she contact me and he gave Leslie my contact information.
Once Leslie showed me where they were all gathered and sitting for the day, I immediately started to grid the area. After about a 1/2 hour, I had covered the area they had been sitting in. She then told and showed me thecpath she took after leaving the area, with the folded up beach chair. Unfortunately, the path she took was full of people sitting around , listening to music and waiting for the fireworks to start. Still cognizant of the fact the beach cleaning machine would be cleaning the area, early the next morning, I told Leslie that I would be back down at 5:00am and search the area, before the beach cleaning machines could rake the area.
I arrived back at the beach, just before sunrise and immediately started to grid the area. I needed to be fast and through as I could see a beach cleaning machine just about 100 to 150 feet from where I was. I decided to re-grid the the area I had done the previous night, as this was the area where the cleaning machine would be heading next. Still nothing in the area I had done last night but I received a signal about 3-4 feet outside the area I had gridded the previous night. The signal was jumping all around and was not repeating. I slowly passed the coil lover the area and I received a nice solid 12-13 on the CTX-3030. I brushed some sand around and saw the gold ring. Passed the coil over the area again and received a very strong 12-47 and I just knew it was the silver ring. Brushed some sand away and there was the silver ring. Both rings were within 6 inches of each other. Being it was still only 5:20am, I sent a text to Leslie to inform her of the good news. Leslie replied a little while later and was ecstatic. We then made plans to meet up in the early afternoon and she would be reunited with her rings. Upon receiving the rings back, Leslie explained that the gold ring with three stones were the birthstones of herself, her mother and father. Her mother has recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and Leslie had expressed her deep gratitude to me for finding her such sentimental rings.

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