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Adventures of the Kampis Bros.
TuscaloosaJohnny
Posts: 25
Steven (SilverDreams) and I have only been detecting together for a couple of weeks since I finally got really interested in the hobby (despite buying my XLT last summer), and I must say the thrill of the hunt is a lot of fun. Since everyone seems to enjoy detecting stories, here is a brief synopsis of our travels.
We have a number of good leads in Tuscaloosa and the surrounding areas, but I decided to start locally first. I knew the town historian, Marvin Harper, from Northport (just across the river from us) from my newspaper reporter days so I called him up and he gave us a number of good leads -- his own house that was built in the 1830s, another house built around the same time, a park that was site of the first school in the town in the 1890s, an old cotton gin from around that time and the banks of the Black Warrior where there was a Civil War skirmish.
Obviously, Steven and I were pretty excited about all of these options. We decided to detect a bit around Mr. Harper's yard (which was fairly small) to little avail. There is dirt fill in the front yard (Steven found a 1988 quarter 6 inches deep!) and a lot of trash in the back. Our best find was a .925 sterling silver ring I pulled from just under the surface.
We tried the other house on a day in which we both had all day free, which is unusual with our schedules. This house sat vacant for many years. It was owned by a former Alabama football player named W.W. "Foot" Clements who later became CEO of Dr. Pepper in Texas. Mr. Harper got the house donated to the city upon Mr. Clements' death a few years ago. Mr. Harper didn't think the property had been detected before, but said that many years ago someone was digging a fence or putting in some sort of line at the edge of the property and unearthed a cache of old silver coins in a steel box. (Which made me wonder if he was right about the lack of detecting there. It would seem the word would get out and folks would flock there...) All Steven and I got that day were a couple of sunburns and five wheat pennies between us. However, the presence of wheat yet gives us hope.
We've deviated from the Northport excursions to detect around the property of a former co-worker of mine at the newspaper. His family has owned a lodge in the woods near here that was built in the 1920s. I believe they used to host many guests back in the day (and Tommy has big parties at least twice a year out in those woods today), but unfortunately the lodge burned down in 1988 so we may have problems unearthing any old coins. We swung our coils around there for about an hour Tuesday before the rains came and I found some shallow clad (2 quarters and 4 pennies). We're going back this afternoon if we don't freeze our butts off first.
We have a number of good leads in Tuscaloosa and the surrounding areas, but I decided to start locally first. I knew the town historian, Marvin Harper, from Northport (just across the river from us) from my newspaper reporter days so I called him up and he gave us a number of good leads -- his own house that was built in the 1830s, another house built around the same time, a park that was site of the first school in the town in the 1890s, an old cotton gin from around that time and the banks of the Black Warrior where there was a Civil War skirmish.
Obviously, Steven and I were pretty excited about all of these options. We decided to detect a bit around Mr. Harper's yard (which was fairly small) to little avail. There is dirt fill in the front yard (Steven found a 1988 quarter 6 inches deep!) and a lot of trash in the back. Our best find was a .925 sterling silver ring I pulled from just under the surface.
We tried the other house on a day in which we both had all day free, which is unusual with our schedules. This house sat vacant for many years. It was owned by a former Alabama football player named W.W. "Foot" Clements who later became CEO of Dr. Pepper in Texas. Mr. Harper got the house donated to the city upon Mr. Clements' death a few years ago. Mr. Harper didn't think the property had been detected before, but said that many years ago someone was digging a fence or putting in some sort of line at the edge of the property and unearthed a cache of old silver coins in a steel box. (Which made me wonder if he was right about the lack of detecting there. It would seem the word would get out and folks would flock there...) All Steven and I got that day were a couple of sunburns and five wheat pennies between us. However, the presence of wheat yet gives us hope.
We've deviated from the Northport excursions to detect around the property of a former co-worker of mine at the newspaper. His family has owned a lodge in the woods near here that was built in the 1920s. I believe they used to host many guests back in the day (and Tommy has big parties at least twice a year out in those woods today), but unfortunately the lodge burned down in 1988 so we may have problems unearthing any old coins. We swung our coils around there for about an hour Tuesday before the rains came and I found some shallow clad (2 quarters and 4 pennies). We're going back this afternoon if we don't freeze our butts off first.
Who lusts for silver? I lust for gold.
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Comments
Jerry
I look forward to seeing some more finds from y'all.
Who knows, we might be referring to y'all as "The Fabulous Kampis Brothers" one day, in the same sort of reverent tones as one would say "The Mighty Phut" or something.
<< <i>I must say the thrill of the hunt is a lot of fun. >>
Indeed!