Surprising Find
She could feel her pulse race through her body. While in hiding she stumbled upon something that would have people in disbelief, it was something that she’d have to show them to be believed.
She raked her hands through the dirt and found a clump of mud. She took the object and started pulling all of the dirt to show what lay beneath. She looked to her son, who couldn’t believe his eyes.
Mary Hannaby
Gideon Mendel / Corbis
Mary Hananby was ready for her daily stroll through the fields. She had plenty of time doing what she enjoyed now that she had retired from being a kitchen worker.
With all the time she had, she found a love for nature and the outdoors. She enjoyed long walks surrounded by nature and had discovered a new hobby she enjoyed – metal detecting. Then on one day like any other, she found something that would change everything.
Secrets In The Field
Michigan State University
They were on to their next field when Mary picked up her trusty metal detector and called after her son. Her son joined her as the two went up to the field she was busy with.
Michael felt that his mother’s new hobby was a bit strange, but if it made her happy and gave her plenty of exercise then he didn’t see any problems with it.
Getting To The Field
Daily Mail
Michael couldn’t think of a time in recent history when his mother looked this happy. Nothing had excited her until she found this new hobby and he was happy that he could take part in it.
He walked over to the field his mother had been calling him from. But when he saw what was in front of him he realized there was more to the hobby than his mother had told him.
Avid Metal Detecting
Credits
All of Mary’s friends and family knew about her newfound love of metal detecting. But they would be surprised when they saw that she wasn’t the amateur they had thought she was. Especially Michael.
They walked together through the grassy fields that held crops. The metal detector that Mary was holding caught the light of the evening light creeping across the sky.
The First Find
Youtube / J Gold
As Michael was about to look around, he could hear his mother joyously screaming. It gave Michael a fright and made him jump at the sound. Mary’s detector was beeping to match her excitement.
Mary had a broad smile on her face, Michael was happy to see it so he gladly got down on his hands and knees and started digging with his hands. Neither of them knew what they’d find.
Small Finds
Credits
Michael uncovered a bottlecap, he showed it to Mary and her beaming smile changed to a frown in a second. But they were unaware of what they’d uncover before the day was over.
Mary’s frown turned back into a smile, she told Michael that part of the fun was being able to clean the environment. She was in a great mood but Michael felt that something was off. He felt he didn’t know the whole picture.
Getting Closer
Youtube / Pioneer Pauly
Was she hiding something from him? He just didn’t understand. She was his mother so maybe he should just ask her about it. But while he was thinking the situation over, Mary’s metal detector starting going wild once again.
Every time that the metal detector would beep, Michael happily crouched down and unearthed what his mother had found, it was good bonding for the both of them.
A Strange Find
Youtube / True Vikings
Michael crouched down again to dig up the next pile his mother had found. But before his hands even touched the dirt, he saw something strange. There were the sounds of boots walking nearby.
He raised his head to look up, but he couldn’t see anyone nearby. Anxiety crept over him as he felt like there were so many things wrong about this. Maybe the sound was in his head, he wished that were true.
Keeping Quiet
Mary noticed Michael’s uneasiness with the situation and pretended that she didn’t see anything. She started humming and turned around to face the path and continued down it, searching for more treasure.
Now she was quiet, a drastic change from her chatty personality. What had changed? It was like she understood everything perfectly and was keeping it from her son.
Saved By The Beep
Youtube / Relic Recoverist
Michael looked at his mother, quietly studying her behavior. But she gave nothing away. Giving up, he asked her what was wrong? He knew she was hiding something.
Mary asked her son to lower his voice but just as she was about to explain, her metal detector started beeping loudly. In a mixture of panic and excitement, she turned it off and knelt down to get a closer look.
A Muddy Realization
VideoHive
Michael laughed out loud at her funny confused reaction. She told him to quieten up again and lightly pulled him down to the ground.
She told him where the beep came from and asked him to help her dig up the soil. Using their hands, they dug deep into the ground. Huddled tightly beside each other, it clicked. Suddenly Michael understood why his mother had been acting so strange.
Rule Breakers
Youtube / Institute for Justice
His mother wasn’t the only one hiding. He was too. They both were. They weren’t allowed to be roaming through this field at all. They were trespassing on private property.
The boots that Michael saw must have been the farmer looking after the land. His mother knew he was out and about, that’s why she kept asking him to be quiet. But Michael didn’t have time to question her. Because something much, much bigger was happening.
Sunlight Reflection
Youtube / True Vikings
As Mary was digging through the soil, her heart was pounding. All she found so far were bottle caps and dentures, but this was different. She knew there was something in here.
She could already see something catch the sunlight in the ground. There was a bright shine dotted in the pile of mud she held in her hands, and a terrible feeling hit the pit of her stomach.
Gut Feeling
Credits
She looked at the pile of mud for a brief moment and knew something was inside of it. She couldn’t explain how she knew, but she did. Her gut was telling her.
She carefully rubbed the dirt off the artifact and looked to her son in complete and utter amazement. And right there and then, their world turned upside down.
Finding Gold
Daily Mail / David Crump
Mary found a small, gold, stamp-like object that had been buried underground for 500 years. The artifact depicted a religious image on its face and was most likely a fragment belonging to a larger pendant of the 1500’s.
The image appeared to be of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. However, that’s not all this find had to offer.
Hitting The Jackpot!
This relic was estimated to be one of only three in the whole entire world! This helped increased its value exponentially, valuing it at at least $300,000 dollars! Mary’s eye’s filled with dollar signs when she heard the amount.
But unfortunately for Mary things were not going to be as plain sailing as she thought.
Reporting It
Credits
However, as Mary lives in the UK, she was legally tied to reporting her valuable discovery to the government. She didn’t mind though. After all, she was going to recover some sort of payment as a reward for finding it, right?
But reporting her discovery also meant she had to be honest about where exactly she found it.
A Friendly Dispute
Youtube / BBC Newsnight
As she found the relic on private property, she decided to do the right thing and offer 50 percent of her winnings to the farm land owner. But his response shocked her.
He refused the offer of 50 percent and instead asked for 30 percent. He argued that if it weren’t for Mary’s efforts, he would have never found the relic. Now, all they had to do was wait for interest.
A Hobby To Keep!
Youtube / BBC Newsnight
Before long, Mary auctioned the piece and collected the sum of her winning offer. Her son reflected on their find saying, “It popped up all of a sudden. You can literally miss things by inches. We couldn’t believe it. We always dreamed of finding treasure”.
Looks like metal detecting is a hobby very worth trying out! Let’s hope her luck continues!