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Metal-detecting club showcases centuries-old finds, volunteer recoveries and preservation rules
Summary
At a public presentation, members of the Southern New England Relic Hunters described rare 17th–19th century finds, volunteer ring recoveries and partnerships with local historical societies while urging respect for protected sites and offering guidance to newcomers.
The Southern New England Relic Hunters used a public meeting to outline their work recovering historic coins, buttons and personal items and to urge responsible metal detecting and cooperation with historical societies. Presenter, the club’s president, said the group now has about 90 members across four states and meets monthly at Philomena’s Restaurant in Waterford, Connecticut.
"We took metal detecting and history, put it together, and we decided to start this club with the purpose of saving history," the Presenter said, recounting the club’s founding and its practice of turning over finds connected to a house or family to owners or museums. He emphasized that members generally do not sell artifacts and called the hobby a pursuit driven by curiosity rather than profit.
Why it matters: club members recover items with local historical value, aid property owners by locating lost rings and markers, and work with museums and historical societies to keep objects in context. Presenter warned that some protected sites—Fort Griswold, Fort Trumbull and Gillette Castle among them—prohibit metal detecting and that violating those restrictions can lead to arrest.
Patrick Hill, the club’s vice president, described several notable recoveries, including a hammered Arabic silver coin his contacts dated to the late 17th century and a George Washington inaugural button he said specialists value highly. "I think you have one," Hill told an online expert who had been documenting similar coins; he said the specimen may be one of only a few found in Connecticut and that specialists dated it to about 1683–1693.
Hill also recounted returning a 1974 Wheeler High School class ring to its owner after identifying the name and tracking the alumnus, and recovering a wedding ring and a hearing aid for community members. "We will go as a club, and we will do it for free," Hill said of ring recoveries, describing group hunts and volunteer responses to calls for help.
Lynn Merritt, a longtime member who maintains a mudlarking license in England, said she often detects at the beach and showed trays of rings and other jewelry found in coastal searches. Merritt encouraged property owners to contact the club for permissions and urged newcomers to follow the club’s code: seek permission before entering private land, fill holes and respect fences and gates.
The presentation included practical advice on equipment and conservation. Presenter recommended beginners start locally, noted that detectors range widely in cost (he cited budget models at a few hundred dollars and higher-end units around $1,500), and offered basic cleaning guidance: silver coins can be rinsed with soap and water; many old copper coins should be dried and gently cleaned to avoid damage.
The club also described outreach efforts for younger hobbyists, including a free detector giveaway for a qualifying teenager and an annual sandpit at the Brooklyn Fair where children can try metal detecting. Presenter said the first meeting is free for visitors and invited anyone interested to the third-Tuesday meeting at Philomena’s Restaurant.
The group asked attendees to report historic finds to owners or local societies and to avoid protected sites. They displayed coins, buttons, bells and other relics after the talk and offered hands-on demonstrations of wireless detectors and sand scoops for beach hunting. The meeting closed with an open table display and an invitation to ask questions and join the club.
