Daniel

Daniel was walking near the Lake Ontario shore at Hamlin Beach State Park, slowly sweeping the metal detector a few inches above the ground. In his left hand he was carrying a pointed shovel. I asked if he had found anything valuable in his foraging. Was he looking for buried treasure?

So far, Daniel’s found nothing of more value than a dollar, “mostly just coins and stuff, but I've just started." The most interesting thing he’s found so far was a musket ball from the 1800s, which he found in his back yard, in Brockport.

Daniel just started using the metal detector this year, after receiving it as a birthday gift from his wife. “I've always wanted one, ever since I was a kid,” he said.

He said, “Mostly what people dig up is garbage, but there’s something about pulling something out of the ground and not knowing what it is until the split-second that you actually see it. And before you see that it’s garbage, it’s exciting, because it could be something interesting.” He said it’s addictive.

Daniel’s a coin collector, and the holy grail for metal detectors is Spanish silver coins. There’s fewer Spanish coins to be found around here because “not a lot people lived in this area back then, but if you go more towards the ocean, or in the south, you can find them a lot easier, like in farm fields.”

Would he bring the metal detector along on a vacation, I asked. He said, when considering a vacation in the future, he’d want to know if there are parks or old schools near the destination, where he could hunt for Spanish coins with his metal detector. Daniel’s top goal is to find a Spanish coin from the late 1700s. “That would be amazing,” he said.

Just before we parted, Daniel told me we have something in common: he takes pictures with an X-ray machine while I take pictures with a camera… he’s an X-ray technician. Now I wonder, is it just a coincidence that his profession is using technology to see what’s hidden below the surface of the human body, and his hobby is using technology to see what’s hidden below the surface of the ground?

Thanks, Daniel!