Junior Treasure Hunter Strikes Pay Dirt!

[Thagarr]

When I was a boy, I spent may days playing baseball, watching Godzilla, and a whole lot of time reading Treasure Island and watching every pirate movie I could find. I had it at least partially right, but I should have followed this Virginia 10 year olds example! Instead of dreaming about treasure, Bobby Grangier was out looking for it, and what's better, he actually found it!

While walking along a beach along the Chesapeake Bay shoreline, his metal detector went nuts, so he stopped to dig through the sand with his fingers and uncovered several small pieces of round metal in about a 3 yard area. They turned out to be a cache of 48 Roman and Greek coins from around 500 A.D.

When he washed off the dark copper discs, Bobby knew they were unusual. He had made one of the most unusual discoveries on the Shore in finding a cache of Roman and Greek coins dating to about 500 AD.

Dale Clifton Jr., known as "Delaware's Treasure Man," is owner of DiscoverSea Shipwreck Museum in Fenwick Island. He has been working with Bobby on identifying the artifacts he finds. Clifton said the discovery of so many ancient coins in one location is unprecedented on the Shore, though he has found a number in the Lewes area.'

"I think they were probably a curiosity collected by ship captains who shared them with their children and grandchildren, who may have played with them and lost them or buried them as their 'treasure.' Over the years they are discovered," Clifton said. "In the 18th century their value was really in the copper content, not the age of the coin or country of origin."

Quite an amazing discovery for any treasure hunter! It seems though that is not the only treasure Bobby has uncovered. He has made many discoveries of historical significance, and even bigger accomplishment for anyone, let alone a 10 year old boy! By far though, I think the biggest treasure this industrious 10 year old has discovered is that real history is much more fascinating, and much more rewarding than just watching TV and playing video game all day.

These are the stories that keep me coming back for more! You can see some great pictures, and read a lot more about Bobby and his story over at www.delmarvanow.com!