🏆 HONORABLE MENTION Silver and Gold! MIT 1932 Class Ring, Walking 1/2 and cool button!

[DocBeav]

****************UPDATE*************Ring Returned!*********Scroll down to 2nd page***********

GREAT day today! Went back to where I found all the silver yesterday (http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/today-s-finds/415728-great-silver-day-3-rings-2-bracelets-47-5g.html) but saw that the sand had moved in some, making the low spot considerably smaller. One other looter was in the area and after comparing notes it appeared that yesterday's spot wasn't that good. I did stick around for a little bit though and surprise, surprise, I actually found a small piece and clasp of one of the silver bracelets I found yesterday!

I moved on down the beach to another low I spotted don the way in and man was it a good one! Not that big but I spent the better part of 2 hours in there and was finally driven off by the rising tide and increasing wind. (and I had to get home to cook steaks for dinner!). The cool little button was the first cool find. Looks like an old one but I really don't know much about buttons. It has a floral design on the front and the center piece is copper (not sure if it was plated once) and the copper piece (now detached) actually still has the thread in it that came out the other side. On the reverse is another design. Not sure if it is silver or pewter yet. Anyone know anything about it?

Next was the Walking Liberty 1/2. No date that I can yet find but will clean it up some and see what comes out.

I knew with the older finds and some lead sinkers gold had to be in there and it was! Pulled a NICE 10k 15.2 gram class ring from MIT! I saw the "Beaver" logo on it (ironic, I know...) and wasn't sure what it was till I got home. It's marked 10k (tested too) and has the name of the owner inside. I'm sure as it's 82 years old the owner has since passed on but it would be cool to see if there is any living family who might like to have it returned. Stand by on that one, I've already contacted MIT and will wait and see what they can tell me. Apparently the ring is know of as the "Brass Rat" Here is a link: MIT class ring - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lots of other targets in the same spot along with ALOT of iron. Big and small stuff everywhere. I was really glad to have had the 8" excal 800 out there with the great headphones OBN put on there for me, along with a new coil this past year, as you REALLY had to listen to every sound and I was finding multiple items in each scoop.

Guess where I'll be tomorrow! (if the sand doesn't keep coming back in that is.....)

Thanks for looking!


**************UPDATE*************Ring Returned!*********Scroll down to 2nd page*************

 

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[OBN]

DOC YOU ARE HOT!!! Love the old class ring and the walker!!

 

[DocBeav]

Thanks OBN! Those headphones are sweet on the 800! CLEAR!

 

[frostdigger]

That is a awesome ring, congratulations.

 

[vpnavy]

Great finds! Thanks for sharing...

 

[OBN]

Thanks OBN! Those headphones are sweet on the 800! CLEAR!

Welcome Doc, You gotta love that little coil also....special in those Low areas.Great job again, and hope your out there ASAP, same spot.

 

[DocBeav]

Quick update.....I was able to get in touch with a family member of the original owner of the ring! He had a GREAT story to tell and I hope to be able to share it with you all here if he gives permission! Stand by........

 

[park pirate]

Awesome..

 

[Diggin-N-Dumps]

great finds!! that ring is amazing. ive never seen a walker that toasted..lol..but id take it any day

 

[jewelerguy]

great finds!!

 

[DocBeav]

Have permission from the family to post the story of the ring. Hopeing to get pictures from the return first!

 

[Mi$terG]

What an amazing ring. Can't wait to read the story. Congrats!

 

[Msbeepbeep]

Awesome finds! Great return! And it's sure to be a great story! I love this!

 

[unfound]

Great haul !!! Cool you found descendants...cant wait to hear the story.

 

[redcobra8u]

Can't wait for the ring update. Nice finds!

 

[DocBeav]

Update coming soon! I just received pictures from the family and once I have a chance to get it all written up, I will make a new post here on TNet and place a link to it here in this post as well.

 

[I-DIG-IT]

Nice digs.

 

[Goldiver]

Very cool ring!

Steve

 

[DocBeav]

*****************************************UPDATE*****************************************************

1932 MIT class ring returned to family after being lost for 70 years!

Back in May of this year I posted the results (here) of an excellent hunt that I had where I found quite a few great items, the best of which was a 1932 class ring from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

As soon as I realized what it was, and that there was a name inscribed inside of it, I contacted an alumni group there at the school with the hopes that either they could tell be something about the person who it had belonged to or perhaps find a way to contact them or their family. I received a quick response from the alumni group with the name of the person (it was hard to make out the exact name as it was engraved in cursive and was a bit hard to see after all these years) and the fact that she was able to pass my information along to them.
I was contacted by a gentleman who identified himself as the grandson of the owner of the ring and had a great family story to share with me which I am happy to share with all of you now (with his permission of course). Here is a brief back and forth of our e-mail conversations about his family, the ring, and the happiness the return has brought them:

(For those of you who hate to read longs posts and just want to get to the facts here is the BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front): I found a really great class ring and was able to return it to the family of the original owner after it had been lost in the ocean for nearly 70 years! For the rest of you who want the whole story, start reading below and you can see the pictures of the return at the end.)
----------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- ---------------------- -----------------------
Thanks so much for thinking to get in touch with the original owner of the '32 MIT Class ring! We
received a copy of your email and of the photos you sent to the MIT Alumni office.

I am the grandson of Robert Bryant Follansbee- the original owner of the ring you found in Virginia. I am responding to your email for my father, who is the nearest survivor of my grandfather. We are amazed that you found this ring after all these years!
Perhaps you will be interested to hear the likeliest story behind this artifact.

My grandfather, as you might conclude, graduated in 1932 from MIT. Robert grew up in Guildhall, VT and fulfilled engineering work during the 30's but was typically under-employed as was often the case during the depression.

After the US began to mobilize for war, my grandfather enrolled in a naval officer training program at Ohio State University before he was ultimately stationed in Norfolk for further training around 1943-1944. Sometime during this period Robert courted his eventual wife. During this period of time, she visited him often while they spent time at beaches between Virginia and South Carolina where she was from. They eventually married in 1944, before Robert was sent to the Pacific Theater as a Lt.

My mother remembers hearing stories from my grandmother about this missing ring. Apparently it went missing sometime during these visits and before his posting in the Pacific, and Robert replaced it sometime after the war.

I'm not sure if you wanted to hear all of this, but I figured it's not every day you receive a
story about artifacts you find! Robert passed away in 2004 and my grandmother in 2011. They were great parents and grandparents!
I'm not sure how to conclude this email. What do you plan to do with this ring? My father has the
replacement ring, but the original is certainly yours since you found it after all these years. Believe me when I say, my parents and I enjoyed recounting the many stories we had
from my grandparents. This brought us fond memories.

Thanks so much!
Mr.Follansbee (writing for my father)
----------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- ---------------------- -----------------------
Gentlemen,

Thank you for getting back to me! I'm really glad the Alumni office at MIT was able to contact you!

I've been into seriously into metal detecting as a hobby for a little more than a year now and I am always intrigued by finding personal items such as this and it always makes you wonder what the history was behind it and how it was lost. What a GREAT story and I really appreciate you sharing it with me!

When I first found the ring, the thing that struck me the most was the image on it...my last name is Beaver, go figure, and I was just standing there in the water ( found it in Ocean View VA) looking at it sort of grinning and thinking "imagine that"! I wasn't sure it was even gold at first as there was some good green crust on some of it (10 k gold has some copper in it) but once I got it home and cleaned it up a bit I saw that it was.

What really blew me away was that when I saw the letters MIT on the side, I just sort of figured it was from a high school or maybe a small university but my wife, who was on the computer when I showed it to her turned the screen toward me and showed me that it was in fact a REAL Massachusetts Institute of Technology ring! I had never (and I'm sure many others can say the same) never seen one before. Heck, I didn't even know the Beaver ("Brass Rat") was their symbol. After doing some checking online I learned more about the history of the "Brass Rat" and that your Grandfather's (Father's) ring and discovered that it was in 1929 that the design was first introduced and members of all of the classes MIT ('29, '30, '31, and '32) decided what it would be. So his class (freshmen then) was one of the first to get their rings with this design!

Here is a good link:
MIT class ring - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
With your permission, I'd like to update it with the info from your email so that others may enjoy the story as much as I did.

As far as the ring goes gentlemen, I'll put the ball back in your court. I understand the connection many people have to theirs and their loved one's possessions and it was one of the reasons I contacted MIT in the first place. If either of you would like to have it back in the family then it will be sent on its way as soon as I return home. If you decide not to then I can assure you that it is something that will remain a center piece in my ever GROWING collection of great finds! I wouldn't even THINK of selling something as special as this ring (especially now that I know it's history!) and should the day come when I'm ready to downsize that collection I would much rather see it back in your hands or donated to the school itself to add to whatever historical collections they may have there.

Really for me sometimes, it's not the intrinsic value of something but the story behind it that is the real treasure and yours was really was wonderful!

Hope to hear from you soon.

If you're not too exhausted from reading this and looking at the other websites, check out the history of Ocean View Va, I think you'll find that Robert was one of many sailors who enjoyed their time off there during the war as it was just a short electric train ride from the Norfolk Naval Station.

OV Station
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I am happy my grandfather's story has provided a reward of sorts for your hunt. I checked out the treasure link you found, and I love your enthusiasm. The site looks like a great place for people to share treasure hunting secrets and stories along the way. Thanks also for sharing the research behind the ring. I never knew so much thought was put into these "brass rats". Sure is more unique than those sold high schools and colleges these days.
As for returning this ring. My father would be grateful if you returned this ring, but don't feel rushed to do so if you intend to show it to other metal detecting enthusiasts for a while. I trust your word that you intend to ship the ring to the original owner's family.
It has been a lot of fun to learn about this missing ring. I certainly remember my grandfather wearing his replacement ring until his death in '04. He was an incredibly proud MIT graduate after all those years. He made life-long friends at MIT and attended alumni events until the mid-90's.
I want to thank you again for helping me to remember my grandfather. Had you found this ring 3 years ago, my grandmother would have loved to hear about this!
Please let me know how I can be helpful!
----------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- ---------------------- ----------------------------------
No problem, once I return in July I will get it back ASAP to your father. Thank you again for sharing your family story and I'd like to put as much of the details into my post online as possible, without compromising the privacy of your family.
Again, I will have it back to your father and family once I return and I'm VERY happy to do so! Others will be very happy to hear the story you have shared and love seeing long lost items returned!
----------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- ---------------------- ----------------------------------
The original ring is the larger one on the right. One thing you may not be able to see is the relative condition between the two rings. Believe it or not, the replacement ring was in no better shape than the one you found around VA Beach. Aside from the green-corrosion on the ring you found, most of the imagery held up about the same if not better. And again, the bottom of the replacement, which my grandfather had proudly worn for many years had almost worn out!

Anyway, on the other picture, I am on the left and my father is on the right.

When you get a chance, would you please send the link the update posting you placed on the treasure hunter website you write on.

Thanks again- this has been a fun story to share with friends and family. I hope you enjoy your summer. It has been another beautiful one here!

 

[treasurehunter313]

Awesome