3/26/26 Report - Blast from the Past: Finds in the Aftermath of Irma - Especially a Famous One. Common Question. Big Surf Coming(?)

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.

 

Chris N. just sent me an email about a story I originally mentioned briefly in a 2017 post.  Chris added additional information so today I'll post some of the new comments from Chris.  I did a little editing but kept most of Chris' wording.

Here it is.

Treasure Guide and fellow Detecting Hunters,

Here is a blast from past. ,The ring I had found in Ponta Vedra after Hurricane Irma, that pertinent storm really washed out the dunes in Northern Florida, including Talbot Island, Amelia Island, and other places.  St. Augustine was another wonderful area.  Who could imagine what was actually found.  I had seen and heard of several items up to six months after Irma and the Nor'easter several weeks after.

When I found this ring, I I was astonished, and knew right away who this person was because, I was raised not far from the University and where the Becton Dickenson Medical Company in Rutherford New Jersey made medical supplies needles, syringes, bandages etc., especially during WW 2.  That company employed many folks who I knew and grew up with.

After contacting various Police agencies, family and other individuals that I stayed in touch with over the decades, I was able to find Ms. Dickenson.

Shortly after, Ms. Dickenson called me and I explained how and where the ring was found.

She had no idea he had that ring or lost it where he did.  After confirming who I was from the police and other agencies, Ms. Dickeson agreed to have me return the property to her or her father who passed away in 1996.

Farleigh Junior was a Coast Guard reserve during WW2.  He went to school at the New York Military and graduated in 1939.

Apparently, he was a big outdoors person and fished on the old pier by Micklers Landing, which had a pier that washed away during Hurricane Dora in 1964, as well as many others along eastern seaboard.

Other items found after Hurricane Irma included the following.  I personally found gold chains, gold rings, silver coins, dated 1700 up to 1789, and 1 , 2, and 4 reales.  A few other hunters found several cobs dated in the 1700s and many US silver coins in hand-fulls including all denominations except US silver dollars." There were many bus and train tokens and other rarities such as shipwreck nails and copper sheeting, fishing weights and lots of shark teeth and different types of fossils which the Saint Johns River take north to the ocean where they get pulled south bound with all types of interesting stuff...

I want to add, if you don't put in the time and research you'll miss out on the find, also a person could walk over an area I detected or me doing the same behind them and pull out a great item, (Its par for the course). However, if I do find something behind a person, I NEVER brag to him,, HEY!  you walked over this.. That can piss people off, and get them super infuriated, {some folks that is}.. You know who you are? 

Lastly! Cover your holes. Don't be the person who falls into the hole you dig like some people I know or be that person who gets called out by a runner or bike rider that fell into your open Punji Pit without spikes. Also! I WAS GUILTY A FEW TIMES,, SHAME ON ME.. I LEARNED ALTHOUGH, AFTER a 78-YEAR-OLD AND I GOT IN CONFRONTATION  IN FRONT OF BAR AREA WHERE SHE WAS DRINKING AND SHE TRIED TO WRESTLE ME TO THE GROUND. NEEDLESS TO SAY, I RAN AWAY!!! TOOTALOO.!!!

Pick up those notorious Pull Tabs and nails, Don't be that individual who seeds an area with fake SLUG coins, cut pennies and other items such as BB's and other high conduction metals.  It happens more often than we know especially that individual at Bon Steel Park who throws out foreign coins modern type. Azz Clowns!!!

I leave on a good note. Be safe, have fun, {Lose Lips Sink them Ships}.

Peace be with you all.  God Bless USA and its Military, and Police and First Responders and Meek, who shall inherit the Earth.

SINCERELY,

Chis N.

Below is the article on the story as published by BD.

Lost and Found After Eighty Years

We’ve all experienced the joy of recovering something precious to us that we may have misplaced. Often, we give up hope of finding it again but sometimes fate just bides its time.

On October 21, Christopher Novello, a retired Army Ranger was on the sands of Ponte Vedra Beach near Jacksonville, Florida. With metal detector in hand, he engaged in a favorite pastime, scanning for objects beneath the surface. While on Mickler’s Beach, Chris’ device sounded and after a bit of digging, he uncovered a ring. After cleaning it and on closer inspection, he observed it to be a gold ring from the New York Military Academy, a prestigious school in Cornwall, NY. The ring was in very good condition considering where it was found, so much so that he was able to read the engraving inside the band, “Fairleigh S. Dickinson, Jr.”

Dick Dickinson was the son of BD co-founder Fairleigh S. Dickinson, Senior. Wishing to afford his son an education and the discipline that would prepare him for his place in his father’s company, Dick was enrolled in the New York Military Academy, and after graduation in 1937, went on to Williams College where he was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa Society. With war looming, he enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard and served as Lieutenant Commander until 1946. His time to don the mantle of company leadership was upon him, and when Colonel Dickinson died in 1948, Dick became President of Becton, Dickinson and Company and led BD to heretofore unprecedented growth and success for twenty-five years. Fairleigh Dickinson, Jr. passed in 1996.

Having lived in New Jersey, Christopher Novello knew the Dickinson name and wanted to return his find to its rightful owners. He began his quest with some investigative work that brought him to the Ridgewood Police Department, where he told his story and asked for help in reaching Ann Dickinson, daughter of Dick Dickinson. Calls were made and ultimately Chris sent to Ann the ring that had been lost eighty years earlier. Ann was quite surprised. “It was remarkable to have recovered the ring after so many years, but I am most grateful to Chris, the police officers and all who helped to return it.”

Thanks to BD associate George Greco for bringing this amazing story to light and for giving us hope of one day finding what we may have lost. 

George Greco
Analyst Contract Execution
Commercial Contracting Operations
George.Greco@bd.com

I just received the following information to add:  George Greco in that story is no longer with us. He was an avid fisherman. He got me at the Hunting and fishing while we were in high school and I knew the whole family and great people but George’s remains were put out over a Lake George about two years ago after he passed away he loved the freshwater fish and hunt and everything else so I just want to bring that up to you it’s funny how things come together.

And here is the link to my 2017 post that mentioned the ring being found and returned.

The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: Search results for Dickinson

That 2017 post gets a lot of views.  It is often right up in there in the most viewed posts list.

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A first-time metal detector user wrote in about a find he made at Frederick Douglass Beach.  Here it is.

I noticed some of these the last time I was at the beach.  When you see one on the beach, at first glance these pieces of iron can look like a lot like a cob.

Many people find these and ask about them. When there is doubt, I often tell people to test them with a magnet.

They can come from something old, or they can be quite modern.  It is hard to tell.  I believe many of them come from renourishment projects.

Here is a recent beach cam snipping from the Fort Pierce Jetty beach cam.

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Notice the big pipe running across the beach.  I think a lot of those iron flakes come from those.

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Surf Chart from SurfGuru.com

Look at Sunday.  That is interesting.  A seven-to-eight-foot surf is always interesting.  I hope it works out. 

Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net