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Found these 2 fellas in the backyard!
⭐ Post Your Vintage Toy Finds -Found With A Detector.
- Thread starter Goldpick
- Start date
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shakergt
Moderating Team
found this today
Some 20+ years ago, I was on Kangaroo Island with my wife for a week long trip, we travelled along its length and apart from clothes, we carried fishing rods and
my trusyt waterproof Garret PI metal detector, still very new.
I took opportunities to look for things on beaches only, I was just starting to get into it, and sadly never really continued much after that trip.
My growth in this hobby has really been since I got my daughter Kato into it at a very young age of 3 I think now in memory, so we have grown and fed off of each
others interest. Now at 14 she easily out does me for finding sites and holes, it is pretty good to see that, that is why she has the CTX
Mind you I also have 3 other kids to pay attention to.
Back to KI,
We visited a light house at the far Western end of KI, and it was written about how a local bay was the place where goods were delivered for
the light house keeper, so we drove around and thought we found it, a tiny place, rock out crops but a deeper entry to a small beach.
No doubt things would have changed many times over a hundred years.
Onto the beach, wife was kicking back, I was fossicking. Swinging around I got a tone in a little patch of sand just above some rocks extending into the water.
So I dug it up from about 6" under the sand, a flattened coke can.. bummer!
Remembering a find at Glenelg beach, I swung the coil over the hole, another tone.. dug it up too, some blobs of what looked like brass, 1' down deep now.
Swung the coil again, tone.. dug up some brass keel rib about 1-1/2' deep.
Swing, tone, dig - swing, tone, dig - up came lots of brass bits from this hole about 10-12" diameter just big enough to poke my coil down - now 2-1/2' deep
Poked the coil down and STILL got tone, I was getting frustrated, BUT wanted to see what it was.
Remember, this was in my early days of this hobby, a novice, no tools, no pin pointers then, just keep digging, so I did !
There I was, lying down on my side next to the water, my entire arm down in the sand, scratching the bottom of this hole to find that last signal, wet, dirty, desperate.
I enlarged the top of the hole to get that little bit deeper because the tone was strong.
Stretching my fingers and scraping the bottom, I touched something solid, but larger than I expected, I pushed into the surface with my shoulder....
AND got a grip on it, at last !
This single item, is responsible for my continued interest, and my families interest in this great hobby.
It has history, it has age, a story that may be a connection to harsh years of a family's existence, and even the loss of children.
This is what I detect for, and Kato has that passion too, that makes me so happy.
Two weeks ago I passed it onto Kato, it is in her growing collection now.
4" long x 1-1/2" tall x 1" wide
For where it was found and for it's age, this cast metal toy may have belonged to the Lighthouse Keepers children,
I think it is made of pewter containing lead, it is the same as I dug it out of the sand, never cleaned,
in fact you may still see grains of sand on it from the beach.
Being hollow it is a two part casting, my information is that it is part of a set that was from the 1800's.
There were two sets, a Farm set and a Zoo set, these were not cheap toys of the time but a special gift.
In my mind I see the children playing on the beach, while supplies are moved from boat to shore, then carried up the small cliff face pathway
to a horse and cart, loaded and the children called to leave, sadly this one piece was left or lost in the sand, never found upon return.
Lost and found, part of my life now.
How cool is this start, to my life long hobby ?
Thanks for reading.
my trusyt waterproof Garret PI metal detector, still very new.
I took opportunities to look for things on beaches only, I was just starting to get into it, and sadly never really continued much after that trip.
My growth in this hobby has really been since I got my daughter Kato into it at a very young age of 3 I think now in memory, so we have grown and fed off of each
others interest. Now at 14 she easily out does me for finding sites and holes, it is pretty good to see that, that is why she has the CTX
Mind you I also have 3 other kids to pay attention to.
Back to KI,
We visited a light house at the far Western end of KI, and it was written about how a local bay was the place where goods were delivered for
the light house keeper, so we drove around and thought we found it, a tiny place, rock out crops but a deeper entry to a small beach.
No doubt things would have changed many times over a hundred years.
Onto the beach, wife was kicking back, I was fossicking. Swinging around I got a tone in a little patch of sand just above some rocks extending into the water.
So I dug it up from about 6" under the sand, a flattened coke can.. bummer!
Remembering a find at Glenelg beach, I swung the coil over the hole, another tone.. dug it up too, some blobs of what looked like brass, 1' down deep now.
Swung the coil again, tone.. dug up some brass keel rib about 1-1/2' deep.
Swing, tone, dig - swing, tone, dig - up came lots of brass bits from this hole about 10-12" diameter just big enough to poke my coil down - now 2-1/2' deep
Poked the coil down and STILL got tone, I was getting frustrated, BUT wanted to see what it was.
Remember, this was in my early days of this hobby, a novice, no tools, no pin pointers then, just keep digging, so I did !
There I was, lying down on my side next to the water, my entire arm down in the sand, scratching the bottom of this hole to find that last signal, wet, dirty, desperate.
I enlarged the top of the hole to get that little bit deeper because the tone was strong.
Stretching my fingers and scraping the bottom, I touched something solid, but larger than I expected, I pushed into the surface with my shoulder....
AND got a grip on it, at last !
This single item, is responsible for my continued interest, and my families interest in this great hobby.
It has history, it has age, a story that may be a connection to harsh years of a family's existence, and even the loss of children.
This is what I detect for, and Kato has that passion too, that makes me so happy.
Two weeks ago I passed it onto Kato, it is in her growing collection now.
4" long x 1-1/2" tall x 1" wide
For where it was found and for it's age, this cast metal toy may have belonged to the Lighthouse Keepers children,
I think it is made of pewter containing lead, it is the same as I dug it out of the sand, never cleaned,
in fact you may still see grains of sand on it from the beach.
Being hollow it is a two part casting, my information is that it is part of a set that was from the 1800's.
There were two sets, a Farm set and a Zoo set, these were not cheap toys of the time but a special gift.
In my mind I see the children playing on the beach, while supplies are moved from boat to shore, then carried up the small cliff face pathway
to a horse and cart, loaded and the children called to leave, sadly this one piece was left or lost in the sand, never found upon return.
Lost and found, part of my life now.
How cool is this start, to my life long hobby ?
Thanks for reading.
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Cool find there Greenhornet... it reminds me of my first toy piece, also pewter lead but a bit smaller in scale to the hippo. My little donkey is also solid, going by its weight.... alas he is a little short due to missing his four hooves.
I unearthed him in the grounds of a derelict church in the Southern Flinders.
I unearthed him in the grounds of a derelict church in the Southern Flinders.
Mate, that is really awesome, so tiny and the detail.
Looks like a sheep to me from the UK with tail, are the hoofs missing because it was mounted on a flat base of metal originally, like toy soldiers.
It is so small that I think it is like a piece from a board game.
Flinders Ranges hey, great find, great find. :clap:
Looks like a sheep to me from the UK with tail, are the hoofs missing because it was mounted on a flat base of metal originally, like toy soldiers.
It is so small that I think it is like a piece from a board game.
Flinders Ranges hey, great find, great find. :clap:
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Yes, a sheep, now that you mention it... I can see thats what it is, a predecessor of the Aussie breed maybe. :idea:
Maybe it came from the UK with a family, so it may have been one of those farm sets of toys, things get modelled after what is local.
Still really impressive. "Straight to the pool room"
Still really impressive. "Straight to the pool room"
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The cap bombs and guns bring back some memories.
Here is a boot found at the beach. I wonder if it was attached to a doll or was a standalone toy.
Not surprising it was lost, I can just imagine a doll going for a swim with lead boots. It measures 7cm long with a weight of 71 grams.
ST
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That's one strange looking sheep :lol:OzzieAu said:
It has a mane..Definitely a donkey or a mule :lol: :Y:
Goldpick
Chris Johnson
Just adding a Dinky Hotchkiss racing car to the list, dug in complete though rough condition.
My first find, ever, in my backyard, similar to another members post.
pulsetrain
Paul
Some lead toys found at the beach.
A bit of weight in the larger toys, the tanks weighing around 190 grams each.
My favourites are the boats, especially the large aircraft carrier.
Amazing how simple toys used to be. No batteries required, just a bit of imagination!
A bit of weight in the larger toys, the tanks weighing around 190 grams each.
My favourites are the boats, especially the large aircraft carrier.
Amazing how simple toys used to be. No batteries required, just a bit of imagination!
