A planned bottle digging expedition had been planned 9 months prior with some metal detecting thrown in for good measure.lt involved an 8 hour drive and it was going to be an epic road trip and 7 days away from the family.My Dad(83 years old) who is pretty active was keen to go if his health was good.My dad loves his E-TRAC and gets out most weeks chasing coins.Anyway the day arrived(dads health was good)and we were away.When we arrived at our accomodation we realised we had hit the jackpot bu luck as two streets away were many vacate parcels of land with ruins of old houses/buildings.Each morning before our planned meet up at the bottle digging spot,dad and l would get in 1-2hours detecting at these spots and most mornings we were greeted by some native animals( kangaroos or emus).We were having some success with the odd penny,threepence,sixpence etc...enough stuff to keep us coming back.On our second last day there l wasn't having much luck and was done for the morning and was back at the car waiting for dad.He strolls over after 5 minutes or so and says he has found the best thing ever,l say "Sovereign ", no "almost better" was the reply.His hand comes out of his pocket holding a cricket buckle,circa approx 1870's and in great condition,even has some belt fabric on it,it was found in Broken Hill,a very dry place.Unusual design with the crossed wickets and bat but with an anchor in the middle,maybe the owner was a sailor or he played with a side that were mariners,or maybe the anchor stood for a good batsman that could anchor the side and make lots of runs for the side......if only the buckle could talk,lm sure it would make for a good story!!
Rod - Victoria, Australia
