A man in Virginia couldn’t believe his luck after his first time out using his metal detector resulted in an astonishing discovery.
Justin, who asked that his surname and Reddit handle be omitted from this story, told Newsweek he has had his “Garrett carrot,” the name given to the widely used Garrett Pro-Pointer AT handheld metal detector, “for some time now but never used it.”
That all changed last week when he decided to tape the detector to the end of a stick and go walking around the outside of the home that’s been in his family for 125 years. What followed was a moment of “pure luck” according to Justin.
The area around the house is one Justin’s relatives have long searched around. That was motivated his search that day. “I live on an old mine that was established in 1836, so I knew I would find something, but not this,” he said. “My uncle used to search these woods non-stop because of a miner’s rumor of stashed coins.”
The gun discovered using a metal detector.
Though his uncle spent years searching for the coins and other valuables without finding much in the way of buried treasure, Justin’s experience was altogether different. “I walked less than 50 feet—then bam,” he said. “Literally my first hit was this Ruby. It was maybe 20 feet behind my grandmother’s building.”
Digging into the soil, Justin quickly realized it wasn’t any hidden cache of coins that had triggered the metal detector, but something altogether more unique—and potentially deadly. The more he excavated, the more he realized he was onto something special. Finally, after a little more digging he was able to pull the object from the earth and quickly realized what he was holding was a pistol.
It was a shocking find to say the least, particularly as it came from an area that the family had walked countless times when moving between the house and a nearby barn. There was one further twist to come though. Cleaning off the mud and debris, Justin realized the gun was actually a rare Spanish Ruby pistol.
The spot where Justin found the Ruby.
This type of .32 ACP (7.65mm) caliber semi-automatic pistol was widely produced in Spain’s Basque region between 1914 and 1958 and was used by French forces in both World Wars. “It has the French Military Acceptance Mark,” Justin said. “It’s the real deal, a star with a serial number that implies it was made during the middle of high demand production.”
Though it’s impossible to know how the pistol found its way to Virginia, Justin reckons it may have been used in one or potentially both World Wars. “I believe it was made in 1916, so it’s possible this has seen action on the battlefield,” he said. Theorizing on how it came to the U.S., Justin suggested “after the end of the war, a soldier returned with this Ruby. Now—110 years later it’s in my hands. Spent half its life under leaves.”
He has other theories as to how it came to be buried outside his home. “One is that it was used in a crime and then stashed,” he said. “But I don’t believe that. I’m thinking it was simply dropped while the mine was still open and then had 60 + years of leaves fall on top of it.”
Whatever the truth, it’s a discovery that could be of some value with Ruby pistols selling for hundreds on the open market. Not that Justin is in any hurry to part with the piece. He’s still in shock at the idea it was there all this time. “It just blows my mind that when my grandfather first started building this house, that gem was there the entire time,” he said. “When I, siblings and cousins were kids running around the same woods—it was there just chilling!”
