When you think about metal detecting in Massachusetts, or the United States for that matter, there is a list of things you don’t imagine finding. However, metal detectorists across the country have broken that barrier time and time again. Take coins, for instance: Spanish reales. French lairds, Irish half-pennies, British King George’s, etc. For us, this discovery happened in November on a cold fall day.

It was on a Methuen farm that we have been to numerous times through the years. Our advice: No matter how many times you’ve been to a location, keep hitting it over and over again.

I found myself at the end of a longer day with not many desirable finds. I retrieved a Mercury Dime (U.S. 90% Silver Dime from 1916-1945), a small button and a couple of Indian Head cents (U.S. Copper Penny from 1859-1909). But what I found next was a coin I hadn’t found in years!

As I was swinging away in an area where I’d found a few things in the past, I got this pure, tight, mid-70s VDI (Visual Display Indicator) signal on my Garrett AT Pro. That signal can either be two things: trash or treasure. So, as I glided my shovel through the already tilled dirt, I plopped a scoop of dirt to the side of the hole and re-checked the signal to assure it was still strong, and it was! I knelt to use my pin pointer (a smaller handheld metal detector) to figure out where the artifact was. To my surprise, it was already out of the hole! I brushed away layer by layer in my hand until I saw a just-larger-than-a-nickel-size coin that had a square in the middle of it. I knew exactly what it was!

I jumped up in excitement as I screamed to my dad, “I got a Chinese coin!”

That’s right: a Chinese coin on a farm in Methuen.

It’s from the 1700s and is either under the emperor reign of Ch’ien-Lung or the Qianlong Emperor. Both varieties look similar. It was minted across China, with it being either of the coins I said, from 1736-1795!

So, why did they design it with a square in the center? Back then, they found it easier to put coins on a string for ease of counting and storage. So, when the individual went to buy something, it would make it easier to give the correct amount of monies quicker.

These Chinese currency coins are super-cool finds, especially all the way over here in the USA, and it may seem crazy that we’ve recovered multiple of these before. But as they are made from copper alloys, they aren’t very desirable in the trading world – which contributes to the fact that we find them so often – and are common for metal detectorists. But each one tells a new story, and has its unique history of ancient China.

From both myself, Jonathan, and my dad, Steve, we hope your New Year is filled with success and many treasures – whether they’re new milestones in life or physical things. Happy 2025!

Methuen father/son treasure hunters Steve and Jonathan Stewart were the August 2019 MethuenLife cover story. They run YouTube, Facebook and Instagram accounts called Mass Metal Detecting and have followers around the globe. They love to save history and enjoy talking about it. If you’d like to invite them to your property for a hunt, you may be included in a future article! Please drop them a note via MethuenLife@msn.com.