<p><strong>Hello treasure friends, My name is Richard Wisenfelder and I have been in the hobby of metal detecting for about 15 years.</strong> <p>I often enjoy beach detecting and occasionally inland detecting, weather permitting, and with granted permission on private property. Metal detecting is not just a great hobby but it also gives you a new respect for history through the learning process and research of unearthed artifacts that have been buried for many years.</p> <p>One of my greatest discoveries was in 2003 after my wife purchased for me my Whites XLT from Kellyco. After a little research in my own town of Sayreville, NJ I decided to venture out with my 11 year old daughter Alysha.</p> <p>So on October 26, 2003 around early Fall afternoon my daughter and I received permission from the township (speaking to the mayor) to do some metal detecting in an older part of town. The grounds were cut nicely flat, air was crisp, and the ground was easy to dig the acceptable plug.</p> <p>After about 1-1/2 hours of an occasional clad coin and pull-tabs, and a small piece of broken jewelry or two, I received a deep signal of 10+ inches and a number reading of 93 on the XLT display. Very excited we carefully and respectfully dug the hole using predator tools Little Eagle and seen that we dug this copper or bronze object. It was round, heavy, and about 3-1/4” in diameter. Looked like a cover to a pipe. “ Nice going dad, another piece of junk”, my daughter graciously complimented me rolling her eyes. <p>After a quick field cleaning, I noticed the date of 1905. I showed it to her and said, “we may have something big here, I found a date of 1905”, Now she shared my excitement and I reminded her what I have always said, “if it’s a good signal and deep, dig it”.</p> <p>After getting all the dirt off at home there was more writing on the object, EXPOSITION UNIVERSELLE, LIEGE 1905. I did a lot of internet research and with the help of Jack Daniels Company they helped me identify the object as a Bronze medal prize from the 1905 Worlds Fair in Liege, Belgium.</p> <p>Why Jack Daniels? They won gold medals for their whiskey products from the same world’s fair in Liege, Belgium 1905 with the exact same inscriptions. Now my excitement level hit a 10+ and showed it to the members of the local historical society. I learned from them that my town was once the leader in the industry of brick products back in the early 1900s.</p> <p>The local newspaper received word of the mysterious treasure found and published an article in the local town paper. It is speculated even to this day that a representative from the Sayre and Fisher Brick Company, at the time, took their brick products to the world’s fair in Liege, Belgium. Speculated they won the 3rd place bronze medal for their brick product, bought the medal back home and somehow lost it in our local town until I was able to unearth the treasure. Or possibly tossed it away being teased that they could not win a silver or gold.</p> <p>The Sayre and Fisher Brick Company, now a historical landmark, produced the finest bricks on the east coast back in the early 1900s. These bricks were used prominent sites such as the base to the Statue of liberty, Empire State Building, and Rockefeller Center. I have had the opportunity to present the medal to elementary school children and explain how the medal was found and the speculated history. The students were always amazed and I am very proud of my accomplishment in finding this rare piece of history and proudly display it in a showcase at my home for anyone to see. Thank You.</p>