European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 2, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday february 2, 1989 the stars and stripes pages a Vince Crawle with his Metal Detector in hand air Force staff sgt. William Smith stops to dig beneath a tree at a site in his favorite City Park in Furth West Germany. One Man s Small change is another s treasure by a inf. Spa Wijt n a i a Vince Crawley Niernberg Bureau Furth West Germany air Force staff sgt. William Smith found a handful of Loose change along the River Bank on Day last month. Two Zinc coins had swastikas on them and were dated 1943.another, shinier German Coin was from 1926, and another from 1875. The Date on the last one was worn away by the floods wars and picnics that have passed through the Riverside Par during the Century or More since the Coin fell out of somebody s pocket. Although none of the coins Smith found that afternoon was valuable he says someday he s going to find that1926 of 50-pfennig piece Worth $4,500. The Metal Detector Smith uses work son the same principle As Airport Metal detectors but More resembles a vacuum cleaner. So far he has t gotten Rich but when he cashes in his coins this Summerhill be Able to afford a better Metal de Tector. Smith who repairs an radio transmitters for a living said he got hooked on the Hobby As a teen Ager in Alexande City Ala. His father also an air Force electronics technician put together a Metal Detector in his Home workshop and the two of them took it out into the Alabama Woods. They searched old overgrown Chim Neys and foundations left behind from houses that burned Down. You just sort of visualize a House still being there an try to figure where the people would be he said. Where people gather so gather their pockets and from their pockets Falls Loose change. And when was the last time you dropped a Penny in the grass and bothered Hunting for it Smith said that on his father s first expeditions they found Mercury dimes Buffalo Nickels Indian head pennies and old bottles that used to be junk and now Are Flea Market collector s items. Then Smith grew up stopped treasure Hunting and joined the air Force. About three years ago he said he was feeling bored and asked his parents to mail on of the old Metal detectors to Niernberg West Germany. He charged up the Bat teries and discovered 2,000 years of his tory in the German topsoil. There s no telling what you re going to find from relics like old spearheads to roman relics to nazi Memorabilia to re cent coinage Smith said. It s  time i go out i find  Smith is sure the Castle overlooking downtown Niernberg would be a Gold mine but he does t know where to ask permission. Besides he says downtown is too  he prefers a Park in the neighbouring City of Furth. It s a quiet place where German police nod to him and curious locals ask if he s looking for radiation. Metal detecting it seems is not very common in West Germany and Smith can t figure out Why. Some German shops carry the detectors but at High prices. There seems to be no bavarian equiv Alent to Miami where on a recent trip Smith saw 20 to 30 people on the Bechwith Metal detectors. His dream like theirs is to find Spanish treasure and he s trying to get the Pentagon to Send him to Florida for his next assignment. In the meantime he does nearly All of his weekend scouting in the Park in Furth. I be never gone out Here and found nothing he said. It s an old Park where people do a lot of fishing on the River Banks. It s just logical when people sit Down to go fishing coins just fall out of their  history appears to have passe through the Park with a vengeance. An important Battle of the thirty years War was fought along the narrow flood Plain in one Clearing in the Park. The town s sprawl reached this part of the River in the late 1600s, not coincidentally from the same time As the Oldes datable coins found by Smith. Conceivably that is also when people might have first turned the Battlefield into a fishing Hole and started losing coins. Smith s Metal Detector can find coins buried in 6 inches of dirt or less. He digs them out with an old screwdriver brushes them off with a Toothbrush and puts them in his pocket. He always fill the Hole Back in. But he says he steers Clear of Metal objects that appear to be larger than a 5-Mark piece. No telling what he might dig up. Military paraphernalia he has unearthed includes a Rifle trigger Belt buckles rings a nazi infantry badge a czechoslovakian medal for service Dur ing Otto von Bismarck s time and world War ii Era uniform buttons that say u of. He s also found a toy Soldier a 1901indian head Penny a Buffalo Nickel and a Batman ring. That s gotta be old Smith said you Don t see Batman anymore do you he walked right past a 50-Pfennigpiece lying in the grass. Nope not a 1926  just a Brand new one that Likely fell out of someone s pocket last week. Practically worthless. For now. Smith displays some of the coins and Metal Memorabilia he found while