I have only had my DFX for two months and have found some amazing things with it. A few days ago I decided to try an old country court house site. The building, which was built in the 1880's no longer stands; the Senior Center is there now. I thought I would start looking at the base of a very big, old mapple tree. I was a few minutes into my search and the DFX screamed at me that something was right on the surface. Sure enough, just under the soil I unearthed this relic. The massive tree roots must have pushed it up to the surface.

At first I thought it was a miniature horse shoe! When I got home, I looked on the internet, and discovered that it is a shoe heel plate. From all the research I have done, I believe I have found a ladies shoe heel plate. The heel plate is probably Victorian, because it is "fancy". All of the ones I saw on the internet were just plain and utilitarian, the soles of shoes were made of leather in the 1800's and shoes were not always easy to come by. Heel plates were common additions to shoes and boots to extend their life. When I look at the back of it straight on, I can see that one side is more worn that the other, so it defiantly was worn by someone. I have never seen a heel plate before, and this one is going into my collection of finds. I also found a couple of square nails and two memorial pennies that day. Thank you White's for making this fun hobby so easy!

Jeanne L. in Michigan