It was a perfect summer day in central Colorado when a friend and I arrived at an old stone charcoal kiln site for a few hours of metal detecting. There are literally hundreds of these kiln sites in the upper Arkansas River water shed near my home in Nathrop, Colorado.

These kilns were in use for the last 30 years of the 19th century to produce charcoal for blast furnaces of the more than 14 precious metals smelters and reduction plants in the Leadville area. The demonetization of silver in 1893 resulted in the closing of most of the Leadville smelters. This caused the demand for charcoal to disappear closing all the charcoal kilns.

During their use the charcoal kilns were a beehive of activity with loading of pinion pine logs, and unloading charcoal that could take up to ten days. They were usually located near a railroad track for easy transport to the smelters. All of these factors make them a great place to hunt. Past excursions to these kiln sites produced Indian head cents, shield nickels, seated liberty dimes and quarters.

I was excited, but not surprised, when my trusted White's XLT gave me a solid quarter signal at 6 inches. I carefully removed a four inch circular soil plug four inches deep. The target was still in the hole, so I loosened the dirt at the bottom with my digger and started the final removal process with my hands. I was surprised when a flash of gold in the bottom of the hole caught my eye.

I recovered what turned out to be a gold watch fob that had belonged to the past owner of the charcoal kiln I was hunting. The fob is one ounce of 24 K yellow gold with mining tools with two gold nuggets on one side. The past owners name "J A LAMPING" inscribed on the other. The swiveling bail is heavily worn but not broken.

Some research revealed that Joseph Anthony Lamping was a prominent business man and politician in the late 1800's Colorado. He owned many of these charcoal kilns, and was Leadville Colorado's sheriff and a county treasurer. He held the warden position at the Colorado state penitentiary in Canyonville. Lamping died in 1910 leaving a legacy in Colorado business, politics, and the most memorable find for this metal-detector enthusiast.

John J.