BIDDEFORD, Maine — Ten-year-old Erik Desrosiers likes finding things. One of his recent finds has led him to another mystery.
He wants to know more about a ring he found in March with his metal detector at Biddeford’s Clifford Park.
The ring is inscribed “Port-Lyautey,” and is dated 1944. It likely belonged to a service member attached to the military base Port Lyautey in Morocco, which was used both by the U.S. Army Air Force and the U.S. Navy during World War II.
Erik would like to know who lost the ring, and, if possible, meet that person or his family members.
“When I find stuff, I get really excited,” said Erik on Friday.
It all started when he began collecting coins a few years ago. Then, said his mother Paula, he mentioned he’d like to have a metal detector. His wish came true last Christmas.
He immediately began using it on Christmas Day in the front yard, then the family made a trip to Ocean Park, and he used it there too .
He takes his metal detector to places like the beach or the park, passes it over the ground, and waits for the telltale sound that signals there’s something underground. The detector comes with adjustments to eliminate metals such as iron and steel.
In the woods, or in parklike settings, he scouts out rock formations – places where someone might sit and drop something.
He’s found coins to add to his collection, which has fueled his interest.
The coin collection has grown to upward of 1,000 pieces — a few coming from his metal detecting hobby, others in pocket change or from buys at pawn shops and coin shows. Desrosiers has found an 1812 one-cent piece, a 1935 buffalo nickel, an 1882 Indian head penny and more.
He can tell you that U.S. silver half-dollars made from 1964 to 1970 are 40 percent silver, while those made prior to 1964 are 90 percent silver. And he’s a budding entrepreneur, reasoning that found coins and other items can translate into cash, like another ring he found while on vacation in Jamaica.
To that end, he’s using his metal detector both as a hobby and a way to satisfy his curiosity. He found a 1940s dime with his metal detector, an earring or two — and now that 1944 ring.
Desrosiers and his dad, Rick, were at Clifford Park near a rock formation when the metal detector sounded.
“We had to dig a good eight inches” to get it, Erik said.
Said the boy’s father: “He was persistent.”