Local man turns hobby for treasuring hunting into passion

FAIRMONT, W.Va (WDTV) - What some said was just a piece of metal was treasure to Monty DeWitt.

Eight year old DeWitt was attending his aunt’s wedding reception and looked outside and found what eventually became his hobby.

“I saw a guy out by the community building at the time. He was metal detecting. I didn’t know what it was. I was young, but I went out. I was watching him pulling up these big coins. At the time, I didn’t know what those coins were, morgan dollars and silver dollars. I thought oh my god, I want to do that,” he said.

Years later in 2013, DeWitt bought his first metal detector and started exploring.

He’s found a lot of his treasurers in Marion County that included, one special Civil War relic.

“The most interesting civil war thing I’ve found was an 1862 Union officer’s sword belt buckle, and it was in the part of town where there was a skirmisher,” DeWitt explained.

DeWitt has found things that date back as far as the 1600′s.

He told me that every item found comes with a question. That may never be answered, but that’s part of the thrill.

“You never know what you’re going to find that’s what makes it fun it’s treasure hunting,” DeWitt said.

He added this was a hobby that was never going way.

“Everyday history is being made. People drop stuff everyday. That’s one thing you’ll never find everything. You never will because people lose stuff everyday people are making history for different people in the future.” DeWitt explained.

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