TONY THE TREASURE SEEKER

Tony McKenzie has a rather unusual hobby. Every Saturday and Sunday, he gets up at six o’clock in the morning, packs some sandwiches and a flask of tea into a backpack and heads out to the fields behind his house with his favourite toy – a metal detector.

‘We bought him a metal detector for his fortieth birthday,’ says his wife Carol. ‘He had always wanted one, but we never realized he would use it as much as he does!’

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Many of us find it difficult to understand how wandering around in a muddy field for hours on end can possibly be enjoyable, but Tony says that there is nothing he would rather do. He doesn’t like football or fishing, but when he is out and about with his metal detector, he feels as though nothing else matters.

(1 _____) ‘He usually finds silly little things, like tin cans and pieces of machinery,’ laughs Carol. ‘Whatever he finds, he brings home, cleans, and keeps in a special box which he has in the garage. The children think he is crazy.’

However, Tony’s family may now have to admit that his pastimeis not quite so silly after all. After years of uncovering worthless items, Tony has finally achieved every treasure seeker’s dream and found something rather special

buried in the ground. His great discovery was a little figure of a horse which may be worth thousands of pounds.

‘I’ll never forget the day I found my first piece of real treasure,’ smiles Tony. ‘I was in a field I‘d never been to before. (2 _____) Then, just as I was about to give up and go home, I picked up a signal.’

Tony immediately felt very excited and began digging in the damp earth. Suddenly, he saw a tiny metal shape, covered in mud. ‘When I scraped off the dirt, I could see that it was a tiny horse,’ says Tony. ‘It was beautifully made and looked very old. I didn’t want to get my hopes up, but I felt sure it must be valuable.’

(3 _____) ‘When I took it to the museum to have it valued, I got a huge surprise,’ he laughs. ‘I would have been overjoyed if the figure had been worth a hundred pounds or so. I never imagined for a minute that it would be valued at over 60 000 pounds. That’s like a lottery win! It’s unbelievable!’

(4 _____) Nothing as old or as well-preserved has been found in Britain before, because most statues from around that time were destroyed back in the 16th century.

Tony took the statue to the British Museum in London, where historians were amazed to see such a rare artifact in such good condition. The British Museum decided to purchase the statue from Tony and display it to the public.

What does Tony plan to do with his new-found wealth? ‘Well, actually, I’m not as rich as you might think,’ he chuckles. ‘When a piece of treasure is dug up on someone else’s land, half of the value goes to the person who found it, and the other half goes to the landowner. (5 _____) I’m planning to buy Carol a new car and take the family on a wonderful holiday.’

Will Tony be taking the metal detector away with him? ‘No way!’ says Carol. ‘We won’t be teasing him as much about his hobby anymore, but I will insist that we have a holiday from it for a while and spend some time together as a family. Mind you, I think the children will be more keen to keep Tony company on his weekend treasure hunts now that they’ve seen that they can be fruitful!’

Tony doesn’t think that he will ever find anything as amazing as the little horse again, but this hasn’t stopped him from enjoying Saturdays and Sundays with his metal detector. ‘It’s not about money for me,’ he says. (6 _____) I’ll never give up my hobby because it gives me hours for pleasure. You can’t put a price on that!’