Metal detector digs up oddity 'rare as a pink black bear'

Using a metal detector, a Riverview man has dug up a piece he calls "rare as a pink black bear."

The relic is a cap gun members of a Facebook metal detector club say must befrom the 1930s.

Corey Marks, the man who found the relic, said he hasn't been able to find much more info on it, but that he thinks it must be unique given that it's not stamped with a common logo.

Similar designs, with bull heads and a revolver style, can be found on eBay and antique toy websites with Hubley branding. Marks has not been able to find one with the same logo as his.

He found the gun in a park in Riverview on Whitepine Road, buried about eight inches below the surface.

One of a kind

While he's sure hiscap gun is an oddity, Marks says he's not sure exactly how much it could be worth, anddoesn't think he'll sell it.

You dig up a lot of junk before you find anything like that.- Corey Marks

"I thought about selling it but there's no market for old toy guns unless you're an antique dealer," he said.

"I like that it came out of the ground and it has some nice patina. It looks really nice."

Marks searches for hidden treasures with his metal detectoras a hobby with some gear he bought from Canadian Tire.

In his time pursuing the hobby, he said he has come across some other gems in Riverview, including a silver chain and ring, a few silver dollars from the 1800s and a nickel from 1945.

"But you dig up a lot of junk before you find anything like that."