Unearthing history: N.B. treasure hunter looking for Mactaquac Constructors badge owner

Metal detector mystery: Seeking owner A New Brunswick man discovers a small piece of history and mystery downstream from the Mactaquac Dam.

Rob Allaby loves to search for treasure with his metal detector.

Last weekend, near the Gagetown Ferry in New Brunswick, Allabay and his brother, Steve, found a brass badge.

The pin was emblazoned with the number 3866 at the centre and the phrase "Mactaquac Constructors" running around its exterior.

The medallion was found 80 kilometres downstream from the dam, attached to what looked like a dilapidated hardhat.

Allaby did a little digital digging and learned the number is an employee ID badge, and that means out there somewhere is an owner or a family member.

"That's the fun part, anytime you can get something with something written on it, it helps to find out where it came from and who it belonged to,” Allaby said.

“It may not be worth much, but to them it's worth a lot,” he said.

Construction on the Mactaquac Dam started in 1965 and the dam itself opened in 1968.

"I read up on the Mactaquac Constructors (and they) are a pretty interesting company,” Allaby said. “They built the Mactaquac Dam, we're trying to find the employee number to see if we can return it to the family.”

Allaby is passionate about returning long-lost treasures.

"The most interesting things are the things that you can return to families,” Allaby said. “In June 2019, we found a gold class ring from this lady who had passed away in 1992.”

“We were able to research that and figure out who it was and we returned it to her mother that summer.”

Allaby hopes to find the original owner of the pin and return it to them or their family.

"You're holding a piece of history,” Allaby said. “It's pretty cool."

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