Local pair unearths
mysterious treasure
Father and daughter
can only speculate
on story behind medal

This bronze medal found by the Wisenfelders was an award from the 1905 World’s Fair in Liege, Belgium.

BY DICK METZGAR

Staff Writer

People have always been fascinated by the idea of unearthing a buried treasure.

The invention of metal detectors has made this pastime much easier and sometimes profitable.

This is especially true for Richard Wisenfelder Jr., 38, and his 11-year-old daughter, Alysha, Sayreville residents and members of the Deep Search Metal Detectors Club in East Brunswick, who have been searching for buried metal items for about two years.

Almost a month ago, the pair dug up what they believe is a rare find, in the park in back of Sayreville’s Borough Hall, off of Main Street. They are still attempting to clear up some of the mystery that surrounds their find: a bronze medallion, which they have traced to the 1905 World’s Fair, Liege, Belgium.

"This was a once-in-a-lifetime find," Wisenfelder said. "Alysha and I were out in this park looking for some loose change and perhaps a lost piece of jewelry, when there was a strong signal from the detector and the depth read about 4.5 inches. So after a little digging, we found a large object that we thought was just another piece of junk."

They soon discovered that their find was something very special.

"It was round and very heavy, about 3 and 1/4 inches in diameter," Wisenfelder said. "It had French markings on it. When we cleaned it a little, I noticed the 1905 date. This was not a coin, but some type of medallion."

At that point, Wisenfelder and his daughter became excited.

"We took it home and cleaned it up some more and examined it more closely," Wisenfelder said. The writing on the medallion read "Exposition Universelle Liege 1905." After about two days of research done in the Sayreville Public Library and on the Internet, the pair was able to identify the medallion as a solid bronze medal from the 1905 World’s Fair in Liege, Belgium.

The Wisenfelders learned that the fair held a series of festivals in which medals of gold, silver and bronze were awarded for specific events. They speculated that the medal they found had been awarded to an unknown festival winner at the fair who came to the United States and lost it in Sayreville.

"It might have even been tossed away because it was only of third place value," Wisenfelder said.

Further research revealed that Jack Daniel’s now-famous "sipping whiskey" made its international debut by winning a gold medal at the 1905 World’s Fair in Liege.

Despite their research and their networking with area historians, Wisenfelder said he has no idea what product won his bronze medal in that same fair.

At the turn of the century, the Sayre and Fisher Co. was renowned for manufacturing some of the finest building bricks in the world. These bricks were used in the construction of some of the most prominent sites, among them the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center and the base of the Statue of Liberty.

"Fairs around the turn of the century probably concentrated on exhibitions featuring agricultural products and building matters," Wisenfelder said. "It stands to reason that Sayreville bricks could have been one of the featured products at the 1905 fair in Belgium.

"There is a row of houses in back of the field where we found the bronze medal, some of which were homes where officials from the brick company may have lived 100 years ago. Maybe, one of them brought the medal home from the fair and lost it," he speculated.

The East Brunswick Deep Search Metal Detectors Club was founded in 1982 and has about 50 members, Wisenfelder said.