Treasure-hunting twins strike again, reunite family with long-lost war medals

Armed with their trusty metal detectors, Timaru's treasure-hunting twins spend hours scouring the coastline for lost items – often volunteering their services to reunite people with lost items.

Since word of James and Richard Koia's ability to find things got out, members of the community have been asking them to help find phones, rings and necklaces.

"We have had a bit of success finding things for people," James said.

In the two years they have been hunting treasure they have also uncovered a number of historically significant items, spending time to reunite them with their rightful owners.

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In some cases, the mystery surrounding their finds has led to some interesting discoveries and new friendships.

A small round 108-year-old nine-carat gold medal found in the grey sands of Browns Beach, near Temuka, was one such item.

The discovery of the 1914 Temuka Territorials medal surprised the twins, as it was the third medal they had found at the beach in the past six months which belonged to William Joseph Husband who served in World War I and World War II.

"The second time we found something [a medal] we were amazed, the third we were blown away," James said.

"It is a really good feeling finding these things, especially when you can return it to the family."

Husband's granddaughter, Marj Irving, said the three discoveries were "mind-boggling".

"I am bamboozled on how they all actually got there," Irving said.

"None of us can get over it, it is just a mystery."

Grandson John Gould, who is now in possession of the three medals, said his grandfather "had a very long army career" and served about 14 years in total.

"He didn't talk about the war much," Gould said.

However, Husband's descendants have been able to uncover information through collating old pieces of family history and reading through Temuka Leader newspapers.

Gould said Husband trained with the Temuka Territorials before World War I, fought in the Third Battle of Ypres, also known as the Battle of Passchendaele,​ where there were more than 850,000 casualties. He also trained troops in England and served as an intake officer for World War II.

Despite digging into his grandfather's history, the question of how the medals ended up on the beach lingers.

Irving said she heard Brown's Beach was used as a rifle range for Temuka Territorials Miniature Rifle Club, where her grandfather was a sergeant instructor. Two of the rediscovered medals, including the one found at the weekend are from the club.

Irving has previously said Husband was a fisherman and that the medals might have been lost while out at sea.

James Koia added to the plausibility of this theory, saying "there have been quite a few storms recently, it could have helped the medals wash up".

A bond has developed between the Koias and Husband's descendants since the discoveries.

"We have sort of become quite friendly," Irving said.

"The first time they found a medal, I gave them some whitebait."

Irving said, on their second find, she had some salmon to give them and the third time she had given them home baking.

James said they had found a number of coins during their weekly beach visits, the oldest item he had found to date was a penny from 1806 with King George III on it.

"It is a really good feeling finding these things, especially when you can return it to the family," he said.