3/19/12 Report - Tumbaga Bar & Detecting Watches

Written by the Treasureguide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

10 Pound Tumbaga Bar in Current Sedwick Auction

This bar currently has a bid of over $4000 and the auction has just begun.

In the very early days of Spanish exploration in the New World, Native American artifacts were melted down for transportation back to Spain. The melted materials were often cast into bars that varied widely in the amount of gold and other metals. These melted metals were referred to as Tumbaga.

In a Tumbaga bar there might be as much as 97% gold or there might be as much as 97% copper. Mixtures of gold and copper containing a lot of copper can be very brittle and will easily break.


I still think that IF Spain can claim the treasure of the Nuestra Senora de Las Mercedes after it was recovered by Odyssey, that the native American groups actually have a more just claim.


In my last post I was talking about watches. I mentioned that detectors might have a tough time identifying a watch. Watches come in a lot of varieties and I don't know how you could expect a detector to correctly identify a watch.

I also mention from time to time that it is important to know your detector and how it responds to different situations and different targets.

I decided to a little experiment to show you something.

I took four watches. The first, which you will see in the video, is a small cheap women's watch, like a Timex. It has a non-metallic band.

The second watch, going left to right in the video, is a large men's Seiko.

The Third is a dive watch. And fourth is a ladies stainless steel Rolex.

First I set the Excalibur on discriminate mode. Then I set the discrimination setting on 15.

Watch what happens when I pass the coil over all four watches. As you might expect the high discrimination setting results in a relatively small signal. Using this setting you could easily miss all four watches, especially the dive watch and the Rolex.

These watches are not buried either, so take that into account.

Then I moved the discrimination setting back to about 10. As you would expect, the signals are better, but on some watches not really very good yet.

Then I set the discrimination on 1, and, as you can see, the signals are better. You probably would be able to detect all four watches with this setting in field conditions.

Here is the video.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qary6KYNl1k&list=UU40rmid7y8dybrNwqTt_ZUg&index=1&feature=plcp

How the watch lays is also important.

You might have noticed that the Seiko gave a much louder signal when the coil was angled to detect more of the face of the watch than when the coil was directly down on the edge of the watch.

The Seiko large band was also giving a signal something like a long elongated object would since the band as laid out like that.

I highly recommend that you experiment with your detector and different uobjects under different circumstances. Learn the different sounds and what they are telling you and learn the results of different detector settings.

The more variations you try and the more you experiment, the better off you will be.

If you come across a nice watch you don't want to be fooled by your detector.

As I've said before, I usually use pinpoint or all-metals mode on the beach, no matter what detector I am using.


Well, beach detecting conditions remain pretty much the same. I don't see any significant changes coming for the next few days.

The wind is east/southeast and the seas running around four or five feet.

Nothing promising.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

3/17/12 Report - Watches, Test Pens, & Other Connections

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

11 Million Dollar Watch.

Watches are common detector finds. Anything from Philip Patek to Timex. Just beware that some can be very valuable and other can be useful even if not valuable.

Even if you find a drowned or destroyed watch it can still have value. Remember, some watch cases are made of gold or platinum.

You can miss a lot of watches if you use discrimination. It can be hard for a detector to correctly identify a watch.

Don't throw a watch away right away after you dig it up even if you find that it is not working. Check it out first.

There are some nice watch reference guides that provide lot of good information. The one shown here is The Complete Price Guide to Watches by Shugart and Gilbert. Over a 1000 pages covering everything from American Watch Co. to Zodiac.

Here is a list of 20 watches running from $75,000 up to a million.

http://xfilexplore.com/2011/list-of-20-most-expensive-luxury-watches/

There are a lot of nice but cheaper watches. I always like finding working dive watches. And sliders.

Watch Price Guide.


According to a March 16, 2012, The Associated Press story, Spain is now trying to get the courts to force Odyssey Marine to give them the artifacts found on the Nuestra Senora de Las Mercedes to go along with the 600,000 coins that were already sent to Spain. A hearing is scheduled.

Thanks to Jorge Y. for sending that story to me.


We're making connections here on the Treasure Beaches Report. I guess that is what this is all about.

A few days ago I posted what appeared to be a 19th Century button for ID. On it was the motto "This I'll Defend". We learned that the motto was connected with a couple of surnames. Last night I received an email from someone with a similar surname saying they didn't know the origin of the button but wondered if it was for sale. Wouldn't that be nice if the button found its way to the descendants of a family somehow connected to the button?

Even if the button is not for sale, bringing it to light might have added some knowledge or provided a hint to someone looking to get a better understanding of their family tree. I was thinking that it was an interesting coincidence that the connection was made on St. Patricks Day, but the name seems to be Scottish rather than Irish.

With around four hundred hits a day, there are going to be connections made here.


I recommend having test acid to test your finds. But test acid can deteriorate over time, so you might eventually need something to test your test acid.

You can get pens tipped with different precious metals and purities of gold to do that.

Test Pens.

These test pens are marked. You might be able to see 10K, 14K, etc. near the base of the pens.

Rub the tip of the pen on the touch stone and the apply the acid. Since you know the metal and its purity, you can then see if the acid is reacting properly.

You won't really need test pens if you have objects of different metals of known purity. Maybe they are marked or you've previously tested them.


I'm not expecting any change in detecting conditons on the Treasure Coast for a few days.

It is getting close to the time when the water hunting should get a little easier. Summer is coming.


Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

3/16/12 Report - 8 Escudo, Pot of Gold and More

Written by the Treasureguide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

Almost Royal.

This Mexico City, 8 escudos, 1714J cob is listed in the most recent Sedwick Coins auction, and is expected to bring the highest price of any of the gold coins in the first session. The reason is that it appears to have been struck with Royal dies, but on a regular flan. That makes it an especially interesting case. I would not be surprised if it brings more than the estimated value. It is really a nice looking cob.



You can find a lot of good research material online these days. I ran across the following passage in A Guide to Miami and Dade County.

Even the soil produces strange fauna. Captain Charles J. Rose,
one of Miami's oldest pioneers, possesses a large copper kettle inlaid
with gold, product of the Aztecs or Spanish artizans, which was com-
pletely imbedded in rock blasted from a canal bed near the mouth
of the Miami River.

Here is the link to that online book.

http://ia600506.us.archive.org/23/items/planningyourvac00writrich/planningyourvac00writrich_djvu.txt


A surfer was bit by a shark yesterday at Jensen Beach. It seems there are a variety of sharks in the shallow water right now. So be careful if you are a wader.

I got the impression that sharks are repelled by the signals sent out by a metal detector, but don't know that. I've seen them heading my direction and then quickly turn and flee. Of course that could have been for some other reason.


You've probably heard of the discovery of an osuary that is said by some to bear an inscription referring to Jesus. Well, the person who claims to have discovered it went on trial and that trial recently concluded.

The case and reaction to the case has a lot of far reaching implications. Too many for me to address here.

Here is the link.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2012/marchweb-only/trial-fraud-controversy.html



I didn't know those state quarters had any value. They don't have much, but I found out that are worth more than face value if they are in mint condition.

Here is site that provides a list of values.

http://coins.about.com/od/coinvalues/l/bl_state_quarter_values_coins_prices.htm


Beach conditions remain the same, and it looks like they will remain the same for several days. Around four foot seas.

You can probably still find some miscellaneous junk and a few interesting items along the water line at low tide.


Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

3/15/12 Report - Sedwick Auction 11 Now Online & Fisher Not Affected By Odyssey Decision

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

From Secwick Coins Auction.

The 11th Sedwick Coins Auction is now online. I looked through all of the lots yesterday. Being especially interested in artifacts I first looked at those even though they will be sold in the last session of the auction. I then looked at the gold bars and ingots, and then any half reales I could find, and then the gold coins, which will be sold in the first session of the auction.

There is a lot to look at.

Here is the link.

http://auction.sedwickcoins.com/Treasure-and-World-Coin-Auction-11_as22161_p4


I received an email from the Mel Fisher organization stating that the Odyssey Marine case in which the treasure of the Nuestra Senora da La Mercedes was awarded to Spain would not affect the Fisher's ownership of the Margarita or Atocha. Furthermore, their newer projects are focused on merchant vessels which are not subject to the Sovereign Immunity issues that plagued Odyssey.

Individual detectorists everywhere stood up along with the big treasure salvers such as the Fishers against the threat of SR 868. It is my hope that the treasure salvers will support the individual detectorists the same way when that is needed.


The Spanish taught silversmithing to Native Americans. You can sometimes see the influence in Native American work.

Here is a link to an article that tells about that.

http://americanindianoriginals.com/jewelry-making2.html


There are now so many laws that you are probably violating one right now! Did you know that it is illegal in many states to collect rainwater on your property because it belongs to "everybody." "Everybody" really means big government.


Here is the source article.

http://www.naturalnews.com/029286_rainwater_collection_water.html

Ok, so next thing is that you won't be able to drink rainwater, bathe in it, or put it in a dish for your pet to drink. Or is that already illegal? Maybe someplace! Where are we going with this?

I saw a list of 19 laws that you wouldn't believe, including this one, but lost track of that article.


Dredging has begun on the St. Lucie inlet.

The high tides aren't as high as they were a few days ago. We're having something around four foot swells decreasing just a little until around Sunday when the seas will begin to increase a little again.

The wind is calm and looks like it will be from the east for a few days.

Overall, no real changes expected. You might want to sort through the junk in the low tide area. Like I said yesterday, there are miscellaneous targets there.

Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

3/14/12 Report - OMD marks, LiDAR, Fake Struck Coins

Written by the Treasureguide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

OMD Eight-Reale.

I was talking yesterday about OMD marks like those sometimes seen on reales from the Mexican mint. Here are two examples.

The one to the right is an 1620 eight reale.

The one below is a 1620 four reale.

The D on both of these would indicate the assayer Diego de Godoy. And of course both are from the Mexico mint.

The O is typically a little smaller than the M, as is the case on these two cobs and was the case for the mystery object bearing an OMD mark that I showed a couple of days ago.

OMD Four-Reale.


Here is a nice web site that talks about how forgeries of struck coins are made. Very interesting.

http://www.calgarycoin.com/reference/fakes/struck.htm

Learning about how fake coins are made will help you identify fakes, but it will also teach you a little about genuine coins.


A gold coin worth $45,000 was found by archaeologists in San Antonio on a construction project.

http://www.coinnews.net/2008/02/01/archaeologists-find-old-gold-coin-worth-45000-in-latrine-at-construction-site-3899/


LiDAR is a technology that helps identify archaeological sites and where structures existed in the past.

Here is an article about that.

http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2012/03/indiana-jones-goes-geek-laser-mapping-lidar-revolutionizes-archaeology.ars?clicked=related_right

The beaches are sandy and the seas relatively calm with lazy waves hitting the beach almost directly from the east.

Here is a photo of Frederick Douglas Beach this morning.



I saw a whale breaching in the distance. Too far away to catch on my Flip Cam though.

It looks like we'll be stuck with about four foot swells for at least a week. It looks like conditions won't be improving.

There were a number of targets near the water line near low tide though. Nothing great, but if you keep at it you might come up with a spike or something like that.


Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

3/13/12 Report - Whatzits, Bale Seals and Beach Conditions

Written by the Treasureguide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

Treasure Coast Beach As Seen Monday.

You can see the seaweed. A couple days earlier there was a cut here.

At low tide you could see a low wide front beach. That is one reason there wasn't more erosion here. There is a lot of sand in front of the beach.

The seas will be decreasing a little every day this week until they are down around three feet by the weekend.

No improvement in beach conditions seems likely.


Ron K. sent in the following regarding the button that I posted yesterday for ID.

There are several possibilities relative to the origin of this button, but all I found evolve around King George IIII (IV):

"This I'll defend" was the motto of the clans Kincaid and Macfarlane.

Plus apparently the visit of King George IV to Scotland in 1822 spurred 19th century interest in the clans and a reawakening of Scottish culture and pride.

http://tmp.kiwix.org:4201/A/Scottish_clan.html

King George IV made a royal visit to Edinburgh in 1822. It was the first time a monarch had come to Scotland since 1641 and his tour was stage-managed by Sir Walter Scott. Scott engineered an image of Scotland similar to the country in his romantic novels for the visit.

This may be a button from The Royal Company of Archers. It's a ceremonial unit that serves as the Sovereign's Bodyguard in Scotland, a role it has performed since 1822 and the reign of King George IV, when the company provided a personal bodyguard to the King on his visit to Scotland. It is currently known as the Queen's Bodyguard For Scotland, and is located at Edinburgh. The Royal Company of Archers has a long history in Scotland as a body that celebrated both the recreation and talent of local archers.

A couple of those alternatives leave the distinct possibility that the button may have shown the date 1822 to commemorate an event such as the King George's visit rather than being the current date. Or it could have been made for the event.


On the other item I posted yesterday (showing OMD) we've made less progress at this point, as I expected would be the case.

One possibility is that it is a bale seal.

For examples of metal detected bale seals, take a look at this web site.

http://www.colchestertreasurehunting.co.uk/clothseals.htm

OMD is a common combination found on Mexican minted cobs, indicating the Mexican mint and assayer "D."

According to Sewall Menzel, the D assayer initial was used for Mexican minted cobs 1598-1599 (Francisco de Quintana Duenas), 1618-1634 (Diego de Godoy) and 1724-1729 (Domingo Garcia de Mendiola).

I don't see any evidence of this object being a coin. I don't see any shield, cross, or monogram.

Could it be that a die was being tested? Or perhaps the mint and assayer mark used to certify something other than a coin as being official?

While I'm far from reaching a conclusion, right now to me the most likely of the alternatives that I've considered, is that it is a broken bale seal.

The OMD on the object really looks a lot like a maker's mark though, like you might find on silver jewelry.

Sometimes research like this only yields results over a period of months or years.

Yesterday I had the privilege of reading a new chapter for a book that hasn't yet been published. It was about a very interesting relic from the 1715 Fleet.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

3/11/12 Report - Spring Ahead & Mystery Objects

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

Did you remember to turn your clock ahead? It is hard for me to believe we are already well into the third month of the year.

Button For ID.



This item was found with other items such as the St. Ignatius religious medallion that I posted two days ago and other items such as musket balls.

There is a lot of very good information clearly visible on this one.


By the way, someone mentioned that the religious medallion reminded him of St. Patrick who is often depicted killing snakes. Good point.


The wind is from the east again. Too bad! Later tomorrow the seas should be peaking at above seven feet and then decreasing a bit by Monday.

Although the high tides have been fairly high, I'm not expecting much erosion, and i am not expecting an increase in my beach detecting conditions rating. It looks like the wind will continue out of the east.

There may be a few spots were there will be some sand loss. That would be where there are local obstructions and erosion earlier in 2012.


Here is another item for ID. Unfortunately we don't have a lot to go on other than this photo which was submitted by one reader.



The object appears to be about two fingers in diameter. I asked about the material, and was told they thought it was lead. The whitish crust on the bottom left of the object in the photo seems consistent with that. If you look at the upper right of the object, it appears to be maybe a quarter inch deep with a flat edge.

That is all I can offer on this one at this point.

The three letters (OMD) immediately make me think of something, but I won't say what yet because I don't want to affect your responses.


On eBay, there is now listed a 1 reale that was minted in Seville that it is said could possibly be from the Atocha. I don't know how many Spanish coins minted in Spain have been found on Florida galleon wrecks, but as far as I know they are very few.

I would not doubt that the Atocha reference was thrown in to make the coin more interesting to potential buyers. My observation is that coins from famous shipwrecks like the Atocha generally bring better prices than coins minted in Spain. The coins from mints in Spain are often not as interesting to collectors as the New World coins.

I remember someone once asking what coins minted in Spain have been found on 1715 Fleet wrecks. This coin might be of interest to anyone seeking that answer, although this coin is not said to be definitely from the Atocha.

If you are interested, I'm sure you can find the coin on eBay.


Happy Hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net