Treasure Coast Treasure Beach Metal Detector Find.
I found his bracelet but am not sure of the age period. I don't know how long clasps like this have been used. I would suspect not that long, but I don't know. If anyone knows, I'd like to hear from you.
The bracelet and clasp are silver, but there are no markings that I can see. I would think this is probably less than a hundred years old, yet I'm not sure and some of the features, particularly the look of the clasp and the apparent decoration on the one end of the clasp, makes me curious.
The clasp is hinged and you can see a small ornate stud on the rounded outside edge of the clasp.Yesterday I talked about locating and identifying coin lines. I didn't discuss coin holes or various scanning patterns.
I use some different scan patterns when working in the water than I use on the beach. As you know, detecting in the water is different in a variety of ways. For one thing, if the water is a bit rough, it can be hard to work in a straight line and keep track of your sweeps and location like you do on the beach. Sometimes there is poor visibility in the water, which makes it hard to know where you are relative to the holes you dug or other landmarks. And thirdly, coin lines and holes in the water are not formed exactly in the same way that they are formed on the beach. All of this means that other techniques, including scan patterns can be helpful. I'll have to talk about that more some other time.
Cobs are not the only coins to be filed down after minting. Gold coins up to the 1840s often show adjustment marks, which were made by filing the coin down to the proper weight.
Here is a link if you'd like to know more about that.
http://coins.about.com/od/coingrading/f/adjustment_mark.htm
Treasure Beach Find of Undetermined Age and Source. I suspect this silver ring to be less than a hundred years old, but do not know. There are no markings.
If you find something on a treasure beach there is no sure way of telling if it came from a shipwreck, but don't throw finds away until you are sure you have a very good idea about their identity.
One good thing to do is show your find to an expert.
A lot of people send me photos, and I find it very difficult to identify items from photos. It is better to show the item to someone that can handle and closely inspect the object.
One thing that you might consider is buying a jeweler's loop. Don't get the most expensive or most powerful one. I think the more powerful loops are more difficult to use and they usually aren't necessary for looking at detector finds. A good loop can often help you see markings that will help you determine the identity of an item.
Another thing you might consider is a metals test kit. You can get acids for doing acid testing or an electronic pen tester. There are acid solutions for testing gold, silver and platinum.
Keep you unidentified items and look at them every once in a while. You might notice something you missed before, or you might have some new knowledge that helps you.
Forecast and Conditions.
Unfortunately there isn't much to report here. The seas are very calm and expected to remain that way for a number of days. That means no changes.
It might be a good time to get in the water wherever that is permissible.
Hurricane Paula seems to be headed for Cuba where she'll probably fall apart.
My conditions rating remains a 1.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
