Clump Containing Several Cobs. This clump is described in the catalog of the upcoming SedwickCoins auction as holding several cobs. I posted the photo because I think you should always be aware that clumps can hold a variety of things. The auction catalog also shows an eight real that is stuck in a clump along with a small shipwreck spike.
You can learn a lot by browsing auction catalogs.
One thing I highly recommend is labeling your finds. When you find something worth keeping, particularly old coins and artifacts, make sure to record when and where the item was found. Not only will that information help you in the future, because you can look back and see what places have been productive, but it can also help you identify the item, and it can the added information can actually add monetary value to the item.
When I began detecting, I kept detailed records of all of my finds. I wrote down the location, number of various types of coins and other interesting finds. I could then look back over my records when deciding where to detect next.
Sometimes you don't know if an item came off of a shipwreck or what. By keeping records and being able to review what types of items have been found at a particular location over time, you might start to see some patterns and be able to figure out something about the history of the beach and the source of the items.
An artifact is an artifact, but it becomes more interesting and valuable if you can document where it came from and if it can be associated with a particular shipwreck. Provenance is important. Even a musket ball is more interesting if you know it was associated with a particular battle or shipwreck, for example.
Over the years you might forget where an item came from. If you carefully sort an store and label the item, that won't be a problem. And the information might help you or other experts eventually figure out the identity of previously unidentified items or their source.
If you have the information, you can also mount and attractively display some of your nice finds complete with attractive labels. Informative labels makes any display more interesting.
Well, those are some of the main reasons you should clearly label your finds, even if you positively identified them yet.
One story I read said there is a lot of interest in bags of 90 percent U.S. silver coins. One dealer, for example, was selling bags containing $1,000 face value for close to spot melt price. The dealer said he would sell a $1,000 face value bag of quarters for $15,600 and a bag of $1,000 face value halves for $15,700.
Here is the link for more of the story.
http://numismaticnews.net/article/Veteran_coin_dealer_sees_gold_at_1500/
Another Photo From the SedwickCoins Auction Catalog.You might recall that in the past I posted photos of a Lima Star half reale found on the beach near Jupiter Inlet that looks very much like this one. It is not from the same die, but the design is very similar.
This example shows the star to the right of the "S" in the monogram. I had been looking for examples like that.
Again, you can learn a lot from browsing the auction catalog.
Forecast and Conditions.
The surf is about four feet today with winds out of the north. 7 foot seas are still predicted for Wednesday. I don't like how the predictions are shaping up and am afraid that they might be dwindling. Hopefully, we'll actually see those seven foot seas. Combined with high tides and north/northeast winds it still looks promising, even if I am a bit worried about those predictions holding.
There is a storm in the northeast Caribbean. I suspect that is what is supposed to cause the rough seas as it heads this way. It doesn't look like it will develop into anything much stronger.
The next couple of days should tell the story.
Happy Hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
