House of Refuge.I mentioned the House of Refuge yesterday. The picture above is an older view shown in a vintage postcard.
Old postcards can provide good detecting clues. They can show how an area has changed and what was at that location in the past.
One of my favorite hunting areas down south was a beach that was once popular, then abandoned and then recently redeveloped.
Also notice the rocks in the picture. They create traps for small heavy objects like coins or nuggets.
Shell Pile on Treasure Coast Beach Yesterday. Not all shell piles are the same. Most of the time you will only find light stuff like aluminum or other junk in shell piles. Sometimes shell piles are worth eye-balling because sometimes they'll contain fossils or pot shards or other light objects.
This particular shell pile was a bit different. It was higher and more concentrated. It also had a pile of large rocks in the middle.
Although it had the typical light aluminum close to the surface it also held some heavier metal objects buried in the deeper area with the large rocks.
Old Spike Found in Pile of Shells.I guess I should have used a different background. This spike is partly encrusted, but you can see the head and part of the spike. It is about twice as long as what is seen in the photo.
The encrustation that covered the head was already broken off when I found it. I didn't do any cleaning to it yet.
My main point here is not the object found but that a heavy older object like this can be found sometimes in a pile of shells.
The piece of copper shown below was found just a couple feet from the spike. You can see that it has been tumbled and is now shiny on the outside while the green patina remains on the inside surfaces.
I think you get the point that if pieces like these can be found in a pile of shells, it would be just as possible for a nice artifact to be found in the same type of shell pile.
Piece of Copper Found in Pile of Shells.Again, not all shell piles will hold heavier metal objects like these. This particular shell pile was a bit unusual. Nonetheless, it does show that it might sometimes be worth detecting shell piles.
A Chinese vase found in an attic recently was sold at auction for 83 million dollars. It was probably brought to England after the Second Opium War.
Here is the link for the rest of the story.
http://www.helium.com/items/2012535-vase-found-in-attic-goes-for-83-million-at-auction
Don't break a leg running up the stairs to the attic.
Forecast and Conditions.
Tomorrow seas will be peaking at about 5.5 feet. The wind is from the southeast and the low tide will be around noon.
Conditions won't be great but I'd still be checking the low tide areas for items left over from last weekend. Also it might be worth looking for some of the spots that aren't detected much that might have little washouts that haven't been thoroughly hunted.
I have a lot more to talk about but will hold it for tomorrow.
In the mean time,
Happy Hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
