Thursday, February 10, 2011

2/10/11 Report - Titanium Finds.



1 Oz. Titanium Bullion Bar.

A bar like this can be purchased for a little under $7.00 at current prices.


Things fall from the sky all the time. I saw a TV show the other day where a meteor fell in a small town and everyone was running around picking up the pieces and selling them to collectors who came to town to buy the pieces. Some people were getting thousands of dollars for the pieces that they found.

But were you aware of the range of space debris that has been found and can be found? I wasn't. Occasionally some big identifiable structures fall to earth when pieces of satellites or rockets return to earth.

Here is a fascinating article that shows a bunch of different types of space debris that has been found, and some of it is really fantastic.

http://search.aol.com/aol/search?query=space+shuttle+challenger+debris+field+map+metal+found&s_it=keyword_rollover


And here are photos of a couple of large pieces of the Challenger that were found along the beach.

http://search.aol.com/aol/search?query=debris+from+space+shuttle+challenger+beach&s_it=keyword_rollover

Next time you find a metal sphere on the beach, you might think twice about what it might be. It might be from outer space instead of the ocean.


I've received a number of reports of people finding pieces of titanium from the Challenger space shuttle on the Treasure Coast this year. Here is one that I found a couple of days ago.




If you want to know how to identify titanium, here is a web site that tells how to do it.

http://mrtitanium.info/2008/03/17/how-to-tell-if-a-piece-of-metal-is-really-titanium/


There are other reasons to be able to identify titanium these days. Titanium is used for a lot of applications. Everything from wheelchairs and bicycles to wedding rings.

That's right. Titanium is being used in jewelry. If you find a ring that doesn't test gold or silver, it might be titanium.

I found a large man's ring made of titanium on the Treasure Coast beach a couple of weeks ago.

Also, did you know that Ballard used a bathyscaph made of titanium to explore the Titanic? He did.

Titanium isn't a very expensive metal. You can find current prices online.

Since it is just a bit heavier than aluminum it is found with lighter materials such as aluminum rather than with silver and gold.

Since titanium is being used more in jewelry now and since it has been showing up on the beaches in other forms, I thought I'd spend some time making sure you know something about it.

I'd still like to hear comments on the mystery object I showed yesterday.


Forecast and Conditions.

The wind is from the west today and the seas are beginning to build a little. Although I don't expect conditions to improver much, the seas are going to increase to around 4.5 feet tomorrow, which should help stir things up a bit.


Happy hunting.
TreasureGuide@comcast.net