4/16/12 Report - Beaches Good Enough To Be Interesting While Conditions for Finding Cobs Remains Poor

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

One Treasure Coast Beach This Morning.

As you can see this beach had a lot of seaweed.  There was also a lot of sand piled up here. 

Different beaches were very different this morning.  I found it interesting.  You could look up and down the beach and see spots that were distinctly different.

There were some nice shell piles  containing light materials such as shards, zinc pennies etc.  I always like to look though the shell piles for the variety of items.  Shell piles generally aren't any good for finding old cobs though.  They are often good for finding other types of artifacts though -  shards, wood, copper sheeting and things like that.

I didn't bother detecting the seaweed beach at all.

Another Treasure Coast Beach This Morning.

Here is a better looking beach.  Notice the dip near the top of the photo.

I found a silver ring by the dip.  I had to walk a few hundred yards to get there.  I could see the dip that far away and walked down there because it looked promising.  I guess I'll show some finds, maybe tomorrow.

Look for dips that have a steep beach and a cut above the cut.  Items from the cut will be found below the cut near the dip.

A dip was forming here between the sand bar and the beach.

There was enough variety on the beaches to keep it interesting.

And a Third.

Here is a third beach, and it was different too.

There were actully some  two foot cuts here.  They were not the best cuts in the world, but enough to check.

I haven't said this for a while, and there are always new readers to this blog, but my beach conditions rating scale tells the likelihood of finding old ship wreck cobs.  That is the intent of the rating scale.

You can have decent conditions for finding modern era items while conditions for finding old shipwreck items remains poor.   They aren't the same. 

It generally takes a lot more to improve conditions for finding cobs and other heavier old items that aren't often exposed by moderate movements of sand.

Modern era items often are in the surface layers of sand, and it takes them a while to work down into deeper layers.

It is worth taking a look at finds to try to detemine how long they have been on the beach or in the water.  If all you are finding is recent drops that don't show any evidence of having been on the beach for a while, that is not a good sign for finding cobs.

The longer your finds have been on the beach, the better are the chances of finding even older items and possibly some cobs.

Finds by Bernie C. From a Short Hunt Sunday.

He was hunting the low tide zone near a good line of shells.

When you get onto a good line like that, work it thoroughly.  You never know what might pop up.

Among other things, Bernie's finds included four rings (2 silver) and a couple of knives.

Thanks for the report and photo Bernie.

I always like to browse through the shell lines, especially when they are composed of larger and heavier shells and stones.

In response to my question concerning the marks on the silver cross that I showed Saturday, Joan T. sent in this web site link which is very good for researching silver maker marks.

http://www.925-1000.com/

Real interesting and useful site.

By the way, the photo of that cross was as detailed as it can be.  It shows as much detail as I can see under any lighting conditions in person.   Many of the letters are just barely legible.   Did you notice the strange little symbol beside the diamond shaped one and the line of letters?  

And the little anchor I showed yesterday, James F. says is from a key chain.   He sent me a photo of a very similar one.   Thanks James.


The wind and swells are out of the southeast.  The seas will slowly decrease daily into next weekend.

I'd continue to check the low tide zone.  Conditions remain poor for finding cobs, but good enough to be interesting for modern items.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net