Wednesday, April 17, 2013

4/17/13 Report - Armour Pierceing Cannon Ball from the Mary Rose, 1914 D Penny to Look For, & Tracking Treasure



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


Photo From the Current Issue of The Telegraph.
See link below.
The 150-foot Mary Rose sank in 1545 during a battle with the French, killing 500 sailors on board.

Layers of silt preserved the ship until it was salvaged in 1982.

A museum for the ship will open later this year presenting thousands of artifacts that were salvaged.

A lead cannonball from the Mary Rose was found to contain an iron core.  That was discovered when the lead cannonballs began to rust.  Imaging technology revealed the iron cores.

It is not yet known if the iron was used because it was cheaper or more convenient or if it was used to created an armour-piercing round.

Here is the link to learn more about the Mary Rose and the mystery cannon balls.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/archaeology/9991936/Mary-Rose-reveals-armour-piercing-cannonball-secret.html



Not long ago I mentioned the Winter Beach salvage camp.  It was first used by Spanish salvagers immediately after the 1715 Fleet disaster, then by pirates or marauders, and eventually was then hunted for a few decades by treasure hunters and archaeologists before being built over for a private dwelling.

During the legendary Thanksgiving storm four feet or more eroded from the front of the dunes at Winter Beach and artifacts spilled onto the beach.  Some of the items that came out of the dunes, I am sure, ended up back in the ocean.

When you are hunting, it is always helpful if you can tell where items are coming from and where they are going to.  If you can figure that out, you'll know where to spend more time detecting.

Occasionally you'll find concentrations of burnt old nails.  When you find a good concentration of burnt nails, there is a chance that they came from the dunes where shipwreck wood was used for campfires.  You might be able to tell that they were burnt.  As the face of the dunes erodes, they will then sometimes end up on the beach. 

I just gave you one more reason why I dig junk.  Even nails can tell you something important and can help you "track" treasure.

If you dig enough old stuff, even if you don't appreciate touching history, and I think most of us do, eventually you'll hit something especially interesting. 



There is at least one penny worth $250 in circulation.   It is a 1914 D that it seems one fellow spent by mistake. 

If you find the penny and take it to the Georgia Numismatic Coin Show, which will be held April 19 - 21, you will receive $250 when the penny is authenticated.

If you find any other genuine 1914 D penny, they'll help you find a buyer for it.

http://daltondailycitizen.com/local/x437162639/Theres-a-penny-worth-250-out-there

Sometimes you wonder how rare or old coins get in circulation.  I guess that sometimes they are just mistakenly spent. 


Yesterday I showed a photo of Robert K. using a gold dredge.  Three thousand owners of dredge permits in California can't use their gold dredges until the state decides what the new regulations should be.

http://www.newser.com/story/166230/miners-fight-for-right-to-vacuum-up-gold-in-rivers.html


Today the surf on the Treasure Coast is running around 2 - 3 feet.  Mostly the wind is from the East.

The surf will decrease just a little the next few days.

Low tide this evening will be around 8 PM.

Even though beach detecting conditions remain poor, there are still some places where you can find some old iron and other common artifacts.

Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net