Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
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| One Small Cob Found This Week on Treasure Coast |
A few days ago I showed the other side of this cob that was found this week. You could clearly see the cross and could tell that it was a Mexican minted cob.
At that time I couldn't see any detail on the other side except for part of the circle of dots. That side had sand on it, and I didn't think there would be any other visible details.
I used muriatic acid for a short time to remove the encrusted sand, and was surprised by the results. After just a little cleaning, the OM became clearly visible. You can see that in the photo to the right.
If you draw a line from the center of the M up through the center of the O, you will see the "7" of the date. To the right of that you will see a clear "1," and to the left, if it wasn't for a little sand, you would see another clear "1." That sand evidently was loose and obscured the first 1 when I took the picture. I saw that "1" very clearly before taking the photo.
One other interesting detail that I'll have to look up is to the left of the OM. You'll see a dot there to the right of the dots that would make a circle around the coin. That may be a known feature. Or maybe not.
This cob weighs only 1 gram. That is under weight, but not unusual. Some were minted light, but many have lost material do to wear and tear in the ocean for 300 years.
I'm sure there are still a few more cobs to be found around the Treasure Coast right now even though the wind decreased last night. I've been surprised by how few detectorists I've seen the last few days.
I expect detecting conditions on the Treasure Coast to decrease slowly over the next few days, but not rapidly, and if you hunt some of the secondary spots, you still have a fair chance of coming up with a nice find. I've seen a little evidence of beach building at a few beaches, but it seems to be slow.
There were also some spots holding a good number of US coins yesterday. While you might not be targeting those, when you find good areas of accumulation, it is worth working because there is a good chance of something else popping up in the middle of those coins.
I worked a coin line close to the water for a while yesterday. The line was not tight. It was spread out a bit.
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| Coins Found Yesterday. |
These coins aren't what you are looking for, but they do tell you something. First, you can see that they hae been out there long enough to have turned color. That is a good sign. It tells you that items are being uncovered.
They all have the same brown/green patina. That means they probably have a similar history and probably also the same source.
If you can figure out the source of a group of items like this, you'll have good information about what the beach is doing and that will help you know where to detect.
Ask yourself have they been in the sand and were they just uncovered? Were they washed up out of the water? Or what?
I was finding some of these in loose shell sand right at the edge of the water. It is not real common for coins to cluster in such loose shifting sand. I'd say they were in transition, had just been uncovered after being buried in sand and were on their way into the water.
I've described coin lines before. They can appear at any level below erosion. This time they were very low on the beach and very close to the water.
I'm keeping my Treasure Coast Beach Detecting Rating at a 2, and expect that to decrease some time in the near future.
The tide and surf will determine how quickly it will decrease, if that is indeed what it does.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
