Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
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| Lead Ball Found by Ed W. |
Ed W. sent me some pictures of items. This lead ball was one of them. I don't know the size, but it looks like it could be a musket ball. You can see the mould seem clearly. It was obviously never used.
Some musket ball finds are old but some musket balls are brand new. You might wonder why a musket ball would be new. They do still make them now. Some that I've found were found where battle reenactments took place.
This one is nice and crisp and does not show the white patina that is typically seen on old musket balls that have been in the sand for a long time. I don't know the history of this one and won't attempt to guess the age. All I know about it is the picture.
Ed also sent me a photo of a bottle which you can see below. It seems to be a flask. Unlike the musket ball, I can see a bunch of scratches on it. It looks like it was dug up.
Mould seams often provide good diagnostic information.
Notice the seam on this bottle. It looks like the seam goes all the way to the top of the bottle. The more recent the bottle, the higher the seam will go.
The photos are very good.
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| Bottle Photo Submitted by Ed W. |
For good closeups you need a camera that will focus close. Some don't.
Another thing is the lighting. As I was discussing with somebody the other day, I think natural sun light at morning or evening works best.
For coins, turn the item at all different angles in the sun light. You'll see the details pop when you get the sun to hit the coin or other item at the right angle.
Taking a picture of a coin with a flash will not show the detail well when the flash is mounted on the camera and the coin is at a 90 degree angle to the camera lens. The light will reflect directly back at the lens, blurring the details.
Just a few personal observations on taking photos of finds.
I listened to a podcast created by Jon M. the other night. He had a microphone on his hat and was talking while he was in the water detecting. That was different. I found it interesting. It is sort of like radio. You can listen while you do something else. You could hear the background noise of the wind and water and everything going on - even the jingle of a ring in the bottom of his scoop.
Here is the link.
http://www.letstalkmetaldetectingandtreasurehunting.com/
The other day I was looking at some old detecting records written in pen on old yellow tablet paper and noticed one day in particular.
Here is how the records read.
2/4 Nautilus 571
- gold blue sapphire ring,
- 2 gold ear rings
- gold signet ring (SC) [ below new play equipment on beach]
- gold black pearl and diamond ring (14K)
- silver and turquoise ring [ middle picnic area just S. of walkover]
- silver love knot ring
- silver and turquoise ring
- gold religious charm
- 2 gold class rings
- 14K band [S. picnic area by life guard station]
The area description follows the finds made at that location. There were three slightly different locations on the same beach described in the records where finds were made
That was 9 gold items dug in a four hour period.
The next day (2/6) resulted in a good number of gold items too.
Finds at that location seemed to taper off gradually over a period of about eight days.
I recommend keeping detecting records for reasons that I've discussed in the past.
Remnants of Chantal are floating around in the Gulf and in the Atlantic. There are two disturbed areas that show some small chance of additional development. I'd guess they won't produce anything significant for the Treasure Coast.
The surfing web sites are showing more of the same - south/southwest winds. Surf at 1 - 2 feet until Tuesday, then picking up to 2 - 3 feet.
That won't change anything much.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
