10/14/13 Report - Finds - Melted Silver, Copper, Fossils, and More

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

Dug Melted Silver Pieces.

My 10/7/13 post talked about melted metals that you might dig up on a beach and showed a couple of pieces of melted lead that were found on Treasure Coast beaches.

In that post I also mentioned that melted silver has been dug on Treasure Coast shipwreck beaches too.  I said I would get some photos to show.

Here are some photos of a couple of very small melted pieces.  

The piece on the right is about the shape of a Hersey's Kiss, while the other looks like it was clipped from a small disc-shaped splash.

Same Silver Pieces From Another Angle.

The piece on the left looks like it was clipped twice by shears.  The shear marks are clear.

The other piece shows the bottom.  You can see the texture of the surface it was melted on.

Both of these are very small and the source is indeterminate.

They were acid tested to be silver.  The small piece shows the black patina typical of a beach cob.

Below are some splash ingots salvaged from the Conception that are included in the current SedwickCoins auction.

Unlike the tiny bits shown above, the combined weight pf these is over 84 pounds.

Here is the complete auction description.

Huge clump of 20+ small silver contraband "splash" ingots and one Mexican cob 8 reales, Philip IV, assayer P, 84 lb 4 oz troy, from the Concepcion (1641), ex-Tiffany's (1981). Roughly 6" x 4" x 3". Like all Spanish galleons, the Concepcion was carrying contraband in the form of small, unmarked silver ingots, and this unique clump shows maybe a couple dozen of them, neatly piled like pancakes and frozen together by coral and encrustation, the top few lightly polished for promotional display soon after recovery in 1978, the display made even more impressive by the appearance of a single coin of the kind found by the thousands on this wreck, a nice one with full oMP and denomination. Since the modern finds from this wreck lacked any gold or artifacts to speak of, this clump is probably the most valuable item possible to own from the Concepcion. From the Concepcion (1641).


Below is a photo of some nice recent Treasure Coast finds by William M, including shells, coins, fossils, and copper.  Way to go William!

Treasure Coast Finds and Photos by William M.

He said they came from a section of a beach that showed some remains of a cut that was in the process of filling.

A few days ago I mentioned some nice cuts and that they were only found in spots.



We seem to be stuck with a 2 - 3 foot surf for a while.  Also high low tides.

Most any erosion you are able to find will probably be partly filled.  That doesn't mean there won't be anything to be found, as William proves.

There are no storms or anything resembling one out there now.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net