Tuesday, November 19, 2013

11/19/13 - Storm Melissa, Cob With Bourban Shield, Encrusted Object, and Beach Conditions


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

One-Reale Found on a Treasure Coast Beach
Here is the shield side of the one-reale that I showed a few days ago.  Approximately half of the top part of the shield is shown on this dug one-reale.

By inspecting the shield the date range of the cob can be narrowed down to a period of five years despite no date or assayer mark showing.

The cob would be minted 1715 or before because it came from a 1715 Fleet beach.

The shield is a Bourban shield with the Bourban crest covering the castle of the lower right quadrant.  That design began in 1710.  Therefore the cob most likely was minted in the range of 1710 - 1715.

Here is a picture of a four reale showing a similar shield, although the four reales was minted in 1719.  I selected this particular four-reales because it shows most of the details very clearly.

1719 Four Reales Shown for Comparison.

Since the shield on the one-reale is not real clear, I attempted to highlight some of the major details below.

Same One-Reale with Highlighted Details.
In the highlighted photo to the left, you can see the cross towards the upper left.  The three circles show where the castle and two lions are shown.

To the right of the cross, you see the vertical lines and then more to the right, the X which separates the two birds.

Below the vertical lines is the Bourban crest.  I didn't take it up quite far enough.  The three diamonds in the crest are the positions of the three fleur de lis.

My highlights are not totally accurate, but I hope that helped you more easily identify some of the features of the shield that can be seen on the cob.

Below are a couple of photos of an encrusted object dug by William M.

Encrusted Object Containing Smaller Object.
Photo by William M.

William said,

Just starting on the smallest of the three pieces on that stone.

It unfortunately is very delicate and pieces have come off.


It appears to be an earring made of silver in a lace type design with a white stone in the center.


You can see the silver (black) in the middle of this encrustation and the white stone in the middle of that.

A lot of people might miss EOs or not pay them any attention.  They can hold things though and you never know what.

It can be difficult to find out what is in an EO and just as difficult to remove it.  Sometimes it might be better to leave it embedded.

Other Larger Objects in the EO.
Photo by William M.

These appear to be round.  Maybe coins?   I don't know.  Maybe William will be able to find out.


There is a named storm in the Atlantic - Melissa.  It is already well to the north of us and headed out into the Atlantic.

Although the surf has decreased, as has my beach conditions rating (down to a 2), the prediction is for the surf to increase up to seven feet for Thursday now.

That could certainly be enough to improve conditions again, especially if the wind starts coming in from the north again, which is what is predicted.

It has been a very interesting November so far.

Again, when things calm down again, and I hope they don't, I'll conduct a poll or two to see how much was found.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net