7/24/16 Report - Found On Treasure Coast: Gold Finger Bar? Ivanka Trump's Earring Found and Returned. Creative Problem Solving For Treasure Hunting.

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

Unidentified Treasure Coast Find.
Submitted by Bernie C.

Bernie says it looks like it could possibly be gold, and he is going to have it tested to determine the metal content.

Gold usually does not have a crust like that, but I have found tumbaga items that did have some very similar darkening on parts of the surface.

Tumbaga is an alloy of copper and gold, and sometimes with significant amounts of other metals. The amount of gold can be fairly small in tumbaga. If I correctly recall, the Inca had a method that drew more pure gold to the surface of alloyed items.

Many of the gold items found by the early conquistadors in South America was tumbaga.

---

College Student Returned Ivanka Trump's  Earring.

The earring shown above was found at the convention center after the convention.  The college student used twitter to arrange for the earring's return.

Here is the link.

http://www.people.com/article/ivanka-trump-lost-earring-college-student-twitter-found

---

I often try to encourage creative thinking and creative solutions for treasure hunting.

While enjoyable, the purpose of metal detecting is to find things  The goal for most people is not metal detecting.

There are some characteristics of metal detecting that make it addicting.  I believe the rhythmic repetitive action, active awareness, curiosity and element of mystery or surprise of every dug target all adds to the addictive nature.


Did you ever hear of the nine dots puzzle?   The puzzle involves nine dots arranged in the shape of a box.  You are supposed to connect the nine dots with the smallest number of lines.

Here is what the puzzle looks like before it is solved.

How many lines does it take to connect the dots?

Probably fewer than you might have thought at first.

Here is one solution.

That required four lines.  Did you think of that?

Most people do not come up with that solution.  Why?

They work inside the area defined by the dots.   That is not necessary.

To say it very uncreatively, they did not think outside the box.

There is actually a much more simple solution.  You can connect all of the dots with one line.  Who said the lines have to be straight? You can connect the dots with one curved line.

That is just one way of showing how people accept unnecessary limitations, and work inside the box.

One of the biggest obstacles to finding really creative solutions is being overly influenced by what everybody else is doing.

Minimize your starting assumptions.  For example, you might think you need a better metal detector. But is metal detecting the goal?  Finding items is the goal for most of you, not metal detecting.

Once you back up and define the problem better - finding stuff rather than metal detecting - you open up a lot of additional possibilities.

There are times when dredging might be a better approach.  And there are times when sifting might be a better approach.

I've used a Merkitch sifter on a beach and found it to be very effective.  In some situations sifting is more effective than metal detecting.

Pulling a sifter is a lot of work, and somehow not as addictive as metal detecting.  It is also not very good for the deep targets and can be impossible in wet packed sand.  You will find thin chains and non-metallic items that you could very easily miss with a detector.   Here is the fun part.  It can be done on beaches where detecting is not allowed

Is the goal to make a better mouse trap, or to get rid of mice?  How you define the problem has a lot to do with how creative you can be with solutions.

Again, is the goal to metal detect, or is the goal to find stuff?   Is the goal to scoop, or is the goal to recover targets?

Have you ever thought about training an otter or seal to dive and retrieve odd items, especially shiny things?  I have.

The Navy has trained porpoises to assist lost swimmers and locate submerged mines.

It is always easier to fall in line and do what other people are doing.  There is certainly a time for that, but making a creative break-through of your own can be a lot of fun and very profitable.

I enjoy thinking about other ways of doing things. You won't come up with a great idea everyday. Really creative solutions are rare treasures, but don't be afraid to consider wild ideas. Despite the rarity of great new ideas, there are always better ways to do things.  If you don't always follow the pack, you just might be the one to come up with the next great idea.


---

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net