Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
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| Heavily Corroded Silver Medallion After Some Cleaning. |
This silver medallion was heavily corroded, but after a lot of careful cleaning shows much of the detail. The back is more heavily corroded than the front and unfortunately shows no marks or details.
You can see the stub where the loop broke off at the top.
You can see some writing at the right side of the photo. It says Apostle.
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| Silver Medallion Find After Some Cleaning. |
It was found in an area with other items, including cobs, presumed to be from a 1715 wreck, but the spelling "apostle" is an English spelling. "Apostol" would be the Spanish spelling, and "apostolus" the Latin spelling. The conclusion might be that the medallion has nothing to do with the wreck or the cobs that were found nearby. That conclusion could be correct, but it might not be either.
There are many ways that things from different countries or cultures and different wrecks can get intermingled. Beach finds, in particular, get mixed around over the years and centuries, so items from different times and sources can end up in the same area. But there are other possibilites.
Trade did take place despite attempts to prevent it. When people are in need, they do what they have to, so trade is always a possibility. But also remember that the wrecks were big events that drew native populations, pirates and others. There are a variety of ways that items from various sources could end up together on a beach that has been churning for many years.
I said before that I was going to talk about the Winter Beach camp. Douglas R. Armstrong wrote a book, The Winter Beach Salvage Camp (Signum Ops, 2012) in which explorations of the camp are decribed. Here is a brief description from that book. "The campsite was found to run for nearly 125 meters along the beach dune line and extends westward into the woods for another 30 meters. A second camp, slightly newer and apparently occupied by 18th cenetury British treasure hunters, is located some 90 meters to the south of the encampment area...."
The British camp was smaller and set back a bit farther from the beach. It was created later - possibly somewhere around 1780.
The British camp contains items apparently salvaged from the 1715 wreck along with later items from the time of the British camp. So you have items from at least two different times and sources or events intermingled. That is not to mention earlier and subsequent native activities, and who knows how many more. My conclusion is that the medallion could have been on the ship, although that appears less likely, or it could have come from the time of the British salvage effort or some other wreck-related events, but it could also have absolutely no relationship to the wreck at all. The age and source is impossible to determine precisely, although judging from the amount of corrosion, it looks like it has been out there for quite a while. Perhaps additional research will help narrow down the age or history of the item.
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60th Regiment of Foot buttons were found at the site of the British camp. The 60th was stationed at St. Augustine around the time of the Revolutionary War. The regiment was formed in 1757, so we can figure that the British camp dates to at least 42 years after the wrecking of the fleet and possibly as many as eighty or more years after.
The regiment was intended to combine the characteristics of a colonial corps with those of a foreign legion. Swiss and German forest fighting experts, American colonists and British volunteers from other British regiments were recruited. These men were Protestants, an important consideration for fighting against the predominantly Catholic French. The officers were also recruited from Europe – not from the American colonies – and consisted of English, Scots, Irish, Dutch, Swiss and Germans. It was the first time foreign officers were commissioned as British Army officers. The total regiment consisted of 101 officers, 240 non-commissioned officers and 4,160 enlisted men. The battalions were raised on Governors Island, New York. The regiment was renumbered the 60th (Royal American) Regiment in February 1757 when the 50th (Shirley’s) and 51st (Pepperel’s) foot regiments were removed from the British Army roll after their surrender at Fort Oswego.
Now we know that the 60th Regiment of Foot included recruits and officers from many countries as well as the colonies, so that additionally expands the sources and types of items that might be intermingled around a wreck and camp site.
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Remember you can find Bill P's instructions for using Muriatic acid to clean silver items in my reference link list. Also you will find instructions for tumbling items by using the same link.
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| Source: MagicSeaWeed.com. |
It looks like the surf will be in the 2 - 4 foot range for a few days. We are getting big tides now though.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
