Monday, June 22, 2020

6/22/20 Report - Metal Detecting Clues On Old Postcards. Good Article on Fenn Treasure. Couple Other Things.


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

Newly Found Cream Bottle.

This is a one pint cream bottle.  It would have been nicer if it had the dairy name on it.

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Here is the beginning of a good long article on the Fenn treasure hunt.

Sacha Dent, 39, checked the weather before packing up her bag, preparing for a treasure hunt that could end in a prize of an estimated $2 million. Looking at the radar, checking wind direction, precipitation levels and humidity, Dent took it all into account for her 300 trips into New Mexico's wilderness. After following the temperatures in the mountains for weeks, making sure the ground had thawed out but that the snowmelt wasn't flooding the creeks, she went out to investigate her theory of needing a sunny day to cast her shadow on the hidden treasure.

For more than a decade, treasure estimated to be worth at least $2 million sat tucked away in a crevice of the Rocky Mountains, its location known only to one man until a new pair of eyes glanced quickly down.

Forrest Fenn, an art collector and millionaire, had been diagnosed with kidney cancer in the late 1980s, and doctors' prognosis gave him little chance of beating it. Fenn loaded some of his antiquities on hand into an ornate, antique bronze lockbox of Romanesque design, locking gold, jewels and other artifacts inside. He had originally planned to have his remains interred with the treasure, to be hidden until someone stumbled upon them both...,


And here is the link for the rest of the article.  It is a pretty long article - and interesting.

https://news.yahoo.com/treasure-hunter-used-weather-clues-115957869.html

As I said yesterday, some people are skeptical about the finding of the Fenn treasure.  Hoax or not, a lot of people had a good long treasure hunt out of it.

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Here are a couple mid-20th century postcards showing views of Daytona Beach.  Notice where the cars are parked, the big hotels and sites are, and how wide the beach is.  Those things can all be clues for metal detecting the beach.

The amphitheatre shown below is near the top of the above photo.  In the bottom photo there are it looks like way more cars are parking to the north.  You can also see some nice rips in the beach in the second photo.


Not long ago I received an email from somebody suggesting postcards as a research tool.  You can find pictures of old beaches or locations that were tourists spots in years gone by.  It isn't easy to find a Florida beach that is abandoned today, but there are a few, and there are also beaches that are definitely different today than they were in the past.  Some Florida beaches had casinos in the early 20th century.  Those beaches, when conditions are right, can still turn up some nice old coins and tokens.  When I was detecting Virginia Key it was very much run down. . In the days of segregation is was a colored beach, like John Brooks.  I found a lot of 1940s and 1950s silver coins there along a stretch that was overgrown and abandoned at the time.  Virginia Key has been renovated since then though.  By the way, Virginia Key produced some nice shipwreck items.

On Key Biscayne there was an area that was overgrown and almost nobody detected that part of the beach, yet when it eroded it produced tons of old coins and jewelry.  From old maps and other evidence, I believe that great detecting spot was once a prime area for visitors.

Beaches do change, you can sometimes find coins and things from earlier days where not many people would bother to detect.  Some old areas are not used as much any more, and some busy areas become less favored for one reason or another.  Postcards can show you what was going on at such locations at a given time in the past.  You can sometimes see where snack bars, water sport concessions or volleyball courts were in the past.  You will be able to see where the beach was in the old days.  Both nature and man can change beaches dramatically.

Here is an 1950s  linen postcard that provides some metal detecting clues.  It shows the bridge over the Peace River at Arcadia.  As you know, the Peace River produces a lot of fossils, and as I recently posted, some old Spanish coins as well.  Arcadia is an old town.


The focal point is the bridge, but that isn't the only clue.  A lot of things probably got dropped off the bridge over the years.  Not only can you fossil hunt below the bridge, but you might also magnet fish or look for old bottles and other things under the bridge.  But that there is another clue.

Notice where the person is.  I'd check out that spot too.  It is probably easily accessible and could be an interesting spot to metal detect.  If one person found it attractive, so probably did many others.

There are a lot of ways you might find old postcards useful.  I'll show some other examples in the coming days.

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Sherman W., who did a lot of bottle digging in California, since he came to Florida has been into postcards and recommended Cherryland auctions for that sort of thing, but he'd also like to know if anyone could help him install a part that he received for a Whites metal detector.

Here is what he said.

Well the reason I am sending this note is I have a Whites detector that had a bad connection, i got the part about 2 years ago. i need help putting the thing back togather. do you know anyone here in PSL that can help me? 

If you can help Sherman, please contact him at the following email address.

TheWalners@comcast.net


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There is now a disturbance off of Virginia that has a 40% chance of developing into a cyclone in the next 48 hours.  Tropical disturbances are starting to pop up more frequently these days.

On the Treasure Coast we have a good small summer surf.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net