7/19/19 Report - Latest 1715 Fleet Finds . 16th Century Florida Artifacts. Detecting a Battle Site.

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

Reales Recently Salvaged by Captain Jonah and the Crew of the Bottomline.

Photo submitted by Jonah Martinez.

Captain Jonah said these new reales were found in areas that had previously been worked over, and that just goes to show how much treasure remains to be found from the 1715 Fleet.

Thanks Jonah!

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16th century artifacts are being uncovered by archaeologists on private property in St. Augustine at a construction site.

Included are ceramics, a lock, and items from a print shop.

“We have found evidence of the print shop. We found at least four typesets, newsprint typesets, which is pretty cool. ... I think we found an N, and a C and an H,” White said.

Here is the link.

https://www.staugustine.com/news/20190717/centuries-old-ceramics-other-artifacts-found-at-st-augustine-construction-

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DJ sent me a link to an excellent report on the Custer battle site.  It provides some excellent insight for detectorists, including the use of historic topographic maps and metal detectors.  Here are just three paragraphs from a report that you might find very interesting.

A preliminary assessment of various historic maps was conducted to determine which may be the most reliable in depicting the 1876 river channel. The method involved georeferencing the historic maps to the modern topographic and aerial photography and establishing a root mean square error calculation. This objective analysis was coupled with a subjective analysis of the river channel and terrain features depicted on the subject map. A preliminary assessment of the historic maps suggests that Maguire Map 8 and the Norris map have potential to aid in sorting out the 1876 river channel if used judiciously. The 1883 Blake map may show the river meanders most accurately in the area of the Custer field than other maps preceding or post-dating it. The 1891 topographic map seems to be generally correct except for the location of the southernmost oxbow at Custer field, which is the one currently threaten by erosion.

The absence of metal in the detectable range and the preliminary assessment of the historic maps suggest the oxbows are not likely to contain archeological evidence of the battle.  However, no formal geomorphological investigation of the river channel, abandoned river channels, or the oxbows has been undertaken to date. It is recommended, before determining if additional mitigation measures are required a professional geomorphological study of the river channel is done. Such a study has the potential to posit chronological changes in the riverbed and more accurately define the 1876 channel, as well as determine if historic surfaces may still exist as buried soil horizons.

Since field time permitted a more formal test of the capability of the VLF and PI metal detectors was undertaken. Two previously inventoried areas were redetected. One test area encompassed a known warrior fighting position and the other was a known soldier position. Each area yielded additional artifacts.  Fifty-seven percent of the artifacts were not battle-related, 43% were battle related, 90% were found by the VLF machines, and 10% were found by the PI metal detector alone. The test indicates the 1984 sample strategy was sound in that it did recover a representative sample of the range of artifact types present.  The PI metal detector did find about 10% more than the VLF machines. Most of those items were either deeper than the capability of the VLF machines or were items that were very small and were missed by the VLF machines. The test grids indicate the PI metal detector has the potential to increase artifact recovery in areas where materials may include very small or deeply buried artifacts.

https://www.friendslittlebighorn.com/LittleBighornOxbowArcheologicalReport.pdf

Not long ago I encouraged the use of topographic maps to determine changes in the beach over the  years and decades.  That can tell you how the beach has been changing, including where it has been building and eroding over a period of time.  That kind of information will tell you a lot about where targets of different time periods might be found.  If done well, it can give you an idea of how deep to expect old targets in various areas.

As you can see, the article discussed the relative effectiveness of different types of detectors.  Although interesting, I wouldn't draw too many conclusions from that.  A lot depends upon how the detectors were used.  That is as important or more important than the capabilities of the detector.

In any case, I think you'll find the article interesting.

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(CNN)A heat wave is expected for much of the eastern half of the US in the coming days -- and it has the potential to be deadly.

More than 130 million Americans are under a heat watch, warning or advisory, with the heat index expected to reach 115 degrees in some areas. The widespread heat wave will hit its peak Friday and Saturday with dozens of records possible...

https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/18/us/heat-wave-survival-tips-wxc-trnd/index.html

Take stay hydrated and take precautions to avoid heat related illness.  

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A one to two foot surf is expected for the next few days on the Treasure Coast.

There is currently not tropical cyclone activity in the area.

Happy hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net

7/13/19 Report - New 1715 Fleet Finds Being Made. Mystery Button for ID. Putting the Puzzle Together. Tropical Storm.

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

Crew of the Bottomline Salvage Vessel 

Finding Treasure Off The Treasure Coast.

I got a couple photos of brand new 1715 Fleet finds from Captain Jonah Martinez.  Jonah is working on the Bottomline this year.  Here is an eight and some four-reales that they've found.

Reales Recently Found by Crew of the Bottomline.

Congratulations!

Thanks Jonah.

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Here is a two piece button bearing a lion and crown.  I'd like help if anyone can identify it.

Unidentified Two Piece Button Find.

The back of this button is missing, but the front is in good condition.

It is just a little less than 3/4 an inch across.

Any help is appreciated.

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Putting Together the Pieces of the Puzzle.

Yesterday I showed what I think is a piece of soldier art.  That is one piece of a puzzle.  I think it is a very interesting piece, but yet it is only one piece.

The puzzle is of one place and time in history.  A lot of the pieces are there.  I showed the island, the landscape, the fort, where the cannon were, and some of the other things found there, including some buttons that tell us some of the regiments that were there.

On the island you can still see some of the stone walls where the parts of old buildings still stand.  You can see the paths that were undoubtedly the same paths used hundreds of years ago.  And we can read much of the history of the island, including about the battle.

That is a land site that hasn't changed much.  Relics can be found at about the same place where they were dropped.  That is one of the advantages of land sites that haven't been much disturbed.

Putting it all together you get a pretty good picture of that one time and place in history. There is layering.  One era rests on another.  There were the times long before when the indigenous populations used the island, and there were times later.  The different time periods are like individual picture puzzles that have to be put together, each one on top of the other.  \

On Pigeon Island, the late 1700s is the most evident time period.  Many of  the large pieces are still there, including some of the buildings and forts, but there are pieces of puzzles from other time periods still there as well.

Occasionally a piece of the puzzle from one era will get mixed in with the pieces of another.  That happens at some places more than others, like on the side of a steep slope where erosion occurs and things fall towards the sea, but there are a lot of pieces from that one period that you can put together to form a pretty good picture.  That is the way it is with some land sites, but it is much more difficult on a constantly changing beach.

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The topics are getting active, and it is time to start keeping a close eye on the weather.  We might get a storm that produces some nice erosion, and you want to be ready for that.

We have had so much flat surf, and it is continuing for now, but the systems are beginning to come off of Africa.

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

You can see Barry down by Louisiana.  The yellow system will probably fizzle out by the time it gets into the Caribbean, but you can't say for sure yet, and there will be other systems developing out there.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/15/18 Report - Latest 1715 Fleet Treasure Finds on the Treasure Coast. A Good Book To Help You Identify Valuable Modern Coins.

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

Four Reale Found by Cole Smith
Photo submitted by Captain Jonah Martinez

I just received photos of some nice new 1715 Fleet finds made by the crew of the Bottomline working on the Treasure Coast.  First is a four reale found by Cole Smith.

Other Side of Same Four-Reale Found by Cole Smith.
Photo submitted by Captain Jonah Martinez.

Here is a nice big piece of an olive jar.

Olive Jar Shards.
Photo submitted by Captain Jonah Martinez.

Silver Candlestick Base Found by Larry B.
Photo submitted by Captain Jonah Martinez of the Bottomline Salvage Vessel.

This year we've had some good calm seas on the Treasure Coast.  That isn't especially good for beach hunting, but it is good for the salvage guys.

Thanks to Jonah for sending the photos, and congratulations to Larry and Cole for the good finds.  Its a lot of hard work out there.

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I've been looking at my coin finds and using a book that I recently got.  The book is Strike It Rich With Pocket Change by Ken Potter and Brian Allen.  While I haven't yet struck it rich with my change, the book is organized well and makes it easy to identify error coins when you do have them.

Like with most anything, valuable examples are rare, so unless you are extremely lucky, you'll have to scan a lot of coins before hitting the big one.

The thing that makes this book so handy is that it is organized by date and denomination and has lots of clear pictures to show you what to look for.

It is amazing how many big money errors there are, yet how hard they are to find.

This book starts with Lincoln Memorial pennies and covers other modern denominations.

Unfortunately, many of the coins found while detecting are not in good shape, which makes it difficult to identify true mint errors and reduces the value if they are found.

I also check the coins I receive in change.

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The disturbance in the middle of the Atlantic that I've been talking about has strengthened, but it is heading away from us.

The surf is still down around one or two feet on the Treasure Coast.  We're also still having negative tides.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net