6/24/19 Report - Encrusted Objects (EOs), Clumps and Conglomerates and Their Contents.

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

Photo of Terry holding the EO before cracking and what was in it. The canvas and hemp rope was still in intact.

Find by John C.  Photo submitted by Jerry P.

I received the following email with photos from Jerry P.

“IF YOU DON’T KNOW DON’T THROW” This is a lesson I learned from John C. One of the biggest mistakes I made when I first started hunting the Treasure Coast was throwing unidentified objects away. One day Terry Shannon and I were hunting the Vero Beach area and I heard a good target sound off on my GT. I pulled up an encrusted object aka an EO. I walked over to have Terry swing his coil over it and he agreed it sounded like a good target. At the end of the day I decided to crack it open in the parking lot and inside was a copper/brass grummet from a tarp, or at least that’s what I assumed it was. I gathered up the pieces and threw it in the trash can. When I got home I called John C. to give him the beach report and told him about the grummet EO. He congratulated me on the find and I thought he was joking and I told him that I threw it away. I will never forget what he said. “Excuse me Jerry, did you say you threw it away?” He texted me a photo from his private collection and it was the exact some copper/brass grummet partly encased in coral. He explained that it was in fact a brass grummet from a canvas sail probably 1800’s and don’t you know the rule, if you don’t know you don’t throw? Sick to my stomach as I came from a long line of sailers and that piece would look great in my collection. I asked John if he could do me a favor and trash dive first thing in the morning to retrieve the EO. He was there as the gates opened but after going through multiple cans he couldn’t locate it. Since Terry was going there a bit later that morning, and he seen me throw it in the can, I ask him if he could retrieve it. Both Terry and John scuba dive but a true measure of friendship is dumpster diving first thing in the morning, thank you both! Besides meeting new people and making new friends a large portion of the fun is the research and learning the story behind each object. If you don’t know don’t throw.

I would love to see some good EO’s, please share.

Jerry P.

Photos submitted by Jerry P.

Thanks for the email and photos Jerry. That is a good lesson that bears repeating.  I couldn't agree more.  Very good topic suggestion too.

I looked back through the blog and found quite a variety of encrusted objects, including such diverse items as coins, a gun barrel, cannon ball, sword hilt, and gold ring.

Here is one good photo showing and EO before and after cleaning.

I used electrolysis to clean this spike after removing some of the crust mechanically.

In order to keep the broken iron spike from rusting again, you could add a protective coating.

Coins can be totally encrusted too.  I had some that looked like nothing other than a ball of sand and shell bits.  I can't find of photo of that right now, but here is a cob that was partially encrusted before being cleaned.

Same Half-Reale After Some Cleaning.

Here are a couple encrusted objects that I've posted before and I still don't know what they are.  Here are a couple more EOs that I haven't opened or cleaned yet and do not know what they are.  I can tell they are partially hollow.

The biggest hollow one is about seven inches across.

Here is another than seems to contain a blade-like object.  It is about seven inches long and one inch wide.

Seven by One Inch Encrusted Object.

Here is a flat one, that has an intriguing coin-size bump on it.  The surface coins are for size only.

Thin EO With Bump.

You can see the bump near the upper right of the object.  Here it is from the side.

Bump on Flat EO.

I curious about the bump.  It could be a bolt or something like that, but that one will not be easy.

Some EOs contain a void where the object used to be.  A cast can be made the shape of the void.  I had a post showing a cast of a gun barrel made from such a void but can't find that post right now.

Two EOs.  
Top One Showing Square Void From Spile or Something Similar.

I had another post on using X-Ray to determine the contents of an EO.

The next clump is composed mainly of melted lead that stuck to sand and shells.

Melted Lead in Conglomerate.

Some clumps contain interesting things besides metal.  Here is a photo of a nice calcite fossil shell sticking out of a clump.

Clump With Nice Calcite Shell Showing.

And here is a clump containing a fossil tooth.  It is the brown nearly rectangular object near the center bottom.

Fossil Tooth in Conglomerate.

Here are links to some previous posts on EOs.  The first one is about an X-Rayed EO.

https://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2018/08/82918-report-another-conglomerate-x-ray.html

https://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2017/12/121217-report-clumps-conglomerates-and.html

https://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2016/12/121516-report-key-find-appreciating.html

https://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2015/07/7815-report-more-treasure-finds-from.html

https://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2014/10/101014-report-subtropical-storm-fay-and.html

https://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2012/12/12812-report-wreck-of-la-belle-and.html

Here is a good one I was looking for a just found.

Will R. found gun parts and was able to make a mold of the barrel.

https://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2012/12/12912-report-encrusted-objects-again.html

Send me your photos of EOs and the objects found inside.

A lot of mine haven't been opened yet.

Sometimes I think it is better to leave some of the matrix intact.  Makes a nice display.

I have a lot of heavy-duty coin cleaning to do.  Maybe I'll get some good examples from that.

Happy hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

2/23/19 Report - Shipbuilding Fasterners: Clinched Spike and Rove Finds. EOs.

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

Clinched Spike Find

I always recommend holding onto old finds, especially when you are not absolutely sure what they are.  I occasionally go back and look at old "junk" finds and discover something interesting that I never noticed before.  Sometimes things that weren't very interesting become interesting when I learn something.  That was the case recently.

I ran across some information on shipbuilding fasteners. The information is found in the book
Ships' Fastenings: From Sewn Boat to Steamship, by Michael Mccarthy.

That books shows many examples of how clinched nails or spikes were used.  I've only found a very few examples, on the beach and from my finds, guessed that they were not as common as the McCarthy book proves.

The clinched spike shown above evidently pulled through the wood.  Below you can see how the head was folded onto itself.

Folded Head of Clinched Spike.

Here is just one of many illustrations of clinched spikes that McCarthy shows in his book.

Now I know more about how clinched spikes were used and only wonder why I haven't found more of them.  

One of the other things I learned from the McCarthy book is how clinched spikes were used with roves.

I've found some roves, and it took me quite a while before I learned about them.  One thing I learned is that they were sometimes forced onto the clinched end of the spike.

Found Lead Rove With Musket Ball.

Below are some that I posted in my 2/5/13 post.  They definitely look the same even though the one above is filled with dirt.

Here we are years later and I just learned more about the roves I've had for some time.

You can continue to learn more about finds for years.  Some that might mean little or nothing to you today, might become much more interesting when you learn more about them in the future.

If you want to link to the McCarthy book, just click on the book title above.

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I've been asking for ideas concerning an EO that I found.  Here are a couple.

John L. said. Especially due to the shape of the piece above the round portion,

my GUESS is that it may be a "deck ring" from a ship's deck.

They were made of bronze or even iron.

Sebastian Steve said, ...all the above is dependent on the center piece having the 3 large holes for the line to pass through.  No holes, no DEADEYE.  

I have one other EO that is smaller, but similar in shape to the one I've been talking about.  Here they are together.

Two Hollow EOs.

They are both very hollow.  Could possibly be the same type of thing in different sizes.

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The dental cap that I recently found tests as 10K.

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It looks like we'll have a bigger surf Monday.  The tides are getting more moderate though.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/17/17 Report - Clumps, Conglomerates and Encrusted Objects and Some Tips on Cleaning.

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

Bottle Attached To Conglomerate

The most unusual conglomerate I ever found was the one shown above.  A modern soda bottle was firmly attached to the clump.  What caused it to adhere so firmly is not clear to me.  It is a good example of how various types of objects and materials can get stuck together.

In the past I've shown a variety of conglomerates containing a variety of objects.  One of he best is the one shown below from the Wreck of Queen Anne's Revenge.

Source: North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
Appearing in Popular Archaeology
( http://popular-archaeology.com/issue/12012013/article/raising-pirates )

I recently showed a couple of bolts found by Darrel S, that had a half reale attached.  That one can be found in my 12/6/17  post.

Wish we had a picture of Clint's 1984 find.  That would be amazing.

John C. sent the following photo of a clump with void left by a dissolved spike or something.

Crust Around Void Probably Created by Dissolved Iron Spike.
Find and phioto by John C

Encrusted objects are for me can be both interesting and frustrating.  They can be mysteries and can present problems.  They can provide pleasant surprises.  You never know what might be hidden by the crust.  It can be difficult to figure out how to treat them.  Archaeologists can use x-rays to get an image of what might be inside, but, of course, we don't usually have that.

When the original object has dissolved, leaving a void, you can get an idea of the shape of the original object even if the object no longer exists. When the object or objects remain within the crust, the problem is removing the object without damaging it.

Darrel sent the following picture of an object in an electrolysis tank.

Object in Electrolysis Tank.
Photo submitted by Darrel S.

My tank isn't nearly as nice.  For a small spike I was using an old ice cream container (below).  Looks like it was time to change the water.

Making Rust Soup.

Darrel wrote up the following instructions for cleaning encrusted objects.


Simple way of cleaning encrusted objects.

You will need gloves, eye goggles, container large enough to put EOs in, distilled water, pliers, and muratic acid.

Place EOs in distilled water to rinse salt water and allow minerals to escape.

Allow EOs to dry and place in empty dry container.

Put gloves and eye goggles on and pour acid slowly into container. Be sure objects are totally submerged.

Use channel locks or pliers to grab objects out of acid. Check time to time. Some objects may take a day or more. Some only hours.

Once completely dissolved, rinse with water and then allow to dry.

Object may revert back to rust color due to lack of electrolysis process (professional way of preserving.)

If you want to keep the object, soaking in Osthmo will preserve for a while.

Once you practice and perfect this process, you will enjoy finding EOs, knowing you can clean them.

REMEMBER,  Always add acid to water, NOT water to acid..  

Darrel also has a long process for restoring iron objects. He says, "Iron's natural state is grayish silver. The black color comes from oxidation. Some of my objects took up to a year or more."

Below are some objects restored to gray.

Iron Objects Restored to Gray Color
Photo by Darrel S.

I'm going to quit there for now.   As I recently explained, I can only do so much in a blog post.  We've only barely touched on the subject, but I hope that helps get you started in the right direction.  Check out related posts and other resources that I've provided throughout the years.

How far you want to restore an item is a matter of personal preference.

One additional thing I will say is if you do electrolysis or otherwise clean an iron object, it is still iron and will rust again if you are not careful.  You might choose to coat it to prevent that.

I better wrap this up.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/16/17 Report - Transforming the Ordinary. Posts and References. More Info About EOs.

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

There are times in life when ordinary things are transformed by something special such as the Magic of Christmas.  One example I'm thinking of is an old orange buoy that I once found that was laying around with a lot of other junk but was recently transformed by a coat of reflective silver paint and black tape into a shiny Christmas bell highlighted with a red ribbon bow and is now a bright focal point between colored lights and blinking snow flakes.  So it is in the lives of men who on rare occasions are momentarily transformed - or so it would seem.

I always remember the time many years ago when I was in Pensacola on business and after work I went out to a remote beach to do some detecting.  It was an isolated beach.  The small parking lot was nothing more than a packed surface big enough to hold maybe six or eight cars at max.  There was only one other car there when I arrived.

I just got out of the car and started towards the walkover  when I noticed an elderly couple and a child leaving the beach.  They had their hands full with beach blankets, a cooler, toys and I don't know what all. 

I saw them struggling and took one of the items ( I think it was a cooler), and took it to their car.  As I returned to my own business, I remember the man commenting to his wife something about how surprised he was at my actions.  In retrospect, I find it a little surprising myself - not that it was any kind of big deal or something that should be surprising.

Having helped them to their car, I headed towards the beach but soon became aware that they had a problem.  They couldn't find the car keys.

I don't know what all transpired, but I ended up following their tracks back to where I could tell they were on the beach and started detecting for the keys.  It didn't take long until I found them.

It would have been a problem if the keys were not found.  It was a remote beach away from businesses, homes and traffic, and since this was in the days before cell phones, they couldn't just call for help.

If I put myself in their place I night think about how unlikely it was, and how fortunate it was that a fellow came along at just the right time  with a metal detector to find the keys.  I would have wondered if it was just coincidence or something more.  And being the type of person I am, I'd wonder if it might be something spiritual in one way or another.  It was definitely out of line with my normal or natural behavior.  Was it more than coincidence?

I didn't tell you what I did so you would think that I'm a good person.  Quite the contrary.  The good deep was not the norm.  It was the exception.  That is too bad.  It need not be so.

There are many opportunities in daily life to transform unexceptional moments into memorable mements.  One way you can do that is by responding to some of the many opportunities to lend a helping hand.  The Christmas season is an especially good time to try it.

---

There is only so much I can do in a blog post.  Posts are short and I write one almost every day.  That means that I can not say everything that needs to be said or even everything I might want to say about many topics.  I can't even take the time I would like to take to refine my posts like I wish I could. That is just the nature of a blog, especially one done on a daily basis by a single person with a lot of other more pressing responsibilities.  That is just one important reason that I usually post my sources as references.

The sources that I post provide many details that I don't include in my text.  A perfect example was my recent post about encrusted object.  At the top of the post I provided an illustration showing the stages of development of an EO taken from a thesis for a Master's degree.  A thesis like that is much more lengthy and detailed than any post that I might provide and will usually answer any questions you might have about the topic to the est have been answered in academic circles.  A thesis like that normally takes close to two years to complete, will include a comprehensive overview of the existing academic literature on the topic and is completed with the assistance of an academic team of professors in the field of study.  Therefore you might expect the thesis to provided the best scholarship on the subject that exists anywhere.  That is why I provide the sources and references.  If you have any questions, you can consult the original sources, not only the one source, but also those listed in that source.  An academic thesis must contain a review of the relevant literature, which you will find near the end of the thesis.

The illustration I provided at the top of the post from the thesis on EOs was good, as far as it goes, however the thesis also acknowledged that things are actually more complex.  Here is a paragraph from the same thesis as the illustration commenting on that.




As you can see, there is more.  You can use the following to link to continue reading.

When you have questions about something I post that is from another source, I usually give you a link so you can check the source for more information.   You will often find tons of additional good information.

Here is the link to the thesis on EOs that I talked about in my post a couple days ago.

http://nautarch.tamu.edu/pdf-files/Rash-MA2012.pdf

You should note that the thesis was based upon a survey of 2000-year-old items - not 300-year-old items.

I often get questions about cleaning objects.  I know it can be too detailed or difficult to understand at times, but the best over all resource that I know about for information about cleaning and conserving objects is the Texas A and M Nautical Archaeology Conservation Laboratory web site.  I think I've mentioned that web site several times.  There you will find extensive discussion about cleaning and conserving almost every type of material.  The main problem with that web site is that it has too much information and would take a long time to master.  I will therefore continue to provide brief instructions, but you should realize that there is always more that could be said.  When you need to know all the ifs, ands and buts, you might want to consult the best academic resources.

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If I judged my posts on the number of emails received, I would have to say that the recent EO posts were popular.  They are certainly interesting objects that inspire a lot of questions.  I will be doing more posts on EOs in the future.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/13/17 Report - All About Encrusted Objects. Sail Grommet(?) Find. One Man's Garrett AT Max Experience.

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

Source of illustration: Master's Thesis (See link below)

Iron objects don't hold up well in salt water.  Besides rusting and corroding, they can eventually become totally covered by encrustation and eventually dissolve.

Those lumps of encrustation formed around old objects are commonly referred to as EOs (encrusted objects).  You'll miss a lot of them if you are discriminating iron, or you might discard them at first sight.

I find them interesting for a number of reasons.  One is figuring out what object is inside or was inside the clump before it dissolved.  Another is that a variety of objects can be in such a clump - including coins.

I posted one example that Darrel S. showed us of a reale attached to two bolts.  You probably also read my post on the 1984 Thanksgiving storm in which Clint described how he found a keg-size conglomerate that contained a bunch of amazing goodies.

The trouble is that it is so hard to tell what might be inside and not knowing if the object or objects survived at all.  Another problem is trying to remove the encrustation, if that is what you choose to do.

I found a resource that will help answer many of your question about EOs.  It is a Master's Thesis entitled Recontructing the Assemblage of Iron Artifacts From the Late Hellenistic Shipwreck at Kizilburun Turkey. 

The illustration above is from that thesis and illustrates the process that an iron object might go through.  There are a variety of factors that can influence the rate of corrosion and encrustation, so you can't estimate how old the object is by just looking at how much it has deteriorated.

When the object has totally dissolved, you can pour plaster or some other substance into the void and create a mold that will show you what the object looked like.

I think you'll benefit from quickly reading through the thesis.

Here is the link.

http://nautarch.tamu.edu/pdf-files/Rash-MA2012.pdf

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Partially Encrusted Object
Find and photo by John C.

John C. sent me this picture of one of his finds since I had been talking a lot about sailing making and sail tools and related things.  He thinks it might be a sail grommet.

Interesting find.  Thanks for sharing John.

---

Steve from Sebastian ordered a Garret AT Max and shared his experience and observations.  Here is what he had to say about that.

Sadly...I had to return the new Garrett AT Max. They have a known screen issue of having un-viewable screens if you wear Polarized sun glasses, which I must. The AT Pro had this issue already. Too bad...it was a very nice machine. Probably not the best for wet salt beaches anyway. You had to do a special "7 step plan" that was not in the manual to tame it down (excessive falsing) on the wet salt sand beaches and in the salt water.

So... I now have a 185 page manual to digest on my new/used 2017, 10 month old CTX 3030! With all 3 coils and 3 CF shafts. I've come a long ways... from a Relco $19.95 kit, with a little plastic bag full of resistors and capacitors that you had to feed in through the little circuit board, solder and cut off the ends...to a powerful "walking computer" in the guise of a metal detector. That tracks your path on GPS, laying down "bread crumbs" so you don't miss any spots, and learn to walk in straight lines, and stores your "find points" with a touch of a button, that not only has the exact GPS coordinates, but the date and time, what reading the detector had over the target (like 12-43, ferrous/conductive scales) ...ratchet pin-pointing that keeps closing down the target strength on each pass to get you set up perfect...and on and on. Many things that I haven't even found yet!

And now...just tonight...I was contacted by Minelab to be the -first beta tester- to do test analysis on their first ever Apple Mac version software! Quite an honor for me.

Thanks for the report Steve. I always appreciate detector reviews. And congratulations on becoming a beta tester.

--

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

2/8/17 Report - Pre-Columbian New World Maps. EOs. Archaeological Conservation.

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

You might enjoy reading the Ancient America web site.  It has tons of articles.  One example is the one entitled Early New World Maps.  Below is one illustration from that article.

Notice the Frau Mauro Map dated 1459, which is obviously before 1492.  It seems to show a pretty good map of Florida, the Gulf, etc.

It also shows the following Roman artifacts found in the New World.  One was said to be found in the base of a South American pyramid.



I don't know how credible all these things are, but it is a lengthy article and you might enjoy reading it.

Here is the link.

http://ancientamerica.com/early-new-world-maps-by-dr-gunnar-thompson/

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I mentioned yesterday that I dug some EOs.  Below is one of them.  It is about six inches long and about four by three.  I don't have the slightest idea what it was.

I don't think all EOS should be called that.  Some are encrusted, but some have become relatively formless, and some of them have nothing but a void where the iron used to be.  That isn't the worst case because you can sometimes pour plaster into the void and make a plaster cast of whatever the object used to be.

Sometimes you can use x-ray to tell what the object was.  And sometimes other objects such as coins can be in the EO or stuck to the EO.

EOs differ quite a lot, and it can be difficult to know what course of action to take.

---

Here is a good book.  Elements of Archaeological Conservation, by J. M> Cronyn.

Click on the title to take a look at the online preview.

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That is all I have for today.  I had more but lost it somehow and don't feel like trying to reconstruct it.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

2/7/17 Report - Metal Detecting Conditions On A Couple Beaches This Morning. Are You Really Ready To Make Your Own Extra Special Find?

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

John Brooks Beach Front This Morning Near Low Tide

I took a look at a couple of  beaches this morning.  John Brooks was real sandy.  There was a steep front and a bunch of sand piled up on the beach front.

The other beach wasn't one of the major shipwreck beaches, but it was slightly better.  There was a small cut - less than a foot high but maybe forty yards long.

There were a few targets in front of the cut, including clad coins, EOs, small pieces of copper sheathing, and junk.  The EOs were deep.  I didn't dig all of them.

So conditions were generally not good, but there seemed to be a few spots where there was enough to entertain yourself for a while.

One Small Cut Found This Morning.

You might be able to find a few more cuts if you look around enough.

Don't expect anything more than about a three foot surf for the next week or two.  We could use a nice winter storm.  It isn't too late yet.

---

Some things in life require a certain level of knowledge, skill or maturity.  You won't want to take calculus before you take algebra.  You don't want to face major league pitching while you are in Little League.  And you wouldn't be prepared to start a family or join the military at age 14.  You just wouldn't be ready.

You might have heard it said that it is never too late, but I know for certain that sometimes it is too soon.  That can apply to a lot of things, but right now I'm talking about finds.

Some finds can be very special in unanticipated ways.  It can take years to find out how special they are, and then sometimes it definitely can be too late.

Some finds are once-in-a-lifetime finds.  You might not know that at the time, and you might not find that out until much later.  When you find something too soon, it can seem like it is no big deal and you think you will surely find more of them later.  But as the years go by and you never see another one, you learn that it isn't that easy and that the find was actually much more rare than it seemed.  As your experience level increases, your knowledge and appreciation of the object increases too.

Maybe you didn't realize how special the object was, and how unlikely it was that it would survive for centuries. Maybe you didn't appreciate how unlikely it was that you would be at that specific spot at just the right time to find that rare and lonely survivor.

I've found a few items like that.  I didn't realize how fragile one special object was.  Now it is hard for me to believe that it could survive on an ocean beach for a few years, let alone hundreds.  I didn't appreciate that at the time.  I didn't appreciate how unlikely it was that I would would see that rare item when it was uncovered at the edge of the water after hundreds of people had searched that and the other beaches thousands of times.  I've never heard or read of another being found - certainly not on a beach.

I realized just last evening that there are some things that you shouldn't find too soon.  There are some things that you might not be ready to find.  You might not be adequately prepared.  You might not even recognize the item when you see it.  You might pick it up an throw it away as junk.  You might not know how to take care of it and preserve it.  If you find it before you are prepared, the item might be ignored, rejected or destroyed.  You certainly won't appreciate it like you should.

I can think of several things that I found too soon.  It now seems that a few of those were probably once-in-a-lifetime finds.

Not long ago I did a post explaining some of my mistakes and regrets.  In that post I described several of my mistakes and regrets.  As it turns out, most of those were because I made a find too soon.  I just wasn't ready for them.

There is no way you can be prepared for anything and everything.  You can be somewhat prepared to be surprised though.  Treat items with extreme respect and caution, especially when the find is something that you haven't found or researched before.

You can prepare yourself to some extent by reading and researching.  The more of that you do, the better off you will be.

Most detectorists want to know what is the best detector and where to hunt.  They want to know how to find things.  The kinds of mistakes that I'm talking about today, though, are mostly made after you get the signal or after you uncover the item.

There are some rare and special, even once-in-a-lifetime finds, that do not require quite as much care and caution.  A gold coin, for example, is easy to recognize, will be appreciated even if not completely identified, and it doesn't require much cleaning or conservation.  There are definitely mistakes you can make with that kind of find, but at least it is durable and obvious from first sight that you should take care o it.  There are other kinds of finds that require more caution or study. Some require a lot.  If you make one of those kinds of finds, I hope you are prepared for the moment.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/11/2014 Report - Bent Coins, Polar Vortex Frees Diamond Ring & Bronze Medal

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

Bent Coins.

Here are just a couple of the many bent coins that I've dug from shallow water.  They aren't the best examples, but a couple that I had close at hand.

I've dug quarters that were bent at 90 degree angles.

Whatever happened didn't take real long.  These coins are obviously modern.  You can see that the dime is clad.

I've dug some that had marks that show were the coins were bent by some mechanical contact such as maybe a lawn mower blade, but there are no such marks on these and many others.


The Polar vortex and freezing pipes led to the find of a diamond wedding ring when the trap was removed.  The ring was returned to the previous owners of the house who had since moved.

http://on.aol.com/video/wedding-ring-found-after-pipe-bursts-in-arctic-blast-518080941?hp=1&playlist=127167&icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl4%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D428889


Everything, like everybody, has a history.  And most of the things we find, were once lost.  That is part of the fun of detecting. 

Part of it is the surprise of not knowing what, when or where things will be found, but another part of it is the history of the item.  Where did it come from and how did it get there. 

That part is mostly about the past, but part of it is about the future too.  Once the item is found, what does it mean.   Maybe the item tells a story of storms and shipwrecks and lost life, but it also has a place in the future.

When an item is found that is only a beginning.  Then another process of discovery begins.  Can the item be conserved and displayed?  What is its future?   What WILL be its role and what will it say today, tomorrow and well into the future?

Unfortunately nothing lasts forever - especially items that exist in one of the most challenging environments of all -  the beach.

Remember, the beach is composed of stones and shells that have been broken down into tiny pieces.  And the same environment that breaks and grinds stone will over time break down anything else exposed to the waves and forces.

Iron, rusts and corrodes and eventually disappears.  Coins corrode and are ground down.

I've shown in the past how modern clad coins get bent in half.   I don't know exactly how that happens but I suspect that they get buried under tons of  sand, caught in between rocks and get bent.

Items that appear to have remained undamaged have been lucky so far.  But it won't last forever. 

Unlike iron, gold does not corrode.   At least not much.  But gold is not pure.   The vast majority of coins or other items are not 24K.   Most gold items do corrode to some small extent.  Not that it is noticeable most of the time, but gold, being soft, will wear and bend unless it is continually protected.

Items in the high energy zone near the front of the beach are always in danger.  They have no meaningful context, but they are in danger.  They will not remain protected forever, even by tons of sand.  They will be damaged and eventually disappear unless they are retrieved.

The ax head that I showed yesterday was remarkably well preserved for an iron item found in encrustation.  It happens, but more often what you'll find is formless mass or a hole with absolutely none of the original item remaining except for a void where the item once was.  I am glad that it didn't dissolve and disappear.

Bronze Medal Find.

This seems a little strange to me.  This bronze medal in a coin pendant mounting doesn't make sense to me.  On this side is the Gemini astrology sign, and on the other side it is a is a Bicentennial design showing 1776 - 1976.  I don't really get the mixture of zodiac and history.  Maybe there is some connection, but I don't know what it is.


On the Treasure Coast the surf is down to around three feet now, and it will remain around there for a while.

The tides have flattened out a little.

The wind is and will be from the south a lot for a few days.

It doesn't look like beach detecting conditions will be great for a while.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/3/13 Report - Pirate Ship Discovered, Encrusted Objects & Storm Forming

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

Shipwreck Site Shown in Circle
From Wink News Now video.  See link.

Yesterday I presented the blog poll results showing the large percent of people who travel to the Treasure Coast to treasure hunt and metal detect.  Yesterday I got a report of a pirate ship wreck that some are calling a potential "treasure trove" for tourism.

Here is one link with the story and a nice video.  Among other things, the video shows the shallow water wreck site as seen from air.

http://www.winknews.com/Local-Florida/2013-07-30/Sunken-pirate-ship-discovery-a-treasure-for-Cape-Coral#.UfybQCDD-Bs

The wreck is thought to be a pirate ship from the Civil War era - possibly a schooner skow.

It lies in shallow water, and can be seen from air at times.  

This is another great example of how the pubic makes important historic and archaeological discoveries that will help to save our history before it is lost.  Amateurs have made many important discoveries in the past and will continue to do so.  They are the eyes in the field, it is their history, and they provide the tax dollars that fund our state's efforts. 

Gary alerted me to the story of this wreck along with the following link.  Thanks Gary!

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=nbc%202%20sunken%20ship%20cape%20harbor&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCoQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nbc-2.com%2Fstory%2F22419675%2Fcape-man-finds-sunken-treasure&ei=vcP7UY__Ao--9QTFooG4DQ&usg=AFQjCNEjdRYm06IOmaHwjRoxoMM0bnP0xw&bvm=bv.50165853,d.eWU

And here is another link.

http://www.davidpcarr.com/news/sunken_pirate_ship_a_treasure_for_cape_coral

Besides sending me the link, Gary also said, The guy that discovered it says it wasn’t there 3 months ago. Other stories say it wasn’t discovered before because of brown water coming down from Lake O. I have passed within in 50 feet of area many times taking short cut out of harbor (shallow water allows only at high tide). I read later the sinking was recorded that a pirate ship (Navy) seized and stripped another Pirate ship and sank it at present location. The name of the ship was identified. White plastic pipes have been stuck around the area to keep boats from causing damage.

Gary continues,   ...its been there 150 years. I was able to see wreckage on some Google aerial maps using the history tool to cover years past.  I can also see the ship on Bing maps. I have looked at maps before in search of wrecks, I SHOULD HAVE LOOKED IN MY BACKYARD FIRST Anyway it shows what a wreck looks like in birdseye view.

This is a wreck that can be visited and seen as well as searched and identified on internet maps.  As Gary and the news story points out, it has been marked with PVC markers. 

Notice that it is a protected site.

Gary gives a good hint when he talks about using internet map sites for looking for shipwrecks.  Also a reminder to not forget to check out your own back yard.  

There are several advantages to looking close to home, especially when other known areas are not producing.   You never know what might be right under your nose.

Two Ferrous Objects Freed From Encrustation.

You probably know something of what are often called EOs (encrusted objects).  A metal detector can detect them, but they look like stone and you will often have no idea of what, if anything, might be in the hardened clump.

I've talked about EOs some in the past.  EOs can be confusing to new detectorists.  The metal detector says there is metal, but it looks like stone.

The picture to the left shows two objects (bottom two) that were removed from hand-sized conglomerates that looked something like small cow pies.   If you are a city person you might not know what a cow pie is, but I'll leave it at that.

The third object (at top) is a conglomerate, but the object that it formed around is no longer present.

It can be difficult to free objects from clumps of conglomerate.   The first thing I recommend is using a metal detector to identify what type of metal might be inside.  That is not destructive, and that is one case when a discriminating detector will come in handy.

Encrusted objects usually contain iron, but they can also contain other objects - even coins.

You will often see signs of rust on the surface of the conglomerate even if the object has completely rusted away.

Notice the round hole in the top object in the picture.  That is where there was once an iron rod that is now completely gone.   Even when an iron object has completely dissolved, it will leave a hole the shape of the object.  That allows archaeologists to create a replica of the object by filling the vacancy with plaster or some other modeling material.

One way to find out what is in an EO is to X-ray the clump.  (You might recall the EO that William M. thought might be a hand guard from a sword.  He made an appointment with a museum to get it inspected.  No  news on that one yet.)   Of course most of us don't have access to X-ray or other types of imaging that will reveal the contents.

If you think that an EO might contain something historic or important, have it inspected by the proper people like William arranged to do.

Some people try to break open EOs to find out what is inside. That is difficult to do without damaging the object, and therefore I would discourage that.  Usually the object will be in fragile condition and break along with the crust.

Sometimes archaeologists carefully grind the crust away.

Recently I saw a man at the beach who had a lawn chair and was picking up EOs and then sitting down and using a hammer and chisel to open them.  I don't know why he was doing that, but he would move along, pick up one or more, sit down and chisel.  That is dangerous.  If there is something important inside the conglomerate, there is a good chance it will be broken in the process.

 A vice allows more carefully measured pressure and therefore works better than a hammer and a chisel when an EO is to be opened.

Archaeologists sometimes use a wet saw to open a conglomerate.  Then the inside of the conglomerate can be inspected, and a mould made to produce a replica of the original object.



On the Treasure Coast we had some heavy rain yesterday.  The low pressure area centered just off our coast now has a 60% chance of developing into a cyclone in the next 48 hours.  Nonetheless, our surf will remain relatively small (1 - 2 feet).

I would expect more rain but no real improvement in beach detecting conditions for at least a few days.  When the cyclone forms it will probably be well north of us.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net