3/14/20 Detectorists Find Record Breaking Hoard. Nice Artifacts. Green Cabin Coins. More Info.

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

Two Lucky Metal Detectorists Find Record-Breaking Iron Age Coin Hoard

Guinness has verified Jersey’s 69,347 coins – collectively named Catillon II – as a world-beating find. It happened in Jersey, largest of the Channel Islands, back in 2012 and has only now been recognized.

2 metal detectorists, Reg Mead and Richard Miles, tracked down the hoard on the eastern side of the island. Their search was far from brief, lasting an amazing 3 decades. It’s thought Catillon II, found a little over 3 ft under the soil, dates to around 50 BC...

The BBC notes that in addition to coins there were “a large number of gold neck torques and other pieces of jewellery, as well as glass beads, a leather purse and a woven bag of silver and gold work.”...

Here is the link for the rest of the article.

https://www.thevintagenews.com/2020/02/05/iron-age-coin-hoard/

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A day or two ago I mentioned the late-18th century British camp just meters away from the Winter Beach salvage camp.  JamminJack sent in the following photos of the 60th Regiment of Foot buttons, which were on display at the McLarty museum.

60th Regiment of Foot Buttons.

Submitted by JamminJack

And here is another nice artifact.

Flintlock Pistol, Circa 1779.

Photo submitted by JamminJack.

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The reader's of this blog provide a wealth of experiences and information.

A day or two ago I also mentioned the Green Cabin wreck.  I Just received some good information about coins found on the Green Cabin wreck from Mike S., who dived for Roy Volker.

Here is what he said.

Hello, 

I love reading your blog, which brings me back to my days diving for Roy Volker from 1988 to 1996.

Roy was a living encyclopedia of the 1715 fleet and the salvage efforts from the 60s onward, having lived so much of that himself. it was an amazing honor for a kid like me to turn his dream of being a treasure hunter into actual experiences of working as a diver for that man.

One thing he always pointed out to me, and showed me examples from his collection, was that coins from the Green Cabin wreck were bowl-shaped. That's just a note about some of their defining characteristics, which I thought was very cool. I always wanted to find at least one of those coins, but we only worked one day on that wreck during the time I was with him, making our way back up from the Rio Mar wreck towards our usual location, being the cabin wreck. I did find some led sheathing and some white ballast. That is the only wreck I've ever seen white ballast on.

Keep up the great work.

Mike S

Good information.  Thanks for sharing Mike.

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I also received some information concerning the crystals found by TM.    I posted the photo below of the crystals a few days ago.

I asked for permission to post that information and hope to be able to do that soon.  It turned out that they could be something very different from what I initially thought.

As I always say, "Hang onto your finds until you know for sure."

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No change in beach conditions.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

3/13/20 Report - Green Cabin Wreck: Wreck of the San Martin. St. James Religious Medallion.

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

Illustration in DisneyEveryDay.com Blog.

See link below.

Recently I did some posts on some of the older coins found on the Treasure Coast.  That brings up the Green Cabin wreck, which is thought to date to 1618, nearly a hundred years before the 1715 Fleet wrecks, and therefore the source of many of the oldest Treasure Coast coins.  I received emails from both Dan B. and JamminJack mentioning the Green Cabin wreck as the source of older coins.

The DisneyEveryDay.com blog presents an entertaining Disney-style discussion of the Green Cabin wreck, which is just south of the Vero Disney resort.  If not entirely accurate, the article is at least entertaining.

https://www.disneyeveryday.com/sunken-spanish-treasure-off-the-coast-of-disneys-vero-beach-resort/

By the way, if you've never seen it, the Vero Disney resort has, or had, a shipwreck artifact display.  If it is still there, you might be able to see it if you make dinner reservations.  All of the items that were in the display were not from the Green Cabin wreck.  There was, for example, a cannon ball and coins from the Jupiter wreck.

Here is a web site that gives a brief overview of the Green Cabin wreck.

Green Cabin Shipwreck (1618) - The Nautical Archaeology Digital Library (shiplib.org)

For a more detailed and historically accurate description of the Green Cabin wreck, see The 1618 Wreck of the San Martín, Almiranta de Honduras, by Dave Horner, edited by Cori Sedwick Downing.

Here is that link.

https://www.sedwickcoins.com/ta19/san_martin.pdf

Concerning the coins from the Green Cabin wreck, here is one paragraph from the Sedwick article.

In all, over 3000 silver coins and numerous artifacts were recovered. The gold ring was the only item of gold found. It was probably on the finger of one of those who perished in the storm over 300 years before. All the coins were from the reign of Philip II (1556-1598) and Philip III (1598-1621). Many of the coins were heavily oxidized, pitted, or worn from the abrasive action of the sand and many years on the bottom of the sea. Other coins were easily recognizable as coins, and a surprising number of them still retained their original design. A few of the prime specimens retained their dates, partial dates, and/or mint marks.

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One correction -  yesterday I gave an upper date range for one or two of the old coins as 1516.  While that is correct for Juana and Carlos coins, but for Carlos I coins the upper date range would be 1556.

I also noticed a Lima crowned-pillars style coin similar to JamminJack's holed one-reale listed in Monedas Espanolas desede Juana Y Carlos a Isabel II: 1504 a 1868 as a Fillip II coin (type 322, page 100).  It  seemed out of place to me, but I'm sure that the authors of that reference had reason for putting it where they did even though all of the other Fillip II coins are very dissimilar.

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Laura Strolia, author of The Marigalera of the 1715 Fleet and historian of the Spanish colonial period with a special interest in the religious history, had a few comments on the religious medallion that I posted yesterday.  Below is what she said.

I think Rome produced a good number of medals for the Catholic populations of English-speaking lands, such as Scotland and Ireland. The item should read “St. James Apostle.” My guess it was lost in the second half of the 18 ^th century. It is a unique specimen of history, suggesting there were Catholics in the British Regiment at St. Augustine.

Heavy corrosion obscured any sign of "St. James" on the medallion.  I assume it would be on the left side of the medallion opposite the word Apostle, which you can see on the right side.  

Author Strolia is nearing completion of a new book that you'll want to watch for.

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 The Treasure Coast surf is still in the 2 - 4 foot range, and the tides are still pretty big.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

9/24/19 Report - Using Target ID Numbers. Three Tropical Storms. Green Cabin Wreck Coin.

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

Three Tropical Storms.

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

Now we have three tropical storms in the Atlantic: Jerry, Karen, and Lorenzo.  None are supposed to come our way.  Also there is a little system down by the Yucatan.

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It appears that the Mexican reale found after Dorian and said to be found near the Disney resort came from the Green Cabin wreck - the 1618 wreck of the San Martin.  I think that is what the certificate issued by the West Bay Trading Company says.  It also must say that the coin is from the late 1500s.  I can't really read it all.

Coin Certificate

Photo submitted by Kenneth T.

Somebody recently asked me how to get an artifact certified.   I didn't know that the West Bay Trading Company issued certificates, and I still don't know if they would certify a dug artifact.

Many of the certificates of authenticity that you see on eBay or similar sites are made by whoever is selling the item and are worth no more than the reputation of the person or company that issues them.

You might remember that I mentioned people parking along the road and going to the beach between Wabasso and Seagrape Trail right after Dorian.

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I've been informally field testing the target ID readings on the Equinox metal detector and trying to determine the usefulness of the numbers. I have concluded that you can NOT safely decide whether to dig or not just on the basis of the ID meter readings - at least not if you do not want to miss something good.  The readings do seem to provide some information though.  I am still very much in the dig it up and look at it camp, but I also understand that some people hate to dig trash and aren't bothered by what they  might have missed.

Joe D. has commented on the usefulness of using the signal tones of the Equinox, and I've observed that you can really reduce the amount of junk (defined as non-coins) you dig by using the tones alone.

Here is a section from the Equinox Manual, which you can find online.

Source: online Equinox manual.

Notice that "Aluminum, Gold" is in the 11 - 20 range, which is also where you'll find nickels, pull tabs and bottle caps.  Also tiny gold nuggets, gold nuggets and larger gold nuggets range from close to 1 up to about 30.  That is a huge range and very much agrees with some YouTube videos showing that gold rings can show up almost anywhere on the scale.

Providing some information (in other words, increasing the probability of a correct ID) the ID numbers can be more useful when combined with other sources of information.

Lets take one other source of information - information about the site itself.   Targets are not randomly distributed, and you can make good use of whatever information you have acquired about a site.  For example, many sites have one or two prominent types of junk.  It might be nails or pull tabs or bottle caps.  But that information, when combined with the target ID numbers can be useful.

Lets say you are finding a number of bottle caps of a particular type.  They might show as a narrow range of target ID numbers -  lets say 21/22, for example.  Some pennies will produce those numbers too, but pennies are of low value, so it is no big deal to miss some of those.  After you have found a few bottle caps showing as 21/22, and you conclude you are in an area where those types of items are common, the probability is greater that when you do not dig a 21/22 item, that you will be missing a bottle cap, or at least something not real valuable.   The likelihood of a correct rejection has been increased by combining your the target ID number with your knowledge of the most probable targets in that area.  Furthermore, if you can gain additional knowledge from the audio signal, such as a dual tone, which you can get with some kinds of bottle caps.   That additional information can also help you increase the probability of a correct target ID.

There are a variety of other types of information that you could and perhaps should use, but I could go on for a very long time about that.  The point is that combining different types of sources of information can help you improve your target ID and improve the probability of a correct dig or reject decision.  Notice that I said "probability."  You won't be completely accurate every time.  There is still the possibility of making a big mistake.  How comfortable you are with that will have a lot to do with your strategy.

Unfortunately I've forgotten most of what I once knew about probability theory and statistics so I can only talk about this in general terms now.

Knowledge of different sites can be very helpful.  You have closer to a random distribution of targets in the dry sand, however the distribution in dry sand is still far from random.  More targets will be lost where there is more activity, such as volley ball courts, and of course, there will generally be more targets where there are more people, and the targets will be more valuable where there are more wealthy people, and there will be more gold where people from certain cultures assemble, etc., etc.

In the wet sand the target distribution is determined more by the forces of nature.  Of course human and socio-cultural factors are also involved, but there are definite patterns that can be discerned.  I've talked about those a lot in the past.  The bottom line is that you can improved your pre-dig target ID by using a variety of sources of information.

One additional note: although I'm talking about the Equinox, you can generalize to other similar metal detectors that provide target ID numbers.

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The surf will be decreasing for a few days.  That can allow you to get out into ground that you haven't been able to metal detect for a while.

Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

6/21/15 Report - Crew Of Capitana Finds Gold Escudo & More. Florida Fossils.

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

2 Escudo Just Found by Crew of Capitana
Photo sent by Dan B.

Captain Jonah and the crew of the Capitana are hot.  They just keep coming up with great finds.

Here is a nice freshly dug 2 escudo from the 1690s.

Great picture Dan!

Below is a picture of the other side of the same escudo along with a picture of Bill holding the escudo.

Thanks for sharing guys!

Close-Up Of Same
Escudo.

Bill With Found Two Escudo

And that isn't all.  Here is a good close-up view of some more reales fresh up.

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Everybody thinks of the 1715 Fleet when they think of the Treasure Coast, and there is good reason for that, but not all treasure wrecks on the Treasure Coast were part of the 1715 Fleet.

When Kip Wagner discovered the Green Cabin Wreck they figured it was one more of the 1715 Fleet wrecks.  However cannon were dated to 1594 and Eugene Lyons eventually identified that wreck as the San Martin, which sank in 1618.

The Green Cabin Wreck is one of few Spanish wrecks of that period in the Western Hemisphere for which there is published hull data.

You can see that data by using the following link.

http://nautarch.tamu.edu/NAPwiki/index.php?title=Green_Cabin_Shipwreck,_Florida_(c._1620)

You might find that site useful.

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Other salvage boats are finding neat stuff as well.  One thing that was recently found was a mastodon tooth.

Old fossils are found all the way along the Treasure Coast.  My fossil-expert friend figures that an ancient river ran just off shore back when the water level was lower.

Here is a map showing a larger Florida land mass from the Ice Age period.  You can use this link to find that illustration and read more about that.

http://thenaturalhistorian.com/2012/07/08/doggerland-sea-level-rise-human-migration-dispersal-creationism-ice-age/.

You'll occasionally see fossils on the beach after either a period of rough seas or sometimes as the result of human activity such as beach replenishment or construction projects.

I've seen both mastodon teeth and a mastodon tusk section on the beach in the past.  I think I once showed a picture of a piece of a mastodon tooth found on the beach, as well as other fossils.

I recently mentioned the fossil shark teeth being found on a West Palm Beach beach in replenishment sand.  People are also finding shark teeth on a replenished South Carolina beach.

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Back in 1978, Gary Johnson was a junior at Rolling Hills High School in Rancho Palos Verdes, California with a keen interest in archaeology. Around that time, he noticed a large rock sticking out of the ground with a bone pattern in it. With the help of friends, he rolled the 1,000-pound rock (using logs) about 200 yards into his family's backyard.

After chipping away shale and dirt, Johnson called in an expert to get an opinion of his find. The expert deemed the fossil not very significant and the rock sat in the backyard for over 35 years.  It was later discovered to be a balleen whale fossil that was somewhere around 15 million years old.

http://www.dailybreeze.com/science/20140214/fossil-found-on-rock-rolled-home-from-chadwick-school-in-1978-at-least-12-million-years-old

Things aren't always correctly identified right off the bat.  Some of my biggest regrets are the result of things not being correctly identified.

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I'm a little handicapped.  A few stitches in my right arm right where it would fit into the detector arm cuff.  Have to wait for that to heal.

As far as Treasure Coast beach conditions, it is still hot and the surf darn near flat.  No change expected real soon.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

7/5/14 Report - Little Diamond Sparkler Find & How To Recover Deep Targets In Moving Water and Mushy Sand,

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



Little sparkler found on the 4th.

You might recall the cobs recently recovered from the Green Cabin Wreck that Captain Martinez of the Capitana showed us not long ago.  Neither showed the denomination, but both are eight-reales.

Captain Martinez said both of those cobs are in the lab now and he'll send more info on them when he gets it.  He also said he'll be sending photos or new finds too.



On the Treasure Coast the seas are still calm.  I did a little hunting Friday morning near low tide.  Some people were out very early to reserve their place in the sun.

In the dry sand were a good number of shiny new clad coins, with just a couple discolored ones.  You can always expect at least some new drops on hot holiday weeks.   It appeared that at least 80 percent were recently dropped and did not show any effects of weathering. 

Now there will be all the new debris from fireworks to deal with on the beaches, such as sparkler wires.

I also sampled the wet sand and shallow water.  The wet sand didn't produce much besides some junk jewelry - no coins and no aluminum. 

There was a lot of sea weed piled up on the beach front and also in the shallow water.

The shallow water produced some junk jewelry too, and one good target (See above.), which was deep and took quite a while to recover due to its depth and the moving water and sand that kept filling the hole.

I stuck at it though.  It always really bugs me to have to leave a target giving a good signal just because I'm not able to get to it. 

While trying to recover that good target I thought of some tips that I should give you for recovering deep targets in moving water and sand in the shallow water. 

The small waves were breaking over the bar just to the East of me and then rushing over the dip, which is where I was trying to recover the target in semi-mushy sand.  It wasn't the most mushy I'd ever seen, just not firm.  The top layer was fairly thick and without any course shell sand.

Anyhow, here are some things to try when trying to recover deep targets in moving water and mushy sand.

First switch to pin-point mode and get a good fix on your target, noting both the position and depth of the object.

Second, remove a scoop of sand right over the deep target.  That little hole will serve to mark the location visibly, or if the visibility is not good, you  can relocate the hole quickly and easily by feel with your foot. 

If the water is rough enough and deep enough to make it difficult to stay in position (it wasn't Friday) try to keep one foot planted at the edge of the hole to keep yourself in good position.

Now, it is time to move sand.  If you got a good fix on the depth of the target, you have an idea how much sand you need to move.  If it is a lot, then I'd recommend foot fanning.

Plant your non-predominant foot (I'll assume you are right handed, or footed.) to the left of the small hole.  Don't anchor your foot too close to the hole because the hole will be expanding.

Take your long-handle scoop and anchor it to the left of your left foot so you can lean on it while trying to stand on one foot and fanning wildly with the dominant foot. 

Once you feel firmly set, start moving your right foot back and forth over the center of the hole until you have fanned enough sand to be getting close to the object.

Warning: doing this bare foot can result in things such as a fishing lure popping up and getting stuck in your foot.  I know.  It is best to have some foot cover.  A trimmed swim fin is excellent for moving a lot of sand.

Check the hole with your detector.  Still in pin-point mode, angle the coil up at about a 45 degree angle and face the coil over the sloping sand on four or more sides of the hole.   If the signal is louder when the coil is angled over the left slope of the hole than when it is over the right hole, then you have a good indication that the object is not in the exact center of the hole but off to the left a little.  If that is the case, or if the hole has expanded so that your left foot is now in the hole, readjust your stance farther to the left.

After fanning a lot of sand, if you fanned too much, the object can now be on the slope of the hole or even outside of the hole, so check with your detector once in a while to see if the target moved.  If visibility is good, keep watching for the target to show up.

The ideal is to fan just enough sand so that the target is just barely covered.  Then use your scoop to scoop it up.    (That is why your estimation of depth is important.)

 If you try to scoop up the object while it is deeply buried, you can scoop it up with so much sand that the object will be on top of a scoop full of sand and can fall out over and over again as you lift it through the moving water.    That is especially true of light objects as well as gold chains. 

Gold chains will very often slide out of the front of the scoop unless you get the entire chain well in the scoop, which is not easy.

Light objects like pull tabs can slide off as you raise the scoop of sand through the moving water.  Light objects like that can also be moved a good distance with the moving water when they fall out of the scoop.  It can take a little time to relocate them.  They will tend to be moved in the same direction as the moving water.

If a target moves a good distance after you try to scoop up, there is a good chance that it is aluminum.
A heavier target won't move as far when you lose it and will often fall back down into the hole.  A target can slip down the side and get reburied by sand refilling the hole.  That can result in the signal becoming more faint.  You might have to take time to relocate the object.

Despite the fact that you are trying to get deep, it is better to not over-fill your scoop when trying to scoop up a deep target in a hole. 

Also, before lifting the scoop, give it a little time and shake it a little while the scoop sits in the bottom of the hole to let the target settle better into the scoop.  Then when you lift the scoop, not so much stuff will slide out as the scoop is lifted.   If your scoop sifts fast that will help too.

I didn't know there was going to be so much to this when I started typing.

The process can be much easier if you have good visibility and can get a look at what is happening under water.  A snorkel mask can help.

One thing I want to emphasize is how to angle your coil up along the various slopes of the hole to identify the position of the object relative to the center of the hole.   When the hole is smaller all you need to do is put your detector in pin-point mode and place the coil angled up the slope from the center of the hole in four or more directions.   If the hole has become bigger, you can sweep up each of the slopes.  There is the possibility that the object has been moved up the slope or even out of the hole, as well as the possibility that it is still buried below the hole.


 A good fix on the location of the object can save a lot of work.  


Thursday night Hurricane Arthur came ashore near the southern end of the Outer Banks as predicted.  

http://news.yahoo.com/hurricane-arthur-scythes-outer-banks-north-carolina-072924809.html

That should have given the guys up there a good opportunity.  Hope they are all safe.

They are very good at predicted tropical storms these days.  The paths are pretty much right on.


I understand there are new rules on taking batteries on planes.  I'll get into that more tomorrow, as well as some other things.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

6/23/14 Report - Attempting To Identify A Reale Found On The Green Cabin Wreck Site

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

Picture From Sewall Menzel's
Cobs, Pieces of Eight and Treasure Coins

Yesterday I showed a picture of a reale found by the crew of the Capitana at the Green Cabin Wreck site. It is also shown in the picture below.

The first picture shown here is a very similar reale to the one that was recently found.  It is shown by Sewall Menzel in his book, Cobs, Pieces of Eight, and Treasure Coins.

This isn't the most simple case for identification.  I would guess it is a Potosi coin, and it would have to date before 1653, which is when Potosi starting using the pillars and waves design.

Notice the mint and assayer marks (PR) to the left of  the shield.  The mint would most likely be Potosi, and the R would be the initial of the assayer, Alonso Rincon.  If that is true, the date would be between 1573 and 1576.  That is a very early cob.

Reale Found by The Capitana Crew On The Green Cabin Wreck.

The found cob does not show the denomination, which would be marked to the right of the shield.

 The crown of the found cob matches that of the Menzel example very well, but the R is a bit different.

The shield of the found cob also matches the Menzel example very well.

If you can correct me on any of this, please do so.

I have a lot more to post today but don't have time to get it posted.  I will end there today with this short post and hopefully get to the other stuff tomorrow.

Happy hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

6/22/14 Report - Land and Sea Treasures: New Finds By The Capitana Crew At The Green Cabin Wreck and Nice Inland Finds.

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

Bronze Shipwreck Artifact Found by the Crew of the Capitana Yesterday.
Photo submitted by Captain Johan Martinez.

I started to write up one topic this morning but didn't complete it.  I couldn't get it organized and ready, so I gave up for a while.  I'll get back to that topic some other time.  Maybe tomorrow.

It actually is better that I put that topic off because as I was writing I was coming up with more and more information.  I might have to break it up and present it in two or three different posts.




In the mean time I got some updates from Captain Jonah and the crew of the Capitana who are still finding some super items on the Green Cabin wreck site.

They found this bronze artifact along with some other artifacts yesterday.  Really neat!  Keep it up guys.

Reale Found by the Crew of the Capitana
Photo submitted by Captain Martinez.

Captain Jonah also sent me pictures of a couple of reales they found.  I'll show one of those today and another some other day.  I'll also get into a discussion of the details and identification at some other time.

Really nice detail showing on this reale!

Great job guys.  Thanks for sharing!

Like we said the last time, there is more out there and will be for a long time to come.













On the Treasure Coast beaches we've been having such poor beach detecting conditions, and no sign that that will change much any time soon.

Things can still be found.  I've been surprised by my rate of jewelry finds on the beach lately despite not finding hardly any coins.

Michael E. and William M. have been doing some inland hunting after calling to get permission from land owners.

Finds included vintage buttons, a merc dime, old shot gun shells, wheat cents, and a lead seal.

Michael says he likes the shot gun shells because you can date them with a little research.  I like them too.  They have different graphics and show a good bit of information.

Then Michael did some water hunting and got his 34th and 35th rings of the year.  Very good for anybody but especially for someone that hasn't been detecting a long time!

Variety of Very Nice Inland Finds
Photo submitted by Michael E.

Tungsten Ring Found by Michael
Photo submitted by Michael E.

Thanks for sharing Michael and William.  Nice finds during poor detecting conditions!

With the high price of gold you'll find a lot of rings made of other metals.

\That is all for today.  I'll be back with more some other time.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net