Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
Where you metal detect has a lot to do with what you find. That isn't surprising at all, but it is worth noticing the extent to which it is true. If you blindfolded me somehow so I didn't know which place I was at but just showed me the targets I was digging, it would be easy for me to tell you if I was in Pensacola, Miami Beach, Minneapolis, or any of a variety of other places where I spent a fair amount of time detecting. It would be easy.
Yesterday's news brought back a lot of memories. I used to do a lot of work at the Naval Air Station where there was a shooting, and I lived for quite a while at Miramar, where the UPS truck was highjacked and more people were shot and killed.
When I went to Pensacola, I always took my metal detector. This was about thirty years ago, I would guess, and when I went to that area I would often detect Pensacola Beach, but also other nearby areas such as Gulf Breeze, Milton, or Ryerson State Park.
In those days air travel was much easier. It didn't hurt that I was among the top five percent of frequent flyers for Eastern and Delta Airlines, which usually got me a free upgrade to first class, but airport security was not such a big thing. I remember one time when the security people looked at my metal detector and didn't know what it was, but just shrugged their shoulders and that was that.
But to my point - when I first metal detected in Minneapolis, I waded into one of the lakes in my wet suit and immediately started hitting old coins. The lake was full of silver coins, and other silver including a lot of silver religious medallions, but few rings, and little gold. Some of the lake bottoms were not easy to detect because of the rocky bottoms, but some of those lakes had obviously not been hunted much before, if at all. The finds were very different from the glitzy Miami beaches, where you would find a lot of gold, including a lot of very expensive jewelry. The people and cultures of Minneapolis and Miami are very different, and the finds show that.
The finds in Hollywood Florida and Miami were also different. I don't know if that has changed since then, but back then you could find a lot in Hollywood but the finds would not be as expensive as what you would find in Miami. In Hollywood you'd find some gold, but it would generally be 10K gold, or gold plated rather than 14K, 18K or higher. The value of the items on average was simply a few steps lower in Hollywood.
If you think about it there are differences in the people and cultures of the different locations. That is something that is worth paying attention to. Some cultures wear more gold and wear different types of gold. You won't find as many people wearing big hulking diamond rings in Minneapolis as compared to Miami. There are cultural differences and there are practical differences. When the weather is below zero and you are wearing gloves around, it is not easy to wear gloves over big diamond rings, and what would be the sense of doing that anyhow, especially if you come from a frugal Scandinavian background.
I think you get my point and I don't need to go into much more detail.
You can still take your metal detector on the plane when you travel, but these days I prefer to just ship my detector ahead when I want to detect somewhere that I'm going. I always enjoyed detecting new places even though there is always a learning curve. You might find some good spots right away, but you might have to spend more time finding a decent place to detect.
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It amazes me how much stuff is out there to be found. I didn't have time to go to the beach yesterday so I took a look at an area close by. First I found a small cork stopper type bottle, so I got out my detector and found an old metal door knob. So then I tightened up my search and found the little gold stud ear ring. I'll have to hit that area some more some other day.
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A couple days ago I posted a COLLEGE INN bottle that Joe D. was hoping to learn more about.
I found a similar bottle online that had the same embossing, the same patent date and a very similar shape. Here is what the description said.
Rare,Early 1930's,Excellent Condition, 7 and 1/8th " Tall,University of Maryland Laboratory Dairy,That was Located at College Park,Maryland,Heavily Mottled,Strapped Across the Center,Footed Chocolate Milk Drink Bottle,with a tapered ring neck and a small,single ring collar,that takes a metal cap,embossed on a 3/4 " high,clear strap around the center" COLLEGE INN COLLEGE INN ",in thick,solid strike.Embossed on the base" DESIGN PAT.FEB.24 - 31 ".A very hard to find bottle,filled at the Maryland University Laboratory Dairy in the early 1930's,and sold at the campus soda shop and motel,"The College Inn".In the bottle was a short-lived,"YooHoo"-like,chocolate milk drink,that was slighly popular for a lttle while,but only lasted a few years,like the dairy and the College Inn,and that's why the bottles are so hard to find.I found three together,with a Lab.Dairy,and a St.Elizibeth's Hospital Dairy.I've never seen another before or since.A very rare bottle,with a lot of character,and history behind it. (Source: www.worthpoint.com)
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I was having trouble with my camera, which is why I didn't get anything posted yesterday. It just seemed like things wouldn't cooperate.
The weather is absolutely beautiful for being outside even though the beach conditions for finding anything old are not ideal.
It does look like in another week we could get another bump in the surf.
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| Source: MagicSeaWeed.com |
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
