3/30/20 Report - Mule Error Coin Found. Top Florida History Stories. Predictive Models and Specializing.

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

Valuable Mule Error Coin Found in Piggy Bank.

Source: See ManOfMany.com link below.

Parents often employ piggy banks as a way to teach their children how to save money. That practice is paying off for one Melbourne mum. While helping her daughter count the coins in her piggy bank, the mum discovered a Mule dollar that is worth thousands.

“What’s a Mule dollar?” the mum wrote in her Facebook post chronicling the discovery. “It’s a small number of the year 2000 $1 dollar coins that had been minted using the incorrect obverse die (heads side) and released into circulation by mistake and only discovered a year or two later.” The Royal Australian Mint had mixed up the 10 cent die with that of the $1 die. It’s an easy mistake to make, as the two coins are off by just 1.4 millimetres, but it’s enough of a difference that you can clearly see a double rim circle going around the coin...

Here is the link for more of that story

https://manofmany.com/entertainment/mum-finds-mule-dollar-in-daughters-piggy-bank

Thanks to William K. for sending me that link.


And here is a link you can use to find more information on the Australian $1/10-cent mule error coins.

https://www.australian-coins.com/error-coins/2000-1-10-cent-mule/

One of the most prominent U.S. mule errors is has the obverse of a Washington state quarter and the reverse of a Sacagawea dollar.

One alternative you have when you aren't able to metal detect is search for error coins.  Maybe go back through old finds or those you have saved.

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DJ sent an interesting link.  It is the online Daytona Beach News Journal's article on the top 25 Florida stories of all time.

Florida History: Here are Florida’s top 25 stories of all time.  They include stories from the time of Juan Ponce de Leon up to some of our more recent hurricanes, and a lot of important stories from the various centuries.

Here is a link to a good article from the Daytona Beach News Journal online:

https://www.news-journalonline.com/news/20190110/florida-history-here-are-floridas-top-25-stories-of-all-time

You can click on each that you want to learn more about.

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We all use data to make predictions, manage risk and make decisions.  We have our own informal mental models of how things work.  Some people are more precise and statistical or probabilistic in their decision making than others.  In the past I did one or two posts on math for metal detecting that could help you with site selection.

As Florida residents we know a bit about the use of models.  Every hurricane season we consult models that attempt to predict the strength of hurricanes and where they will hit.  We therefore know that models are not always correct.

It wasn't long ago that we were all making preparations for a big hurricane that turned out for us to be not much of anything.   There was a huge cost to all the wasted preparations, and I talked about it back then.

Now everyday we are hearing about the coronavirus models, but I haven't heard or seen as much about those models as I saw and heard about the hurricane models.  In fact, on TV they are mostly giving us the predictions of the most extreme coronavirus model.  I'm not so sure that is wise.

The epidemiological models depend upon data and assumptions just like any other model.  We don't have much data on coronavirus specifically, and the models may or may not be very accurate.   I'd like to see how the various models compare and the range of predictions.

Every day I look at the surf report.  The surf predictions are the result of models.  A few years ago I noticed that they often predicted a big surf 10 days or so out, but very often the prediction of a large surf would disappear as the time got nearer.  Evidently there was a systematic error in the model, which it appears was fixed.

In a way, trying to determine when a beach will be productive for metal detecting is a bit like informal modeling.  Several factors go into it, and sometimes we are right and sometimes wrong.  We know some of the factors that seem to predict, and we try to improve our understanding of how it works.  I'm sure I will never be correct all the time, but part of the fun, for me, is studying things and improving my understanding.

Improving my understanding is a game to me that is almost as much fun as finding something.  I like to check myself.  Even if I don't think an area will be productive, I will often check it out anyhow just to see if I was right or wrong.  If I check and find that I was right, I gain confidence in my model.  But when I am wrong I try to figure out why so I can improve my model.

With the coronavirus models it isn't a matter of fun.  It is much more serious, but still the analysis and problem solving is very much the same.  And it is being done by people who spent much of their life on it.

There is a minor problem with being a specialist.  You have a focus and narrowness of thought and vision.  I believe that holds for treasure hunting or metal detecting too.  The more you do one thing, the more narrow you become in your understanding and approach.

In a recent post I said there is always a way.  I believe that, whether it applies to metal detecting or ways to maintain social distancing while getting businesses running again.  You adapt.

You can know more than anyone else about some narrow subject or type of endeavor, and partly because of that specialization lack the creativity and breadth of vision necessary for the most creative solutions.  There are trade-offs.  You can't be everything.   You have to make decisions.  It helps to know who you are and your strengths and weaknesses whatever you are doing.

Asking Tony Fauci if you need to collect more data and take more precautions is something like asking a car salesman if you should buy a new car.  I'm not minimizing Dr. Fauci's genius, only pointing to the fact that he is like everyone else in that he brings who he is to the decision making, but no matter who you are or what you do, there are times when you need to challenge yourself, your preconceptions and self-imposed limitations, be creative and change in new and productive ways.

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Oh, oh.

We have are going to have a couple of days of one foot surf, but in about a week they are predicting a five to eight foot surf.

Be wise, be well,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

7/7/14 Report - Mule Cobs, Silver Ring Find and 100 Year-Old 4th of July Post Card

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

Silver Ring Found by Leonard G.
Photo by Leonard G.

Not long ago I mentioned errors or anomalies that you might find on cobs.  I talked about transpositions of the lions and castles but didn't continue with that topic.  I'll address one more type of cob anomaly today and others in the future.

In numismatic terminology a mule is a hybrid made by mismatched dies.  A mule would be made by using a die on one side of the coin, or cob, that does not match the die used to create the other side.

Dies wear out at different rates.  Sometimes one of the two dies would be used into the next year while another of the pair is replaced.   As a result one side of the cob might have a date that is a year earlier than the date on the other side of the cob. 

In Sewall Menzel's book he shows a couple of examples of Potosi cobs like that.  On one side one cob has a date of 1708 while the other side has a date of 1709.  Another example shows the dates of 1736 and 1737.

Unfortunately beach cobs often are missing a lot of detail.  You are lucky to find one with a single date, let alone two dates.

Above is a find by Leonard G.  I normally would have cropped a find photo like this, but this one is both a find photo and a beach photo.  You can see the mushy beach conditions and small surf in the background.

Congratulations Leonard.

Here is a good article on a topic that I've discussed before.  It is a reminder to make sure you know what you have before you sell it.  It is easy to make mistakes unless you know the market for things like coins and artifacts, or any collectible for that matter.

http://www.bankrate.com/finance/personal-finance/junk-or-antique-the-difference-means-cash-2.aspx

Here is a postcard that was mailed around 1914 (100 years ago) to my grandfather.  I'm a few days late with this, but here it is. 

The photo doesn't do it justice.  Before people had telephones and email, cards like this were a convenient way to send a greeting.  Post cards like this acknowledged Christmas, Easter, New Years, Birthdays, Valentines Day, and as you can see, even the 4th of July.    I'm pleased to have some of those that were used by my ancestors.

I'm interested in various types of treasure, not just coins and gold or silver.  That includes fossils, artifacts and even ephemera.

A variety of non metallic treasures can be found on beaches and overlooking them can be a big mistake.  For example, one really neat treasure that was found on a Treasure Coast shipwreck beach near the water line is an actual wax seal. 

It wasn't in great shape, as you would expect from being nearly 300 years old, but you could see an eagle or big bird embossed on it.  I showed it once in this blog.  It isn't made of metal, but to me it is a indeed a treasure as much as any coin or jewelry.  That is why I tell you to keep your eyes open when you detect.  It was found at the water line on a 1715 beach.


I was on a Treasure Coast beach this morning near high tide.  Conditions were still poor so a good number of finds were recent drops.  I'll have pictures of some of those in the near future.

The surf was a touch bigger this morning, I thought.  The web sites are predicted a little bigger surf for the rest of the week, but only around two feet.  We've had something close to a one foot surf for quite a while.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net