5/9/20 Report - 1733 Wrecks. All About Privateering. Mystery Maker's Mark.

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

Unidentified Maker's Mark.

I've found a lot of silverware in the past, but recently found some new silverware that I researched.  I recently got one big ornate spoon from very deep on the back beach.  I'll get that one photographed before long, but it got me interested in going back and looking at some other finds that I hadn't yet taken the time to research. Some came from near the same area.

One that I cleaned a little and just looked at is an ornate spoon bearing the above maker's mark which I haven't yet found.  I photographed it both ways because I don't know which way it is supposed to go and it appears to have numbers both above and below the mark.  Between the globe and the Pat. is what appears to maybe be 1851.  On the other side of the crossed silverware appears to be 4800 or A.8.00 and maybe a 9 or 6.

I'm hoping someone can help me out with this.

Here is the spoon.

Dug Spoon.

I cleaned it a bit and took a photo of the handle.

Spoon Motif.

And here is what appears to be the patent date.  I cleaned it to show better.

Spoon Patent Mark.

It has enough good information on it.  I hope someone can identify the maker's mark.

I noticed I have some other interesting ones.  I'll be going through some of those, but am most interested in the big one recently dug from about two feet in old sand at the back of the beach.

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As published in: Creating a shipwreck trail: documenting the 1733 Spanish Plate Fleet wrecks, by Jennifer McKinnon.

Here is the link.

https://www.academia.edu/1611770/Creating_a_shipwreck_trail_documenting_the_1733_Spanish_Plate_Fleet_wrecks?email_work_card=view-paper

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You might enjoy this academic article by Sean Kingsley, The Art and Archaeology of Privateering: British Fortunes and Failures in 1744.  Here is the abstract.

Two shipwrecks discovered by Odyssey Marine Exploration in the English Channel in 2008 are embedded in the history of the War of the Austrian Succession (1739-48) and specifically the year 1744. The First Rate Royal Navy warship HMS Victory was lost in the western English Channel on 5 October that year, while returning from escorting to sea one outgoing commercial convoy and liberating another blockaded down the River Tagus in Lisbon.  The date of 1744 inscribed on the bell recovered from Site 33c in the same part of the Channel, alongside the name La Marquise de Tourny, revealed that Odyssey had also discovered the wreck of a Bordeaux corsair launched in the year when France joined the war. Both ships actively participated in the protection of trade and the art of privateering. This article contextualizes both wrecks by examining the objectives, character, structure and scales of privateering and securing prizes during the War of the Austrian Succession before discussing the few comparable wrecks to assess whether it is realistic to refer to an archaeology of privateering.
© Odyssey Marine Exploration, 2010

Here is the link.

https://www.academia.edu/3597716/Sean_Kingsley_The_Art_and_Archaeology_of_Privateering_British_Fortunes_and_Failures_in_1744?email_work_card=view-paper

And if you didn't look at the article on near-shore shipwrecks, I posted a link for that yesterday.  I think you'll find it interesting. 

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I saw a few minutes of the Palm Beach County Commission meeting yesterday and I'd bet they are about to open the beaches.  Their medical person seemed to be in favor of it.

I get word that Sebastian Inlet State park is open with limitations.  You can go on the beach.  I think most of the Indian River County beaches are now open 7AM to 7PM except for Seagrape Trail.  The stairs at the Seagrape access are broken.

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The surf will be smooth today with some pretty big tides.  At low tide you should be able to get pretty far out on the beach today.

Tomorrow the surf will begin to increase again, reaching four to six feet in a few days.

Happy hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/21/20 Report - Cannon Dug Up. Odd Shaped Coins. Black Swan Treasure Remembered.

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

An old cannon was found buried at a construction site near the Pak Kong car park in Rua de Demétrio Cinatti on Thursday, the Public Security Police (PSP) said in a statement...

Here is the link.

https://macaunews.mo/old-cannon-found-at-construction-site/

That is one hefty cannon.

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The Numismatist lists about 900 US coins and coin varieties and gives the prices for those coins in multiple conditions - usually nine or ten conditions, making a total of around 9000 prices.  That is a lot of coins and prices.

Heptagonal Coins From

Mexico and Kenya

The vast majority of those coins are round.  That is not surprising, but there are coins that are not round.  I've found some like the ones shown above, but also some that are square and some that might be described as scalloped.  I didn't take the time to find them, but below is a stock photo showing both square and scalloped coins.

I started wondering why most coins are round.  Vending machines depend upon coins rolling down a shoot, so that is one reason for modern coins to be round, but why were coins round before there were vending machines.  Of course we know that some cobs were not very round and some of them were nearly square, but there still was a tendency to make coins round.  It seems to me that manufacturing square coins might make more efficient use of the metal, depending upon the method of manufacture.

I wonder why coins have been so predominantly round, even back to ancient times?  It would seem to me that square would be just as satisfactory as long as there were not sharp corners.  I guess a single unbroken line without angles is simple and strong.  And it seems easier to stack round coins.

Anyhow I got interested in coins that are not round (other than cobs) and will try to find some that I've found.  If I correctly recall, St. Lucia had both square and scalloped coins.

What odd shaped coins, other than cobs, have you found?

---

Phillip E. sent me the following photos of Jacksonville Beach.  The top photo is the one published by the media and the bottom one is the one he took,  Very different looks.

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Tony S. reminded me of the finagling in the Odyssey Marine vs Spain Black Swan case.

If you want to check it out here is the link.

https://goldandsilverblog.com/black-swan-silver-treasure-plundered-by-spain-with-surreptitious-help-from-u-s-0351/

Notice the letter towards the end of the article.

Since they lost the Black Swan Treasure they became primarily a mining company.  GlobalNewsWire quotes them as saying, We currently have three significant seafloor mineral projects in various stages of development for critically important resources including; phosphate, cobalt, nickel, copper, rare earths and gold.

Their stock is down around $3.50 per share.

Anytime there is big treasure, politics will be involved.


The GoldAndSilverBlog does not seem to have any recent posts.

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You haven't been hearing so much about the IMHE model, as I said would be the case after they presented it.  Not only did it have a huge cone of error (using hurricane model terminology) and was way off, but it really set me off when they gave mitigation as the reason for the difference between the actual numbers and the numbers predicted of the model without even considering error or any other possible factors.  That was just too much for me, especially from expert scientists.  I acknowledge that I was hard on them. To me that is not about politics at all.  It is about using data, and reaching conclusions - the same kind of thing I talk about all the time as it applies to finding objects or identifying artifacts.  It shows the general usefulness and applicability of the same methods ie. considering all the factors and alternative explanations.

---

There is more talk of opening up states and businesses.

On the Treasure Coast the surf is small, and it won't be long until salvage season gets ramped up.

Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net.

4/30/18 Report - Odyssey Marine Filing For Ownership of SS Mantola. Cookout Big Success. 1715 Fleet Artifacts In Auction.

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

A US marine salvage company that discovered a sunken World War I ship years ago wants to be named owner of the vessel — and the nearly 19 tons of silver bars worth millions of dollars that went down with the ship.

Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc. contends in a new Manhattan lawsuit it used “sophisticated sonar equipment” in 2011 to locate the SS Mantola -- a 450-foot British flagged steamer torpedoed by a German submarine in 1917 as it sailed from London to Calcutta...

The company estimates 536,000 ounces of silver could be on board the ship. Under a 2011 salvage agreement with the UK government, Odyssey was to keep 80 percent of the cargo.

However, that agreement lapsed in September 2015 and the government no longer makes such deals, the suit says. Odyssey is staking its claim for ownership...

Here is that link.

https://nypost.com/2017/04/22/salvage-company-wants-rights-to-shipwrecks-treasure/

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By all reports, everybody had a great time at the Treasure Hunter's Cookout Saturday.  SuperRick had the following to say

Yesterday, My wife and I got to go to the treasure hunter's cookout.  I missed it last year by a few days. When I saw your post on it this year I wasn't going to miss it! The one thing I love about your blog is that you put out a lot of good information that anybody that wants to hunt the beaches can use! Of course, the one person that I wanted to meet was not there so I could personally thank him for all of the great work that he does on your Blog.

But I did get to meet Terry Shannon and Ed Huffman along with the owners of Booty Salvage with so many others that I can't remember all of their names. The food was great and so was all of those that were there. I know that next year I won't have any problem getting my wife to go there again!

It's been an interesting three months here in Fla. hunting the beaches in south Fla. I never even hunted the treasure beaches because the conditions were not right. The one thing that I've learned from your Blog is that you don't want to waste your time if the conditions are not right!

The funny thing was that I met the owners of Booty Salvage the last time I was in Fla. at Turtle trail park and he remembered me from our meeting!

We are leaving to head back to Vegas on Tuesday so until the next time I hope that you find many treasures whatever they may be!

Thanks again
Rick

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If you want to know what kind of things you might find on the Treasure Coast if you are real lucky, you can see a number of 1715 Fleet artifacts that are listed in the current Sedwick auction.  They begin with lot number 1599 and extend through lot number 1616.  The series begins with a small section of a gold olive blossom chain, a silver coat-of-arms seal and a gold leaf snuff box.  Also included are several emeralds and other artifacts.

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SpaceX launches rockets and can now land them so they are reusable.  They can land them on land or on a barge at sea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEr9cPpuAx8

---

One fellow told me that he is planning a big experiment.  He'll mark items and ask people to report where and when they find them.


The treasure Treasure Coast salvage season is ramping up and will get into high speed before long.


The biggest surf we'll see in the next several days is a three - five foot surf that is predicted for Tuesday through Thursday.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

5/18/17 Report - 19 Tons of Silver Bars. Some Erosion on Some Treasure Coast Beaches.

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

Eroded Treasure Coast Beach As Seen Early This Afternoon.

I noticed a good southeast wind once yesterday and suspected there might be some beach erosion.  I got out today and did find some.

The above cut is about two feet high.  As you can see, there is a lot of seaweed.  The sand in front of the cut was mushy.  The seaweed undoubtedly washed up after the wind changed direction and the erosion was done.

The quick erosion and refilling happened a number of times during a few weeks a month or two ago.  No cobs showed up then either.

Another Beach With Some Erosion. 

There was not quite as much erosion here.

No Erosion at The Third Beach.

The third beach had even more seaweed.  You could also see where the sand was accumulating on the front of this beach.

Overall, I'd say beach detecting conditions are not good despite the erosion at some beaches.

---\

I previously talked a little about the S. S. Gairsoppa, but did you know about the SS Mantola?

Odyssey Marine Explorations has filed to claim salvage rights for the SS Mantola, a ship that was carrying nearly 19 tons of silver bars when it was sunk by a German torpedo in 1917.

On May 1 an court order was issued giving Odyssey exclusive rights to salvage the wreck.  The order in part reads,  ...IT IS ORDERED that Plaintiff's Motion for a Preliminary Injunction temporarily enjoining and restraining any and all interference by any third-parties with Plaintiff's rights to salvage the shipwreck site located within the area defined by the center-point coordinates is hereby GRANTED; it is further ORDERED that nay and all third-parties are hereby enjoined from conducting search and/or recovery operations, or conducting activities which would disturb the shipwreck site in any manner or that would interfere with Plaintiff's rights to continue its recovery of the cargo and artifacts at the shipwreck site;...

Here is the link for that source.

 https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/21218790/Odyssey_Marine_Exploration,_Inc_v_The_Shipwrecked_and_Abandoned_SS_Mantola# 

Any other parties have the right to submit their claims.

The coordinates for the wreck were kept secret, but it is known the the Mantola was discovered not far from the Gairsoppa.

The company ( Odyssey ) estimates 536,000 ounces of silver could be on board the ship. Under a 2011 salvage agreement with the UK government, Odyssey was to keep 80 percent of the cargo.

However, that agreement lapsed in September 2015 and the government no longer makes such deals, the suit says. Odyssey is staking its claim for ownership.

Here is the link to that source, where you can find some additional information.

http://nypost.com/2017/04/22/salvage-company-wants-rights-to-shipwrecks-treasure/

And here is the link if you want to find out more about Odyssey's Mantola project.

http://www.shipwreck.net/ssmantolafaqs.php

---

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/1/15 Report - Beach Conditions Along The Treasure Coast. Artifacts Of A Deep-sea 1622 Navio. Artifacts of The HMS Erebus.

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

The main thing I want to do today is present a survey of Treasure Coast treasure beaches.

Douglas Beach This Morning.

Douglas was mushy and relatively formless.  Only a few small scallops or dips.

Weed On Douglas Beach

The reason I'm showing the weed is that you can see that there is an inch or so of new sand that recently washed over it.  Just one of those things you can notice that will give you an idea of what has been going on.

Turtle Trail This Morning

There were some scallops that had some depth to them.  There was also a cut, but it was in renourishment sand.  Actually the most promising place I saw this morning, even though it was still poor.

Seagrape Trail This Morning.

Notice the six foot cliff.  It is still renourishment sand.

Wabasso

Amber Sands.

I also looked at Rio Mar.  It wasn't worth taking another photo.  The waves were a good bit smaller this morning than they were a day or two ago.

I think you get the picture.  I might have missed some good spot somewhere, but overall beach conditions are still not good.  Definitely not enough to increase my treasure beach conditions rating.

At this point, I'm betting that we won't get any beach improvement from Joaquin.

The wind was coming from the west this morning and as Joaquin heads north,  As Joaquin moves north, the wind will be pulled over the state from the west.

It looks like North Carolina could get some good conditions as Joaquin heads up past there.

Well, that is disappointing.  As I've been saying for so long, it has been a long time since we have had good beach conditions.  It will change someday.  Hopefully sooner rather than later.

---

After another season of searching in the cold waters off Nunavut for the ships of the Franklin Expedition, HMS Terror remains elusive, but new photos released today show some of the 39 artifacts recovered during the latest search of the HMS Erebus wreck site...

Here is the link for the rest of that story.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/erebus-terror-artifacts-1.3244303

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The Deep-Sea Tortugas Shipwreck, Florida: A Spanish-Operated Navio of the 1622 Tierra Firme Fleet. Part 2: the Artifacts by Greg Stemm and Ellen Gerth of Odyssey Marine Exploration, Tampa, Florida, USA.

You might want to take a look at that paper.  The link is below.

It examines a broad range of types of artifacts.  There are a lot of good photos.

http://www.shipwreck.net/pdf/OMEPapers27-2013.pdf

---

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/29/15 Report - Closed Beaches. TreasureGuide Beach Cam. Tommy Thompson Found in West Boca. Odyssey Marine Working S. S. Central America.

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

Wabasso Beach Access Closed This Morning.

Both the Wabasso Beach Access and the Turtle Trail access were closed this morning.  I know the Turtle Trail access has been closed for a while.  I'd guess that another big sand dump is coming.  I saw survey markers above Seagreape Trail too.


Vero Looking Towards Rio Mar Near Low Tide This Morning.

As you can see, no cuts here.  There were a few barely noticeable scallops.  Not many people out either. 

Early this morning it was pretty windy and cloudy.



Seagrape Trail Access Looking North This Morning.

Not much in the way of cuts here either.  The water did hit the cliff and there were some cuts that were only a few inches high out in front of the cliffs part of the way.

From about where the steps are in this picture to the next set of steps in the distance, there were a number of targets in the wet sand and near the water - mostly junk.

Couple Detectorist Caught By The TreasureGuide Beach Cam This Morning.

These detectorists were working along  near the foot of the cliff.  One other detectorist left a little earlier. 

-------

The big treasure news of the week is that Tommy Thompson was found.  I did a post back in the summer about him missing.  He was being sued by investors who claim they never got their share.

Tommy found the S. S. Central America and salvaged a reported $50 million worth of treasure.

C Man sent me this link.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/fugitive-treasure-hunter-nabbed-florida-2-hunt-144801276.html

L. B. sent me this link on that topic.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2930007/Fugitive-treasure-hunter-nabbed-Florida-2-year-hunt.html

This article has some good news too.

Thanks for the links guys.

Odyssey Marine Explorations has been salvaging the S. S. Central America site. 

http://ir.odysseymarine.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=881983

Their third quarter report said, Completed the 2014 season's offshore operations at the SS Central America shipwreck site and recovered more than 15,500 silver and gold coins, 45 gold ingots, gold dust, nuggets, jewelry, and various other artifacts. Odyssey's share of the expected proceeds from the recovered cargo is far in excess of the project costs and is expected to generate a significant profit margin to Odyssey.

--------

On the Treasure Coast expect something like a 2 to 4 foot surf for the next few days.  The primary beaches have been worked hard and targets or any kind are generally scarce.  You'll have to do a little more than go to the same beaches that everyone else is doing.

Happy hunting,
TreaureGuide@Comcast.net

7/25/14 How Not To Miss Gold: Detector Mode Test Results. Saga of the Central America.

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


Sample Gold Items For Detector Test

There is no detector that can identify any and every type of relic, watch, ring, or whatever with 100% accuracy. I am certain that you will miss some very good things if you simply pass over items because of how they display on an ID screen or because of the audio tone. You have to make a calculated decision concerning how much of what you are willing to miss. 

It is relatively easy for a detector to correctly identify modern US coins.  They can do that well, but the question is, is that what you really most want to find.

Not very long ago I talked about making those decisions in my post on Math for Metal Detecting.  I pointed out how a single good find can be worth more than hundreds or even thousands of coins.

Whatever your decision making process, there is little that is more important than actually knowing your detector, especially how it reacts to high value targets such as gold.   And there is no better way of getting to know your detector than working with known test targets.  It doesn't matter if you are hunting cobs or modern gold, you absolutely need to know how your detector responds to the items that you really want to find.

I did a field test of the ACE 250 not long ago.  It is a low-cost discriminating detector, that in my opinion is a very good detector for the price.  I used it for the following test.  I wanted to see how well it identified various samples of gold jewelry.   For me, these types of tests are mandatory for any detector that you want to use.

I got a sample of gold items that varied in size and weight for the test.  They are pictured above.  I labeled them 1 - 5 going from left to right in the picture.

The first thin ring weighs .04 troy oz.   The second weighs .09 troy oz.  The second is smaller but wider than the first.  The third weighs .23 troy oz., and the forth, .27.   The fifth is a bracelet weighting .67 oz.

The ACE 250 has five hunting modes;  coin, relic, custom, jewelry and all metals.  I tested the Coin and Jewelry modes first.

I put the targets on ground that I have used many times in the past (so I know it is clean) for such tests and ran my coil over the test targets.

In Coin mode the small rings labeled 1 and 2 were identified as nickels.  Fine!  You might think you are digging a nickel and be surprised to find a small gold ring.  No big problem.

Still in Coin mode, items 3 and 4, were not detected at all.  By that I mean there was no audio tone.  

I ask you, would you rather detect a clad coin or the average size gold ring?   If you don't want to dig anything but coins, that is fine, but realize what you might be giving up.

Still in Coin mode, the bracelet (item 5) was identified as a nickel.   Hope you are digging nickels if you go over a bracelet like that.

In Coin mode, you will dig smaller gold items that display as nickels.  You will, however, miss larger gold that falls in the pulltab range.

In Jewelry mode item 1 jumped back and forth between nickel and foil on the ID display screen.  Item 2 was identified as a nickel again.   Items 3 and 4 were identified as pull tabs.  And item 5 was identified as a nickel again.

If you want to find gold in Jewelry mode, you should be digging nickels, foil and pull tabs. 

This test was done using one particular detector.  Results with other detectors can vary, but these test results should show you how important it is to know your detector.

To summarize, if you were using either the Coin mode or Jewelry mode, you very well might have missed items 3 and 4.   That is two out of five gold items.   And they are pretty typical rings, which makes it even more important.

In Coin mode, you would not have detected them, and in Jewelry mode you would have misidentified them.

A lot of guys use Jewelry mode rather than Coin mode when hunting and say they find more coins in the Jewelry mode.  The Jewelry mode does not discriminate (eliminate the audio tone) for as many non-coin items. 

In this test it should be noted that I'm using a best-case scenario.  Items were on the surface and not near other items or junk which could have added additional mistakes.  Also deep items in the field may not be identified exactly the same as shallow items.

As I explained when I talked about Step Searches, I would not exclusively use a single mode on a promising area, but would switch modes and also detectors and cover the same ground multiple times.   What one detector or search mode misses another might not miss.  That is one big reason for going back over the area after having analyzed the area and likely targets.

This inexpensive detector has already found good numbers of coins missed in areas heavily hunted by much more expensive and powerful detectors.  Each different type of detector has its own specific strengths and weaknesses.  That is another good reason for searching the same area multiple times with different detectors.

Some detectors are very sensitive to electric lines and underground cables, for example.  Some are good at target separation.  There are different things that will allow one detector to find what another, even another more powerful detector, will not find.

I found this test enlightening and hope you did too.

I'll cover the Relic and All Metals modes tomorrow.



The site of the Central America had not been worked since 1991 until a court-appointed receiver awarded a contract to Odyssey Marine Exploration to salvage what remains on the Central America with the hope of obtaining more treasure and paying back investors.  Odyssey Marine has since recovered 43 solid gold bars, 1,300 $20 double eagle gold coins, and thousands more gold and silver coins.

Here is the link to that interesting story.

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/ea11e3bb7d9f45c9b6abb503cb9a42b3/US--Treasure-Dispute


On the Treasure Coast we're still stuck with a South wind and East swell and only a one foot surf.  That has been the pattern for a long time now.  Still watching for a change.


I think this was a very useful post.  I hope you think so too.   It explains in an empirical way much of what I talk about.  More tomorrow.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@Comcast.net

7/1/14 Report - Tropical Storm Watch on Treasure Coast, Massive Gold Nugget Found, Transpositional Errors on Cobs & Pot Shard

Written by the Treasure Guide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.




Source: Link found below.

Some fourth of July firework shows could get rained out.  Tropical Storm 1 has formed and a tropical storm watch is in effect from Fort Pierce to Flagler Beach.

I'm enjoying the cloudy weather.  It's nice that the sun isn't beating down all day.

Yesterday we had some nice north winds for a little while.  I'm afraid we won't really get much surf from this storm because it is north of us and the wind we get from it will be coming mostly from the south and west.

http://www.weather.com/news/weather-hurricanes/tropical-depression-one-20140626

Expect a lot of rain the next few days.

Here is a massive 14.7 pound gold nugget that was found in Siberia named the "Devil's Ear."

The sifting machine kicked it out as a rock.  That, of course, set off a search for more.

It was found on what the miners thought was a very unlucky time, Friday 13 and during a full moon.

That is very good bad luck.

Below are a couple of links to that story.



http://blog.gainesvillecoins.com/2014/06/24/massive-nugget-siberia/

http://www.odditycentral.com/news/gold-nugget-dubbed-devils-ear-weighs-6664-grams-was-discovered-on-friday-the-13th-on-a-full-moon-night.html


Archaeologists have discovered evidence that torture occurred near Durango, Colorado 1200 years ago.  As hard as it might be to believe, it wasn't the white men that did it.  

http://archaeology.org/news/2269-140630-colorado-torture-evidence

If you ever get to Durango, take the train up to Silverton.  You'll enjoy some of the most awesome scenery as well as the historic mining town of Silverton.  It's like stepping back in time.


Odyssey Marine stock made a good move Monday after a lot of analyst downgrades and a long decline.  They must be expecting improved 2nd quarter results.

And GoPro which went public at around $28 a few days ago is now up to over $46.  I mentioned them a couple of days ago and their plan to become start a media channel.


Spanish colonial cobs like modern coins occasionally show errors.  One common error that you might see is a transposition.

The castles normally appear in the upper left and lower right quadrants on the cross and shields.  However you will occasionally find the position of the lions and castles reversed.  That is a transposition error.

Some assayers seemed to be more prone to making those types of errors than others.

I'll discuss more cob anomalies in the future.

A few days ago I mentioned shards being found north of Vero.  Here is one.

This one was found by Philip I.

Thanks for sharing Philip.


I'll be taking a look at some beaches to see what is going on and will post some photos.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

6/29/14 Report - National Archives For Research, Detecting Military Shells With a 2-Box Detector, Getting To More Remote Beaches, & US Religious Shrine

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

Fellow Using Two-Box Detector To
Locate Buried Shells From WW I On His Farm
Source: video link below.

I've learned a lot through genealogical research.  I mention that again because once again I was amazed by what I found. 

My father was on a minesweeper during WW II.  He never talked much, hardly anything, about his experiences during the war.  We have, however, found where his ship was everyday during the war.  Palermo, Genoa, Sardinia, and Malta are some of the places where they cleared mines before his ship came back to New York and Miami before going through the Panama Canal to the Pacific.

I tell you this because the National Archives has tons of information that you can search.  Not only can you research individuals, but you can also find detailed records on ships and battles.  And not only do they have information on WW II, but also information going back to the Revolutionary War and more.

I was able to find a daily longitude and latitude for my dad's ship, which was one of the smaller ships in the Navy.  You might find it easy to find even more information about larger ships.

If you want to find information about a family member or track down a ship that sank while carrying gold bullion, the National Archives and Navy have tons of records that can be accessed.  You can receive some information free, but there may be a price charged to cover the cost of copies of other records.

Oh, by the way, you can also get medals and things posthumously, as well as a flag

You can apply for the flag by completing VA Form 2008, Application for United States Flag for Burial Purposes.

Here are a couple of websites that can help you get started with research on a veteran or a ship.

http://militaryrecordsusa.com/

http://www.ancestry.com/nara_new

Collection of Militaria From NY Times Video Clip
Source: link below.

Here is a video about a fellow (See picture above.) that uses a two-box detector to locate shells and other old military items on his farm. He has accumulated a huge collection.  

The story is a good reminder that there still may also be dangerous things in the ground and on the beaches around the Treasure Coast, which was once a military training center.  

It is said that 20 million shells were fired during the Battle of Verdun, of which about 20 percent did not explode.

http://www.nytimes.com/video/world/europe/100000002957552/the-bomb-collector-of-ypres.html?playlistId=1194811622205
 

Thanks to teklord for sending me that link!

Remember to be careful when digging where there could possibly be old shells or bombs.  That includes the Treasure Coast.


Spain recently returned a bunch of stolen artifacts to Columbia.  

http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/06/24/us-spain-colombia-archaeology-idINKBN0EZ1YW20140624


You might remember the case from back in 2012 in which Odyssy Marine had to turn over tons of coins from the Nuestra Senora de Mercedes that it recovered off of Portugal.  

http://tbo.com/news/business/spain-sends-military-to-retrieve-treasure-from-odyssey-marine-360822

I'm not sure why Peru didn't prevail in their claim for the same coins.


A Mexican helicopter fired shots at a US border patrol.  They claim it was by accident, of course.  I would not be surprised by anything down there these days.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mexican-helicopter-crosses-u-s-border-fires-border-patrol-n142966


There are religious shrines around the world that are visited by millions of people, but you might not know that there are religious shrines in the US as well.  I thought this one was especially interesting.

National Shrine of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, Fonda, NY: Having lost her parents at an early age, Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-1680) was raised among the Mohawks in the home of an uncle. There she first encountered Christian missionaries, and was baptized on Easter Sunday, April 5, 1676 in Fonda, NY near the Jesiut mission in Auriesville. Because of her baptism, her exemplary life, and her desire to remain a virgin, Kateri suffered great persecution. She died at age twenty-four known as the “Lily of the Mowhawks,” since she had given herself over entirely to care for the sick and long hours of prayer and penance. She was beatified in 1980 by Pope John Paul II. Her body is buried in the church of the Native American  reserve of Kahnawake, Quebec.

Source:  http://www.ssvmusa.org/Events/CatholicCulture/PilgrimageSites.shtm



It sometimes seems that the obvious beaches are over hunted.  I suppose they are.  There must be more detectorists today than back a few decades.  Yet that is easy to over estimate, as I've said before.  The detecting community is so much more visible today than in the past, due to the internet. 

The most over-hunted beaches are those that are obvious and easy.   Most of those "obvious" beaches have parking lots and beach walk-overs.

There are however long stretches of beach along the Treasure Coast that are seldom hunted because they are not as easy to get to.  Those beaches are not as heavily hunted, but they are also generally not as busy and so produce fewer modern targets.  That doesn't mean they will never produce shipwreck items though, and they may produce a few good modern targets even if they aren't real plentiful.

One way to make it easier to hunt those out-of-the-way beaches is to get someone to drop you off and pick you up again later.  That can keep you from having to walk a few miles with your detector, scoop, water, etc.

If there are two or more of you, you might consider dropping a couple of the more energetic people off at an out-of-the-way location while the others go ahead to a parking lot.   If the one group detecting the more distant location only has to walk to the parking lot, that means the walk has been cut in half.   If you park at a parking lot then walk to a remote site and then have to return to the parking lot, that doubles the distance you have to walk.


On the Treasure Coast we are stuck in the same old weather pattern with a one to two foot surf.  As is typical of this kind of weather, a few shards have recently been found up in the Corrigans area.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

5/6/14 Report - 1000 Ounces of Gold Recovered on a Reconnaissance Dive on the SS Central America & More Poll Discussion

 

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




SS Central America
 

Here is a little from a May 5 Globe Newswire story that one reader forwarded to me.

It says,  Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc., a pioneer in the field of deep-ocean exploration, recovered nearly 1,000 ounces of gold during the first reconnaissance dive to the SS Central America shipwreck site on April 15,2014.

Recovered gold included five gold ingots and two $20 Double Eagle coins (one 1857 minted in San Francisco and one 1850 minted in Philadelphia). The gold ingots were stamped with assayer's marks and weights that range from 96.5 to 313.5 troy ounces.

That was recovered during a two hour reconnaissance dive without any excavation!  It was all in plain sight.

This dive confirms for me that the site has not been disturbed since 1991, when I was last there," said Bob Evans chief scientist/historian for RLP.

Here is the link for more of the story.

http://www.nasdaq.com/press-release/gold-recovered-during-first-reconnaissance-dive-indicates-ss-central-america-has-not-been-disturbe-20140505-00368#ixzz30wy5MvLM

So that was that was 23 years ago and remained safely underwater without looting or any other major disturbance.

Odyssey stock has not been doing very well this year but maybe this news caused a little increase, or maybe it was totally unrelated to the news story.

So that was that was 23 years ago that it sat safely underwater without looting or any other major disturbance.

 

 

OMEX stock prices over last five days.

 

Wikipedia says, SS Central America, known as the Ship of Gold, was a 280-foot (85 m) sidewheel steamer that operated between Central America and the eastern coast of the United States during the 1850s. It was originally named the SS George Law, after Mr. George Law of New York. The ship sank in a hurricane in September 1857, along with more than 550 passengers and crew and 30,000 pounds (14,000 kg) of gold, contributing to the Panic of 1857.

I started to talk about the results of the most recent blog poll yesterday, and it appears that about half of the people that responded to the poll detect more than one type of site.  A lot more detect on an ocean beach than detect in the ocean.

A relatively small number of people who responded detect along or in inland waters.  Less than 10% of the respondents said the detected along inland waters, and less than 10% said they detected in inland waters.

I always enjoyed detecting inland waters.  There are some old abandoned beaches on inland waters that are good for detecting.  And there are some where the main beach used to be at a different place from where the main beach is now.

I can think of a few right off where I detected in the past and it looked like everybody always swam and sun-bathed at one part of the beach, but in older times the main location was actually elsewhere.  By looking at it you would never guess where the main beach used to be.  It can pay to go around and detect some of those overgrown areas that don't look like anyone had ever been there.  Don't miss those overgrown and over-looked areas.

I remember when I visited a park out in the Everglades back a number of years ago and turned my detector on and the first signal I got was a wheat penny.  It didn't look like there would be anything there.  There were no other people when I was there and it looked like there never had been many people there, however that was wrong.

You might be surprised sometimes by where things used to be and where old items still remain waiting to be found.

I've detected along rivers in Alabama where there were hotels that no longer exist and a number of lakes in Minnesota, to give just two examples.  I like those kinds of places.   There are plenty of beaches besides ocean beaches.

Almost as many of the respondents said they detected a dry land site as the number that detected an ocean beach (42% and 46% respectively).  Of course there are a good number of readers of this blog who do not live near an ocean.  Others detect land sites by choice.

I've shown in recent weeks a number of very good finds that came from land sites.  It is always a good alternative but for best results some research is necessary.

About one third did not detect at all this month.  I don't find that surprising either.  People have stuff going on and it has been quite a while since beach conditions have been good.  There are still modern items to be found on the beach even if conditions aren't good.\


On the Treasure Coast the surf is pretty flat.  And on top of that the tides are pretty flat now.

Don't expect much help from Mother Nature on the beach anytime real soon.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/16/14 Report - Odyssey Marine, SS Central America, Copper Sheathing, Northeast Wind & Erosion

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

Treasure Coast Beach This Afternoon.

We had a good northeast wind on the Treasure Coast this morning.   That surprised me a little.  After watching it a while, I thought I should go check out the beach even though the surf was supposed to be small.

 

This picture shows the same beach that I showed yesterday.  The top cliff is from yesterday.  The bottom cliff is from last night, or more likely, this mornings high tide during the northeast wind.

 

You can see that a foot or more of sand got removed since yesterday, and this wasn't the most eroded spot.

 



Same Beach Just a Little North.

In some spots more sand got removed today.  The second picture shows where there was about a four foot cut.  It ran a good distance too.  It was about a two foot cut yesterday and two more feet gone today.

 

This cut beach that I'm showing was the most cut of any that I saw today.  Other beaches were nothing like this one.

 

I checked it out simply because the wind looked promising.  There were very very few signals though.  I'm not going to increase my beach conditions rating despite the sizable cut on this one beach.  I will however issue an alert.  If things continue to improve we might get into something.



Tonight the high tide will be higher than normal.  If the wind remains favorable that should help.  Thursday we're supposed to get up to a six foot surf and again Sunday.   That could do some good.

Odyssey Marine Explorations had a profitable year.  They will be salvaging the SS Central America which hasn't been worked in a decade due to court proceedings.

Here are a couple of paragraphs from an Odyssey press release.

The SS Central America was a wooden-hulled, copper-sheathed, three-masted sidewheel steamship launched in 1852 as the SS George Law. The ship was in continuous service on the Atlantic leg of the Panama Route between New York and San Francisco. Owned and operated by the United States Mail Steamship Company, the SS Central America was caught in a hurricane and sank on September 12, 1857.

When it was lost, the SS Central America was carrying a large consignment of gold for commercial parties, mainly in the form of ingots and freshly minted U.S. $20 Double Eagle coins. Because of the large quantity of gold lost with the ship, public confidence in the economy was shaken, which contributed to the Panic of 1857.

Here is the link for more about Odyssey and their projects.

http://ir.odysseymarine.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=831011

Did you notice that the SS Central America was copper-sheathed.  That practice started in the mid 18th Century.  So if you are finding copper hull sheathing it is from a wreck of that time or later and not earlier vessels such as those of the 1715 Fleet.   Of course, earlier wrecks do have copper items other than sheathing but copper sheathing would be later.

It can help a lot to know the approximate dates of things like that.

There is one beach on South Hutchinson Island that produces a lot of copper sheathing yet today.  I suspect a later shipwreck is there, in fact I think there is a mixture of wrecks there, but some of the copper bits could also come from things other than shipwrecks.  There is a lot of varied history there.

Here is a link to a site that gives some information on copper sheathing.

http://www.copper.org/education/history/60centuries/industrial_age/copperand.html

Later tin was mixed with the copper resulting in "Muntz metal."

Copper or copper alloy sheathing was no longer used on larger vessels after steel hulls became common, but it was still used later on smaller vessels.



Leo L. had this to say about Dan B.s key from yesterday's post.

Well the keys are likely from Allegheny County in Pennsylvania maybe likely keys from the jail?? or government building.


If the wind doesn't switch, and I think it will, we might get a beach conditions upgrade before long.

The trouble we've been having this year is the fronts have been moving through quickly and when the wind is right, it changes too soon and the cuts fill back in.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.nt

 

3/4/14 Report - Pirate's Lair, $10 Million Gold Coin Cache Stolen, and Odyssey Marine Contracted to Work On SS Central America

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



Steps Up To 17th Century Pirates Lair
Source: Livescience,com.

What would the ideal pirate lair look like?   Think 1600s.

What would you want?  Remote location?  Good view of the sea lanes?  Protected access for coming and going?

Well this might be it.  Everything I imagined.

Here is what the following linked article says.  An alliance of pirates preyed on ships laden with treasure, outmatched Britain's Royal Navy, elected their own admiral and, ultimately, were destroyed in a cataclysmic battle against a Dutch fleet in 1614.

They were a pirate alliance which operated on the southwest coast of Munster, Ireland, in the early 17th century, and now new archaeological and historical research reveals new details about their adventures.

Here is the link for more about that

http://www.livescience.com/43696-17th-century-pirate-alliance-uncovered-in-ireland.html

And here is the link for more photos.

http://www.livescience.com/43693-photos-17th-century-pirate-alliance.html



The 10$ million dollars worth of mint-condition gold coins that were found buried under a tree may have been stolen from the mint in 1899.  If that is the case, the finders won't be able to keep the coins but might get a finders fee.  Bummmmer!

I wonder what is going to happen to those coins.  They'll probably disappear into some government black hole.

http://www.aol.com/article/2014/03/04/10m-in-gold-coins-found-in-yard-might-be-linked-to-1899-heist/20842614/


Odyssey Marine Exploration has been contracted to conduct an archaeological investigation and salvage whatever remains of the cargo from the SS Central America shipwreck off the coast of South Carolina.

You probably know something of the SS Central America.  It has been well publicized and you'll see ads for the sale of its gold coins and other salvaged items.  It sank while returning from the California gold fields.

Here is the link for more about the new deal with Odyssey Marine.

http://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2014/03/03/614960/10070736/en/Odyssey-Marine-Exploration-Selected-for-Recovery-of-SS-Central-America-Gold.html


I've talked about the storms hitting the United Kingdom this year.  Everything from WW II bombs to ancient forests are being uncovered.

Here is a link for more about that.

http://www.livescience.com/43761-storms-reveal-bombs-ancient-trees.html


We're have absolutely beautiful weather on the Treasure Coast if you are thinking about playing on the beach, but if you wanted to detect the beach for old things that is a completely different matter.

The surf will be up to around four feet.  And the tides are big because of the new moon.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net