3/16/20 Report - Reales Found While Sifting Peace River For Fossils. Meth? Handy Tools For Any Detectorist.

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

1784

1784 and 1805 Coins Found by Lady Sifting For Fossils In The Peace River.

Submitted by Robert H.

Robert H. sent me this news along with the two photos.
Here’s a very cool and interesting story. I belong to a Facebook fossil group and this lady found 2 reales sifting for fossils on the Peace River. Unfortunately it looks like the fossil group or she took down the post but the lady that found them gave me permission to share with you.

Other Side of Same Two Coins.

Photo submitted by Robert H.

I know that some of the readers of this blog have been fossil hunting on the Peace River.  Its always an interesting trip.

I went there once myself.  I hired one of the guides that do it for a business.  If you hire somebody to take you the first time, you'll save a lot of time trying to find out where to go.

I always like sifting.  When targets are packed closely together, there is no need to detect each and every one separately.  Just dig and sift.  And of course sifting is good for non-metallic targets.

Thanks Robert.

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It seems we have a diversity of opinions on the mystery items I showed yesterday.  Brian F. says the crystal like items look like crystal meth.  He provided the following link.

https://chapterscapistrano.com/how-to-tell-if-someone-is-on-crystal-meth-signs-of-crystal-meth-use/

Brian also said, Meth seems to come in blue or white and i have detected two heroin bottles on TC beaches before. This would not surprise me. 

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A detectorist will find a variety of items beside a metal detector and sand-scoop helpful.  One of the less obvious is an ultra-violet or black light.

A black light is most useful for identifying non-metallic objects such as gems or minerals.  Certain types of glass, such as Vaseline glass or depression glass will fluoresce.

I discovered that one piece of red sea glass that I found fluoresced under ultraviolet light on just one side.  I believe it was a piece of a lantern from an old buoy that was infused with uranium. I noticed some yellow in the glass, but didn't pay much attention to it until I put it under a black light and found out it glowed.

See https://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2015/09/91715-report-how-one-artifact-continues.html for more about that.

Many interesting beach finds, including calcite crystals, certain fossil shells and even arrow points made of fossilized coral will glow.  I once found an old fishing lure that glows in the dark.  

Yesterday I posted a discussion of fluorite crystals, which will fluoresce.  In fact, the word "fluoresce" was derived from the word "fluorite" which was the first mineral discovered to fluoresce.

Other tools that might come in hand include the following.

Obviously enough, a magnifying glass, jewelers loop or microscope will undoubtedly come in handy.  Sometimes the naked eye just isn't enough.

A camera that will take good closeup photos is also very useful.

Another very useful item is a magnet.  Many of the questions that I receive can quickly be answered by using a simple magnet.  It is inexpensive and easy to use.  Some coins are magnetic, such as the steel war pennies and many foreign coins.

Another important item is a good scale for weighing small items such as coins.  The weight of a coin will often tell you a lot about the coin - perhaps what denomination it is, how badly it is corroded, or if it is made of the correct metal.

An acid test or test pen for testing metals is very handy, although you can take items to a pawn shop or jeweler to have the metal tested by XRF.

I'd also recommend a rock tumbler for cleaning common coins.  DON'T tumble items that could be historic or valuable.  Don't tumble encrusted objects until you know what they are.  I've made that mistake before.

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Don't expect any more than a four foot surf this week.

Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

5/16/19 Report - One Way To Accelerate Your Learning Curve. Beaches Where You Can Find Fossils. Finds. Trash and Treasure.

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

Fossil Finds by DJ
Photo by DJ.

I received these photos and message from DJ about his first fossil hunt.  The photo above shows the finds of DJ's first fossil hunting trip.

I had read some past blogs on fossil hunting and Peace River. Saw some finds you posted from Bill and Dan.

I went with a guide since I believe if time is limited, that may be a good way to find things until you learn the ropes.

Our guide was very sharp and explained a lot of things, in the picture you can see many shark teeth, part of a broken mammoth tooth, several DuoGong rib bones, fossilized shell ‘molds’, stingray teeth plates and a claw from a giant tortoise.

Others found parts of Megladon teeth, horse teeth.

I like to hear the explanations and hunting techniques.

Like you have said, the story behind the find is fascinating, there is always something to find and most importantly (for me) don’t throw anything away until you get an ID.

And the places to look have to be learned, gravel holds the smaller stuff and deeper gravel holds larger better finds. Some people use a golf club with the head cut off as a probe to see how deep the gravel is. And the gravel moves and builds up over time like sand on the beach!

Learning where not to hunt is important as well, people have to throw out the stuff from their screens and it is easy to find yourself digging in someones spoil pile.

Here are a couple closer views of some of his finds.

Photos by DJ

Can anyone identify the unidentified bone?

I went with a paid fossil hunting guide on my first trip to the Peace River too.  It does save time on the learning curve.  They put you on some good spots so you don't waste hours trying to figure out where to hunt.  If you go with a guide, you will definitely find some fossils.  In my opinion, it is definitely worth the money if you are interested in fossils.

You'll do some sifting.  That might be a good introduction to a technique that can be used for other things.

Guides for some other types of treasure hunting and other locations may not be such a good idea, but for Peace River fossil hunting, I think you'll find it worth the money.

It is a lot like metal detecting.  It helps to know where to look and how to identify the good spots.  Find identification adds to the fun.

Nice finds DJ.  Thanks for sharing about your trip.

You can sometimes find fossils on Treasure Coast beaches, but it depends upon beach conditions.  There was a time a few years ago when they were plentiful.  One area was very rich with fossils, but they can be found form time to time all along the coast.  I've seen them at Ambersands, Wabasso, Seagrape Trail, Turtle Trail and along South Hutchinson Island down as far as Jensen Beach, and probably farther.  I also have seen some found at Rio Mar.  Some of the Indian River spoil islands also have fossils on them.

After some very high rough seas there were some large fossil bones, from mammoths, whales, etc. on the beaches.  Fossils have been scarce on the beaches for the last few years.

Native American artifacts can also be found on the beaches at times too.  They are more common when the fossils can be found, and I've seen them at some of the same beaches.

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As part of RR Auction's The Fine Autographs and Artifacts Featuring JFK’ collection, the rosary beads used by Father James Thompson on the fateful day of President Kennedy's death were sold for $13,401.25...

https://spiritdaily.org/blog/news/rosary-beads-used-in-jfks-last-rites-auctioned-for-over-13k

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On the deepest dive ever executed into the Mariana Trench, an American investor-turned-explorer discovered what appeared to be plastic bag and other litter nearly seven miles below the surface of the Pacific Ocean.

Victor Vescovo, a retired naval officer from Texas, broke the record for the deepest dive into a part of the Mariana Trench known as Challenger Deep, the deepest known point in the Earth’s seabed. His dive went 52 feet lower than a 1960 dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench completed by U.S. Navy lieutenant Don Walsh and Swiss engineer Jacques Piccard in a vessel called the bathyscaphe Trieste...

https://www.foxnews.com/science/plastic-litter-discovered-deepest-dive-pacifics-mariana-trench

We all know how much junk there is out there.  We can all remove a little of it.

Removing junk metal can help you find good targets, and removing old worthless bottles can help you find good bottles.

I remember way back to high school when one day our gym teacher sent us out to pick up the junk on the football field.  I found a dollar under the bleachers.  Guess I liked eye-balling way back then.

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The surf will be slowly increasing over the next few days.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

11/3/14 Report - Very Unique And Neat Find. Fossil Hunting Web Site. Surf Increasing For Today and Tomorrow.

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


Item Dug By Dan B. 
Photo submitted by Dan.
 

Once in a while a very unique item is dug up.  You never know when it is going to happen, and when it does happen it can take a while to figure out what it is, and seldom can you figure out how it got there. 

This morning I received an email with photos of a very unique dug item. 

Take a look at the above photo and see if you can guess what it is before I tell you.

Below is another photo, which might help you. 

Another View of The Same Item.

At the top this reads "$5 GOLD" and "DIMES."   Actually it has slots for all denominations including the $5 gold coins.

You probably figured it out by now.  It is a coin sorter.  Really nice find.

As you insert the coins in the top slot you can see them accumulate as they add up in the calibrated slots.  Notice that it would hold $125 in $5-dollar gold coins.  Actually it looks like it would take two more.

Dan's Find As It Would Have Looked New

Here is a picture of what the item would have looked like when it was new.

Very neat find Dan.  Thanks for sharing!



One additional thing that Jeff C. had to say about his Hardee hat pin find, The reason I didn't suspect it to be civil war material was I had found so many things more modern nearby. Also it was only 2-3 inches deep.
The WW II hat badge that I found was not with other old items.  It was a bit of a surprise too, although it came out of dredge sand.

Once you do find something old at a site, check to see if there might be other old items.  Very often there will be, but once in a while you'll only be able to find the one.

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Very few fossils are being found on our Treasure Coast beaches these days.  There have been times in recent years when fossil hunting on the beaches was very good.  Still there are a few.

This web site by the Florida Museum of Natural History can be very helpful if you do find a fossil.  Not only does it provide a lot of information about fossils, it also tells how you can get help in identifying a fossil.  You can email pictures to them and they'll tell you what you have if they can. 

Take a look at the web site and especially the part about how to get help with identification.  This is good service that they provide.  I've used it in the past.

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/vertpaleo/

Speaking of Florida fossils, the water level is improving at the Peace River, which is a great place to hunt fossils.  I've been there before and had a great time. 

If you take up fossil collecting you might want to get a permit.  The above web site also tells you about the permit.  The cost is small and the requirements very reasonable.

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On the Treasure Coast we've had some cool weather lately as a cold front moved through.  Today (Mon.) we are supposed to have North winds.  Monday and Tuesday we'll have a higher surf - up to around six or seven feet.  That is getting close to what often creates improved beach detecting conditions.   Of course it partly depends upon other things, including the angle of the waves and also the timing with the tides.   I'll be checking on the beaches to see if we get any improvement in beach detecting conditions. 

The surf will be getting higher later today if the predictions are correct. 

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide @Comcast.net