6/12/20 Report - Miscellaneous Sampling of Treasure Coast Fossils: Some Being Millions of Years Old. Evolution of Horses of North America. Labeling Finds.

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

Rhino or Teleoceras Skull Cap Fossil

I decided to show a different kind of Treasure Coast find today.   I often tell you to keep your eyes open when you metal detect.  You can find different types of things - some of them being really old.  One example would be fossils.

I think the fossil shown above is my favorite Treasure Coast fossil fins.  A real fossil expert told me it was a rhino or teleoceras skull cap from the Miocene period (25 - 5 million years ago).  I had no clue what type of animal it  came from but got an expert and friend of this blog to identify it for me.

I guess I like that one best simply because I find it difficult to think of anything like a rhinoceros being in Florida.

I think most detectorist like to find old things, but we are usually thinking in terms of maybe hundreds of years rather than millions of years.

Fossil Great White Shark Tooth.

A lot of people like shark teeth, and fossilized shark teeth are fairly common on some Treasure Coast beaches.  This one was found on the banks of the Indian River.  I wasn't fossil hunting when I found it.  In fact when I first saw it I thought it was a piece of glass.  And it is in very nice condition.

Below are a few more examples.

Camel Phalange Fossil.

If you are like me, you don't readily think of camels being on the Treasure Coast either, but above is what I'm told is a fossilized camel phalange.

Below are a few more examples.

Whale Inner Ear Bone.

Alligator Scute.

Fossilized Ivory From Mammoth or Mastadon.

I once saw a nice section of a tusk sticking out of the Treasure Coast sand.

Fossil Bone With Shark Teeth Marks.

Some fossils will show something a little extra.  Maybe it shows that it was worked by man or perhaps another animal left its mark like the bone shown above, which shows what appears to be teeth marks.

Keep your eyes open while metal detecting.  You might see something older or more interesting than what you were looking for.

I'll add one tip here.  It goes along with the mistakes I've been talking about in some of my previous posts.  Label your finds with as much as you know about the identity of the item and also the place and details of the find.  You might think that you'll remember all about it, but time takes its toll.  As you can see from the above photos, I had some of these labeled, and I am glad of that.  Some were not labeled.  That is a mistake I made a lot.  Don't put it off.  You might remember the details for some finds, but you might regret forgetting the details of others.

Fossil Hoof.

Concerning the item shown immediately above, I suspect it is a horse hoof, but I never got it checked out.  I'm sure an expert could give me the details, but at this point I simply don't have enough information to label it with any precision or certainty.

You might be interested in the history of horses in North America.  If so here is a link.

https://www.statelinetack.com/content/general-information/the-prehistoric-horses-of-north-america/

Horses changed a lot over the millions of years.

Horse teeth fossils are very common finds on the Treasure Coast, as are turtle scutes.

Bison, deer, peccary, sloth, snake, fish, wolf, bivalve and mollusk, coral, crab and wood fossils are some of the others fossils that have been found on the Treasure Coast.

If you are interested in finding fossils and haven't done it before, I'd recommend paying a professional guide to take you for a day trip to the Peace River.  It is worth the money, and you'll learn a lot.  I did it once several years ago.

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The surf is going to be around two feet today, and the tides are now small.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/22/18 Report - Interesting Numismatic and Treasure Story All In One: Henning Nickels. Alligator Deaths.

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

Source: See numismaticenquirer.com link below.

Did you ever hear of the Henning Nickel?  Francis LeRoy Henning, of Erial, New Jersey created a bunch of counterfeit nickels.  As counterfeits go, they were pretty good.  About 100,000 were thought to have been put into circulation.  There was one problem with some of them that resulted in their discovery.

Genuine 1944 nickels have a big Philadelphia mintmark (P) above the illustration of Monticello.  Henning's 1944 nickels did not have that mintmark.

Henning also made 1939, 1946, 1947 and 1953 nickels.  They aren't as easy to identify, but if you weight them, you'll find out that they weigh more than authentic nickels produced by the U. S. mint.  The genuine nickels will weigh around 5 grams, while the Henning counterfeits will weigh closer to 5.5 grams.

There are also other signs that will help you identify a Henning nickel.  The "R" in Pluribus will have a tell-tale depression in the verticle bar, for example.

You can look into that more on your own if you want to.

Henning nickels commonly sell for $10 to $30, but to me it is an interesting bit of history, and I'm going to take the time to scan some of my nickels, particularly the war nickels to see if I have one.

According to various sources, about 100,000 Henning nickels went into circulation, but it is said that 200,000 were dumped by Henning into Copper Creek, and another 200,000 were discarded in the Schuylkill River.

If I were in the area, I'd do a little research and hunt for those.  I like hunting creeks and waterways anyhow, so I'd do the research to try to narrow down where Henning might have dumped them and look around a little.

That is an numismatic story that provides a good treasure hunting lead.

Here is a source link.

http://www.numismaticenquirer.com/TNE/Henning%20Counterfeit%20Nickel.html

There is another reason I mentioned Henning nickels.  It tells you something about how to identify fakes and counterfeits.  The weight of a coin can sometimes tell you if it is fake or real.

Many fakes will be made of metals that are less dense than silver or gold so they will weigh less than a genuine coin.  Remember, though, that if you find a silver cob on the beach, it could weigh much less than when it was made. Silver beach cobs can be half their original weight due to corrosion.

Another easy test that is too often neglected is the magnet test.  A silver or gold coin will not stick to a magnet.  If a cob sticks, it is not a genuine cob, but if it does not stick to the magnet, that does not tell you that it is a genuine coin.  Some of my fake treasure coins are magnetic and others are not.  I have one made of lead that, of course, is not magnetic.

I've explained in the past how a silver coin can be influenced by a strong magnet even though it will not stick to the magnet.  That is also a good test, if you know how to do it.

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.A woman was killed in South Carolina by an alligator.  That story follows.

I also read one telling of a lady in Florida that was killed by an alligator but I lost track of that link.

https://www.aol.com/article/news/2018/08/20/south-carolina-woman-killed-by-8-foot-alligator-while-walking-dog/23505782/ake

Not long ago I warned of the danger of rattle snakes and other poisonous snakes in Florida.  I once had a close call with an alligator.  I could only see one yellow eye sticking up out of the muck.  I was nearly on him when he suddenly thrashed and gave me a good scare

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Concerning the mystery item found by G.J. that I posted a couple days ago, Brian M. said, , Hard to say but to me it looks like it could be out of a thermostat. The small hole lets water pass through till it gets warm enough to open.

Thanks Brian.
That seemed like a difficult item to identify.  I only got Brian's response about it.

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No storms at this time.  Summer conditions continue.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net