10/7/19 Report - Coins Showing Up Or Missed This Weekend? A Look At Some of the Treasure Coast Beaches. Checking Serial Numbers on Bills.

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

Turtle Trail This Morning.

I took a look at some beaches this morning.  Above and below you can see Turtle Trail.  It was sort of interesting.  I was surprised to find some well seasoned green clad just before and after the first flag pole.  I was surprised because if they were there this weekend I would think there would be enough detectorists out to pick up coins like that.  I don't know where the coins came from, but they weren't lost real recently, so I'm wondering if the weekend warriors just missed them or if conditions actually improved a little last night.  They were about fifteen or twenty yards from the bank.  

Turtle Trail Beach This Morning.

I haven't been to Turtle Trail for a while, but the bags were showing more than the last time I was there.

Bags Barely Showing At Turtle Trail.

I also looked at a couple other beaches, but Turtle Trail is the only one I spend any time detecting.

Looking Towards Seagrape Trail Access This Morning.

North of Seagrape This Morning.

I didn't see anyone else metal detecting this morning. 

Wabasso This Morning.

Yesterday I took a quick look at John Brooks.

John Brooks Beach Yesterday (Sunday) Afternoon.

John Brooks Beach Sunday Afternoon.

I thought Turtle Trail was the most interesting and the only one I detected.  As I said, I was surprised to find a good scattering of green seasoned clad coins there this morning.

Despite all the high water and rough surf we've had for the last few weeks, there has been very little erosion.  It seems that ever since Dorian the water has been hitting the beaches directly at a 90 degree angle.

There are still some weather systems in the Atlantic, but I don't expect much from them.

Source: nhc.noaa.gov.

The surf will be decreasing after today.

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I like checking for interesting serial numbers on bills.  Here is one that I found that if the bill was in better condition, might actually be worth a small premium.

 Five Repeating Digits Serial Number on $50 Bill.

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Enjoy the nice Fall weather.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

6/22/19 Report - Cache Hunting and Finds. Paper Money and Fancy Serial Numbers Having Value.

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

Cache Hunting Book by H. Glenn Carson.

Cache hunting is a lot different from hunting coins on a beach.  Depending upon the type of cache hunting you are doing, you might come back with nothing a lot of the time, but if you hit find a cache, it can hundreds of coins or other objects all at once.

One of the things I like about cache hunting is that you can find paper money as well as coins.

One of the challenges is that your metal detector ID meter won't be a much help a lot of the time.  It isn't going to read pot of coins or bag of paper money.  And a lot of the time you'll have to sift through a lot of junk, metal and otherwise.

You don't have to find a ghost town to hunt caches, they can be found a lot of places, including back yards, and maybe even your own house.  You might be surprised how often people hide valuables and forget about them.

There are also more broken down abandoned buildings than you might suspect.  Sometimes they are hidden in overgrowth and sometimes there is little to indicate that they ever existed.

I've reported on a lot of cache finds in this blog.  Most were accidental rather than specific targeted caches.

Here is a very small part of one Florida cache find made by one of the readers of this blog.

Anyhow, Glenn's book is the only one I know of about cache hunting.  There is a newer addition (Cache Hunting II).  There must be some by other authors, but I don't know of them.  There isn't a lot of useful information you can find on the topic in general.  You almost have to have a specific cache in mind, otherwise it is very general.

Glenn used to write for at least one treasure magazine, as well as authoring a lot of books, and for a while, I think it was in the 80s, published a treasure hunter's newsletter.  We communicated on a couple projects.

He once put together a group that invested in a Mexican silver mine.  That turned out to be a scam and people lost money.  I know there was talk of people suing, but I don't know who was the defendant or whatever became of that.

I've reported on a few caches found by readers of this blog in the past.

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Serial Number 82882228

I enjoy checking the serial numbers of my bills.  I haven't been doing it more than a few months, and this is one of the better ones I've found, even though it isn't worth much.   The serial number is 82882228.  Some people call any serial number with only two different numbers a binary.  Others only consider a serial number with only 1s and 0s to be a binary.  I've seen a few with two numbers like that offered on eBay for around ten dollars.

It would have been better if it was a radar or repeater, ie 88222288 or 82828282.

Checking serial numbers is really easy, although the valuable ones are surprisingly rare.  Condition is important.  This bill is limp and worn.  That isn't what serial number collectors want.

Of course older bills and silver certificates occasionally show up and can be valuable.

The more leading zeros you have on a currency, the higher the value will be. 

Serial number 00000001 – 00000009, most valuable
Serial number 00000010 – 00000099, always carry a premium
Serial number 00000100 – 00000999, could carry a premium
Serial number 00001000 and higher will rarely be worth more than face value

I've seen 00000001 serial numbered bills listed for tens of thousands of dollars, but the odds of finding one are very long.

If you are interested in old US bills or fancy serial numbers, here are some web sites to check.


http://oldcurrencyvalues.com/low_serial_numbers/



https://www.papermoneywanted.com/one-dollar-notes-values


http://oldcurrencyvalues.com/binary_serial_number/


http://www.mycurrencycollection.com/reference/star-notes/lookup


https://www.moneyfactory.gov/resources/serialnumbers.html

Many people collect "star notes." Star notes are used by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to replace misprinted/damaged currency before it goes into circulation. These replacement notes are printed just like normal notes, except there is a star printed in the serial number. On Federal Reserve Notes, the star is where the block letter normally is (the last letter of the serial number). On Legal Tender notes and Silver Certificates, the star is where the prefix normally is (the first letter of the serial number).  I've shown one of those before.

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I got into another container of dug pennies and separated out a couple dollars of spendable or cleanable pennies.  I hate those unusable salt water destroyed zinc pennies.

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The surf is very small, and the tides aren't very big either.

Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

2/28/19 Report - TCAS Hunt Coming Soon. Mystery Items Identified. One Beach This Morning. Bill Picking.

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

The Treasure Coast Archaeological Society
 will be holding its 32nd annual Hunt

Saturday, March 9, 2019
at Kiwanis-Hobart Park, Wabasso, Florida

under the shade of the pines in Hobart Park.

The Park is located near Wabasso, Florida 

on 77th Street between US1 and CR613.

Just over one mile south of CR 510 and about 1 mile west of US1. 

YOU GOT QUESTIONS?  WE GOT ANSWERS!

For further information regarding the hunt, contact

Mitch King

Hunt coordinator 

 mking11@earthlink.net

Read about one man's fun time at the 2018 TCAS hunt by using the following link.

https://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2018/03/31118-report-one-mans-winning.html

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Concerning the round lead object found by Dan B. and posted yesterday, I received a number of responses.  Jim M., Russ P., Joe R., Jeff M.  Mitch K., John H., Steve M. and Joe D., said the round lead object is a garment, hem or drapery weight.  If that wasn't enough, Joe S. sent a photo of a drapery weight (bottom right below).  That certainly matches. I think that one is pretty well settled.

Concerning Dan's other object, a couple people agreed with me that it could be a belt or strap clip.  Mitch K. said maybe a suspender strap tip, while Jason T. thought maybe a hair clip.

Thanks for all the responses.  Every one helps.  Considering various alternatives or possibilities helps.

I didn't receive any ideas on the other LM X marks on the other item I posted yesterday.

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As someone who came of age during the Viet Nam war, the recent TV images of Viet Nam were haunting.  I could not help but remember the fall of Saigon and the U. S. helicopters overflowing with those desperately fleeing as well as the desperation of those left behind. That was 40 some years ago.

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Pepper Park Early This Morning.

I was going by Pepper Park this morning, so stopped for a few minutes and took out my detector.  As is usually the case during snowbird season, it had been heavily hunted, but I picked up a few shiny clad coins.

It was pretty buggy this morning.  It rained last night, and I was glad I put on long pants and sleeves.  Beach conditions were not great.

Pepper Park This Morning.

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I got fifty ones at the bank to look through.  I found two star bills and a 1999 series bill, which was in better shape than the newer bills.  No good serial numbers of anything of much interest or value.

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The tides are pretty small now, and it doesn't look like we'll get any more than a two foot surf for a week or so.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/1/18 Report - Tips and Techniques for Finding Paper Money and Other Valuable Papers. News on the Atocha And Santa Margarita Sites.

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

Unidentified Paper Money Found in Pages of Old Book.

After Thanksgiving I told about finding a ten dollar bill on the floor of a restaurant.  I remembered that when I woke up this morning and started thinking about other times I found paper money.  There were actually quite a few, and there were even times when I set out to find paper money.

Of course, you don't do that with a metal detector.  There are, however, things you can do that will increase the probability of finding paper money.  One is being generally alert.  But there are also specific strategies for different times and places.

Finding paper money is one aspect of what I call eye-balling. Years ago I wrote an article about that for a treasure hunting magazine.  It was either Lost Treasure, Treasure, or Western and Eastern Treasures.  I forget which one right now.

I once found a twenty dollar bill while driving through the parking lot in front of a Bealls store.  You can find stuff while driving.  I once saw a watch on the street while driving.  I drove up to it, stopped, opened the door and picked it up.

I won't mention all the bottles, rings and other treasures that I've found visually, but will get back to paper money.  There are some places where you have a decent chance of finding paper money.

I always liked to search the grounds after a carnival, circus or fair. You could always find a good number of coins right after they left, and most of them would be on top of the ground so you could find a lot of them visually, but also there was also a good chance of finding paper money.

The best place to check at a fair grounds was the fence line on the down wind side.  Usually the fence line would also have a bunch of weeds that would help trap blown paper money.

At the beach I've found paper money in the seaweed along the seaweed line.

A lot of wind or big surf helps you chances.

There aren't so many of them out there anymore, but people used to leave cigarette packages on the beach.  I would always check out packages like that for any money.  There would occasionally be a folded bill stuffed inside.

I've also found paper money while metal detecting in the water.  I remember one time when a bill came floating by about a foot deep in the water.  It wasn't real easy to see.

There was also a dip in about six feet of water in front of one beach-side hotel where bills often collected.

Of course, paper money can be found in with coin caches.  

I used to stop at a thrift store to buy old and collectible books.  I once found a ten dollar bill in between the pages of a book I bought.

A lot of good things can be found in between the pages of old books.  Old calling cards, autographed papers, tickets, etc.

One of my favorites was the business card of Hoagie Carmichael Jr., which was in a book written by him.  I purchased the autographed book on building a fly rod for a dollar and sold it for around $125, as I recall.

I've also found very nice old photos in books, including one showing a some people in the old long bathing suits at a New Jersey beach.  It looked like it was from the twenties or thirties.  Also some nice wedding and other photos.

Old Photo Postcard Found Between Pages of An Old Book.

The clown postcard shown above was found in an old book.  It has the typical postcard look with the space for stamp and everything on the other side, but it also appears to have the name of the person (Charles H...).

Another favorite book find included a religious card with a small cloth relic attached.

Outdoors, consider the wind and water and where paper will evntually be trapped.

Indoors, consider anyplace where paper can be stuffed away for safe keeping.  Old books are one of my favorites.

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Recent calmer weather allowed a lot of salvage activity down around Key West.

The crew of the Dare has been trying to determine if there might be another debris trail on the Atocha site.  In the process they found a couple silver coins and a few EOs.

On the Margarita site, the Sea Reaper was searching for a missing section of the Santa Margarita.  There are about 22 chests of coins missing, including about 80 thousand pieces of eight.  They found a silver coin, musket balls and lead sheathing while searching.

Doug Pope has made an agreement with the Fishers, and the Polly-L be working with the Fisher organization again on the Santa Margarita site.  The Polly-L worked on the Margarita site back in the early 2000s and found a 40 carat uncut Colombian emerald.  It was the only emerald ever found on the Santa Margarita wreck site.  It was found in a conch shell.

Source: email from the Fisher organization.

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Let me know if you can identify the partial bill shown at the top of the page.

It looks like we'll have south winds and less than a two foot surf for a few days.  We might have something bigger after that.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

5/2/18 Report - How To Find Valuable Old Paper Money In Circulation. Ponte Vedra Shipwreck.

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

1957 Silver Certificate.

In the past I've talked about watching your pocket change for interesting coins.  The same goes for your paper money.  I learned that recently when I came across some older bills that I decided to put aside and keep.

Above is a silver certificate.  You could redeem them for silver coins up to about 1967 I think it was.

This one wouldn't be worth more than face value because of its poor condition.  It is stained, creased and torn.  Not good!

I've seen some silver certificates offered for over a thousand dollars.  Condition is important, as are other factors. or

I've learned to quickly check for three things.  One is a star or asterisk instead of a letter after the serial number.  Those are valued by collectors.

Also bills with unusual serial numbers, such as 7777777 or 01010101 or 12344321 are sought.

Also check to see how old the bill is.  The one above is 1957.  It seems that a bill doesn't have to be as old as an old coin to be considered old.

Barr Dollar.

Bills signed by Joseph Barr are collected because Barr was only in office about a month and so you won't find many of those.

This one is pretty clean and crisp.

You might be able to get two or three dollars out of one of these.  They aren't more valuable because so many people started saving them when Mr. Barr died.

1929 C Five Dollar Bill.

I saw one of these five dollar bills graded at 63 offered for $259.  This one isn't near that good of condition.  As with every collectible condition is very important.

The red seal makes this one maybe worth close to ten dollars.

1934 Twenty Dollar Bill.

Again, this one isn't worth much.  If it was in perfect condition, it would be worth more.  If it had a brown seal instead of a green seal, it could be worth more.

... Twenty dollar bills from 1934 with a star symbol at the end of the serial number have a good chance to be worth $100 or more. The value of 1934 $20 star notes purely depends on condition and the serial number.

1934 $20 green seals can also have a low serial number. If the serial number of your bill has six or seven leading zeros then it will certainly command a premium. Five leading zeros might command a premium...
Here is a link for more about that.

https://oldcurrencyvalues.com/1934_20_dollar_bill_value/

You can find old bills worth more than face value in circulation, but you have to know a little about what to look for.  Maybe this will get you started.

Here are some serial numbers to watch for.

• Seven repeating digits in a row on $1 bills (i.e., 18888888, 59999999)
• Seven of the same number on $1 bills (i.e., 99909999, 00010000)
• Super repeaters on $1 bills (i.e., 67676767)
• Double quads on $1 bills (i.e., 44440000)
• Super radars on $1 bills (ie: 01111110, 80000008)
• Serial numbers 99999991-99999999 – any size/type/denomination
• Serial numbers X0000000, X0000001, and X9999999 – any size/type/denomination

And here is a link for more about that.

http://www.dontwasteyourmoney.com/rare-dollar-bills-worth-serious-money/

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Historic shipwreck in Ponte Vedra reveals more secrets.

That is the title of a new First Coast News article about the Ponte Vedra shipwreck that I talked about a few months ago. The bones of the ship remained on the beach for a while but has been moved and is now being studied.

What has been learned is that the ship was made of American Beech instead of oak, which leads them to believe that the ship was made in the southern U. S.

That is what they learned.

Here is the link.

https://www.firstcoastnews.com/article/news/local/historic-shipwreck-in-ponte-vedra-reveals-more-secrets/77-547420568

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I have some good finds to talk about but I have to keep some of it for a while until I can do some background research.

We'll have a three to five foot surf this week, increasing about one more foot on Saturday.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net