6/23/20 Report - Historical Treasure Coast Images From Wabasso, Vero and St. Lucie. A Few Finds.

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

Very Round Ball-Shape Object Found Yesterday.

Here are some finds I picked up yesterday.  I don't know what the ball-shaped object might be.  It looks a lot like a cannon ball, but I'll have to do some cleaning and investigate that.

The bottles below are embossed Coca Cola and Stuart Bottling Works bottles.  Both had a lot of shells on them.  The Coke is from Washington, DC.  I think that is the first I got from there.

Embossed Coca Cola and Stuart Bottling Works Bottles.

I've been able to find some information on the Stuart Bottling Works, but don't think I ever found out what they were putting in those bottles.  I'd guess soda or mineral water.

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The Sea Mist, Wabasso Beach.

Postcard Image Submitted by JamminJack

Yesterday I mentioned using old postcards for research. JamminJack said, I used post cards for research for a long time. Years ago, I donated my collection to Historical Society. It made me feel rewarded knowing future researchers will have access to them.

Below were several used for my research for 1715 Fleet and Treasure Coast. They are accessible online through MyFlorida site. 

This photo was taken before development of Wabasso beach. Check the cars and see if you can figure out the time frame.  

The title reads...

The Sea Mist, Wabasso Beach.

Back then Vero and Wabasdo were one beach. Confuses researchers when reading older articles on wrecks found, etc. 

Do you know exactly where it was?

Penn Wood Court

Postcard Image Submitted by JamminJack

About this one, Jack said, ... Pennwood Court, now Pennwood Motel. Kip Wagner helped with the construction of the motel.

Sexton's Motel Resort.

Postcard Image Submitted by JamminJack.

...Sexton's motel/resort. He was known for taking his guests across the Indian Lagoon to areas where treasure was being found.

St. Lucie State Museum.

3rd image is the building that later became Seal Museum at Pepper Park. This was built after treasure was being found in the Ft. Pierce area. I remember going in this museum.

Thanks to Jack for those images and descriptions. 

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From DJ...

Your June 22 blog reminded my of a search I could not complete. I found this reference to a casino (highlighted for you) and have been unable to locate the site of the old Casino. The only other reference was an advertisement I found once. I would imagine it would be directly across the Indian River as the barrier island was was only accessible by boat at that time. But thats a large area and many uncertain facts remain. Lots of development since them and most artifacts would likely be covered up by now or in the Indian River under sand and silt, anyway good to think about.

DJ also sent the following image of a great research tool.

Thanks DJ.

Can anyone tell us where the Fort Pierce casino was? I only have a vague recollection that I once knew about it.

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The low tide was nice and low yesterday.  The surf is still small.

Tropical depress Four is off the New England coast.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

3/4/20 Report - Ornate Roman Sword In Sheath Found. Other Miscellaneous Finds. Bigger Surf Coming.

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

200-Year-Old Roman Dagger in Sheath.

Source: See LiveScience.com link below

I posted about this Roman sword on 3/3, but it looks like somehow it accidentally got deleted so I'm posting it again.

Here are the first few paragraphs.

Archaeologists in Germany were "lost for words" after the discovery of a 2,000-year-old silver dagger. The weapon was found in its sheath in the grave of a Roman soldier who once fought against the Germanic tribes.

The dagger was so corroded, it took nine months of sandblasting and grinding before the sharp, 13-inch-long (35 centimeters) weapon was restored, at which point researchers were easily able to remove it from its richly decorated sheath...

After the dagger was X-rayed, CT scanned, and restored, archaeologists marveled at the dagger; its handle is inlaid with silver and decorated with rivets, and the iron blade has "deep grooves on either side of the midrib, a pronounced waist and a long tapering point," Tremmel said.

The iron sheath is lined with linden wood and decorated with red glass, silver, niello (a black mixture, often of sulphur, copper, silver and lead) and red shiny enamel. Rings on the sheath were used to hang the dagger from a belt, which was also found in the grave...

Clipping From Video Showing Cleaned and Restored Sword on Belt.

Source: See LiveScience.com link below.

Here is the link.

https://www.livescience.com/roman-iron-dagger-sheath.html

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I've often said, "There is always somewhere to hunt and something to find."  When conditions aren't right for one kind of hunting, it is for another.  You just have to change and adapt to the prevailing conditions.

I also believe that doing different kinds of hunting is both fun and educational.   You'll often learn something from one kind of hunting that you can then use when doing another type of hunting.

Yesterday I didn't go metal detecting, but I did do a little bottle hunting, and came away with a few nice bottles but nothing really special.   Here are a couple.

Vintage Coca Cola Bottle and Unidentified Stopper Top Bottle Finds.

The Coca Cola bottle is in very nice clean condition.   As you probably know, Coca Cola collectibles are among the most collected, right up there with Disney. 

This bottle is from Claxton Ga.  It is not an old or rare bottle, but I assume it would be extremely common either.

Bottom of Claxton GA Coca Cola Bottle.

Yesterday I also posted some finds by DB.  Here they are again.

Shell Artifacts, Fowler's Ink Bottle, Lea and Perrine Bottle, Bottle Stoppers, etc.

Finds and photo by DB.

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The predictions for a higher surf this weekend are holding up well.   I think they improved their mode.  In the past the predictions would often predict a high surf that would disappear as the time got closer.  Now the predictions seem to hold up very well.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

5/20/19 Report - Treasure Lore of the Jensen and Sewall's Point Areas. Pirate Don Pedro Gilbert. Bottle Finds.

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

Source: Trial of the Twelve Spanish Pirates of the Schooner Panda, a Guinea Slaver

The Jensen and Sewall's Point area has been very much neglected in treasure lore.  There are many scattered rumors as well as finds and documented history, but the area hasn't received near the attention that has been focused on some other areas.  I'm amazed that one of Frank Hudson's books that lists 133 Florida treasure shipwrecks completely skips the area between Jupiter and Fort Pierce, for example.   It definitely deserves more attention than it receives.

A couple days ago I posted a photo of a cannon ball that was found in the Jensen area.  SW sent me the following email in response.

I am not surprised at the cannonball. I know of a small hand cannon found in a yard on Sailfish Point. There was mention by a mid 19 Century survey team of ruins in the Jenson area. I know the location but have never been granted permission to hunt. I believe it was a pirate hideout. It is also known ships used the river to bleach their sails. I have not been out for over a year due to a job change, less free time. I read the blog daily. Like you say there are many forms of treasure hunting. I still treasure hunt, just a different kind. I also have enough items to research probably the rest of my life. I have several fantastic sites I know of, some with maps. Just can't get permission to hunt. Maybe someday I will do a book, I tried a blog just do not have the dedication it takes. Best hunting to all. SW.

In this blog I've posted about Pirate Don Pedro Gilbert, who gave his name to Gilbert's Bar. If you want to research it, you should know that his name is sometimes spelled differently. In my 1/13/13 post, I gave a link to a free ebook about his trial (See photo above.)

I also remember once posting about a kid in a canoe finding a musket barrel at Indian Riverside Park, but I can't seem to find that post now.  If you can find it, please let me know.

On an old map there is an area on the river near Gilbert's Bar that is marked something like Bleech Yarde.  That is probably the same one that SW referred to.  I can't find the map right now either.

There is a TV show that I've seen a few times that shows Brent and Jonah and another fellow or two magging for a wreck off Jensen Beach.  At the end there was a find.  If I remember that one correctly, it was a sword hilt.

I'm having brain overload, I guess.

Then there are the middens at Mount Elizabeth and Mount Pisgah, and the remnants of a coquina building thought to be a pirate hangout.

But there is much more than that.  There was a novel written by a local author who conducted a lot of research and had maps and documentation of tunnels and gold at Sewall's Point.

There is also the story about a motel worker and maintenance man at an old motel that no longer exists that was located just north of the current Jensen Beach park who found a box or barrel of gold after a storm.

All that said, it is a very historic area with a lot of treasure lore.

Here is a little of the history of Sewall's Point.

http://sewallspoint.org/community/history/

 I just recalled another book by Frank Hudson that does place several found and buried treasures around that area the St. Lucie Inlet area.  The title is something like Buried Treasures of Florida's East Coast.

You can't put much faith in Frank Hudson, even though I mentioned him a couple times today.  His reputation for accuracy is not great.   I first mentioned him to illustrate how that area of the Treasure Coast hadn't received a lot of attention.

That isn't everything, of course.   I just listed the first things that I thought of.

Long ago I put together my own list derived from numerous sources.  

I  just found the printouts, but am not going to go through all of that now.

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Yesterday I posted some pictures of three Waterman's ink bottles that I found.  Here is another older one.  It is a two oz. bottle for no. 6 ink.

Waterman's Ink Bottle

Two Views.

Since I don't get many chances to metal detect anymore, I do some eye-balling when I get the urge to go hunting.  Last night I found two embossed Coca Cola bottles, which is what I was hoping to find, however they weren't as old or as valuable as what I hoped to find.

One was a Fort Pierce and the other was from Avon Park, which I think is a new one for me.

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Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

5/7/19 Report - History and Photographs. Help Us Help You: Check-List. Few Finds. Surf Increase.

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

Circa 1915 Photograph.

The photo above is from about 1915.  The woman with the hat and white feather is Ma Barker.  Just kidding.  Actually the little girl is my grandmother, and the other two women are her mother and aunt.

So what does that have to do with metal detecting.  Well, for one thing, it was my grandmother that got a metal detector and took me metal detecting for the first time.  I don't remember exactly when that was but it must have more than fifty years ago.  That is one thing.

The metal detector, I think, was maybe a Radio Shack.  It would pick up big iron things, like horse shoes, but I don't think it would detect a coin, as I recall.  We went out to a home where she once lived as a child.  It was mostly gone, but the chimney remained.

It didn't catch on with me at the time, probably because of the inability to detect coins.  If I knew then what I know now, I would have had a great time with it even if I could only find iron, and I probably would have gotten a better metal detector before long.

It seems my grandmother's family had a lot of photos taken back then when it was a much bigger deal.  And she kept the photos, as did my mother, so I have a lot of photos, with a some going back to my great great grandparents.  I think it was my grandmother that put names on the back, so I know who most of them are, but the internet and genealogical research has filled in some gaps.

Here is something that was unexpected.

Back of the Same Photo.

Besides the names that are printed on the back of the photo, there is also the name and address of the photo studio, which in this case, was in a casino.  Even though I have a lot of historic information on the city, I had never heard of a casino being in that city.  That was new information for me.

My main point is that you can get good clues from photos.  Sometimes from the front, and even sometimes from the back.

I feel very lucky that my grandmother labeled so many old photos and kept the photos and other old things, and my mother kept them too.

You might consider making prints of some of the photos on your digital devices and safely store them for future generations.  Don't forget to label them.

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I took a little walk last night to do a little eye-balling.  I found more than expected.  I didn't have time to inspect them last night but gave them a quick rinse this morning.

Four New Bottle Finds.

Included are a Mr. Pibb bottle.  See http://www.pibbthug.com/history/.  I think it will look good when I get the moss and barnacles off.

An embossed Dr. Pepper bottle.  Mr. Pibb was created by Coca Cola to compete with Dr. Pepper.

A Titusville Coca Cola bottle.  A few cracks.

And a unidentified blown bottle with bubbles in the glass.  The only reason I picked it up was because of the bubbles in the glass.  There are no other markings on it.

I found more than expected, but nothing as good as I hoped.

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I and many of the readers of this blog enjoy looking at finds and like to identify finds and determine their age, but sometimes critical information is missing.  Here are some things that can be helpful.

Include measurements.  Sometimes a object for size comparison in the photo will do.  Notice for example, the dime included with the photo of the spoon in yesterday's photo.  Sometimes more than one measurement can be helpful.  Weight can also be telling.

More than one view of the object can also be helpful.  Often there is important identifying information on the back of an object.  That is very true for buttons.  The shank and back marks often tell the story.  You might not think something is important, but some small thing might be exactly what someone else needs to make a positive ID.  More views are better than less.

Consider the lighting.  Before taking the photo, check the angle of the lighting to see it brings out the details.

Tell what the item is made of or looks like it is made of.  You might not know for sure, but give your best guess.  

Where the object was found or what other objects were found with it can help too.  Sometimes you won't want to tell where the object was found, but give what information you can.

Things that might seem obvious to you when you are holding an item in your hand might not be evident at all to someone who is trying to work from a two dimensional photo.

You don't have to do all of these things, but you don't want to leave out some clue that might be exactly what someone else is looking for.

Here is a quick check-list (PMOC).

1. Photo(s).
2. Measurements.
3. Observations of Object.
4. Circumstances of find.

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I enlarged the photo of the earring-like object bearing trident and water symbols that was shown yesterday.

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Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

Looks like we'll get a little bump in the surf around Thursday.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

6/5/18 Report - Harrington Farthing Found. Secret Mission Behind Finding of Titanic. Story Emerges From Research.

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

As archaeologists at Jamestown Rediscovery continue to dig into the Historic Jamestowne church that has stood at the site of the James Fort since 1906, they’ve uncovered something they weren’t expecting.

An abandoned cellar lies underneath the holiest place in the church, and it may contain details about life within the first permanent English colony — but archaeologists will have to dig to the bottom of the cellar before they can get to the bottom of the mystery...

Here is that link for the rest of the article.

https://wydaily.com/local-news/2018/06/04/jamestown-unearthed-cellar-under-church-catches-experts-by-surprise/

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The 1985 discovery of the Titanic stemmed from a secret United States Navy investigation of two wrecked nuclear submarines, according to the oceanographer who found the infamous ocean liner.,,

Ballard met with the Navy in 1982 to request funding to develop the robotic submersible technology he needed to find the Titanic.,,

Ronald Thunman, then the deputy chief of naval operations for submarine warfare, told Ballard the military was interested in the technology—but for the purpose of investigating the wreckage of the U.S.S.Thresher and U.S.S. Scorpion...

"I was a little short with him," said Thunman, who retired as a vice admiral and now lives in Springfield, Illinois. He emphasized that the mission was to study the sunken warships.

Once Ballard had completed his mission—if time was left—Thunman said, Ballard could do what he wanted, but never gave him explicit permission to search for the Titanic.

Here is the link for the entire article.

https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/11/titanic-nuclear-submarine-scorpion-thresher-ballard/



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You can really get a good sense of history by researching your finds.  Instead of just throwing them in a pile, take the time to learn what you can about them.  The research can benefit you in more ways than one.

Three Vintage Coke Bottle Found On The Treasure Coast.

Below are the bottoms of the two bottles on the left.  As you can see they are Orlando bottles.

Orlando Coke Bottles.

One reader of this blog told me the ones with the lines between the city and state names (left) are from the eighties.    I didn't know that, but the other bottle of the three is from Starke, Florida.

I looked into it and found some good information on Starke and the bottling plant there.

Old Starke Florida Coca Cola Bottling Plant.
Source: See USFCam link with story below.

I was reminded of the time my cub scout pack visited the Coca Cola bottling plant in my home town.  I think I have a picture of that around somewhere.

Now we know exactly where the Starke bottle was filled at one point, but somehow it ended up on the Treasure Coast, where it was found.

While doing the research I found this PDF document telling how Starke developed from its earliest recorded history in 1857.

http://www.usfcam.usf.edu/CAM/exhibitions/1998_12_McCollum/supplemental_didactics/18.Story.pdf

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No change in beach conditions.  It was a little cooler this morning.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/15/18 Report - Ten Dollar Indian Gold Piece. Older Coca Cola Bottle.

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

1914 Ten Dollar Gold Coin Find.

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Yesterday I showed some vintage Coca Cola bottles from Fort Pierce.  Here is an older Coca Cola bottle from Fort Pierce.  This would be called a straight-side bottle.  You can easily see why.

Straight-Side Coca Cola Bottle.

Around the top of the shoulder it reads, FORT PIERCE, FLA., then below that, REGISTERED 7 OZ.

Notice the bubble in the glass.

I assume it had a paper label at one time.  They don't very often survive, especially if they rolled around in the water like this one did.

Around the bottom edge it reads, PROPERTY OF COCA-COLA BOTTLING CO.

Bottom Edge of Same Bottle.

It wasn't easy to get good photos of this one.  On the inside was iridescent residue and the outside was rough, between the flea bits and irregularities in the glass.

Still I like this bottle.  It is a good example of an older bottle, even if it is beat up.

This bottle is close to the same age as the coin shown at the top of the post.

In early 1916, a committee composed of bottlers and Company officials met to choose the bottle design. The Root version was the clear winner and The Coca-ColaCompany and the Root Glass Company entered an agreement to have six glass companies across the U.S. use the bottle shape. The contract called for the bottles to be colored with “German Green” which was later called “Georgia Green” in homage to the home state of The Coca-Cola Company. It also called for the name of the city which was placing the glass order to be embossed on the bottom of the bottle... The weight of glass was to be no less than 14.5 ounces, which when filled with the 6.5 ounces of Coca-Cola meant each bottle weighed more than a pound! 

Even though the bottle had gone into production in early 1916, not all bottlers immediately jumped to change out their glass stock... 

(See http://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/collectors-columns-collecting-bottles )

Here is a good link for some fine details of dating older Coca Cola bottles.

http://www.fohbc.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/DatingEarlyCocaColaBottles.pdf

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I have to unravel some more of the puzzle of the gold coin before I have more on that.

Back of the Same Gold Coin.

Better than average circulated shape for sure.  It must have been removed from circulation very early.

I don't know the story on that but am trying to get some clues and put it together.

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At the top of the first blog page I added a Featured Post.  There are times when I think a post should get more visibility than it got.  That is the case with this Featured Post.  You can click on it and view it from the first page.

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Just a two to three foot surf today, with decent tides.  The surf will decrease the next couple of days.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

11/26/16 Report - An Excellent Aid For Dating Sites From The Late 19th Century.

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

Vintage Coca Cola Bottle Found On Recent Walk

One thing I recommend to most treasure hunters is to watch for non-metallic items.  They are often good clues as well as treasures.  Non-metallic items can sometimes be worth just as much as gold or silver.

Coca Cola bottles are common, but some of them can be worth a pretty penny.  Even more common ones can be worth a few dollars.  I sold one that I found for over one hundred dollars.  It was in poor condition.  It had big chips and cracks, but it was rare.  If it was in excellent condition, I could have sold it for about four hundred dollars.

Above is a Coke bottle that I found on a little walk just the other day.  It isn't worth much of anything, but will serve as an example.

I found an excellent 2010 article from the Society for Historical Archaeology entitled The Dating Game: Tracking the Hobble-Skirt Coca-Cola Bottle by Bill Lockhart and Bill Porter.  It is the best article on dating Coke bottles that I have seen.  You can find tons of excellent but less detailed web sites.

Using information from the article such as the table shown immediately below, I was able to date the bottle shown above to 1956.

Two Older Found Fort Pierce Coca Cola Bottles

The bottle on the left is marked PAT'D  NOV 16, 1915.  If you look at the table above you'll see that those bottles date from 1917 - 1930.

The bottle on the right is an older style straight side Coke bottle.  Those two bottles would sell for more than the bottle at the top of this post even though they are not in very good condition.

 The following illustration shows the difference between bottles marked as patented in 1915 and those patented in 1923.  I've found that I can easily sell both of those types of bottles.

The bottle shown at the top of the post is marked STARKE FLA on the bottom.  Some people try to collect bottles from all of the cities that bottled Coke, so if you find a collector that needs that particular city, you might get a couple of dollars for the bottle.

Below is the link to the article that I've been talking about.  It has tons of good information on dating Coke bottles.

https://sha.org/bottle/pdffiles/coca-cola.pdf

The earliest Coca Cola bottles were "Hutch" bottles.  I've shown some of them before.

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Broken Glass and Pottery At The Waters Edge

Junky areas like the one above can be worth looking through.  You can find broken pieces of glass and pottery and other things that will help you date a site.  You can find pottery marks and other marks on broken pieces and occassionally some nice little treasure to keep.  I love looking through junky areas like this for clues.

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The surf will be modest for a few days, increasing a bit next week.  Not much too exciting there.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/12/14 Report - Age of Those Who Metal Detect, Sand Surprises, Vintage Fort Pierce Coca Cola Bottle & Milkette Bottle

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

Fort Pierce Coca Cola Bottle.

I decided to take a little walk today to do what I call mucking.  That is just some leisurely junking around in generally low-value target areas.

I enjoyed the walk and found a few things that I liked.   One was this old Fort Pierce Coca Cola Bottle.  I liked it because it is unlike any I've found before and is local.

The top is damaged.  That is a big disappointment.  I haven't cleaned it up yet and haven't done any research to date it yet.  Maybe I'll post some better pictures after I clean it up.

And here is another surface bottle that I ran across.  Also something that I've not found before.  Haven't done the research on it yet either.   I'll probably post more of today's finds in the future.

Vintage Milkette Bottle.

By now you probably know what the fox says.  (In case you don't, that is a reference to song on a YouTube video that became wildly popular.)   But do know where the sand goes?

Here is a link that will take you to a couple of videos on that topic.  I'd suggest you take a look.  You might think you know where the sand goes, but the second video especially surprised me.

http://sand-wars.com/

Did you know that there is a sand mafia and that gang wars are fought over sand?  It seems like such an endless resource that we don't use for much except treading under foot and trying to dig through.  It is very useful and valuable though, and as the video points out is used in all concrete buildings, not to mention glass and a bunch of other things.

There is good sand and bad sand, rough sand and rounded sand, and there is regulated sand.  Like most everything these days, much of it is regulated by a government.  You can't go to the beach with dump trucks and cart all of it away to your cement or glass factory.

We all know that there are even some locations where there are laws about digging holes in sand.

Anyhow, the two videos that I'm talking about changed the way I look at sand.

Thanks to Eric L. for submitting the link.


The most recent blog poll has concluded and the results are in.  A good number of people (152) responded.  I guess it was an easy question that anyone could quickly answer with no hesitation.

First, I'm disappointed that there are so few young people involved.  Only 3, or 1% of those responding, are fifteen or under.  That does match what I see in the field.   I seldom see anyone that young detecting on the beaches, but am always glad when I see a kid going at it.

I suppose that of those 15 and under that do detect, they might not do much reading about it and therefore wouldn't be reading this blog or responding to any poll in it.  I suppose that young people might simply enjoy detecting with family members. 

If you are one of the few young people who detect, I'd love to hear from you and about how you got started and why you like metal detecting.

As I've said, I think metal detecting is a very educational activity that will increase curiosity in a variety of academic subjects as well as research and the scientific method.  I can't think of many more beneficial activities for young people.

In this poll, only 1 person, (less than 1%) was 16 to 25.   I guess those are the years when people are in school, into cars and chasing members of the opposite (or same) sex.  I was once told that metal detecting is for old people when I was still in mid-life.  That is the perception, and to some extent, whether it should be or not, is true.

Even more surprising to me is the fact that only 7 (2%) of those that responded to the poll are 35 or under.  Maybe it is for old people.  Younger people are going to school, getting married, making a home, etc. etc.  And maybe it is the more mature crowd that appreciates digging up or reading about the older stuff.  You might have even drank out of a Milkette bottle, but not if you are very young.

It seems that people start to get into detecting around the 36 to 45 age group, perhaps when children start leaving home or finances can more easily be put to metal detectors and leisure time.

You also shouldn't forget that as I learned in a previous poll, there are a good number who read this blog and respond to the polls but do not detect real frequently for various reasons, such as no time or opportunity.  I don't know yet if there are people who are interested in the topic and read about it but who might not have any interest in actually going out and doing it.  I know there are some arm chair treasure hunters.

Here is the biggest finding for me.  93% of those that responded to the poll are 36 or older.  That is pretty astounding even taking into account any margin of error or any possible interpretation of the results.

Most of those who read this blog and respond to the polls, and most of those who metal detect are at least middle aged.  Metal detecting, for whatever reason, and like it or not, is an activity in which it is mostly the mature that are involved.

For detector manufacturers that could be a problem.  I can't say that interest in detecting is decreasing overall.  It doesn't seem that way to me.

I don't have figures on detector sales, but I see more people on the beaches with metal detectors than I did years ago.  Perhaps that has something to do with the price of gold or the economy, or awareness of metal detecting as a hobby.  But you don't see many Parker Schnable's out there.  (If you don't know, Parker is a gold miner on the TV how Gold Rush.)

According to the poll, the peak age group is 56 - 65 (33%).  That certainly corresponds to the beginning of the retirement years, so maybe it is a matter of leisure time.

23% are 66 or older.  There is a time when detecting becomes more physically challenging.  It does seem that among hard-core detectorists, once they have the interest, it doesn't easily disappear.

Well, one thing the poll clearly says to me is that metal detecting, as reflected in this blog, is primarily of interest to those of more mature age.

I wonder what needs to be done to get more young people involved.  Do we need to do Youth Hunts or do presentations in the schools?

I'm sure some will say we don't need any more detectorists.  I understand where that would be coming from.  But we do need more interest in history and other subjects that metal detecting encourages.  Nothing does that better than hands-on activities.

I also have to say that my personal observations in the field support the data obtained in this poll.  Most detectorists that I do see out there are over 35.  No doubt about that.  So I have NO trouble accepting the poll results.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net