5/8/15 Report - First Named Storm of Season. Jacksonville Beaches Ripped. Making Coin Rings. Dig Site You Can Join.

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


Gold Found by Shannon F.
Photo by Shannon F.

Shannon F. wrote the following.

I'm not sure if you are familiar with my area. My local beaches back in the 70's experienced a full dune replenishing project adding 15+ft of sand to the ENTIRE area. As far as old things go there were none to find. Period. It was all hidden out of range of a detector. This past weeks storm finally changed that by digging a river like cut 10ft below the high sand. After detecting the area for years with no luck for "older" finds this cut made a brief window. I found 3 1940's nickels and out popped some old gold. Moral of the story is that it's all there hiding under the sand. Just out of reach 99% of the time.

While the recent storm didn't do much for our Treasure Coast beaches, it evidently did the beaches up north some good.   That is a great tip.

What Shannon says is true anywhere.  Although we haven't had good beach conditions locally for quite a while, there is still plenty of stuff hiding under the sand just waiting for the right conditions to uncover it all. 

I know some of you will lose patience, but it will pop out again. 

Thanks for sharing Shannon.  Nice find.

----

1905 Barber Half For Sale on eBay.

Yesterday I showed an old coin ring that I discovered after cleaning it off.  After looking at it in various lighting, I discovered a date on it.  The ring was made from an 1905 half dollar.  I can barely see the date, but looking at other parts of the design, I can match it up with a Barber half dollar.  Notice the leaves overlapping the word TRUST in the photo.

Russ P. spotted the Barber half quicker than I.  He could see the signs from the photos that I showed yesterday.

Good eye Russ!

Here is a picture of a 1905 Barber half like that used to make the ring.  Not only can I see where the leaves overlap with the word TRUST on the ring but also the stars and other features of the coin.

There are plenty of youtube videos showing how to make rings out of coins.  You might like to give it a try if you have some old silver coins you are willing to sacrifice.

Here is one to get you started.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lo_wUYktz-U

----

Trying to think up something new for a different and exciting for a summer vacation?  How about digging a Mayan archaeological site?  You can!

Archaeologists of the Maya Research Program (MRP) plan to field a crew beginning in June 1, 2015, to excavate an ancient Maya elite residential complex and other sites in northwestern Belize. Though less than a month away, the team leadership still has some available positions in the opening session to fill with willing students and volunteers to help them investigate large residential structures and a large shrine north of the site core of Xnoaha a medium-sized Maya center in Belize not far from the border with Mexico.

Here is the link if you want to learn more.

http://popular-archaeology.com/issue/spring-2015/article/archaeologists-offer-special-deal-to-dig-at-ancient-maya-site

----

We now have the first named storm of the season off of South Carolina - Ana.

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/ana-tropical-system-atlantic-us-east-coast-north-south-carolina-rough-surf-rain/46764807

On the Treasure Coast we're back down to a two-three foot surf again.  It is going to be down to a one foot surf in a couple of days.

Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

5/7/15 Report - Surprise, Surprise! Ferrari's, Wheat Pennies & Old Silver Coin Ring. The Seven R's Of Metal Detecting.

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

Dug Silver Coin Ring

Surprise, Surprise!  That is what Gomer Pyle used to say.


You never know what you might dig up.  A couple of boys digging in a yard found a valuable Ferrari.  Yep, the sports car.  It was later restored and now is worth millions.

That wasn't the only car that was dug up. 

Cars are lost at the beach too.  There used to be car frames on the beach just north of Rio Mar.  I once saw a picture of where cars in a parking lot got washed onto the beach around there during a hurricane. 

Cars occasionally drive into the Indian River too.  It wasn't long ago that one went over the hill at the end of Midway.

I've also found old antique car parts including engine blocks in the river.  I suppose they pushed old junk cars over the bank like all of the other junk back in the day.

Here is a link to the article about the dug up Ferrari.

http://jalopnik.com/5872514/the-true-story-of-how-a-ferrari-ended-up-buried-in-someones-yard

Thanks to William K. for giving me the lead to this story.

----

Crusted Unknown Coin.

I noticed a couple crusty old finds in my questionable junk box and decided to clean them off to see what there were.

The first was a totally crusted over coin.  I couldn't see any detail on it at all.  It was smaller than a penny and bigger than a dime.

I gave it a quick bath in an acid solution.  It turned out to be a wheat penny that was so worn or corroded that even cleaned I couldn't make out a date.  So much was worn off that it was as close to a dime in size as it was to a penny.



The next item I investigated was a crusted large ring.  I couldn't tell what it was made of with the crust on it.  Again, I dipped it in an acid solution.  After washing it off and neutralizing the acid with baking soda, I could barely make out some pattern or design.

Silver Coin Ring Showing IN GOD WE TRUST.

It turned out to be a coin ring.  On the outside were the words "IN GOD WE TRUST" and some stars.

On the inside I eventually made out the words "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" and "HALF DOLLAR."  (See photo top of post.)

That was a pleasant surprise.  It was made of an older half dollar.  I'll try to narrow it down some more.

It is well worn and the words aren't easy to read with the naked eye.


It is always fun to investigate mystery finds. I don't even know how long these two were in the box before I got around to cleaning them.  Once again I wish I had better records.  That seems to be a common theme.

----

The seven Rs of metal detecting.

Recover lost items
Remove trash
Return coins to circulation
Respond to requests to locate items
Recognize signs of historical or archaeological sites.
Report significant discoveries
Recycle dug materials
                                       by TreasureGuide.

---

On the Treasure Coast the surf will be decreasing today and back down to one foot by Sunday.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net