6/21/20 Report - Some Treasures Can Find You. Was Fenn Treasure A Hoax? Shipwreck Archaeology Symposium.

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

Fenn Treasure.

Source: CNN.  See link below.

(CNN) — As soon as Forrest Fenn announced that his treasure was found earlier this month, rumors swirled about whether it had really been found or if the treasure hunt had been a hoax all along.

Well, this week, Fenn tried to put some of those to rest by unveiling the first photos of the discovered treasure.

On Tuesday, the 89-year-old art and antiquities collector posted three pictures of the treasure on dalneitzel.com, a fan blog dedicated to the treasure hunt that Fenn sparked 10 years ago after he published clues in his autobiography "The Thrill of the Chase." ...

Here is that link.

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/forrest-fenn-treasure-chest-pictures-trnd/index.html

Some think that the Fenn treasure was a hoax and never hidden.

Thanks to William K. for the link.

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Below are the contents of the Iron, Steel, and Steamship Archaeology Seminar from 2006.  It includes a long list of papers on shipwreck artifacts and their corrosion, distribution, cleaning and conservation.  You'll probably find at least a few articles of interest if you browse the content listing.

And here is the link to access any of those papers that might interest you.


https://www.academia.edu/17384667/The_latest_find_._With_Delgado_Johnson_Murphy_et_al_on_SubMarine_Explorer_a_Civil_War_era_in_Panama?email_work_card=title

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Some treasures are very elusive.  You hunt for yeas and may never find them, but it seems there are other treasures that find you.  In my previous post I mentioned some treasures that found me.  They are treasures that just fell into my lap, so to speak.  I didn't target them.  I didn't hunt them - they came to me.  Here is how it happened.

I had done some consulting for the institution and knew one of the librarians from my consulting work.  She knew I appreciated books, and since the library was becoming computerized, they were deaccessing a lot of the books.  I was told I could look through their holdings to see if there were any that I would like to have, and if they were scheduled to be deaccessed, I could have them.

If you know me, I like books - especially old books.  I found an entire collection of old books in a room that was never used.  The collection included about 50 old and very collectable books going back to the 18th century, including some valuable first editions.  Many were history books.  The collection was stored in a locked room in a library for years but were hardly ever accessed or used.  In fact many were in a locked cabinet.  They were just the kind of thing I love.  I told them that those books were something special and should be taken care of. They weren't just old books and were very valuable in more ways than one.

The library tried to find a university library that wanted the collection, but none of the large university libraries responded.  After a year of trying to find a good institutional home for the books, they finally gave up and decided that I should have the books since I was the one that appreciated them and alerted them to their value.  It seemed like those books found me, and I'm glad they did.

A historical society was delighted to take a couple of the books that fit their needs, but didn't fit in with the primary focus of the collection.  Other than those two books, I received the entire collection.

There isn't much interest in old and collectible books anymore and most librarians don't know the value of books as collectibles.  I've seen books on library shelves that are well over a hundred years old that have never been read.  I know they've not been read because the pages were still untrimmed.  I've also seen valuable old books on library shelves that were destroyed by librarians or patrons that did not appreciate or care for them.  I hated to watch as one old and very valuable oversized leather bound volume of Durer prints was ruined by one patron who photocopied each of the pages on a copier, which, of course, destroyed the binding.  It would have been worth thousands of dollars and was probably destroyed and could have been eventually thrown out.

So some treasures you have to hunt for long and hard, some beckon you, and others you.  If you truly treasure an item for more than its economic value, it seems there is a better chance that kind of  treasure will find you.

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Disturbances are flashing on the National Hurricane Center map.  There is one disturbance up by the Carolinas that could develop in the next few days.

Locally we are having more flat surf.  That is good for the salvage season, but isn't doing the beaches much good.

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

4/8/17 Report - Treasure Books and Book Treasures. Surf a Little Higher Next Week.

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

One of my favorite types of collectibles is books.  The only thing I don't like about old and rare books is the difficulty of maintaining them in Florida heat and humidity.  Anyhow, books can be valuable in more ways than one.

I once did an article for a treasure magazine on treasure books and book treasures.  In that article I offered a free list of valuable modern collector books.  (Books don't have to be very old to be valuable.) I had previously published a database of collector book values.

One day I went to the mail box and found about twenty letters asking for the free list of books.  I knew the article must have been published.  I didn't know that before I saw all the mail.

The next day even more envelopes showed up in my mail box.  That went on for quite a while.

I included a coupon with the list of collectible books that I sent out and a good number of people usedto the coupon to buy a book that I published.

It was a lot of fun getting so much mail everyday in response to my offer.

I just found an article on the Sotheby's web site telling ten things that make books valuable.  You might find it interesting and helpful if you have some books around the house.

http://www.sothebys.com/en/news-video/blogs/all-blogs/sotheby-s-at-large/2016/07/10-things-that-make-books-valuable.html

I once bought a book about making fly rods for one dollar a thrift store..  It was an early edition of
A Master's Guide to Building a Bamboo Fly Rod, by Hoagy Carmichael Jr.  The book was signed, and I found a business card of the author inside the book.  I sold the book with the card, if I remember correctly, for about $170.

I've found a lot of good books at thrift stores.  You can usually buy them inexpensively.  One that I got for one dollar is Monedas Espanolas Desde Juana y Carlos A Isabel II 1504 a 1868 by Calico, Calico ad Erigo.  It is 544 pages and covers, as the title suggests, Spanish coins from 1504 to 1968.  It is illustrated profusely and presents examples of most major varieties.  That is the kind of thing that would be difficult to find at a reasonable price if you were looking for it.

I've found other good treasure books and resources in thrift stores.

If you buy any old books at a thrift store or anything, don't forget to check between the pages.  You can find old letters, photos, post cards, autographs, business cards or even cash.

Someone once bought an old book from me, and I put a small amount of money in the book when I sent it to the buyer because he over paid.  When I told him I put some change in the book, he said that will teach him to look in books before he sends them out.  I guess he resold it and sent it off without ever looking in it.

Both nonfiction and fiction books can be surprisingly valuable.

Before places like eBay became so popular, it was easier to find books that you could sell for a profit. The internet changed the collectible book market.  More common books that you could easily sell before for a few dollars became worthless while the price of the rarer books increased.

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The surf is going to remain small on the Treasure Coast this weekend, then increase next week, but only to three to five feet.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net