7/10/16 Report - Gold Sent To Spain From The New World. T. C. Find. Good Research Resources.

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

The Lifetime Acheivement award will be presented to Captain John Brandon at the Mel Fisher Days Kickoff Party at the Schooner Wharf bar in Key West on July 15th at 6:00 pm. Congratulations John!

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Here is a good chapter that you might want to read.  It attempts to summarize the amount of gold transferred to Spain from the colonies for each decade, beginning with the conquest.

http://mygeologypage.ucdavis.edu/cowen/~gel115/115ch8.html

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Here are a couple of clippings I got from somewhere.  I don't know the sources right off, but they might have come from the linked sources that I give in this post.  The figures are interesting, but only something to start with.  I wouldn't take either as being very precise.

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I got my Kirlian photography setup working.  No problem.  I'm glad it was made of old components. The modern crap probably wouldn't be working after four decades. I might be able to study the electromagnetic fields produced by various targets and compare that to the signals the same targets produce with metal detectors.

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Here is the watch find that I mentioned yesterday.

Treasure Coast find.

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Here is a great reference source on all matters related to commerce.  It is the Hunt's Merchant's Magazine and Commercial Review, which was published in the mid 1800s.  It is really full of good research information.

The topics are extensive including things like admiralty law, counterfeit coins, coinage in the Americas and Europe, gold digging in California, railroads, the amount of silver and gold in America and Europe and the effect on the economies.  I can't really give you the idea, but I hope you'll take a look for yourself.  The index provides direct links to each topic listed.

I think maybe Table 1 above came from this source.

Click here to take a look at the 23rd volume.

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The post today is a bit of a hodge podge.  Notice the new poll that I posted.  I appreciate your responses.

We have a few more days of one-foot surf.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

5/3/16 Report - 1715 Fleet Gold Royal and Disc Displayed in 1968. Commerce in Havana and Atlantic in 16th and 17th Century.

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

1702 8-Escudo Royal Displayed At Wakeman House in 1968

1715 Fleet Gold Disc Displayed at Wakeman House in 1968

The Wakeman House is a reconstructed historic house in St. Augustine that housed displays including the above, which were said to be displayed in 1968.

These photos were found on a searchable web site that you can access using the following link.

http://maps.fiu.edu/saug/

Scroll down to the digital collection and use the search box.

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As a result of some recent discussions and the research I was doing, I came across some interesting things. One thing I found was the book, Havana and the Atlantic in the 16th Century.  It discusses the history of Havana and the central roll it played in commerce and transportation.  You can read some of that book online by clicking the above link.

Here is just one sample table.  It shows that Havana imported a lot of wine, textiles and slaves from across the ocean.  That was in the time period 1578 - 1610.

Transoceanic exports (items exported to the Old World) included primarily bullion or specie.  That isn't surprising.  Another big export was hides.  They raised oxen.  That to me was entirely new information. They also exported a lot of dye (such as cochineal) and ships from Havana.  

Havana imported from other colonies a lot of bullion/specie (again not surprising), but also a lot foodstuff.  (Specie is money in the form of coins.)

Bullion/specie was being shipped around a lot.  One interesting figure is the relatively large amount of bullion/specie imported into Havana from across the ocean.

Florida was in the same region and controlled by the same governor that controlled Havana.  Money sent for the maintenance and defense of St. Augustine went to Havana before going to St. Augustine. St. Augustine bought a lot of supplies from Havana, so some of the money sent to Havana never got to St. Augustine, but stayed in Havana to pay for those supplies.

There are other good books online that you can view partly or completely that give information on commerce and transportation during the days of Spanish colonization.

From what I've been reading of Spanish colonial history, it seems that the government regulations provided a lot of opportunities to make money for those who were well connected and were in position to take advantage of the regulations and also those who found ways to circumvent the regulations.

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CORRECTION.

Yesterday I mistakenly labeled the pictures as if all eight rings were from the same cut.  I corrected that.  The coins and two rings shown in the first picture came from the same cut, but the six rings shown in the second picture were found at other times.

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We're having a nice small surf.  It is getting hot though.  The tides are getting bigger.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net