1/13/17 Report - Gold Cross Pendant Found. Site Analysis and Sampling: Brief Case Study.

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

Find and photo by Duane C.

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

Just yesterday I mentioned that I hadn't been posting much on modern jewelry lately.  Well, I just got the photo of this nice find.

Duane said, Found on east coast 18k lots of makers marks age unknown. 

Congratulations Duane.

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This isn't a story about a valuable find.  It is a story about site analysis and investigation.  The particular site showed signs of being "right."  By that I mean if anything was in the area the chances of finding something was good.  I could tell that the site was "right" by looking at it.  

The base of a cliff was eroded.  Below the cliff was hard sand slanting down to the water at a very slight angle.  Then the sand flattened out.

As I explained not long ago, a visual site analysis should be the first step.  That can tell you a lot about where to spend your time most efficiently.

When I walked by the area and noticed the washout, I recognized that it was an area that would probably reveal something.  After my attention was drawn to that area, it was just a few minutes before I noticed the bottle shown below.

It is a small bottle, embossed "WHITEHURST."  It originally contained a cough medicine.  The bottle is from the early 1900s.

I already knew something of the history of the area.  There could possibly be something there from almost any time period, but most human activity would have most likely been late 1800s and early 1900s.  The bottle was consistent with that.

So, the area looked right, and it revealed an older item in almost no time.  As is often the case, the first clue was glass or ceramic.   

The water was coming in and covering the area, but I didn't expect it to completely disappear, so I decided to return the next day to look it over a little more.

On my return visit I took a metal detector.  The area was covered with junk, both metal and non- metallic - some on the surface and some buried.  The detector was constantly giving signals.

I wasn't digging anything at first, just getting an idea of the situation.  Then I decided to dig a few - I think it was five or six, of the better signals.

Notice that so far, all I am really doing is sampling.  I am analysing the situation.  First visually, then with the detector.  I do not believe at this point that there is any reason to spend much time or effort on this site.

Part of my analysis is knowing something of the history of the area.  The people that lived in the area in the early 1900s were not wealthy at all, and worked in agriculture.  The site accumulated a lot of junk.  There is not reason to expect gold coins, good jewelry - only a small chance of finding a coin or two from the 1900s and a smaller chance of finding a coin from the 1800s

Knowing what went on at a site in the past can be a big help.  How many people were there and what were they doing?  This is not a fancy resort visited by many people over the centuries.  Just the opposite.  This site has a very small chance of revealing anything valuable, but there is some chance that something from the late 1800s or early 1900s might show up.  If I was trying to find something valuable and if this site wasn't very close to my home, I wouldn't bother with it at all.

There is almost no chance of finding something like the gold cross pendant at this site, so if that is what you are after, forget this site.  This is a relic hunter's site.

There is more chance that a pre-contact sight find would be made there.  A check-stamped shard was found not too far away.

Detecting in this area was very difficult because of all the junk.  Much of the area was also now covered with seaweed. 

After spending a  few minutes just scanning the area with the detector, I decided to dig some of the better signals - very few though.

Small Compact Dating To 1925

One of the things I dug was this Princess Pat compact, in surprisingly good condition.  The hinges still worked.  I opened it up and the broken mirror was still in it.  I was very surprised that it would still open.

It was easy to find out about Princess Pat.  This particular compact is the style that was sold in 1925. The date of the compact is very close to the date of the Whitehurst bottle.

My conclusion is that the compact was on the bank, where it was preserved - not in the water.

The compact is shown above.

So far I have spent about half an hour looking at that area and will investigate it more in the future since it is so convenient to me.  I wouldn't bother if I was serious about making a good find, but there is the slimmest possibility that something much older will show up, and maybe even something like an older coin.  The likelihood of either of those is small, but there could be some sort of interesting relic to be found.  

While these were no great finds, the case illustrates some of the steps and factors to consider in site analysis.

Here are a few.

1. Visual site inspection.  Determine if current conditions are good or not, and what spots might be most promising.
2. Consider history of the area and types of activity that took place at the site.
3. Sample with metal detector.
4. Evaluation of finds.  Age and whatever else they might tell you.
5. Consider future opportunities for additional searching.  Is immediate intensive search indicated or not?


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The surf is supposed to increase up to seven feet today.  Not bad, as far as size goes.

There will be big tides too, including a nice negative tide.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

7/27/15 Report - MILLION DOLLARS Of Treasure Recently Found On A Treasure Coast Shipwreck Site. The Difference Between Compact And Mushy Sand.

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

2015 Gold 1715 Fleet Discoveries
Photo source : FloridaToday.com link below

For a few weeks, the Schmitt family and 1715 Fleet — Queens Jewels LLC had a million-dollar secret on their hands. Last month, they recovered $1 million worth of sunken Spanish jewels off the Florida Coast.

“The treasure was actually found a month ago,” said Brent Brisben of 1715 Fleet — Queens Jewels LLC. Keeping the news under wraps was “particularly hard for the family that found it. They’ve been beside themselves.”

Recovered:

• 51 gold coins
• 40 feet of ornate gold chain
• A single coin called a Royal made for the king of Spain, Phillip V, a news release states. Only a few are known to exist, and the coin — nicknamed “Tricentennial Royal” — is dated 1715. Brisben said the extremely rare silver-dollar-sized coin is worth “probably around half a million dollars itself...

Here is the link for the rest of the story and a video.

http://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/2015/07/27/family-finds-sunken-spanish-treasure/30744269/


Take a look at that Gold Royal in the middle of the photo.  You can also see part of the chain to the left.

Thanks to Jorge and Doug for sending me this link.

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People that are passionate about certain activities learn a lot about those activities.   They put knowledge together that draws from different fields of study and may even add new knowledge.

I've been talking a lot about how sand and other objects move on a beach and in the water. I feel like I've learned a lot in the last few years and have been drawing from a variety of scientific disciplines but also from people who are very passionate about different recreational activities.  Some of what I've learned lately, I've learned from surfers.  I've shown Scott Little's photography, for example. Obviously, surfers are interested in waves and may know more about waves in some ways than oceanographers.  Today I learned something from another recreational group -  those who do sand sculpture.

You've probably stepped onto a beach and you sank in up to your ankles.  Another time you might have stepped out on the same beach and it felt like pavement.

We talk all the time about mushy sand, which is a very poor sign for beach detectorists.  Mushy sand is often composed of larger grains,  Fine grain sand obviously settles more, but that is not all there is to it.

Here is what the sand sculpture web site says.

In a word the big secret is "friction". More specifically, the sum total of all friction between the grains acting on each other. This is why compaction is so important. When you compact sand you increase the friction between the grains.

Uncompacted sand has relatively large pore spaces between the grains but compacted sand shrinks these spaces increasing points of contact between the individual grains and thereby increasing the friction between them. The more friction there is, the more resistant the grains are to separation.

One other important dynamic is "cross-linking", a term from soils engineering. Forcing randomly shaped grains tightly together causes many of them to naturally cross-link. Cross-linking is a common technique in masonry work where vertical joints between bricks, stones and block joints are intentionally staggered thereby vastly increasing the strength of the structure.

Friction is also why certain sands are better than others. Finer sands will naturally have smaller pore spaces and angular grains are most likely to tightly interlock and cross-link. Rounded grains will always have larger pore spaces between grains no matter how well compacted, and a naturally smooth surface further reduces friction. Beyond being merely rounded as the individual grains become more spherically shaped the grains also become incapable of cross-linking. Try to imagine stacking a pile of bowling balls. The advantages of a sand that compacts well are easy to see and will always make for a more enjoyable day when sculpting. 

Here are three illustrations from the same source.

To compact sand before sculpting they build a formwork (box) and fill the box with six inches of wet sand, then compact the six inch layer with a construction compactor. Then they add an additional six inch layer of wet sand on top of the compacted layer and compact the new layer, repeating until they have enough to begin the sculpture.

Here is the source link.

http://www.sandscapes.com/how_to/images/particle4c.gif

If you generalize from the above, you'll understand some of the differences between mushy and compact beach sand.

There is more to it, I'm sure.  I didn't take into account exactly how the sand was deposited.  Often it will be in layers as wet sand is deposited when the tide is up.

When you have compacted sand, it will take more to get it into suspension and moving.

I pay attention to the feel of the sand beneath my feet when detecting.  If I am walking along and feel the sand under my feet become compact, I would be sure to check that area for any good targets.

There is a lot more that I didn't get into, but that is as far as I want to take this today.  I got a late start.

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The surf on the Treasure Coast will be very smooth the next couple of days.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net