12/10/15 Report - Out-Of-The-Way Cut Beach. Gun Flints. Comparing October To November.

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

Nice Old Out-Of-The-Way Beach.

Remember the day I ran out of batteries?  This is the direction I was headed then.  I went back Wednesday to do some scouting because I didn't have time to do much detecting because of another commitment.

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Here is a neat story on some very early gun flints.

Archaeologists have revealed the results of a 15-year archaeological investigation into a tiny Scottish island, including the discovery of the earliest gun flints discovered in Britain, representing the first evidence of armed skirmishes on a Clan stronghold in the Hebrides.

Here is the link for the article.

http://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/archaeology/art542730-clan-gun-flints-dun-eistean-hebrides

Did you know you can sometimes tell the nationality of a gun flint from the color and shape?  You can.

Timothy McGuire's book An Identification Guide to Recovered Colonial and Revolutionary War Artifacts has a bunch of illustrations that show the differences.

I really like gun flints - probably because the first one I found I didn't recognize quick enough and I still regret it.  It could still be out there on a steep hillside on a Caribbean Island along with the rusted gun cock that was dug right beside it.  That is one of those things that taught me a lesson about how important it can be to quickly identify things in the field.

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As promised, I am going to compare the October poll results with the November poll results.

The blog polls showed that 7 people found one or more cobs or treasure coins the last couple weeks of November, while only two reported finding cobs in the October poll even though the October poll had many more participants.  There were cob finds in October that I knew of that were not reported in the poll.  I suspect the same thing happened in November.

As percentages, only 1.5 percent of the respondents who reported detecting the Treasure Coast during last two weeks of October found cobs.  18% of the November respondents found cobs.  That is a big difference.  The last half of November was evidently a lot better than October for finding cobs.

In October about 10 percent of the respondents found artifacts.  In November it was more like 23 percent.  It appears that November was much better than October for finding artifacts too.

In summary, while there was a big difference in the total number of respondents for the two polls that I do not know how to account for both October and November produced both cobs and artifacts, but goind by the numbers, November was a much more productive period.

The surf will be decreasing and remaining small for a few days  I am going do decrease my beach detecting conditions rating back to a "1."  There may be a few left overs to be found anyhow.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

9/13/15 Report - Two Big 2015 Treasure Finds And What You Can Learn From Them. What Treasure Is.

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

Salvage Boat Over Wreck Site A While Back

As you know there were some big finds this year.  One I reported on extensively.  That one was a multi-million dollar find, made national news and was reported by all the major media.  That was the find made by the Capitana guys.

Don't forget that there were other big finds made by other salvage crews on the Treasure Coast this year.

But there were also some big inland finds.  One of those was not reported.  It wasn't of the same magnitude as the 1715 Fleet finds, but it was certainly unusual and remarkable and something that would be reported by the media if the details were made known.

What I wanted to do today is without going into details on the second find, see what could be learned by comparing the two vastly different cases resulting in big finds.  I knew of both efforts before the big hit and followed the progress of both efforts up to the big hit.

First, neither of those two finds was made on a beach.  One was in water covered by a salvage lease and one was inland on private property.

As you know the beaches have not been producing much for quite some time.  That will change some day.

Second, both involved intensive hunts involving many days of effort.

I often advise multiple-stage hunts and have detailed how one might hunt a site in multiple stages.

Third, the big hit was not made until after several days of hunting were completely.

It is easy to give up on a site.  It is easy to quit to soon.

Fourth, on both, there were a series of smaller finds, as well as unsuccessful holes, leading up to the big hit.

I've often talked about how to use finds as signs or indicators.  Where there is one, there is often more.  Because you got some, doesn't mean that is all there is.  Again, it is easy to quit too soon.

Fifth, there was a tip off to the possible productivity of the location.  In the case of the 1715 find, the wreck site and presence of treasure has been known for a long time.  For the other find, there was also a tip-off, though not so far back in history.

Instead of taking a report of a find as an indication that it has all been found, take it as an indication  that there might be more.  Very often the first efforts don't get it all.

Sixth, in both cases, there were others who took smaller amounts of treasure from the site before the current hunters made the big hit.

Ditto comment to number five.

Seventh, in both cases, there was extensive removal of surface material facilitated by mechanical means or heavy equipment prior to the big find.  In the second case, that might or might not have been critical. In the first case it definitely was.

Eight, both involved gaining permission to hunt the location in one way or another.

I'm sure there is more to say, but that is enough for now.  That might give you something to think about.

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Treasure means different things to different people.

One person who finds a gold coin, might be in need of the most basic things.  To him or her, the treasure might mean food, clothing or shelter.

Another person who finds the same gold coin, might not need those things.  To him or her it might be a feeling of success or task accomplished.

To another, the same gold coin might be visions of fame or glory.  To another history.

What treasure means to you depends upon who you are and what you bring to the treasure.   Treasure is a mirror that reflects who you are.  Take a look.

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I got emails about the Bernard Romans book.  It seems that people liked being able to read that.  If you misssed it, you might want to go back a few posts and get the link.

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Source: nhc.noaa.gov

As you can see we have three disturbance in the Atlantic.  The one closest to us has very little chance of becoming a cyclone in the next 48 hours.  It could hang around long enough to strengthen but I'm not expecting anything out of that one real soon.

The one that is in the middle of the Atlantic won't likely affect us, but the one over by Africa has a 50 percent chance of becoming a cyclone in the next 48 hours.  We'll have to watch to see where it goes.

On the Treasure Coast the surf will be small this weekend, and very flat Monday.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net.