4/30/19 Report - Summer Beaches. Copper Bracelet. Cookout Fun. Increased UFO Sightings Concerns Military.

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

Frederick Douglass Beach Sunday

Photo by DJ

Thanks DJ.

Looks like we are getting into real summer conditions.  You might think about making changes to where and how you hunt.

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Terry S. found this bracelet and would like to hear your ideas about it. Here is what he said.

This was a beach find in an area that has produced ship wreck artifacts for me in the past. I found it quite a while back and had really forgot about it until today.  I attended the treasure hunters cookout and on a whim took it with me and showed it to a few people there. They all agreed that it was copper and old and they had some interesting ideas. I enjoyed and appreciated all the input I received on the gold pendant and even had people approach me at the cookout to discuss it...  I enjoy your blog and read it daily and appreciate the information that you pass along.  Sincerely, Terry Shannon

It has two faces on it.  Here are the photos.

Jerry also said it was totally encrusted when found, but it cleaned up well.

Send me your thoughts.

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2019 Annual Treasure Hunter's Cookout

Photo by Joe D.

Yesterday I posted an email from Chris N. telling about how good a time he and his son had at the cookout.  Here are a couple photos of the scalawags, pirates and other characters that attended.

2019 Annual Treasure Hunter's Cookout

Photo by Joe D.

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I added one suggestion by Bill P. to yesterday's post.  I added it a little late, so in case you missed it, Bill suggested having the white pieces of melted metal test by XRF analysis.  Good idea.

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The military has been observing an increased number of UFO sightings and wants them taken more seriously.  They are developing new reporting guidelines.

Maybe you'll find some previously unknown metals from undocumented aliens from space. 

Here is the link on the sightings increase and new guidelines.

https://www.navytimes.com/off-duty/military-culture/2019/04/25/aliens-ahoy-navy-developing-guidelines-on-reporting-ufo-sightings/

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Looks like we'll be having nothing but a two to four foot surf for a while.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/29/19 Report - Incidental Sight Finds: Insulators. $30 Billion Dollar Treasure Story. Cookout Huge Success.

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

Blue Hemingray 19 Insulator.

I recently added a couple finds to my insulator collection.  One is a green Hemingray - No 9. (below), and the other is the blue No. 19 Hemingray shown above.

The green one  is in very nice condition. Otherwise it is nothing very special.

When I first saw it I thought it was broken because just a small piece of it was sticking out of the sand.  I almost didn't take the time to dig it up, but was glad I did.

It was just walking along and area where I've been many times before and wasn't really expecting much of anything because of the accumulating sand.  It was certainly not the place to expect coins.

Hemmingray No. 9 Insulator.

The blue insulator is the better one.  I don't know how much it is worth, but I saw the following ad.

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HEMINGRAY

[070] (F-Skirt) HEMINGRAY (R-Skirt) No 19 SDP

Cobalt Blue . . . . . . . . . . . $350-400

The least expensive Cobalt Blue insulator you can find! Be careful not to confuse this color with the very common Hemingray Blue.

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I don't know if it is worth that much, but it is my first blue insultor, so I'm happy to add it to my collection.  Now I have to learn if it is cobalt blue or just blue.

I always like sight finds, even if they are not metal.  I like a variety of types of treasure - not just metallic.  Keep your eyes open whether you are metal detecting or not.

I also learned that there are fake insulators.  They make copies of virtually anything that might have some value.

http://www.hemingray.info/database/index.php

I'm amazed by the different ways that insulators are altered and faked.  They are altered and faked just like coins.

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Here is the beginning of big treasure story written by Thomas Whittle for Freedom Magazine, June 1986.  The title is The Mystery of the $30 Billion Treasure.

Here is the beginning.

You are about to read a story that strains the imagination. It is about the disappearance of a fortune of up to $30 billion in gold bullion. When it was first presented as a “tip” to a Freedom Magazine reporter in El Paso, Texas, in 1981, it was discounted as beyond belief. However, when dozens of unrelated, independent sources began to corroborate the story, it could no longer be disregarded, no matter how bizarre. The following story, constructed from personal interviews, documents and confidential reports, is the result of a five-year investigation...

In one of the most closely guarded crimes of recent history, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of tons of gold bullion were secretly and illegally removed from caverns on White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, the beneficiaries allegedly including former President Lyndon Johnson and individuals connected with the U.S. Army, the Central Intelligence Agency and organized crime.

The caverns are located in and around Victorio Peak, in a remote, rugged section of south-central New Mexico... 

And here is the link for the rest of the article.

https://www.freedommag.org/english/vol18I10/ 

Thanks to DJ for that link.

Good reading.

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I received the following review of the annual Treasure Hunter's Cookout.

Treasure Guide,

Hello Friends!

What a wonderful time at the 11th annual Treasure Hunters Pic Nic, I had the pleasure to visit with some really interesting folks and seriously sincere Hunters whom some I knew, and others who I had the pleasure meeting.

For the short time I was there, I reflected on my time in Base Camp in Afghanistan during Operations with all the men whom appeared to look like us during during Operation Enduring Freedom, as we deployed to that area of the world.

One senior officer was reported saying he looked at us as "Pirates of the Caribbean" all of us,, not just one particular unit...

"I mean that with respect, to all who attended this gala."

Terry Shannon and friends, Capt. Fizzmer,  Taff Fisher, 1715 Captains, The Masters from NC, Capt. White, Capt Dominic to name a few...

If I missed anyone else it's was because it was so hard to meet every one involved, and the hero of the deep who made this possible.

Food was great and hospitality was what I expected from the "Breathen of the Coast" in a sincere manner.

I also what to mention all these men and women were exceptionally nice to my young son, who they paid attention to while I was talking to the folks there.

I look forward to seeing many of them again soon, and wish all of those passionate treasure Hunters the best of Fortune Safety and Joy these coming seasons.

Thank you from one Veteran to Another.

Respectively,Pirate Booty... 
 Chris N.  

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Thanks for the report on the huge success of the cookout.

If you missed it this year, you won't want to miss it next year.

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I just got an email from Bill P. suggesting XRF analysis to determine the content of the white melted pieces.  I talked about XRF analysis not too long ago, but didn't think of it in this context.

I think that should do it, if you want to take some samples to a pawn shop or where ever they might do an analysis for you.

Thanks Bill!

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Happy hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/27/19 Report - Beam Finds. Shipwreck or Not? Archaeology and Theory for MDing. Cookout Saturday.

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

Ten-Foot Long Beam Found by Kurt R.

A couple days ago I showed this beam and asked if anyone had any ideas about it.  One person suggested a railroad tie, but the other end is V-shaped and it has a lot of other cuts and holes that I wouldn't expect to see on a railroad tie, so I don't think that is it.

DJ found the beam shown below back about a month ago at Pepper Park after a few days of rough surf.  One of the interesting things about that beam is that it has a broken treenail in it.

Beam found by DJ (left).



Trennel or trennel being pointed out (right).

Wikipedia says, A treenail, also trenail, trennel, or trunnel, is a wooden peg, pin, or dowel used to fasten pieces of wood together, especially in timber frames, covered bridges, wooden shipbuilding and boat building. It is driven into a hole bored through two (or more) pieces of structural wood (mortise and tenon).

I also read that treenails, or trennals, were commonly used until around the 1780s.

Maybe these beams come from the same source and got uncovered last month during the rough surf.

Below is an example of a shipwreck beam with trennals.  This photo was snipped from a USF video of a shipwreck found near Jacksonville.

I really hope someone can help us out here.   I know DJ and Kurt would like the information, and I'd certainly like to learn a little something about the subject.

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Yesterday I wrote about cannon aprons, but the discussion was about more than cannon aprons.  It was also about investigating artifacts in general.

Here is an excerpt from the Schnitzer thesis that I referenced yesterday.

As Knappett (2005:1) states: It is perhaps surprising…that archaeology, while developing ever more sophisticated methodologies for artifact study, has not yet constructed similarly sophisticated theoretical models for understanding the roles of artifacts in human societies. So complex and daunting is such a task that it must inevitably be interdisciplinary in its scope, drawing upon cognitive science, psychology, sociology, anthropology, and history.

Theory is important in all sciences because it provides a way to organize data in a meaningful way. Theories can be hypothetical or predictive. They are the overarching abstractions that form conceptual frameworks for scientific research. Archaeology is, in its strongest applications, an interdisciplinary science, and many of its theories are drawn from interdisciplinary concepts. The study of the QAR cannon aprons is no exception. According to Trigger (2006), “It is a fundamental tenet of science that nothing is significant by itself but only in relation to hypotheses; hence only theories can explain phenomena.” The goal of this project is to explain the “phenomena” that are the QAR cannon aprons using a blend of material culture theory and an adaptation of behavioral archaeology theory, as conceptualized by Michael Schiffer in the 1970’s.

 Here is that link again.

http://thescholarship.ecu.edu/bitstream/handle/10342/3842/Schnitzer_ecu_0600M_10612.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y )

So what does that have to do with metal detecting?

I don't expect myself or anyone who reads this to turn into an archaeologist, but as detectorists we do find items that we want to know more about, and we can learn a lot from how the professionals investigate artifacts.

I encourage all detectorists to take a disciplined systematic approach to hunting and artifact identification.  I've had a few posts on that type of thing lately.

If you have an idea - a theory - it will help you assimilate the information and make predictions.  It will also help you develop hypotheses that can be tested.  That will help advance your understanding.

The piece of lead that I found was not hugely interesting by itself, but since it caused me to do additional research, I learned a lot from the research.  I learned about cannon aprons, but also about some other things.

I've always said that a find is more than a find.  Gaining more knowledge about a find not only makes the find more interesting, but it will sometimes point you to additional finds.

I didn't really think much about the lead find until I happened upon the cannon apron literature and saw pictures of other pieces that looked similar  I could have missed some interesting features of that find, and  I will be studying that piece more in the near future.

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Don't forget the Treasure Hunter's Cookout Saturday.

You can find the details by using the following link.

http://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2019/04/42419-report-treasure-hunters-cookout.html

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Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/24/19 Report - Treasure Hunter's Cookout April 27. Great American Coin Hunt. Now Parapsychologist on Oak Island.

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

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It has started!  "It" is the Great American Coin Hunt.

On April 21, hundreds of dealers and collectors will be seeding America’s pocket change with millions of vintage coins from the 1800s, including Indian and Lincoln “wheat” cents from 1859-1958, Indian Head and Liberty Head nickels from 1883-1938, silver dimes from the 19th and first half of the 20th century, silver quarters, half dollars, and Ike dollars. The group will also distribute vintage one, two, five, and ten dollar notes. Rob Oberth plans to make one lucky person’s day by spending a gold coin. Other dealers throughout the country will mark the event in their own unique ways.

The United States Mint learned about Oberth’s plan to infuse collectible coins in pocket change last year and worked to create its own chase coin for circulation. As a result, on April 1, the Mint mixed into circulation two million quarter dollars bearing the W mintmark of the West Point Mint...
For more about that, here is the link.

https://coinweek.com/us-coins/the-great-american-coin-hunt-has-arrived/

Watch your change.

Thanks to Joe D. for that link.

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I had pretty much given up on the Oak Island TV show, but last night when switching through the channels, I saw that the producer added a new expert to the show to drum up some drama and attention - a parapsychologist.  I thought we were going to hear the voice of a deceased Templar Knight, but they didn't go that far, even though the producer did try to make something out of a totally ambiguous bit of recorded noise, and another clang that the Lagina's dismissed.

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If you have any ideas on either of the objects, let me know.

The surf will be 2 - 3 feet tomorrow but a foot or so higher the next day when the wind will be from the south.

Enjoy the cookout.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

3/19/18 Report - Treasure Hunters Cookout One Month Away. FBI Hunts Civil War Gold Cache.

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

Everybody always has a good time at the cookout.  Make you plans now.

I saw this little fellow yesterday.  The gopher tortoise digs some pretty big holes and spreads the sand out.  This little fellow has already dug a hole.

Gopher Tortoise Hatching.
Not much bigger than a silver dollar.

According to newspaper resports, it seems like the FBI has taking up treasure hunting and is looking for Civil War gold in Pennsylvania.  Here is a bit of one article.

As a 155-year-old legend goes, a Union Army wagon train left Wheeling, W.Va., before the Battle of Gettysburg, carrying two tons of gold, but never completed its 400-mile mission...

The wagon train traveled northeast and was last spotted in St. Marys, Pa. Searchers found the wagons and the bodies of dead soldiers — and the gold was gone.

On Friday, dozens of FBI agents, Pennsylvania state officials and members of a treasure-hunting group were buzzing around the state forest at Dents Run, about 27 miles by road southeast of St. Marys and 135 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. It’s the site where the treasure-hunting group, Finders Keepers, says as much as $55 million in lost Union gold could be buried...

See: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/legend-says-a-load-of-union-gold-went-missing-during-the-civil-war-did-the-fbi-just-find-it/ar-BBKlMfT?ocid=se

And here is an excerpt from another article on the same story.

Dozens of FBI agents, along with Pennsylvania state officials and members of a treasure-hunting group, trekked this week to a remote site where local lore has it that a Civil War gold shipment was lost or hidden during the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg.

The treasure-hunting group Finders Keepers has long insisted it found the gold buried in a state forest at Dents Run, about 135 miles (217 kilometers) northeast of Pittsburgh, but said the state wouldn't allow it to dig...

See: https://www.wptv.com/news/national/fbi-at-site-where-civil-war-gold-rumored-to-be-buried

Thanks to Jorge Y. and Gaylen C. for those links.

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Tomorrow will be hot day.  The surf will be flat though.  We are having a decent tide change.

Sounds like a OK time to do some water hunting.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/24/14 Report - Treasure Hunter's Cookout Sat., New Relic Finds, Puffed Up Sandy Beaches, and More

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

Don't forget the treasure hunter's cookout, which will be this Saturday the 26th.

Kellyco will be there.  There are  donations from RTG Scoops, First Texas and Garrett (not metal detectors) that will be raffled off along with miscellaneous treasure and treasure related items.

There will be live music.(Caribbean style).

Bring your own beer and a covered dish to share potluck style.   There will be bbq ribs, pulled pork, burgers, hot dogs, chicken wings and sodas to drink.

Anyone can set up a table and buy/sell/swap treasure and treasure hunting related items.

Chuck said, Some of the regulars will be attending the robert marx lecture on the 25th and the meeting to discuss the new legal issues in regards to wreck salvage, I'm sure this will be discussed heavily at the cookout and maybe we will finally get organized and become proactive rather than reactive!!!!

If you don't know what that is about, go back and read the previous post in this blog.

Relic detector finds and photo by William M.

William M. is still hot on that relic trail.  Here are the latest finds.  His favorites from this group include a Sterling silver Bailey Banks and Biddle spoon and a Father Johns bottle.

Keep it up William.  Thanks for sharing.

Notice the other neat little finds in there.


Yesterday I posted a mystery photo for you to figure out and asked if you could tell what it is.

Below is a photo showing the entire item.

Fish Exo-skeleton.

 

I found this fish exo-skeleton.  It is very delicate and composed of little plates.

It is about to fall apart.  Just thought it was neat.

I don't know the name of the type of fish.  I should look it up.  Maybe someone will tell me.

Just one of the things I found while not detecting.


Below is another miscellaneous visual find from the same walk.

Copper Bow Running Light.

Yesterday morning I took a quick look at a couple of beaches.  I didn't take my detector out of the car at either of them.

The beach looked like an August beach.  I hope that is not an indication of what the rest of the summer is going to be like.

The treasure beaches haven't been much good since November, and that is almost half a year ago.  Can you believe it?

The one good thing about beach conditions now is that the surf is smooth.  Just some very small swells slowly running in.  Perfect for very easy water hunting.

There was a lot of sand on the beach though.  Take a look at the photo below.  That is not what you want to see from a treasure beach.  If you had tons of tourists running around on it, you could pick up some modern stuff.  I don't find that type of hunting nearly as interesting any more, although I do it when treasure beach conditions are poor.

I didn't bother to take my detector out of the car at the wreck beaches that I looked since the beach conditions were so poor, but I felt like swinging my detector a little, I stopped at one of the tourist beaches and hunted the dry beach.  I hit a piece of gold in just a few minutes.  Modern, of course,   It was one of those cases when it was a good thing that I was not discriminating.  The gold was about seven inches right under a bottle cap.  Seemed like someone had already detected there and picked up everything but the bottle caps. 

That is all for today.  Take a look at the overview of laws concerning underwater cultural materials in my previous post and enjoy the cookout this Saturday.  Beautiful weather for a cookout.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
 

10/9/12 Report - Treasure Hunter's Benefit Cookout & Blog Poll Results

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You probably know about the annual treasure hunter's cookouts.  Well, this is a treasure hunter's cookout, but more importantly, it is a benefit.  And promises to be a lot of fun.   Put it down on your calendar now.

The food will be ready about 1 PM and activities continuing through the afternoon.

Just to be clear.   I am not John but am posting his flyer in this blog.  Contact John with any questions.


The most recent blog poll has concluded and the results are in.

The sample size is over 100.  That is pretty good.

Of those responding to the poll, the vast majority, 75%, have not yet found their first shipwreck cob or treasure coin, so if you haven't found your first, don't feel bad, you are not alone.

It can take a while.   A big part of it is being there at the right time.  That is why I post a conditions report.  If the conditions for finding treasure coins on the beach are poor, as they often are (we've certainly seen that lately), it doesn't matter what detector you use or how good you are.   There are times when the coins are accessible on the beach and times when they aren't.  

My first few trips to the Treasure Coast, years and years ago, I didn't find any either.   I wondered what was wrong, and didn't think I'd ever find one.  Then finally I did.   I remember it clearly.  

And then there were other times when several were found within a few minutes.  That is the way it is.  Sometimes they are there, and sometimes not.   Again, that is why I started the blog and why I give a beach conditions report - to help you know when the chances are better.  And to help you know when it might be worth a trip to the Treasure Coast.

Obviously my reports aren't perfect.  But I am sure they will help you to maximize your chances.  Conditions have been poor for quite a while, with few exceptions, and  not many treasure coins have been found in the last year. 

I've reported poor conditions a lot lately.  We haven't had really good hunting for nearly two years now, if I correctly recall.   There was an October when I gave a level four (out of 5) conditions rating.  I don't think I've done that again since, or if I did, I don't recall.  And we see that only 1% of the respondents report their most recent treasure coin being found in the last six months, and another 1% between six months and a year.

9% however report that there most recent treasure coin find came between one to two years ago.

I think the poll results are informative, and also that my conditions ratings are fairly accurate due to the low percentage of people making their most recent find in the last year.

Just to round out the results, 4% of the respondents reported their most recent treasure coin find was 2 to 5 years ago, an 7% as long ago as 5 to 8 years.

There are several things I don't know about the sample.  I don't know, for example, how many respondents hunt only on the Treasure Coast.  I also didn't identify salvage divers.  Working with blowers, you have a chance of finding shipwreck coins anytime, in fact mostly during the calm summer months when beach conditions are the poorest. So we certainly must  recognize that the poll has limitations that need to be taken into account.

Nonetheless I think the results are interesting and informative.  Thanks for responding.


One correction I need to make.  Yesterday I suggested a method for mounting finds for display.  Fred Dengler, a fossil expert who often helps me out with good information, says you should never use an adhesive to mount a fossil.  I am sure he is right.  It can damage the surface of the fossil.   Thanks Fred!


Tomorrow I'll show a rare and unusual Treasure Coast shipwreck find.


Treasure Coast Beach  Detecting Forecast and Conditions

Things haven't changed much lately.  It's almost like we are back to mid-summer conditions.  Too much of those south winds.

The beaches are generally sandy, with a few shell piles here and there.

A few miscellaneous older finds are being made in areas around shell piles, but nothing real real interesting - mostly what I would call secondary or tertiary targets.

As I've been saying lately, we often get a good October or November northeaster, and hopefully one will occur this year.  We sure could use it.


Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net