1/15/20 Report - One Thing That Can Make It More Difficult To ID the Date of Dug Items. Dug Coin Revealed As Fake. More Surf.

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

Winged Liberty Head Imprint.

It can be difficult to tell what an item is and how old it is when you dig it up.  We might have a first impression that tells us that the item is old or that it is modern.  But those two terms are very general and we might not know precisly how old the item is, and our impressions can be way off.

Bot "modern" and "old" are very general terms that might mean different things to different people.  You might even use them differently at different times.  When I say an item is modern, I'm usually thinking that it is 20th century or later, but that can vary.

In the absence of any definitive marks, when it comes to estimating an item's age I think most people look first at wear and deterioration.  That is the first and most obvious thing you will see.  An old item will generally look worn or corroded, but that really doesn't tell you much.  Appearances can be very misleading.

Many years ago I thought that items that are hundreds of years old would look crude or primitive, but I learned that many really old items were very skillfully and wonderfully made, at times being every bit as nice as the finest modern items.  If an item looked too good, I could have mistakenly dismissed it as being more modern.  I probably made some mistakes like that.

It does take some time for items to wear down or corrode, but that process can take place very rapidly or very slowly, so the amount of wear or corrosion can be a very poor indicator of age.

The environment can have a lot to do with how quickly an item corrodes.  Coins will corrode faster in salt water environments than fresh water, for example.  I was always impressed by how well silver coins held up in the cold fresh water lakes of the north.  And coins buried in the acidic soil around mangroves, on the contrary, corroded very rapidly.  Nearby items can also accelerate corrosion or protect an item from corrosion.

Buried items can become encrusted.  At the top of this post is an imprint of an winged liberty head.  The imprint is in a clay coating that encased a mercury dime that I once dug up.  After finding the coin, I took it home and placed it in Muriatic acid to clean it.  The Muriatic acid appeared to have absolutely no effect at all on the crust or coin.  I tried a stronger solution and left it longer, but the crust was completely resistant to the acid and completely protected the coin no matter how long I left it in the acid.

The imprint you see at the top of this post is on the inside surface of the crust that was removed from one side of the dime.  The other side of the dime and the edges were completely coated too.

Outside Surface of the Crust Removed From The Same Dime.

When the crust was removed, other than discoloration, the Mercury dime was still in great condition and looked very much like it probably looked when it was lost.  The protective crust protected the dime very well until the crust was manually removed.

Here is another example.  I've used this example before.  It really shows how an item can be protected by a crust.

Here is how one side looked when it was dug (below).  It actually wasn't so much dug as scooped up from the rushing water that was bouncing off an eroding cut.

Heavily Encrusted Side of Half Reale.

That shell/sand crust was very hard and strongly attached to the surface of the coin.  I couldn't budge it mechanically without doing damage to the coin.  Muriatic acid did the job though.

Here is the extremely well preserved surface that was revealed when the crust was removed.

Surface of the Cleaned Coin That Was Protected by the Crust.

The details on the side that was protected by a crust are unusually nice and sharp.  The other side of the half reale had no protective crust when I picked it up.  Here is the other side, which is not much different than it appeared when it was taken out of the scoop.

Same Reale  

Side That Did Not Have a Protective Crust.

You can see that the edges, which were not covered by the crust are worn and the side that was not covered by the crust is not nearly as clear as the details on the side that was covered. If you go by the amount of wear or corrosion alone, one side looks older than the other.

Time alone does not cause an item to look older or newer.  It depends upon where the item was and what happened to it.  An item lost hundreds of years ago can easily look newer than an item that is actually very new.  How well an item is preserved depends upon the material, the environment, and how the item reacts to the environment.  An item can appear to age either very quickly or not hardly at all.  You can not judge the age of an item with any precision from the amount of wear or corrosion, even though that is what we usually tend to do.

Today I gave two examples of items that were protected to some extent by protective encrustation.  In the future, I plan to present other examples illustrating other things that can radically affect the apparent age of a beach find.

Items that are hundreds of years old can look days old and other items can deteriorate very rapidly, making them look much older than they are.

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Yesterday I showed a Facebook photo of a find by a Tom J. who was visiting the Treasure Coast and found what looked like a reale.  Although the photo was not real clear, I thought I could see a raised edge on the object that made it look incorrect.   I didn't have the entire text of the Facebook page yesterday, but DJ sent me the rest of the text, so I'll present that now.

So the bottom line is that Tom J.'s find is a fake treasure coin.  Don't you wonder how they end up on the beach?  I think some are souvenirs that are lost just like many of the other things we find.  I think others might be put out to entertain children who want to play pirate.  And perhaps others are meant to fool someone.

Thanks to DJ.

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Looks like we'll get another bump in the surf - but only for one day.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

Too bad the wind will be mostly east/southeast.

I'll be talking more about corrosion on coins, Kang Hsi shards, Aztec gold and a variety of other topics that I've already started.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

2/20/19 Report - Current Beach Renourishment on Treasure Coast. Encrusted Object for ID. Southeast Winds.

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

McLarty Museum Observation Deck Looking South.

Photo by Dale J.

Thanks Dale!

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I'm ashamed.  I often mention how difficult it is to identify an item from a photo, and then I go and post two sides of an object without any indication of depth or the contour.  That is what I did yesterday, so I hope to correct the situation today with some additional views of the object I showed yesterday.  

Edge

Angled View

The metal has dissolved and the encrustation appears hollow.  The diameter of the round part is about seven inches and the edge or rim is barely over an inch.  One can assume that the object was somewhat smaller than the encrustation.

As you go from the outside of the round area towards the middle, it first become more thin and then bulges out in the middle.

Angled View of Other Side

And below are the same photos that were shown larger yesterday.

Thanks to those of you who already gave me your opinions without really having a fair shot at it.  I hope the new photos help.  I'm still looking for any and all ideas.

I have one idea, but I'd like to hear what others have to say first.

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Last night I ran across a metal detecting TV show that was produced in 2013.  I think I might have watched it before, but I barely remembered any of it.  The name is Dig Wars and it was on the Destinations network.

Three or four pairs of  detectorist formed teams and hunted various historic locations.  At the end of the day, they had finds appraised to see which pair of detectorists had the highest total.  I think I remember seeing it years ago.  They seemed to find old and interesting items going back centuries most of the places they hunted, even though they only hunted each site one day and didn't turn the site upside down with heavy equipment -  just detectors and some small holes that were filled, or course.

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We have a fairly strong southeast wind today.  I wouldn't be surprised if some spot opens up.  There is one in particular that might be expected to improve under these conditions.

The surf should be a little higher tonight and we are having some good high tides.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

2/19/19 Report - Treasure Coast Mystery Find For ID. Telegraph Lines, Insulators and Gaffs Back To The Civil War.

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

Here is an object I found a while ago but never really looked into very much.  The round part is about seven inches in diameter.  It is totally encrusted.  In fact I think the metal has completely dissolved. 

What do you think it is?  I have one idea but would like your thoughts and opinions.

Thanks in advance.

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Civil War Photo Showing Telegraph Lines Being Cut.
Source: See unitedstatesmilitarytelegraph link below.

This photo  is titled,"Cutting telegraph wire and connecting the ends so that the point at which the connection is broken cannot be seen from the ground."

It is in the Civil War section of the photo gallery of the site reached through the following link.  

http://www.unitedstatesmilitarytelegraph.org/insulators/insulators.html

When I started talking about insulators yesterday, I wasn't thinking of telegraph wires until I read about the Brookfield insulators.  As often happens with treasure hunting, one thing leads to another. 

Joe D. and Alberto S. pointed me to an excellent web site on insulators that bear the five-pointed star mark like the one I asked about yesterday.  It seems those insulators are likely to remain a mystery.  Here is what Alberto said.

I looked around and found information related to star insulators and it begins with the following:  "Discussing star-embossed glass insulators is similar to discussing the Loch Ness monster. Everyone has a theory or a belief but records are virtually non-existent. Why they were made, when, where and by who remains open to investigation. Following is some of the accepted information."  Here is the link for that website: 

 http://natsulators.com/misc/stars.php             

Thanks Joe and Alberto!  That does seem to be the top web site on the "star" insulators.

The mystery is part of the fun of treasure hunting, and some mysteries are not going to be  easily solved.

I can always count on my readers to help me out.  Thanks agian.

Also concerning yesterday's post, Sebastian Steve said, A very pretty and appealing collection.  I had a dozen or so as a kid, but you know how that goes.  They were often just laying at the base of the old poles, at least out in the countryside of Wisconsin.  I remember some of them being extremely difficult to spin off the hardwood mounts.  Some you had to chisel the wood out.  And of course if you lost patience during this step....crack.  They sure are pretty in the light....the varied smooth flowing shapes almost infer a type of industrial art work.

I like them too.  I generally like glass.  I like bottles too.  But besides being nice looking, there is also the history involved and even occasionally some economic value.

It appears that some people who collect insulators look along abandoned railroad tracks for the old telegraph insulators.

And back to the photo at the top of the post: The fellow on the pole is wearing gaffs.  It so happens that gaffs played a large roll in paying for my up-bringing.

Here are my father's climbing gaffs.  They look very much like the ones worn by the fellow in the Civil War photo at the top of this post.  It looks they didn't change much in a hundred years.

Pole Climbing Gaffs

I knew that gaffs were used before bucket trucks, but didn't know how far back they go.

If you were a lineman for the electric company, you strapped on these, along with your tool belt holding about 60 pounds of tools, and rubber gloves most of the way up your arm, which on hot days collected sweat that poured out onto your face when you raised your arms.  But that was nothing compared to going up a pole in a thunder storm or ice and snow.

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We're supposed to have a three to five foot surf tomorrow.  The tides are big right now.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

11/25/18 Report - Some Ideas About Coin Caches. What Are Your Dug Coins Trying To Tell You?

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

Coin Found Friday.

Did you ever notice that most coin caches are found by accident? Very few coin caches are found as a result of a hunt for that specific cache.  You can prove that for yourself by doing a little research.  If you do a Google search, you'll find that most caches are discovered purely by accident.  Gardening accounts for a few. Some have been dug up by dogs or other animals.  Some have been found by spelunkers.  Very often someone is just searching a field or conducting an archaeological dig when they discover a cache.

A cache of gold, dollars and euros found in a garden outside of Gaddafi's stronghold.  

A cache is typically described in terms of the quantity of coins, dates, denomination and types of coin.  The earliest and most recent dated coins and distribution of dates is often significant.

The container is also significant.  It seems a good number of caches are buried in canning jars, others in metal or ceramic containers and many in bags of some type.  Cloth containers often deteriorate and disappear.  Most often they are not buried deep - at least not those that are discovered.

As with any find, it can be difficult to learn much from a cache if without information about the context.  Archaeological context  refers to the place where an artifact is found, including the soil, the site type, the layer the artifact came from, what else is found in that layer or area, including remnants of buildings and things.

I've talked before about how dates on coins can be misleading. I won't go over that again now.

I saw a new episode of the Oak Island TV show the other day.  I had pretty much lost interest, but was encouraged by the Seismic Scanning Survey.  Up until that time their search had been, with the exception of the sample holes, unfocused and disorganized.  The sample drill holes from last season and the seismic survey of this season are the two most reasonable things they've done.

As a scientist, I like to see defined goals and theories that give rise to hypotheses that can be tested.  I prefer a thorough systematic approach.  After a while, running around in circles and making wild claims about miscellaneous isolated surface finds deposited over the history of the island is at first comical but eventually becomes tiring.

 Hopefully the seismic scan will keep them focused.  I know they have to get enough video for a season of TV, and the miscellaneous surface finds do that, but the surface finds are misdirected energy and don't do much to answer the big question of what, if anything, is buried in the shafts or vault.

I'm not talking about a leisurely metal detecting outing here.  If you just want a leisurely hunt and there is no big question or puzzle to be solved, you can go about it any way you want, but when you have a specific targeted cache or treasure, a lot of research and a more scientific approach is wise.  Old maps that show the island in centuries past could be very helpful.

A few targeted caches have been found as the result of good thorough research.  Ron Pastore has reportedly found some of the smaller Jesse James caches, even though the big James cache has not yet been found.  Some criticize Pastore's book, Jesse James' Secret, which they claim is full of mistakes, but Pastore has appeared on the History Channel's documentary, Jesse James' Hidden Treasure ,and was also discussed at some length in Jack Myers' book Knights' Gold.

Here is an interesting web site presenting Pastore's materials on the James treasure.

 http://jessejamesphotoalbum.com/the-rj-pastore-collection/

When a random coin cache is found, it can be difficult to figure out where it came from and why it was buried.

Here is a brief excerpt about a Nazi cache find.

An amateur archaeologist in Germany has found a historic collection of gold coins worth around 45,000 euros, probably buried during the Nazi era or shortly after World War Two, experts said on Wednesday.

Armed with a metal detector, Florian Bautsch found 10 coins in a hollow under a tree near the northern town of Lueneburg and professionals then excavated another 207.

They are of French, Belgian, Italian and Austro-Hungarian origin and date from 1831 to 1910.

Two aluminum seals featuring swastika crosses, eagles and the words "Reichsbank Berlin 244" were also discovered under the field with the coins. Germany's central bank was called "Deutsche Reichsbank" during the Nazi era and an analysis of the metal in the seals suggests they were made some time after 1940.

"This was all found under a pine tree that is around 50 years old ... and that must have grown afterwards ... so we know it must have been buried in the last days of the war or shortly afterwards," Mario Pahlow, a local archaeologist, told Reuters...

And here is the link for more about that one.

https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Nazi-gold-cache-buried-at-end-of-war-or-after-found-in-Germany-409096

You might want to take a look at that one.  It provides some good hints and tips.

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Dime Found Friday.

The past couple days I went out to see what was going on at the beach.  On Friday I did a few minutes of detecting at a couple beaches.  At the first beach I found the dime shown above.  It was discolored but otherwise looked in pretty good shape.  Just a clad find.  I was surprised by the date when I got it home and took a look.  Only one year off being silver.  It looked pretty much like the other coins that I was getting at that particular beach.  Nothing real old.

I then moved to a beach that had been renourished probably about a year ago.  The coins there looked different.  You can see one of those at the very top of this post.  It is a heavily encrusted and worn quarter.  It had more crust on it when I dug it up.  I just brushed some of the crust off, but still can not see a date.

As you can see beside being encrusted it is heavily worn.

Closer Look At Edge of Same Quarter Shown Above.

You can see how worn the edge is.  You might think it has been out there a while.  It sure looks like it.

Here is another coin found at the second beach.  I found it after the quarter.

Penny Found At Same Beach As the Quarter.

The penny is also encrusted with similar color shell bits, but the discoloring and encrustation is not as complete as on the quarter.

Also unlike the quarter, you can see that the lettering on this coin is still sharp.  It must have been lost nearly new.  The penny, however, is at least as recent as 2008.  I can't make out the third digit at this time.  So even though it is encrusted fairly heavily, it has not been out there a very long time.

These shield cents deteriorate in regular circulation, but this one has held up well even though it is encrusted.  It doesn't look like it took long to become encrusted.

While I can't say for sure, it looks like the encrusted coins from the second beach might have been dumped with the renourishment sand.  I'll have a better idea of that when I clean the penny enough to see the remaining digit of the date.

My point here is that you can sometimes get some useful information from the condition of the coins you find.

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The Treasure Coast surf is supposed to be around two to four feet today.  

The wind continues out of the west and the tides remain high 


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net