5/18/19 Report - Exciting Treasure Found in Jensen Backyard. Beautiful Artifacts of the Atomic Age. Alchemy of Treasure Hunting.

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

Cannon Ball and Oyster Shells Found In A Backyard On A Jensen Ridge.
Find and photo by K. K.

I received the following email yesterday, along with some photos. Happy Friday, a few weeks ago we were doing some renovations to our backyard in Jensen beach and under neath an old line of bushes we found all kinds of fun treasures from the Ais Indians, which isn’t uncommon.... We routinely find mounds of discarded oysters, small pottery shards and all kinds of later years fun types of glasses. Well this day we came across a large oyster bed and a second section where they had been shaped into different shapes and what looked like a huge heavy ball of some sort.  We called around and finally a lady from the local museum at Gilbert’s House of refuge came over and said it in fact looked like a very old maybe 16th century Spanish iron cannon ball to her and it looks like we may have a bit of a mound in our backyard a place where the Ais Indian, would have a outpost for fishing and hunting trips and later on a place to be on the look out for the British or Spanish and their Indian collaborators who routinely traveled the area... I guess it’s still crazy a 450 year old cannonball was in my yard unsound until now! (My family has been in this house since 1979) I attached some pics for you to take a look at.

Exciting finds!  Thanks for sharing K. K.

While our beaches have been heavily detected, most of the inland areas have not.  There is a lot to find out there.

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Beautiful Beach Artifacts From a Horrendous Event.

Source: See Atlasobscura.com link below.

Wannier had been studying beach debris from different areas in order to compare the health of different marine ecosystems, when some particles from the Motoujina Peninsula struck him as unusual. Next to particles generated by plants or animals, these were “aerodynamic, glassy, rounded”—they reminded him of what he had seen in sediment samples from the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary, the geological marker of the mass extinction that erased the dinosaurs around 66 million years ago. 

But these particles from the Motoujina Peninsula were also notably different in several ways from the K-Pg particles: Some were rubbery, others had multi-layered glass shells. The variety reflected the wide range of materials present in the particles, identified under electron microscope at the University of California, Berkeley. X-ray experiments were also conducted at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, which proved useful in analyzing the formation of the debris.* The range of materials is just one indication that the particles formed as a result of the Hiroshima bombing. An urban center presents a wider variety of materials—such as concrete, marble, stainless steel, and rubber—than a desert test site like Trinity, in New Mexico, where the first-ever nuclear explosion was tested. The resulting particles from that test, called trinitites, are notably less diverse in their composition than what Wannier and his colleagues are now calling “Hiroshimaites.” The presence of anorthite and mullite crystals in the particles, meanwhile, suggested that they had formed in temperatures hotter than 3,300 degrees Fahrenheit, or 1,800 degrees Celsius...
Here is the link for the rest of the article.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/found-glass-fallout-from-hiroshima


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I lost interest in the Discovery Channel's Gold Rush TV show years ago, however I caught a few episodes of Gold Rush: Parker's Trail last night and was glad I did.

Unlike the History Channel's three "Curse" treasure shows, the Parker's Trail episodes, filmed in New Guinea, illuminated the human condition.

The alchemy of treasure hunting is the transformation and purification of the hunter.  That was made clear as Parker and his crew shared blood, sweat and tears with the native populations and were refined in the process.  Meaningful and worthwhile TV!

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The tides are big now, but the surf remains around two-feet.  The wind is mostly from the south.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

9/7/18 Report - Cache of 19th Century Coins Found. Florence Coming Closer Followed by Others.

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

Source: See CBC link below.

... The latest historical find was unearthed last week, as crews were building a new recreational trail. The workers stumbled upon a stack of 23 old Canadian and American coins, buried about 30 centimetres below ground.

They're all from the 19th century, and the oldest is dated 1864.

"These are coins that would have been in common circulation during the [Klondike] Gold Rush," said Christian Thomas, special projects archeologist from the Yukon government...

Here is the link for the rest of that article.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/dawson-city-old-coins-1.4811814

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Source: nhc.noaa.gov

It looks like there will be a lot of storms headed this way.  Maybe they'll veer off or maybe one or two will hit us.

Florence.
Source: nhc.noaa.gov

It looks like Florence might come closer than was originally expected.

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

There are two other systems right behind Florence.

Predicted Wind Speed Map for Sept. 12.
Source: ventusky.com.

The wind predicted wind speed map for Sept. 12 looks like a Van Gogh painting.  It is looking like Florence might be headed towards North Carolina.

Source: Pinterest

The MagicSeaWeed surf prediction is for waves of seven to eleven feet on Wednesday.  Until then it will be around three to five feet from Sunday until then.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

It looks like the tides will be pretty good then too.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/6/18 Report - Studying Modern Coins to Better Understand Cobs. The Gold Rush of Georgia.

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

U. S. Penny Showing Distortion From Die Deterioration.

Yesterday I posted a picture of a half reale.  I chose that particular half reale because it is one of the better examples I have.  The cob is relatively complete and the surface in good condition.  I think you can see where the die was recut and where the die bounced, along with some other nice features that occurred with the die strike.  If a cob is too badly corroded you can't see all of that.  You can learn about some of those things by studying modern coins.  While modern coins are machine made, a planchet is still struck by a die and so there are some similarities.

Above you see distorted letters on a U. S. penny.  Although it can be difficult at times to tell the difference between damage that is done to a coin after it leaves the mint and distortions that occur when the coin is made, these distorted letters were made by using a die that was worn out.

Here is a dime showing distortion due to die deterioration.

U. S Die Showing Die Deterioration.

Notice the spread letters and also the lines flowing out towards the edge of the coin.  You might think this is corrosion or damage, but the lines show the worn condition of the die when the coin was made.

On the cob shown yesterday, I showed an area where I thought I could see where the die bounced and created a doubled image.  Here is an example of the same type of thing on a 1922 silver dollar.

Machine Doubling on 1922 Silver Dollar.

If you look closely at the numbers in the date, you'll see a doubled image.  That is not a doubled die error.  It is the result of what I would call die bounce.  It is not the kind of thing that results in valuable coins.  This kind of doubling is common.

As I was saying yesterday, when you look at a cob or coin, you will see the features carved on the die in negative.

2016 U. S. Nickel Showing Die Chips.

Although modern die are much better, they work about the same way.  They wear out, crack and break.  Small breaks in a die leaves chips on a coin.  I'm sure the same thing happened with the old iron Spanish colonial die.

The above picture shows three die chips on a 2016 nickel.  Die chips are common and do not generally increase the value of a coin.

A chip is a small break.  A break larger than 4 square millimeters is more significant.  That would more often be referred to as a die break rather than a die chip.

My point today is that if you study modern coins, some of the things you learn will help you better study and appreciate the cobs that you find.  It can also make modern coin finds more interesting and perhaps help you find a valuable coin.

I just began to studying modern coins more closely a few months ago and am finding it much more complicated than I expected but also very interesting.  I'm still very much a novice on modern coin errors and varieties.

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Here is an excerpt from a pdf document entitled Origens of the North Georgia Gold Rush by H. David Williams.

That is the most widely repeated story of the discovery of gold in Georgia.  As with most treasure tales, there are questions remaining.  Treasure finds are often not made public, and when they are you still have to wonder how much is true.  Treasure hunters don't always want the world to know the location of their discovery, and they either don't tell, or if they do tell, don't tell it all the way it was.  And there is always the chance that some of the story gets lost or distorted in the retelling.

This article covers other possible earlier discoveries and more of the story.  Here is another brief excerpt.

Sorry the edge curls down, but that is the way it copied.  It is a interesting article that you will probably want to read.

Here is the link.

https://archives.columbusstate.edu/gah/1988/161-168.pdf

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Nothing new in the Atlantic and nothing new with beach conditions.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

6/4/18 Report - Coin Everyone Thought Fake Actually Worth Millions. Barber Quarter. Food Bottle.

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

Everybody including the owner thought this coin from the California Gold Rush was a fake, but it turned out to be only the fourth known of its kind in existence and is worth millions.

A coin that a New England man originally thought was a counterfeit has been authenticated by Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (www.NGCcoin.com) as only the fourth known 1854-S Liberty Head Half Eagle...

The phrase, Discovery of a Lifetime, was noted on NGC’s certification label when it graded and encapsulated this previously unreported 1854-S $5 as NGC XF 45.

Here is that link.

https://www.ngccoin.com/news/article/6557/discovery-of-a-lifetime-1854-s-five-dollar/

And a lenghtier article.

https://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/everyone-thought-this-coin-from-the-california-gold-rus-1825498372

I originally saw the article on the paleofuture site but wasn't sure how trustworthy was so I found confirmation with the NGC article.

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Heavily Worn Barber Quarter of Unknown Date.

Other Side of Same Barber Quarter.

I found some very heavily worn silver coins that I've been showing lately.  This Barber Quarter has a melt value of about $3.

This one is about as worn as the Seated Liberty dime that I showed a couple days ago.

Barber quarters were made from 1892 to 1916.

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A "treasure trove" of Pictish artefacts has been discovered in the remains of an ancient fort on the Moray coast...

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-44303606

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Big Bottle Find.

This bottle is a full 14 inches tall and reads Capacity 64 ounces.

The bottom reads PATENTED FEB. 26, 1889.

Bottom of the Same Bottle.

I found this a few days ago.  It seems to be what they would call a food bottle.  I don't know what it held.

You can see a couple bubbles in the bottom.

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Its hot now.  I would guess that the salvage boats are getting out now.

More west wind and calm surf is expected on the Treasure Coast.

Happy huning,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

5/11/17 Report - TV Show Poll Results and More. Space Treasure and Collectibles. Custom Made Cobs.

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

The poll has concluded and the results are in.  I think the poll could have been constructed better, but it worked.  One person said I should have had a "none of the above" answer.  That is a good idea.  Maybe I should have done that.  There were other possibilities as well.

The sample size was good.  Over fifty people responded.

Here are the poll results on the perceived "realness" or "trustworthiness" of each of the four TV shows.

Bearing Sea Gold	20 (38%)
Cooper's Treasure	3 (5%)
Curse of Oak Island	9 (17%)
Gold Rush	20 (38%)

The amazing thing to me is how precisely the results matched my own feelings.   The poll respondents put the shows in exactly the same order that I would, and the relative number of votes for each show reflected how I felt about the shows.

Bering Sea Gold and Gold Rush were selected as being the most real or trustworthy by the same number of people, and both of those shows received more than twice the number of votes received by either of the other shows.

I also had a hard time deciding which of those two I trusted most.  It was a toss up.  I like Bering Sea gold better, but that has nothing to do my feeling about it being more real.

Coming in third was the Curse of Oak Island show.  That is where I would put it too. I think it is an interesting, even with all of its short-comings.  I can watch it, even with all of the dramatization and baiting.

And dead last in trustworthiness according to the poll results was the Cooper's Treasure show, which, as I think I said before, almost makes me feel like I need to take a shower after watching a few minutes.

It seems that there are a lot of people that feel the same.  That was my feeling from the first few minutes, and I wondered if everybody else felt that way.  Evidently many did.

For me the meeting between Darrell Miklos and Gene Kranz said it all.  Darrell had obviously misled Gene about the purpose or topic of the meeting in order to arrange a meeting, and then tried to get Gene to say something about the topic of treasure. Gene didn't appreciate being misled and put an abrubt end to the meeting and walked off.

Below is a link to an article on the Cooper's Treasure program by Variety, an entertainment publication, and even they address what I would call ethics issues.  That article starts with the following.

The poorly kept secret of unscripted TV is that it is, in general, rather scripted. Ari Mark and Phil Lott, co-founders of production company AMPLE, are looking to affix that “un-” back where it belongs.

“Our generation, you’re at a point where you want to believe in things,” Mark tells Variety. “Everything in your life is fake, and especially in our genre.”

Here is that link.

http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/coopers-treasure-discovery-ample-darrell-miklos-1202011043/

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I've made several references to space lately, ranging from meteorites to rocket parts.  Occasionally people discover what appear to be melted metal from Shuttle launches on the Treasure Coast.  I've written about that, provided tips on how to test that metal to distinguish it from melted aluminum and reported on some people who talked to NASA to verify that their finds were related to space shots.

On May 7 it was reported that  The U.S. Air Force's secretive X-37B mini-space plane has landed after a record 718 days in Earth orbit, touching down for the first time on the Florida runway historically used by NASA's space shuttles.

I've said before that someday people will be salvaging space vehicles and debris similar to how shipwrecks are salvaged now.  In fact there is a space vehicle that orbits while collecting space junk to turn into fuel that it can use.  Interesting idea.

I recently heard it said (I think it was on TED) that if you want a new idea, read an old book.  I agree with that, but there are other ways to get new ideas too.  Creativity is stimulated by reading broadly.

Here is the link if you want to read the article about the vehicle that vacuums up space junk to use as fuel.

http://www.popsci.com/design-concept-space-vacuum-thats-fueled-by-space-junk

Continuing on the subject of space, there is a good web site that offers a wide variety of "space collectibles."  Here is the link.

http://www.collectspace.com/

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Did you know that there is a company that will manufacture cobs that are hand struck from die that are  custom made?  They hand strike them on planchets.  You can send them the silver after I investigate it more.

I'll have more on that in the future.

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We're supposed to have a couple weeks of one or two foot surf on the Treasure Coast.  No change in beach conditions expected.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

2/26/14 Report - Ten Million Dollar Gold Coin Cache Found and The Amazing Success of the Portable Antiquities Scheme

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

Mint Condition Gold Rush Era Gold Coins in Container.
AP Photo:see links for more photos. 

Approximately 10 million dollars in Gold Rush era gold coins were found by a couple walking a dog.  The mint coins were buried in metal containers under a tree on the couple's property.


The amazing cache is now being called the Saddle Ridge Hoard.


Below are some of the links to that story.


Thanks to those who submitted the following links.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/02/25/california-gold-coins-buried-treasure/5817179/

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-wiltshire-25038001

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/02/25/california-couple-finds-10-million-in-rare-coins-while-out-walking-dog/

I don't post news about discoveries like this simply so you will be up on the news.  The reason I post them is because there is always a tip or lesson to take away.

In this case, note that the couple had been at this location many times.  It was on their own property.  And one container was brought into view when it was uncovered by recent erosion.  Each of those things provides a lesson, or at least a good reminder.

I've talked many times about detecting your own property, keeping your eyes open, inspecting any new erosion, etc.

Imagine a hoard like that.  If you didn't visually spot it first but rather detected it, imagine what the signal might have been like.  Were the containers iron?  Would you have dug it or passed it up?

If you saw a small part of the containers sticking out of the ground, would you have investigated it or ignored it?

This find was made about a year ago but is just going public before the coins are sold on Amazon.com.


Treasure is in the air, or should I say in the media.   Mike F. from NJ sent me the link to this great article from the BBC News.  Thanks Mike.

The article says, ... Amateur archaeologists with metal detectors found 990 items classified as treasure during 2012, according to figures from the British Museum.

All of the rare coins, rings and brooches contain gold or silver, and many date back more than 1,200 years.

The public reported more than 74,000 other historical items to the Portable Antiquities Scheme, which experts say has "revolutionised archaeology".

More than 900,000 objects have been reported since it started in 1997.

The verification process takes several months, which is why the items submitted in 2012 are only being detailed now...

That's what can happen when the archaeological community works with the public.  They say it has "revolutionized archaeology."  Yet in the US we have nothing remotely similar.

Here is the link Mike sent.

www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-25748576

Thanks again Mike.


I have a lot more to post today but got a very late start and am going to have to continue with these and other topics some other time.

It seems a lot of people are reading the previous post on groins and honey holes and want more.   I'll have to continue that some other time too.


That is all for now.
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/19/13 Report - More on the Susanna Settlement and Finds, Gold Fever & More

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

14K and Gem Treasure Coast Find

First here is a gold ring beach find.  Looks like maybe a garnet.  You can always pick up some recent drops even when detecting conditions are not very good.


Back a few days ago I showed a photo of the remains an 1844 coquina fire place  I talked about the St. Lucie County settlement known as Susanna.  Kenneth H., a long time resident, has hunted the area a lot and provided some fascinating information.

I asked if I could post this information and he gave me permission.  Here is part of his email to me.

Saw your post regarding the above subject with he Coquina fireplace. I have hunted this area for over 40 years, finding relics and bottles and such. One homeowner found a few case gins on his property but would not allow me to search. So, I received permission to hunt the property next door finding bottles dating back to the 1890's, lying under trees on top of the ground--although not as old as his. When I took club members to one of the dozed farms in the early 80's (now developed), one of the members found a single shot cap and ball pistol that dated between 1860-1880. Also, I have found bottles dating back to the 1840's.

Ironically, in the mid-80's one property owner wanted me to dig into an Indian mound on his property just out of curiosity. I explained to him the importance of respecting possible burial sites; and to protect and preserve them--and convinced him to never do such. On another property, but back in the woods, I found the frame of a Model -A. I used to hike the tracks, with detector, shovel and backpack sifter from Ancona and to the north, finding interesting, undeveloped properties; and never seeing anyone except when I crossed the east-west roads such as Midway. Wildlife was hawks; squirrels; foxes and an occasional rattlesnake.

Kenneth really knows his local history and detecting.  Thanks much for allowing me to share that Kenneth.  

There are rattlesnakes around here so be careful when tromping around off the beaten track.


The above note from Kenneth reminded me of the percussion caps that I've found on one Treasure Coast beach in good numbers. I did a little research and found that percussion caps were common from about 1840 - 1860.  That fits well with the period of the settlement of Susanna, although it is obviously not in what would be part of the settlement of Susanna.  It gives an idea of a possible date for activity at that particular beach.

I posted a photo of a corroded percussion cap back in an 4/15/13 post.  I thought I posted some better photos than that.  Maybe I'll have to take some better photos.


Last night my wife and I watched Gold Fever, the second part of a two part mini-series on the California Gold Rush.   During the first episode about the Gold Rush that we saw last Friday evening, she kept saying isn't that interesting.  I was surprised by how interested she was in that show.  She often has no interest in the things that I watch.

The show was interesting.  It told the real story.  It told about people - people who made fortunes, people who crossed the country in wagons taking a big chance on changing their lives, people who failed, people who went home broke, and even one who shot himself in the head standing almost directly on top of a 150 pound gold nugget discovered by his discouraged buddy while digging a grave.

What if your history or geography teacher in school showed that video?  Would you have found it more interesting than the history you studied?  Would you have learned more?  Would you have been inspired?

Education could be so much better.  It is a shame.  And I'm not blaming teachers.  They have to do what they can with what they have.  But we do have an opportunity to radically change education for the better.  There are excellent materials these days that can be brought to the classroom.

There is little reason that it can't be done except for the bureaucracy, from the Department of Education, all the way down to the lonely teacher in his or her classroom.

The TV program told the story.  It told about real people.  It showed them in full color, each with their own story.  There was Sam Brannon who built an huge empire and then lost it all.  You could see how greed destroyed him even while he built his empire.  There was scarcely a field of study that you couldn't learn something about while watching the program.  Besides history and geography, you could learn something about psychology, chemistry, geology, business and even politics.

It relates to us today too.  We aren't doing anything nearly as challenging, but when people detect, there are different motives.  Some have Sam Brannon's greed.  Some are saying look at me.  Some are doing it for whatever money they can make.   Some want to discover, make connections, learn and touch history.  It is different for different people.

Steel Penny Sticking to a Magnet

You can use a magnet to help identify different metals.  As I said the other day, a steel penny will stick to a magnet and a copper penny won't.

A good magnet can also be helpful in picking up small iron in junky environments.


There are no weather systems to watch right now.  Hurricane season was a real flop, especially when you consider they were predicting a very active season.


We still have the 2 - 3 foot surf, that will be decreasing a little, but then next weekend they are still predicting a 4 - 6 surf.  If that turns out to be what happens, it could be enough to improve beach conditions.

There is a nice full moon, and we're still having high high tides and high low tides.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net