4/18/20 - Mystery Find. Diggin Dog. All-Time Engaging Posts From Blog History.

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

Small Heart Pendant Find.

I got around to look at some old finds again.  Some I never figured out.  Here is one of those.  It is a small heart pendant photographed on top of a US quarter.

Both sides have a metal mesh that is puffed out some and the frame appears to be made of two halves that were once shut at the tip.  Below gives a side view (left) and shows a closeup of the tip.  It looks to me like the tip was at one time soldered shut.

You can see how the mesh sides puff out so there would be room for something to be enclosed inside.  The tip looks like it was connected.  There are no hinges, but I sprang it open to see if I could see if anything was in it.  I didn't see anything.

I'm wondering what you think.  Was it made to contain something?  If so, what might it be?

I would like to hear what you think.  Any and all ideas appreciated.

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People are not the only ones making finds.  Susan E. sent a photo of a wheatie recently unearthed in her yard by the dog.  He often unearths shards and things, but this time he got a coin.

Find Made by Diggin Dog.

Photo by Susan E.

I usually check anywhere animals have dug, including mounds created by gopher tortoise.

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South Carolina will announce the opening of public beaches and stores next week.  Social distancing, will still be enforced on the beaches.

Jacksonville's governor seemed to be happy with the results of his beach opening, even though there were those who protested.

Of course, as with anything these days, some people don't like it.

No one would dare repeat Roosevelt's quote, "We have nothing to fear but fear itself," these days.

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Do you know what topic addressed in this blog resulted in the most active and positive response?  I received literally hundreds of emails in response to a post about a State of Florida bill that was thought to threaten beach access.  I received tons of emails about that.  There was almost unanimous consent among the detecting community and people were eager to add their names to a petition to prevent beach access being restricted.

Do you remember when a federal judge ordered Odyssey Marine to turn over $500 million worth of Spanish coins salvaged from a wreck to the Spanish government?

If not see  https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-spain-shipwreck-idUSLNE81J01C20120220

Did you ever read about the battles between the Fishers and the government and between the State of Florida and the Federal government to determine who owns certain wrecks?

See https://people.com/archive/mel-fisher-finds-millions-under-the-sea-and-the-courts-now-say-its-all-his-vol-9-no-19/

Do you remember when St. Lucie decided to prohibit metal detecting in their parks?  That also resulted in a petition and numerous emails.

How about the topic of beach renourishment?  That has been a popular topic in this blog.

The rift between treasure hunters and archaeology has been a common topic.  I believe it has been an important topic that has seen some improvement in recent years.

Or who owns the salvage rights, and how are finds distributed with the State of Florida.?

Or maybe you were detecting or swimming in front of a big resort or beach club and were told you couldn't do that.  I've addressed that topic too.

People wonder when the storms come, why beach accesses are closed without any apparently justifiable reason.

Our tax dollars are continually dumped onto the beaches in the form of sand that won't last.  We've discussed that.

I could go on, but my point is simple and undeniable: you can't separate politics from metal detecting or treasure hunting.   The are intertwined.   Metal detecting and treasure hunting could be banned.  It has already been panned in some places, and there are those, such as some archaeologists, who would like to see it banned.  And it could be if you aren't interested, informed, active and involved.

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I understand DeSantis has give municipalities the right to open additional beaches.  I would expect additional beaches to open soon, but we'll see.

They really did build that wall.  It is a wall of gates, barricades, and yellow tape that walls off hundreds of miles of beaches.

The surf is only around 3 or 4 feet now.

Happy Trails to You.
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/26/19 Report - High Tides and Treasure Coast Beaches. Copper Heart Find. Continuing Surf.

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

John Brooks Beach Wednesday.

I took a quick look at the beach Wednesday.  The water had been up high and the four-foot cuts that were at John Brooks a day or two ago were gone.

Below is another view of John Brooks beach as it looked Wednesday near noon.

John Brooks Beach Wednesday.

Frederick Douglass beach had been smoothed out too.

Frederick Douglass Beach Wednesday.

Frederick Douglass wasn't much different.  In the photo below, there was one detectorist down around the bend. 

Frederick Douglass Beach Wednesday.

Pelicans Over Frederick Douglass Beach Wednesday.

I noticed a lot of pelicans flying south yesterday.  I don't know what that means, if anything, but I haven't been seeing many pelicans in recent years until Wednesday.

Pelicans are great wind surfers.  Wish I could do that.

Fort Pierce South Jetty Wednesday.

Almost all of the most recent renourishment sand has disappeared at Fort Pierce South Jetty Park.  You know what that means.  It won't be long before they start dumping sand again.

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I found a copper puffed heart a few days ago.  I forget which day now, but I had some years ago found one just like it and also a silver one with the same kind of wire connectors shown in the photo below from Deagan's book.

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Ornamental Glass Heart Jewelry Shown in Deagan's Book,

Artifacts of the Spanish Colonies of Florida and the Caribbean.  P. 129.

Below are two photos of the copper one that I found about a week or two ago.  The photo on the right shows the heart on a Roosevelt dime with the tip up to show the hole on that side.  There is a similar hole on the top of the heart for a wire connector.

Treasure Coast Copper Puffed Heart Beach Find.

The silver one that I found years ago is almost like the copper one shown here.  I think it still has the wire connectors like the ones shown on the Deagan example.

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You know you are old when you go into the store and the Santa ringing the bell looks renarkably young.

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We are having some high tides and some decent surf.

Here are the surf predictions.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/21/19 Report - Cortes Anchor Found. Old Railway Track Explored. A Couple Recent Finds From Treasure Coast.

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

It is not exactly one of those days when a whisper of wind turns into a hollow scream and normal men scurry to their hidey-hole, but at least there is some stirring in the air and surf.  It is better than the slow and steady accumulation of dead sand over the summer.  It wouldn't take much for things to turn good, but it might not do that.

Below are photos of a find made by John B in the Vero area along with a nickel for comparison.   John says the object is slightly larger in diameter than the nickel but thinner.   I assume he hasn't tested the metal yet.  If he did, he didn't mention it.

Find (left) by John B.

Photos by John B.

John was asking for ideas on the object.

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I was talking about small objects that I dug in the past couple days.  Below is another one.

Dug Find on Dime.

Here is a closer look at the other side of the object.

Other Side of Same Object

It is very thin.  When I picked it out of the sand I didn't think it looked metallic to me, in part because it is so thin.  The signal made me expect something bigger.

I think could be the end of a bullet.  Maybe something like the one shown below.

What do you think?

I also found something a little bigger.  It is a heart very much like one found in Kathleen Deagan's book on Spanish Colonial Artifacts.  In fact I found one exactly like it before, and also one of silver.  I thought I had photos of it on my thumb drive, but they weren't there when I got ready to post them.  Maybe I can get that done some other time.

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MEXICO CITY: Archaeologists have discovered two iron ship anchors off Mexico’s Gulf Coast that they say date back 500 years and could have belonged to Spaniard Hernan Cortes’ fleet, which landed in 1519 before overthrowing the Aztec empire...

Cortes famously burnt the first ships he and his crew used to sail to Mexico, forcing his small army of treasure-hunters to march inland...

Two new television series are also stirring new interest in the history, one released last month by TV Azteca called “Hernan,” and another planned to be developed by famed Hollywood director Steven Spielberg entitled “Cortes” that stars Oscar-winner Javier Bardem...

Here is the link for more about that.
https://arynews.tv/en/anchors-mexico-spanish-conquest/

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An extensive archaeological excavation of Scotland's first railway track is planned for next year.

Wooden rails from the 297-year-old Tranent-Cockenzie Waggonway were uncovered in a dig in June this year.

Part of a cobbled horse track for the ponies which pulled the wagons up to coal pits at Tranent in East Lothian was also discovered.

A community project hopes next year excavation might unearth some of the timbers used to lay the railway...

Here is that link.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-50728225


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We still have some good wind and a five to seven foot surf.  The wind, though, is from the east.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

Only a few more detecting days before Christmas.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/8/19 Report - How To Better Analyze Your Finds - XRF Analysis. Waterspouts. Two Types of Treasure.

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

Desktop and Handheld XRF Analyzers.

I get a lot of questions asking about finds.  People want to know what their items are and how old they are.  One thing you might want to find out is the type of metal, and if a precious metal, the purity.

An acid test is one thing you might do to determine the metal and purity.  I've discussed acid tests in this blog in the past.  

There are some problems with acid testing.  For one thing, you have to scrape the item on a touch-stone.  You might not want to do that to something like a coin that could be valuable.

XRF analysis is a more modern method of testing metals.  It is non-destructive and more accurate than an acid test.

Many jewelry stores and pawn shops have an XRF analyzer.  You can get one of the more economical handheld models for not much more than a high end metal detector. 

The picture above shows an XRF desktop model and a hand-held analyzer. That picture and the two pictures below are from ThermoScientific.com.

Here is an example of an XRF analysis of a gold chain.

The analysis of the chain shows that it was made of gold, copper, zinc and silver.

As you probably know, an item like a gold ring will not be made of pure gold.  It will usually contain an alloy - very often copper.  XRF analysis can tell you not only what metals are present but also the percentage of each.

According to Thermo Scientific, Portable XRF analyzers are ideal for the retail environment. Many jewelers and pawn shops are using these instruments to test the purity and composition of precious metals. XRF quickly provides the exact percentages of all elements within an item – easily identifying non-standard, under-karated, and even sophisticated counterfeit precious metals that acid testing is incapable of differentiating...

Here is another example.

This analysis shows that the gold plated replica of an American Buffalo coin contains mostly copper, but also zinc, and a smaller amount of gold.

Click here to go to the Thermo Scientific site to learn more about XRF analysis.

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Huge Waterspout

Source: See Spiritdaily link below.

One of the nice things about being on the beach a lot is some of the sights.

I saw a smaller waterspout hit Fort Lauderdale Beach.

Here is the link for more about waterspouts.

https://spiritdaily.org/blog/news/apocalyptic-water-tornado-speeds-toward-city-leaving-buildings-in-ruins

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Another one of the gang had heart surgery.  This time is was Dan B.

If you don't know about Dan, he was working on the Capitana when one of the greatest finds of Treasure Coast history was made back in 2015.  You can still go back in this blog and see photos of the gold coins, including the Royals that were found.

Pray for Dan.

It teaches you a lot when you go through something like that.  I thought I was going to die back a number of years ago. You can learn a lot during a time like that.  Faith helps.

As I told Dan, It is the storms of life that uncover the biggest treasures.

It was a very spiritual time for me.

Treasure hunting can teach many life lessons.  It is no wonder that "treasure" is mentioned so many times in the Bible and other spiritual books.

For example, Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

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The Treasure Coast surf will be down around two feet for a few days.  There will be a negative low tide.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/28/15 Report - One Reason To Research Finds. Returned Ring Makes TV News. Heart-Shaped Cob Bringing Good Price In Sedwick Auction.

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

Finds and Photo by Robert H.

Here are some finds by Robert H.,  who says you should be sure to research your finds.  An item like the silver ring shown here would scrap for a few dollars, but Robert found that the German-made Hermes ring retails for $910. That makes it worth doing the research.

Watch for collector pieces. Silver itemsmade by certain designers can be valuable. 

Vintage costume jewelry can be worth more than you might think too.






A lot of the time, jewelry found on a beach will not be in good condition, and that can dramatically decrease the value.

Silver Hermes Ring Found By Robert.
Photo by Robert H.

Neat Small Watch Found by Robert.
Photo by Robert H.

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I reported on Warren Dennison finding a lost wedding ring and being able to return it to the owner.
That story appeared on WESH TV.

Here is the link to the video.

http://www.wesh.com/news/woman-reunited-with-lost-wedding-ring-in-indialantic-beach/36064196

A new Florida magazine has also inquired about the story.

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The floor bidding will begin on Thursday for the upcoming Sedwick Coin auction.  The auction features a variety of heart-shaped cobs and royals.

One of the hearts with the lowest listed beginning bid already has online bids of over three time the low starting bid.  Here is the item description.

Lima, Peru, cob 2 reales Royal, 1732N, cut into Heart shape, very rare. S-L21; KM-unl. (cf. R32); CT-unl. 5.28 grams. Choice full pillars and cross in true medallic alignment, rather accurately Heart-shaped but cut that way post-minting (note the low weight), with holes at top and bottom of cross, beautifully toned AXF, interesting pedigree to a small collection of (genuine) Hearts sold together in 1985. Pedigreed to the Coin Galleries (Stack's) auction of July 1985 (lot #1123).

]

Sedwick Coins Auction Lot No. 581.
Source of photo: online auction catalog.

Here is the link to that section of the auction, which you can view online.

http://auction.sedwickcoins.com/Treasure-World-Coin-Floor-Auction-18_a25467?m=all&p=1&ps=50&so=1&q=heart

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Wednesday the Treasure Coast will get a south wind and have something like a 2 - 4 foot surf.

Some beaches will probably be filling back in.

Your participation in the poll is appreciated.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

2/26/11 Report - Heart Cobs, Sedwick Auction & 1715 Fleet Cobs

8 Reale Heart Cob.

Have you been watching Gold Rush Alaska on the Discovery channel? Some of you might think that mining gold in Alaska has nothing to do with metal detecting on the Treasure Coast, but there are always things you can learn.

I often say it is like cross-training in athletics. Training in one sport will help you develop skills that you can use in another sport. I believe treasure hunting is like that. You can always learn something from one type of treasure hunting that will apply to another type of treasure hunting, and I recommend participating in as many different types of treasure hunting as you can.

If you saw the Gold Rush Alaska series you saw that the bigger concentrations of gold were down near bedrock. Gold tends to work its way deeper over time until it gets trapped. That is the same whether you are hunting gold on a beach or in an old stream bed. Gold will tend to work its way deeper over time, and materials will tend to separate on the basis of density and other characteristics.

I think I would have gone about mining Porcupine Creek entirely differently from the way the guys in the series did it. I don't know if I would have been successful or not, but I know I would have gone about it a lot differently.

One thing I really enjoy about treasure hunting is the problem solving process - figuring out where the treasure is and how to get it.

People are different and they do things differently. That is the same whether it is in Alaska or on a Treasure Coast beach. On the beach, you see some people who seem to wonder around randomly, others grid out an area and work it very systematically and others use various combinations.

Detectors are different, but they work pretty much the same and have pretty much the same capabilities. They do have different strengths and weaknesses, but the differences in what they can do aren't huge. There is just more variation in how people use detectors than there is in the capabilities of different detectors. In other words, the operator generally has more to do with the rate of success than differences in detectors.

If you have a reasonably good detector, how you use the detector you have is more important than which detector you have.

I enjoy trying out different kinds of detectors. I don't know why, but I always like to use a new and different type of detector. I guess I just like to find out what they'll do and how they work. But when it comes down to finding treasure, it is more about figuring out where the treasure is.

A detector is more of a pin-pointing tool. Face it, you have to get the coil of a detector within inches of the target to detect a target. And that is the trick - narrowing down all of those square miles of beach so you have the best chance of putting your coil within a few inches of a treasure.

If you do a random search, like the blind hog that finds an acorn, you might find something, but to improve your chances and be successful on a regular basis, what you have to figure out is where to put your coil.


Four Reale Heart Cob.


Here is the schedule for the upcoming Sedwick Coins auction.

Session I GOLD COBS & WORLD GOLD COINS Apr 26 @ 2:00 AM EDT

Session II DR SEDWICK COLLECTION OF COLOMBIAN GOLD Apr 26 @ 5:00 PM EDT

Session III SHIPWRECK INGOTS & COINS Apr 27 @ 10:30 AM EDT

I read somewhere that there will be a lot of hearts and royal cobs in this auction.


There are two silver cobs from Corrigans and one from the Cabin wreck site in an auction on eBay. You might want to take a look at those coins.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Four-Shipwreck-coins-1715-fleet-Corrigans-and-Atocha-/130491258775?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e61e29797


Forecast and Conditions.
It is looking good for next weekend - the most promising prediction that I've seen for quite a while. I hope it holds. They are showing 6.5 foot seas for next Friday, but one of the good things is that it looks like a gradual build spread over a few days. I sure hope that prediction holds.

The wind is out of the west today. The sea will remain calm for a few days and the conditions will remain poor until the end of next week if the predictions are correct.

Happy Hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/25 Report - Slightly Improved Conditions & Heart Shaped Cobs

Treasure Coast Beach This Morning.

The big news this morning is the improving beach conditions. I took a quick look at three different beaches this morning in St. Lucie County and all three were eroding to some extent.

I saw about a mile length with two to three foot cuts at one beach. Another had a cut that was not as long and not as high - less than a foot. But still every place I looked I saw some sand being removed.

On the basis of what I saw, I'm upgrading my beach conditions rating to a minimal two.

I'll comment more on that below.

The cob shown below was sold yesterday in the SedwickCoins auction. Here is the description.

"Potosi, Bolivia, cob 1/2 real, 1657, cut down to heart shape. S-P37a; KM-B12; CT-1170. 1.3 grams. This is a tough one, because even though the weight is not bad and the shape is accurate, a close inspection of the cuts around the stem reveals that they are post-minting, so apparently someone (long ago, presumably) took an overweight, nearly heart-shaped coin with choice detail and cut it into what we see here (AVF with contrasting toning, holed twice). Estimate: $70-$100."


Heart Shaped Cob Sold in Last Week's Sedwick Auction.

While the estimate was seventy to a hundred dollars, the actual bid was $750. Cobs with unusual shapes often bring a premium.

This shape is often referred to as heart-shaped even though they have a cone at the top of the heart. In Monedas Espanolas desde Juana y Carlos a Isabe II, Clico et al uses the Spanish word corazon, which translates to "heart."

Here is a another heart shaped cob.


1704 Potosi 8 Reale from the Monedas Espanolas book.

You can also see the heart shaped 1 reale that I posted before in this blog when I did a post about Ex-votos. The shape of these types of cobs is very stylized and either intentionally or accidentally includes a lop-sided or curved pointed end as well as a hole in what I referred to as the stem.

From the holed stems, I would guess they were also worn like a charm.

You might want to review my August 10 post on Ex-Votos.

While there are a number of different shapes for ex-votos, the heart shape appears to be one of the most common.

I get the feeling that the mint was in on the production of these things even though the Sedwick description of the first example shown in this post says the cob was cut down after minting. It started out as an over weight cob. Could that have been intentionally done with the intent of trimming later? I don't know.

Anyhow, watch out for unusually shaped cobs, they provide an interesting study, and, as I've mentioned, often bring in more than other cobs.

Forecast and Conditions.

As I've mentioned before, southeast winds can cause erosion too, although the erosion caused by southeast winds seldom reaches the extent of our more powerful northeasters. And, in my experience, erosion caused by southeast wind is not usually as productive as that cause by the northeasters.

As I mentioned, I am not giving current beach conditions any more than a minimal two rating. Despite the relatively wide spread erosion, the erosion is towards the front of the beach, and probably more importantly, only removing recent sand that had built up well in front of recent previous cuts.

In the most eroded spot that I saw, the erosion was 10 to 15 yards in front of the bigger cuts that occurred a few weeks ago. That is not the best situation for finding cobs.

The surf web sites are predicting seas of three to four feet for the rest of the week. I would be surprised if that results in much more erosion, although it might continue chipping away at a few of the spots that are currently cut.

Next weekend the seas are predicted to be up around five or six feet. We'll see.

At least it is something worth watching and checking out.

The high tides are till nice and high.

Keep a watch on this to see what develops.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net