4/7/19 - Money Can Burn a Hole In Your Pocket - An Idiomatic Expression That Appears To Be Literally True.

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

Surprise Discovery

Could this be the actual origin of the old idiom?

My wife was going through some old clothes that had been in a storage box in the garage when she discovered this surprising sight.

It looks like money can actually burn a hole in your pocket!  I've heard that expression many times but never imagined it could be literally true.

I dig up a lot of corroded coins that have been exposed to salt water.  I think this penny was corroded to some extent before being placed into the pocket, and I suspect the mineral acids interacted with the fibers.  Florida's hot humid environment might have increased the reaction.

This is NOT a corroded coin that was simply falling out of a hole in the pocket..  When I first touched the coin, it was firmly attached to the fibers.  You can see in the photo that the cotton immediately around the hole is discolored as well.

I pulled the coin out just a touch, at first, so I could see what it was, but the photo looks very much like what I saw when my wife first held up the pants to show me what she found. 

The next photo shows what was holding the coin to the inside of the pocket..

Fibers From Pants Pocket Embedded In Corrosion on Penny.

You can see how the cotton fibers were embedded in the corrosion from the chemical reaction, so even if the coin was corroded before being placed in the pockrt, it evidently continued to corrode while in the pocket.

And below is a closer view of the two holes - the larger hole in the outer layer of the pocket, and a smaller hole in the inside layer of the pocket.

Hole in Pocket As Observed After the Penny Was Removed.

You can also see some corrosion still attached to the inside layer of the pocket.  That is where the fibers were attached to the coin.

It looks like the chemical reaction affected the blue dye as well as dissolving the cotton fibers.

When I first saw what was happening, I thought the pants were probably made of synthetic fibers, but the label says it is 100% cotton.

Perhaps a chemist could better explain the chemical reaction.

It does seem to be true that money can burn a hole in your pocket.

Treasureguide@comcast.net

11/9/18 Report - Coins With a Story: Holed Coins.

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

1960 Philippines One Centavo Coin with Hole.

I noticed this "holed" coin this morning and wished I had all of my "holed" coins in one place, or at least where I could easily find them.  One of the things I often find myself wishing is that I had labeled and organized my finds better.

I know I've found a variety of "holed" coins, including everything from a half reale to a 1982 penny.   Holed wheat pennies seem to me to be fairly common.

Below is what the centavo would have originally looked like.  Actually, the reverse side would be upside down when the obverse is right side up.  It is oriented like a US coin, not a Canadian coin.  That means the hole will be at the top of one side and on the bottom of the other side.

1960 Philippines One Centavo.

Below is the other side of the centavo shown at the top of the post.  Notice that the hole is on the bottom of this side.

Other Side of Same Centavo Shown at Top of Post.

It is about the size of a US penny.

You can often tell which side was thought to be most important and made to show.  You can also tell which side was facing up when the hole was made.  The hole will most often be top center on the side that is most important.

Often there will be metal that was pushed through the hole on the opposite side and often the coin will be bent a little by the pressure.  This one doesn't show excess metal from the hole, but the coin is bent in from the pressure of making the hole.

I'm talking today about coins that were holed by an individual after the coin was in circulation, but some coins were minted with a hole.

Ancient Chinese coins were made with a square hole in the middle.  That permitted insertion of a square rod that facilitated filing the shape of the coin.  It also allowed coins to be strung on a rod much like modern coins are rolled or bagged.

I noticed one dug coin from Denmark (below) this morning that was created with a round hole in the center.  I don't know if there was is any functional reason for that hole. I doubt it.

25 Ore

I'm interested in the story behind why a person would select a particular coin and put a hole in it.  There is often an interesting story there.

People obviously sometimes put holes in coins so they can be used as charms or worn as lucky pieces or jewelry.

I suspect that sometimes coins are chosen because of the date, which coincides with a birthday or some other important date.

Holes were made so that coins could be sewn into clothing for safe keeping during dangerous times or situations.

I've also posted information provided by Laura Strolia concerning the often "holed" heart shaped cobs of Potosi and their significance.

Except for special cases, a "holed" coin will often be considered a damaged coin and the hole will diminish any collector value.

There was a time when coins were used as washers for slate roofs or as buttons for clothing.

There are many other reasons that coins were holed.  I've heard of "hate" tokens, for example.  And sometimes coins were nailed to walls, and had a significance or just a decorative function.  The examples are too many to mention.

This centavo from the Philippines is more interesting to me because of the hole.  Somebody selected that particular coin for a reason. I don't know how it got to Florida from the Philippines  I don't know if it was the date or something else that made it significant, but it has a story.  I just don't know what it is.

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Evidently there are other people who find "holed" coins interesting.  There is a site that buys and sells "holed" US coins.  They have quite a variety for sale, including some very old and beautiful coins.

Here is the link.

http://holeduscoins.com/product-category/indian-cents/

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A front will be moving into the Treasure Coast and we'll get some cooler air and bigger surf.  Here is the MagicSeaWeed surf chart.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

2/5/15 Report - National Geographic State of the Detecting Hobby Overview. More On Pinpointing. One Method Illustrated.

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


Here is a good general article on the state of the metal detecting hobby and the opposition.

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/diggers/articles/metal-detecting-101/

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I talked about using pinpointers not too long ago.  I almost never use a pinpointer but some people do.  A pinpointer can help.   Some pinpointers are inexpensive and not very good while others cost nearly as much as a basic metal detector and are very powerful.  Some can even be used submerged.

You can use a screwdriver to pop coins and other small items out of the ground without any digging, but if you use a screwdriver, you need to be able to pinpoint well.   That is a very helpful skill in any case.

Second. if you use a screw driver, you might want to file down any sharp edges to minimize scratching in case you do make a mistake and hit the object.

In addition to the screw driver, you might also use a probe.  An old antique car radio antennae with the little chrome ball on the end will work.  If you use a probe carefully, you can touch and locate the coin without scratching it.  That method doesn't work well in rocky ground though.

Sand can be sifted quickly, so you won't need a pinpointer on a beach, but you can improve your pinpointing skills by learning to use your detector better.  

There are the obvious things you can do, such as switch to all-metals, non-motion, or pinpoint mode.

Additional methods include cutting down sensitivity or detuning or raising the coil higher to diminish the area that produces a signal.

Another technique you can use in a hole, involves putting the coil at something like a 45 degree angle from the ground and rotating the coil around the edge of the hole to locate where the target lies relative to the hole. (See illustration.)

I often find this method useful, especially when the target is deep and you have to scoop more than once.  This method will quickly tell you if the object is to one side of the center of the hole. 

Some elongated objects can be difficult.  The signal, depending upon the angle of the sweep, can appear to be at the end of the object rather than over the center.  In that case your first scoop might be off-center.  This method illustrated below can quickly tell you if that is the case.

Another technique that can help is to set the coil at a 45 degree angle next to the hole and facing the hole so any movement of the target is detected as you move sand or dirt.  To use that method you should be using a non-metallic trowel or digger.

Also setting the coil by the hole as dirt is dug or thrown towards the coil or onto the coil will tell you when the target has been moved.

In sand I often use my hand to feel for a target when I am getting close rather than continuing to scoop. 

Of course a handful of dirt swung over or onto the coil will also tell you if the target is in your hand.

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We have a small surf on the Treasure Coast today.  The wind is from the South, but will switch around this afternoon and be coming from the North, continuing into tomorrow.  The prediction for tomorrow is for a four to six foot surf.  That might create a few cuts, but probably not produce really old stuff.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@Comcast.net

1/18/14 Report - Metal Detecting Interests, Holed Pot Shard Mystery Solved & Religious Gold Pendant Find

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

14K Pendant Beach Find.

What peaks your interest?  As I said the other day, different people like different things.  But people change over time too.  What interests you at one point, might not interest you at all a year later.

There is such a wide variety of types of targets that can be found on beaches, and that can help anyone remain interested.  If you get bored with modern jewelry, you can hunt fossils.  No matter what it is, there is always something else you can target.

When you are very much into one kind of item, such as maybe shipwreck items, you might not see how or why others are interested in other things.  But when you get to know more about those other things, you might learn what is interesting about them.

The more knowledge you have of different kinds of items, the easier it is to maintain a high level of interest.

I've never had the problem of being bored.  Yes my interest level rises and drops for certain things, but there is always something that has my interest.

I do tend to get bored with certain types of targets when they become easy and routine, and I often feel that the things that I haven't found as much are more interesting.

When I first started detecting my goals were small.  I counted coins and face value of finds.  My counts got higher and higher and I'd gradually change my expectations and goals.   It wasn't long before the number of coins wasn't really of much interest at all, then I started counting gold rings.  Coins then became primarily of interest as a sign or indicator of what the beach was doing at a given area.

Anytime I could find a hot spot (accumulation of coins that had been on the beach a while) I new there was also a good chance of also finding older jewelry that had also accumulated.

As time goes by I continue to raise my standards.  What was a good day when I started detecting would not be considered a good day today.  And what was a good day after ten years, would not be considered a good day today.   My standards and expectations keep increasing.

I think it is good to keep records and set goals.  It lets you know where you are and gives you a way of judging your performance.  It also pushes you to keep learning and improving.

Another change is that I'm less and less interested in the monetary value of finds.  Now I like things that either have some mystery about them or that have some style or history to them.

The pendant shown today, for example, isn't anything great, but it just seems to me to be more attractive than most, and it isn't a type that I've already found two or three times before.  It isn't hugely interesting to me, but I like it better than some simply because it is attractive to me.  Small, compact, nice square lines, not gaudy.  Just more attractive to me than most.

Another View.

I also like things that I haven't found before or don't know much about, like those pot shards with holes, like I showed yesterday.

The shards are most likely old, but the mystery remained for some time.  I couldn't figure out how it was used or what it came from.

You can see that photo in yesterday's post.

I did learn what it is just today.  William M. said that Native Americans drilled holes in pots that cracked and used ropes to tie them together.

It did look to me like it was a hole for a rope.  William also said he might be able to send photos of some examples.

The identity of that item was a long standing mystery for me, and I'm glad to have it figured out.

Thanks William.

In any case, metal detecting never gets boring if you keep learning, studying and raising your standards.  It might be difficult to get excited by things that have become routine, but there are always new things and new surprises.

One thing to remember is, you wont' continue to learn and improve if you think you already know everything.

On the Treasure Coast today the surf is around two or three feet.   The cool wind is still coming in from the West.  That is expected to not change for a while.

About a week out, they are predicting a higher surf, but as I usually note, the predicted higher surf when it is that far out, often does not happen.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/17/14 Report - Mystery Item and 18th or 17th Century Pewter Fork Handle Find

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

Holed Piece of Pottery.

Some things you never figure out.  No matter how much data was being collected they never figured out what the Boston bombers were up to until it was too late.

To the left is a photo of an item I saw on a Caribbean Island along with a variety of 18th Century and earlier items.  I never figured this item out.

It is about one inch square and a little less than half an inch thick, with an obvious round hole made in the middle.

I don't  think I ever received any guesses on what it might be.  There was more than one of these types of whatzits at the site.

My feeling is that maybe a rope went through the middle or that it was used something like a washer, but that is just a wild guess.

Anybody have any other ideas?

Battles took place at that particular site and there was a fort nearby right around 1800.  Of course there was activity in that area hundreds of years earlier, and it could be much earlier.  I don't know.

On the other hand, it might take a while but eventually some items do get identified.  I feel fairly confident about the following item.

Pewter Find.

See if you can guess what it is?

It was found on a Treasure Coast shipwreck beach quite a number of years ago.

It is pewter, about five inches long and 3/8 inch across and deep.

It is hollow.

What I think it is, thanks to the input from others who I am pretty sure know more about it than I, is a fork handle.  The handle, according to those others, was likely filled with plaster.  I think that is right.

I never would have guessed, but I have seen other similar  items identified as 18th or 17th Century forks since, and they are very similar but more complete.


I can hardly believe that it was all the way back in June that I talked about the massive NSA data collection efforts and referred to George Orwell's novel, 1984.  In the past few days, not only has the President decided that changes needed to be made to the NSA data collection efforts, but I've been hearing a variety of Orwellian references.


On the Treasure Coast we've been having a succession of cold fronts.  Nice chilly weather, but the West winds haven't been doing anything for beach detecting conditions.

Tomorrow the surf will get up to a lofty two or three feet!  Wow!

Maybe we'll get some change eventually.


A few days ago I posted some bottles that were found on the Treasure Coast and I heard from at least one fellow that was out giving bottle hunting a try.

The winter is still young and hopefully we'll get some improved detecting conditions.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/14/12 Report - Coin Holes, Coin Lines & Beach Conditions

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

One to two foot cut on the Treasure Coast this morning.

This morning near high tide the same cut that I showed yesterday was now only about a foot to a foot and a half high.  The waves were hitting this beach almost directly at a ninety degree angle.  That won't cause much erosion.  Instead the water just washes in and out, rounding off any cuts and leaving a bunch of mush at the foot of any remaining cut.

I made a short video that shows what happens when the waves hit the beach at too much of a ninety degree angle. Unfortunately I couldn't get it to load today.  Maybe some other day.

The photo above shows the same spot I showed yesterday, but now the cliff face is only about half as high as it ws yesterday.

The seas were rough today, reaching from five to seven feet but will be decreasing tomorrow.  However, the wind and waves might have a more favorable angle tomorrow.

Still there were some beaches that showed no erosion at all this morning.

The water did get a little higher than yesterday at high tide, but barely touching the foot of the dunes in some places.  It didn't get high enough to significantly erode the dunes.

There were some weathered clads in front of the cut in the mushy sand.

Rafael is predicted to become a hurricane, but will stay pretty far out in the ocean.  I'm not seeing any signs of much if any beach detecting improvement in the next few days.

Low tide on the Treasure Coast today will be around 1:30 PM.

John L. emailed the following to me. 


Not long after tropical storm Issac, I found 33 coins (including 13 quarters dating from 1974-2001) in a coin hole no larger than 8x8 feet just north of a large pile of rocks (a setting just as you have often described).

I thought this might make for a good topic for the next survey; i.e. "what is the most coins found in a coin hole"?

In addition to a future survey question, I thought the topic was interesting enough for a little discussion.
How about some of you? What is the best coin hole you have detected?

If you are new to this blog, I've defined and discussed both “coin holes” and “coin lines” in this blog in the past.   To give the short description, coin holes and coin lines occur either on a beach or in the shallow water, where coins have concentrated over time due to the sifting and sorting of the waves. The primary difference between a coin line and a coin hole is the shape of the area in which the concentration of coins are found, although there are other differences as well. 

John describes a coin hole of roughly 8 by 8 feet in which a very good concentration of coins were found. He also points out another feature (rocks), which probably played a roll in trapping and concentrating the coins.

Some spots where coin lines and coin holes form, will refill on a recurring basis.  I've seen coin holes that I was able to mine time after time and they would often refill.

I once worked on coin hole for four hours and found over $20 in quarters alone, along with a lot of other coins and gold items.  I came back and worked that one for another four hours the next day, and although I don't have my records for that, I found about the same amount the second day, after which a front came through and the hole disappeared.  I don't know how big the hole was.  I didn't get to finish it before it disappeared.

One coin line yielded 15 rings in a period of four hours.  That coin line was probably 30 or 40 yards long.  I don't have a coin count for that one.

There are also times when there are what might be called gold holes. Gold holes will sometimes hold several pieces of gold jewelry items that have accumulated in a small area, but few if  any coins.  Most good gold holes will also contain a few coins, especially quarters.  Lead sinkers will also often be found in gold holes.

From my experience, in coin lines and coin holes, quarters are more closely associated with gold  items than other coins. Pennies, especially zinc pennies, often define the outer boundaries of a coin line, while quarters tend to be closer to the center and down the slope more when you are on the beach. Again, the gold is not always but is frequently nearer the quarters than the pennies.

That is a good topic.  Please email the size and coin count of coin lines or coin holes that you have found, along with any other interesting facts, such as rocks or trees etc.

If you use the blog search box, you can find old posts on coin lines and coin holes.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net