10/14/19 Report - Interesting Ring For Opinions. Explanation For Holed Coins. Big Viking Tab. Decreasing Surf.

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

Latest Big Oak Island Find

By Alberto S.

I got a lot of emails about the Oak Island big find that I posted the other day.  People thought that was funny.

One person thought the item was probably Templar rather than Viking though due to the size :) , but then I received this picture from Alberto S. with evidence supporting a Viking origin.

Thanks Alberto!

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On a more serious note - one reader sent in the following possible explanation for the Eisenhower Dollar with several holes.  Here is what he said.

1 possible reason is most Alcoholics Anonymous groups do holes in special coins to mark years of sobriety. 

My dad has a coin with 10+ holes in it. 

That is the most plausible explanation I've heard.  Thanks!

And congrats to your dad for his years of healing.

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Here is a opal ring that Gaylen C. would like to learn more about if anyone has any thoughts.

Four Views of Same Ring

Photos by Gaylen C.

And here is what Gaylen said about the ring.

Factually it is a very heavy silver metal, weighing 22g. Crude and handmade in appearance. I had it examined at West Bay Traders last week. The result was rather surprising. It was suggested, but not confirmed, that by weight and a digital analyzer, that it was likely pure gold under a plating. I believe the digital reading was 97+%. I have made arrangements with them to go back when they will have an XFR analyzer available. It was determined that the plating was too thick to produce good results by rubbing off a spot. Acid tests did not prove anything either. Without my relating any history it was suggested that the opal could be Mexican. After giving some history I was told that it was not that uncommon for the Spanish to disguise gold with plating to smuggle back home. No suggestion on what the material was that was used to secure the stone in the ring. Looks like some kind of resinous material that can be seen as translucent in some photos. 

Any thoughts on the ring would be appreciated.

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Thanks for the notes concerning the passing of my friend Larry.  Your kind sentiments are appreciated.

Larry said he was going to write up the copper artifacts for me but was never able to.

One of the things I don't like about getting farther along on the path of life is that you lose a lot of friends and family along the way.

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Just a couple observations on the Minelab Equinox -  The very small 21.5K gold band showed an ID number of 16.

Also, it seems that the depth meter does give some estimate of depth, but probably not highly accurate.

That is something I wouldn't pay a lot of attention to anyhow because you can get a good idea of depth from the audio signal.

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The National Hurricane Center map is lighting up again.

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

The surf will be calming down.  I've been waiting for quite a few weeks for the water to back off some.  I'd like to see a big low tide along with some calm water.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

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Happy Hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

11/10/18 Report - Holed Mercury Dime. Holed 1851 Dollar Gold Piece. Silver Penny. Fronts Bringing Bigger Surf.

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

"Holed" Mercury Dime

Find and photo by SuperRick.

Yesterday I was talking about "holed" coins.  SuperRick found the one shown above.  Here is the story that goes with that one, as told by Rick.

Coins with holes we all have found a few of them but last year one of the beaches that is right by our condo has some homeless staying on the beach at night. One guy told me that if I found a mercury dime with a hole in it that it was the one that he lost!

I'm coming off the beach one night and one of the guys said that he lost the keys to his car! So I said that I would try to find them for him and while doing that I get a hit on a dime and it turns out to be the mercury dime.

The guy that told me many months ago was sitting there on the beach and I told him that I had something for him! Here is the photos of the dime and me giving it back to him. The dime was given to him by his father who had passed away the look on his face was priceless, he couldn't thank me enough for giving it back to him!

Owner Showing Returned Dime.

Photo by SuperRick.

I find these guy quite interesting and when there are on the beach I always stop and talk to them. They have some very interesting stories to tell about how they became homeless. Basically, if you are living week to week anybody can become homeless! I learned years ago that you can learn from anybody and being homeless is a problem that can be overcome with some help.

Thanks SuperRick!

When hunting something for somebody else, it seemed like I always found something else good.

I was saying yesterday how "holed" coins have a story.  This one not only had a story but also a real emotional significance for the owner.

Notice the hole and how it is crudely made.   That adds a bit to the story.

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Silver Penny and "Holed" Gold Piece
Photo by Sebastian Steve

Sebastian Steve sent the photo of the silver dime and "holed" 1851 one-dollar gold piece.

He said the penny shows no trace of copper - not even on the rim.

I don't recall if I ever mentioned it, but one day I got some very shiny quarters in change at a Dollar Tree store.  They really stood out as something special.   Turns out they were silver plated.

The United States Mint sells both colorized and silver and gold plated coins.

See https://www.usmint.gov/news/consumer-alerts/consumer/colorized-and-plated-coins

You can also buy plating kits and do it yourself.   Some jewelers do it.

Rio Grande Jewelry Supply sells all the necessary supplies and equipment that you might need.

See https://www.riogrande.com/category/tools-and-equipment/plating?c=0af4596e-db4a-497f-82c4-a7b80157fbc8&pageNum=1

Other Side Same Coins.

Photo by Sevastian Steve.

Here is what else Steve had to say about the gold coin.

A small addition to your story on “holed” coins. This 1851 $1 gold piece (type 1) was the -only- coin I ever found that was holed, in my thirty plus years of salvaging shipwrecks. This includes over one hundred wrecks in four of the five Great Lakes, and all the other regions of the world. You seem to have a lucky touch!

This very small coin... again picture being down at 160 feet deep in total darkness other than your hand held light, the swirling mud is all around you, as you gradually work away at a two foot vertical edge of rotting organic material. One of these $1 gold pieces flys by and behind you in an instant, and you just catch an instant of a “glint” of gold and it’s GONE. And you just sit there and go...”Oh Shoot!” Yeah right. Because now you have deposited this minute object into the “tailings” pile behind you! Good Luck!

Know this...just as any detectorist (worth his salt) knows... a site is never, ever totally barren of targets. Just the same principal applies on shipwrecks! And -that- is good news!

It’s ironic and funny in a way, that when I went to the web to locate a quick outline of these $1 gold pieces, up first came a “for sale” listing. And looks what it says! (Cleaned and x-jewelry). See what I mean?

These coins were designed by James B. Longacre and were only minted from 1849-1854. This Type 1 Liberty Head Gold $1 coin has been cleaned or may be ex-jewelry.

Interestingly... this holed coin that I found was on a small woman’s bracelet. Total junk, fell apart up in the boat already. But of course I saved the coin for “ show and tell” in my wallet. Along with an 8...in my wallet...makes good bar talk...


Thanks Steve.

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It's about that time of year when we often get some good fronts moving through and historically have had some pretty good metal detecting days.

I could feel a west wind this morning and there is more to come.

Here are the surf predictions: three to five feet this weekend and then up to eight feet later.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

Happy hunting,
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

9/26/15 Report - Pierced or "Holed" Coins: Characteristics and Uses. Slight Beach Improvement. Sea Glass Again.

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

Pot Shard and Sea Glass Incidental Finds

Here are a couple beach finds from this morning, They were eye-balled while detecting near low tide.  The blue sea glass is well tumbled and has a nice elongated teardrop shape.


Before I get into my main topic for today, I wanted to mention that the high tides lately has done some good, but not enough for me to  change my Treasure Beaches Detecting Conditions Rating.

I should also say that I would bet that there will be a few small cobs found.  I suspect they will be very few and very small.  The high tides have been dropping shells near the high tide mark on some beaches.

There are some shells and pieces of fossils on a few beaches now.  More than I've seen in quite a while.

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If you've dug many coins you've probably found some that were "holed" or "pierced."  Over the years I've found everything from holed pennies to holed reales.  Probably most common in my experience are holed wheat cents.

You might have noticed the holed large cent in yesterday's post.  I pointed out the hole in one of the large cents dug by GoldNugget.

Holed coins are thought to have served a variety of purposes.  For slaves, it is said that holed coins were worn on a cord around the neck and served as a type of wedding band.

Holed coins may also have been used as charms.  You've probably heard of lucky pennies.  Some people wear coins bearing their birth year or other important years.

Some holed coins are simply used as a nice shiny trinket or adornment.

One coin found by archaeologists was punched multiple times and may have been used as a button.

Coins bearing two holes, one on each side, may have been strung together as bracelets or necklaces.

It is also said that coins were sometimes pierced to be sewn into clothing to prevent loss.

The practice of piercing coins may have been replaced to some extent  by the practice of mounting coins in a bezel.

One study looked at hundreds of "holed" coins offered on eBay.  Most had one hole, were holded at the top of the obverse (side bearing the main design) as if holed for hanging, and the majority were from the mid 1800s.

I think this survey of auction coins is great, but on a site like eBay, you never know how many might be copies, fakes or simply misrepresented.  Still, I think this survey is a good start.

The title of that study is Pierced Coins: Insights From eBay, by William B. Lees and Monica L. Beck of the University of West Florida.

Here is the link.  http://uwf.edu/wlees/SEAC2007.pdf

Here is something interesting on the subject found at another web site.

Based on my study of old coins excavated in Virginia, on average about eight per cent of the older coins have holes. Almost all are holed near the rim. Coins holed at center are unusual to dig. I understand coins used in West African rituals to be holed at the center and buried at the corner of structures. The tradition served to help spirits who could recognize objects they possessed in life, to find their way back to visit their living relatives when taken away from familiar surroundings...

That came from the following linked site.

http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v14n26a07.html

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Beach Near Low Tide Yesterday.

This particular beach has about twenty yards of flat sand out in the shallow water.  That sand came from the beach, which is now rather firm.  I chose to detect this beach rather than the steeper one with shells at the high tide mark.  This one had shells down near the water line.

We have a full moon tonight and will have another good high tide.  The surf will be increasing up to five feet in a couple of days, and the longer range prediction is for nine feet.  I can't get excited about the nine feet yet, because the long range predictions are not very accurate.

Nonetheless, it does look like we'll have some continued improvement in beach conditions.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net