8/5/16 Report - Love Tokens. Travel Restrictions. More Small Surf for Treasure Coast.

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

I recently found some interesting articles on the Collectors Weekly web site.  As the name would suggest, they talk about all kinds of collectibles.  One interesting article was on love tokens.

Love tokens are coins that have been altered to deliver a personal message of love. The illustration above shows on example.  I showed another, a day or so ago.

The most desired love tokens are only modified on one side, so the coin is still identifiable, but sometimes both sides are carved or etched.

The Collectors Weekly article says, "In this world before voice mail, text messages, or quick-and-easy photo snapshots, love tokens —common coins engraved with sentimental messages—offered long-distance couples tangible reminders of their bond."

Here is another paragraph from the article on love tokens.  "Of course, the tradition of love tokens had precedence. Starting in the late 16th century, the French would fashion 13 specially carved coins, still considered valid currency, to be given to a young couple at their wedding. These treizains, which evolved into modern-day marriage medals, would be blessed by the priest during the ceremony. Rosin has a few, and clasped hands and an arrow piercing two hearts were common motifs."

You might remember my post on las arras matrimoniales, which in English might be called "wedding tokens" or "unity coins."  In the French language they are called treizains.

Here is that link to that post.

http://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/search?q=thirteen+royals

If you find an altered coin, especially one that has been altered on both sides, you might not recognize that it was once a genuine coin.

Love tokens became popular in the United States and Great Britain in the 1800s.

What got me started on this topic is the ring I showed yesterday.  It had a human face carved on the front of a sacred heart.  It seemed to be assumed that it was created that way, but I thought it could have been altered - the face being carved at some later time, maybe by a sailor or passenger.

I've also found coins, on which the design on one side was very clear and the other side invisible or nearly so.  I never before really considered the possibility that the blank side might have been intentionally modified, perhaps to create a love token or something else, or because the altered side might be blank either because it was incomplete, or because the etching was less deep and therefore quick to disappear from corrosion.

Elaborate professional looking examples were made by skilled artisans, and crude examples were created by amateurs.  Below are a couple more examples from the Collectors Weekly article.

Notice the familiar motifs.  We see the flaming hearts of love on both, and the clasped hands of friendship on the one.

Some were decorated with gem stones or enameling.

Here is the link to the collectors weekly article on love tokens.

http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/how-victorians-fell-in-love-with-pocket-change/

You might also want to look at the Love Token Society web site.

http://lovetokensociety.com/jewelry/

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Maybe you heard about the heavy rain and floods around the country.  One of my favorite land hunting sites up north recently received heavy rains, and I'm eager to get back up there.  The old path and hillsides that I hunt were undoubtedly refreshed.

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If you are doing any vacation travel, you should know that failure to declare food products can result in up to $10,000 in fines and penalties. Some items are not permissible because they can carry pests or disease.

I've had to leave grapeshot and other finds behind when traveling by air.

The spreading Zika virus is one of thing that reminds me of the need and benefit of controlled immigration. 

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Tropical storm Earl is still churning down over Mexico.  The surf on the Treasure Coast will remain steady at 1 - 2 feet for several days.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/2/2016 - More Great 1715 Fleet Finds From the Crew of the Capitana. Weather System Moving Through Caribbean. Immigration.

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

Two of the Latest Finds by the Crew of the Capitana
Submitted by Captain Jonah Martinez

Bill B. With the New Finds.
Photo submitted by Captain Jonah Martinez

One appears to be alabastar and the other a copper alloy.  Information sheet 18 from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society says the following.

Perhaps, the most distinctive pharmaceutical mortars are made from an alloy known as bell metal, comprised of copper and tin. The alloy melts easily and may be used again and again. They are known as bell metal mortars because they were made in foundries alongside bells. Historians often thought that mortars were made from alloy ‘left over’ after the casting of a large bell. Recent analysis has revealed that the copper-based alloy of most mortars contains a good deal more lead than tin...

Smaller mortars in a variety of materials were used on the pharmacy counter or in the dispensary. Mortars are always made with an associated pestle used to grind the substance within the mortar. However it is very rare for a historical mortar to have survived with its original pestle...

These appear to be the smaller variety.

Mortars are often decorated.  Some have wording and/or the mark of the maker or owner.  Mortars can also sometimes be identified by design.  Important identifying information might be present.

There should be two pestles remaining out there somewhere unless they've already been found.

Antique mortars seldom are sold with their original pestle.  Usually they are sold with a replacement.

While the indigenous populations of South America also used mortars, those were usually made of basalt.

Common uses besides pharmaceutical include food preparation and making dyes.

Here is the link to the Royal Pharmaceutical Society information sheet.

http://www.rpharms.com/museum-pdfs/18-mortars.pdf

Thanks much for sharing again Jonah!  Beautiful finds!


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Source: nhc.noaa.gov.

As you can see, the disturbance I've been watching is in the Caribbean Sea.  It looks like it will cross Yucatan and hit Mexico, so won't affect us much.

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According to wikipedia:

If birthright citizens are counted as immigrants, the US has about 80-85 million immigrants,[2] about 25-26% of the population, or about 34% of the world total. In the developed world only the US and Canada grant birthright citizenship.[3][4)

That is a figure that surprised me.

When people talk about immigration of the past, they neglect to mention the controls that were exercised.  People arriving at Ellis Island were thoroughly screened for illness, disability and an ability to take care of themselves.  Many who spent everything they could borrow to make the trip were sent back either because of a illness, disability or not being able to show that they were able to provide for themselves.  Imagine the heart-ache of sacrificing home and everything to come to America and then being put back on the ship for the long return home.  One of my wife's ancestors faced exactly that fate.

Many of those that came earlier than that were often indentured servants who had to work for years to repay their passage.

The following is from UShistory.org.

This system seemed to benefit the servant as well. Each INDENTURED SERVANT would have their fare across the Atlantic paid in full by their master. A contract was written that stipulated the length of service — typically five years. The servant would be supplied room and board while working in the master's fields. Upon completion of the contract, the servant would receive "freedom dues," a pre-arranged termination bonus. This might include land, money, a gun, clothes or food. On the surface it seemed like a terrific way for the luckless English poor to make their way to prosperity in a new land. Beneath the surface, this was not often the case.

Only about 40 percent of indentured servants lived to complete the terms of their contracts. Female servants were often the subject of harassment from their masters. A woman who became pregnant while a servant often had years tacked on to the end of her service time. Early in the century, some servants were able to gain their own land as free men. But by 1660, much of the best land was claimed by the large land owners. The former servants were pushed westward, where the mountainous land was less arable and the threat from Indians constant. A class of angry, impoverished pioneer farmers began to emerge as the 1600s grew old. After BACON'S REBELLION in 1676, planters began to prefer permanent African slavery to the headright system that had previously enabled them to prosper.

Here is that link.

http://www.ushistory.org/us/5b.asp

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Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net