8/4/19 Report - Gold Shipwreck and Beach Nuggets. Two Kilogram Nugget Found. Killed by Falling Beach Dunes.

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

Three people were killed when a dune collapsed,

I've seen similar dangerous conditions on the Treasure Coast.  There was one beach a few years ago that was very dangerous. Be careful when working next to a high cliff.  Heavy slabs can fall off without warning.  

Here is the link for more about the incident.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/encinitas-bluff-collapse-victims-killed-identified-as-women-from-same-family/ar-AAFieoT?ocid=spartandhp

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On 7/31 I posted some of the most recent 1715 Fleet finds.  Included was a group of gold nuggets from Rio Mar.  

I found at few gold nuggets at John Brooks.  The largest, and the one that I posted before, is shown below.  It was found near three other smaller ones.  I didn't find any other old items that day.

Photo by TreasureGuide

As you can see, this one is sharp, and maybe you can not see it as well, but it has a good bit of quartz on it.  I should get a better photo of it sometime.  Being so sharp and angular, it doesn't look like placer gold.

The nuggets from Rio Mar that I showed in 7/31 are similarly angular, but I don't see any evidence of quartz.

Photo submitted by JaminJackUSA.

A search of the Mel Fisher artifact database, shows a lot of nuggets, but all of those in the database came from the Margarita and Atocha sites.  I did not find any in the database from the Treasure Coast.

I'd like to see photos of other gold nuggets from Treasure Coast shipwrecks or shipwreck beaches.

Rio Mar has long been known as the primary site on the Treasure Coast for nuggets and fine gold - some of it too fine to be easily collected.

I've also posted some possible nuggets that could be dental gold or other miscellaneous melted bits that are difficult to identify as being wreck related, such as the one shown below that was found by Duane C. 

On the subject of gold nuggets, here is a good story.

A Victorian retiree has struck gold, unearthing a 2-kilogram nugget worth about $130,000 on the outskirts of the gold rush town Ballarat.

The amateur prospector was searching through old pastureland in a now 'top secret' location when his metal detector started beeping.

He started digging and quickly uncovered a .22 lead bullet.

Thinking that was that, he was about to move on — but his detector was "insistent" there was something else further down.

Located under 30 centimetres of wash under about 15 centimetres of clay was the whopping gold nugget, which has since been named You Wouldn't Believe It... 

Here is that link.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-27/gold-nugget-found-in-ballarat-by-retiree/11353044

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We are still having nice big tides, but little surf on the Treasure Coast.

From the National Hurricane Center:

A westward-moving tropical wave located about 300 miles east of the
central Lesser Antilles continues to produce an area of cloudiness
and thunderstorms. Environmental conditions are forecast to become
less conducive during the next couple of days, and significant
development of this system is not anticipated.
* Formation chance through 48 hours...low...10 percent.
* Formation chance through 5 days...low...10 percent.

I'd still keep an eye on that one.  It has plenty of time yet.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

3/23/19 Report - Detectorists Still Hitting T.C. Frank Fish Mystery. Bigger Yet Surf Coming? Kellyco Closeout Sale Link.

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

Detectorist Favored by The TreasureGuide Cam at Frederick Douglass Beach Near Low Tide Friday.

I got to take a look at a couple beaches Friday afternoon.  There were five or six detectorists at Frederick Douglass Beach.  At least two or three of them were novice snow birds.

The beach there, and the other beaches nearby, had deteriorated since earlier this week.

Despite all the detectorists, I observed no digging.

John Brooks Beach Friday Afternoon.

View From John Brooks Beach Near Low Tide Friday Afternoon.

Fort Pierce South Jetty Beach Friday Afternoon.

Jupiter Inlet Beach

Photo submitted by Joe D.

Joe sent me this photo and pointed out the pipes.  Looks like they are getting ready to dump more sand on the beach there again.

Thanks Joe.

There are a lot of beaches that are a lot bigger than they were back when I was hunting them many years ago.  Jupiter beach was a lot of fun back then before they kept dumping sand on it.

I was looking at the beach up by the condos north of John Brooks today.  It is at least a hundred yards farther out to the east than it was at one time.  There is just too much sand south of the Fort Pierce inlet.  It seems like they are always renourishing the beach there, then the sand works its way south.

Oh, I just remembered I was going to mention that at Seagrape a couple days ago, I did see an older layer of sand down a few inches when I dug a hole.  The older sand was about a half foot deep.  I forgot to mention that then.

I got a couple older items out of the older sand.  One of those is shown below.

Encrusted Object Yet To Be Liberated.

I've got some very similar ones in years past.  A large bullet was in one, but I don't think that is what this one contains.  Maybe a broken piece of spike.

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Dan B. sent in a link to a story on Frank Fish after I mentioned the legendary mid-century treasure hunter a couple days ago.  Here is an excerpt from that article.

Frank Fish was a highly successful at finding treasure and authored a cute little yellow guidebook called “Buried Treasures and Lost Mines.” His friends wrote numerous articles about him and catapulted his book of doodles and maps to temporary fame. It stands to reason his thrust into the spotlight generated some envious folks and enemies, especially when Fish claimed to have one of two copies of the legendary Peralta Map...

How Frank was killed is a mystery.  It is the kind of story that would make a great movie. 

Here is the link Dan sent if you want to read more about the treasure hunter Frank Fish.

https://www.ghoulifornia.com/home/2017/7/27/the-curious-death-of-frank-fish

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The surf has decreased.  We'll have big tides, but the surf will be smaller for a few days.  MagicSeaWeed is predicting a six to nine foot surf after that though.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

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Just added:  Warren D. sent me the link to the Kellyco closeout sale on Craigs List.

Includes antiques, collectibles, books, bottles and much more.

https://orlando.craigslist.org/atq/d/casselberry-closed-our-doors-final-days/6829540152.html

Thanks Warren!



I was just received an email from Pavo saying that the closeout sale was in February and ended on March 2.  

That is why I post my sources when I get something second hand (including the media) as well as to give credit where it is due.  I don't think I really have to tell you this, but you should always verify what you read when it might have significant personal consequences.  

I do see that the notice was posted 24 days ago.  

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Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

5/31/18 Report - Illustration Showing How Sand is Moved. Deadly Lightning.

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

Shallow Water Sand Spit

As you probably know, I spend a lot of time talking about how sand and other items move on a beach and in the shallow water.  That is critical information for any detectorist who wants to understand what is going on and where coins and things will most likely be found.  Today I'm going to try to show a developing sand spit.

In the above photo, there is a sand spit that runs from the bottom right of the photo to near the top center of the photo.  I'll outline that below.

Also there was water hitting the spit from two directions.  I'll also try to highlight that.

The predominant direction of the waves is illustrated by the blue line labeled A.  In deeper water that was the direction (from the upper right corner towards the center of the picture ) of all the wind driven waves.  As you can see things were different in the shallow water.

Near the orange circle, labeled D, there seemed to be a point where the waves bent and came up onto the sand bar as shown by C.  I watched this a little earlier before the bar was covered by water and waves were coming from about two o'clock and there were also waves hitting the bar from about 10 o'clock.  I wish I had my camera at that time.

The orange spot (D) would be the first place I'd check with a metal detector, however the dip was not nearly deep enough at this time.

The waves coming onto the bar from the left were getting bent and breaking on the sand spit.  You could see how the spit was bending the waves coming from that direction.

The following illustration shows waves hitting the spit from both the right and left.

Yellow Lines Indicate Waves Coming From Left
and Orange Lines Indicate Waves Coming From Right.

I came back the next morning and, as you would expect, the spit had changed a little.  The tide was lower and you could see more of the sand.  It had changed a little, but you can still see the waves wrapping around the point.

The water was funneling through the low spot and then encountering the slope, and having no where to go, piled up on the slope and the spit.  The waves appear to slow wherever it is shallower.  That causes the waves to bend.  There was undoubtedly also some water bouncing off the hump of sand at the upper left and bouncing back towards the spit.

Layers of Sand Built Up On Left Side of Spit.

Pshewww!  I finally got that done.  I spent a lot of time trying to upload a video but never got it to work.

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A Lake Worth woman was killed by lightning.

https://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/weather/lake-worth-woman-killed-lightning-strike-parkland-injured/Chbg6q5PcbM71opQGjpF6I/

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I spent a lot of time on the illustration above.  I'll get back to some other things I had planned in then near future.

Check out the TGBottleBarn.blogspot.com.

I'll keep adding Treasure Coast bottles as I get a chance.

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On the Treasure Coast have a one foot surf for a few days.  That makes for easy shallow water hunting.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net