3/6/15 Report - White City Florida History Research. Lost City Found. More On Palm Beach Beaches. Big Surf Next Week?

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



1901 White City Mercantile Building.
Photo source:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mainmanwalkin/7059137399/ 

You might have noticed that a lot of finds that I've been posting lately have come from inland hunting sites.  Research can help you find good old inland sites. 

Several days ago I mentioned JSTOR as a research tool.  Below is just one example of the kind of thing you can find through JSTOR.

One old local community is White City, between Fort Pierce and St. Lucie.  It was settled by Danish settlers in 1893.  Goods were shipped from Titusville on the steamboat "Lillian" to be sold at a store that was built on the St. Lucie River.

A dance was held to celebrate the first birthday of White City on Dec. 16, 1894.  The dance was held at a large pavilion at the picnic grounds.  Every fall the picnic grounds were flooded by the rising river.

There were two ferries across the river - one for passengers and one for horses and wagons. 

Now there are some nice hints.

That information was published in the Florida Historical Quarterly, Vol. 33, No. 1 (Jul. 1954), pp 48-50.  The article was authored by Sandra Lewis, who won an assay contest sponsored by the Florida Historical Society.  Like I said, I found it using JSTOR.

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The past couple of days I've talked about the Palm Beach beaches.  Joe D. sent additional information on that.  Here is what he said.
 

Just read today's post! And saw the video from Jason T. north of the Breakers Hotel! This is one of two types of beach renourishment happening in Palm Beach! As Jason stated, there's a barge offshore pumping to the north side of the Breakers where the beach had disappeared! I don't search there because there has been little to no beach to search! On the south side of the Breakers, at the Midtown Beach is where my pictures have been from! They are trucking in the beach sand there; (different type of sand) and at Phipps Park further south at the other public beach! The North end of the island is mostly intact, but unless you know people who will let you park in front of their house, which is highly unlikely, (residents and police have zero tolerance! and ZERO public parking; SAD!!) then its a city bus, bike, or boat ride to hunt up there!

Just wanted to give a better picture to anyone planning a hunt there! Oh, and buy the way, very little one and two hour free parking at Midtown! And paid parking is FIVE DOLLARS
AN HOUR!! No joke!! "There's only one Palm Beach."

Thanks for the report Joe.

Some of my favorite old hunting spots in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area were places where parking was difficult or expensive. 

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I'll sum up what people have said about how fast coins sink in rich soil very soon.  If you have some thoughts to add, please send them.

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We are having some very nice weather along the Treasure Coast.  Not too hot or too cold.  No wonder there are so many snow birds on the road.

Today the wind is from the North, but not very strong.   Tomorrow the wind will continue from the North but the surf is supposed to increase up to something like five or six feet.  That could possibly do us some good if the angles are right.

Right now the surfing web sites are predicted a big surf (10 feet) for the thirteenth.  As I always point out, there is a good chance that won't happen, but I hope it does.  The next few days should give us some idea.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/28/13 Report - Medallion Returned, Values of Shipwreck Coins and Lost City Exposed

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

I have a great true real-life Christmas story to tell today.  It is the kind of thing I really like to be able to post.

Michael E., who I'm able to mention in this blog every once in a while, has not been detecting very long - less than a year, but he has accomplished a lot.

In my 8/9/13 post I told about a diamond wedding ring set that he found and returned to the original owner after digging it up on the beach.  The news covered that story.

Here is how Michael recently played Santa's helper.

When I was in Tampa I also found this St. Christopher charm, I didn't mention it in my last (e)mail, due to the fact it was engraved and (I) was in process of finding the owner. Ended up finding the parents of the 11 year old that lost this charm back in 2009, so his father and I agreed that this would be gift wrapped and placed under the tree for Xmas. Also included is the email I received from the now 16 yr old who lost this charm near 6 yrs ago. Love this part of the hobby.


Here is the note that Michael received from the surprised owner who got his lost medallion back.

Thanks for the story Michael and for being such a good ambassador for the hobby!

I appreciate receiving reports of finds and especially reports of returned finds.

I wish you all, many happy returns.

Always check found items for inscriptions that will help you find the owners.  Many wedding bands, class rings, and other gifted items of sentimental value will be inscribed.

If you find an odd looking date such as 30/12/13 inscribed on an item you might wonder about it, but in Europe the day is written before the month, unlike most of the U. S. where the typical order is month, day, year.


I just read this article in which a very knowledgeable coin dealer discusses investing in shipwreck coins, specifically S.S. Central America Double Eagle gold coins, but the same principles apply to any shipwreck coins.

Even though the article is a few years old, which means you have to adjust the prices, it provides a lot of good insight on factors that determine the desirability and price of shipwreck gold coins.  Very worth reading.

https://www.coinweek.com/featured-news/is-it-time-to-buy-an-s-s-central-america-double-eagle-gold-coin/

Always watch for newly exposed earth.  Here is a story of falling lake levels exposing the remains of an old city where detectorists are having a lot of fun exploring.

http://www.aol.com/article/2013/12/27/lost-city-revealed-as-lake-levels-drop/20796341/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D424184


I've had a lot of good stories, news articles and historical pieces to report lately.  I thought you would really enjoy the one on the army removing ordnance from the Treasure Coast beaches.

I'll soon be conducting another blog poll but have been waiting for the holiday season to be over before I do that.  The readership might be a bit different than usual during the holidays.

I also hope you like the better coin photos now that I have some good equipment for that.

On the Treasure Coast there isn't much good predicted for this week, but next Saturday a seven foot surf is predicted.  If that prediction holds, local beach detecting conditions could improve again.

Happy hunting
TreasureGuide@comcast.net