12/28/17 Report - Couple Mystery Finds. Old Pottery Site. Popular Posts of the Year. Bigger Surf Coming.

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

Brooch That Held Gem Stones
Find and photo by Chris N.

Chris N. sent the following message with the two photos.

Just wanted to share some more items found near St. Augustine area.

Copper Salt Shaker Top I thought was different and unusual for a find in the sand on a salty shore. No pun intended.

Some type of Broach copper material in which there was some sort of set points in the middle and top where decorative stones or jewels must of been places at one time, but were not present.

I dug both items in loose sand, by water line about 8-10 inch down, strong signal on my machine.

Find and photo by Chris N.

I told Chris I didn't think it looked like a salt shaker top and pointed out the two arrows at the top and bottom.  

Chris then added the following.

The object is about the size of a Salt Shaker Top. Sorry! for not using Ruler. I found it at the waters edge in loose sand which was not corroded, when pulled it out.. That probably means it was washed down from the bank which it probably laid for some time till the Hurricane and Nor east'er came last few weeks ago.

From my understanding talking with some folks who live in and around area where I found objects, one said there as an shipwreck in that area.

I know that the British camped out on the Northern end of Anastasia Island, but the dune areas is off limits to foot traffic and especially digging.

Another good friend of mine informed me that the British marked each item made of copper, or any other precious metals because it belonged to the Crown.

What do you think?

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...It remains a mystery why so much pottery from such a wide time span have been found at this site.

Some speculate a settlement was submerged by a rise in the water level or the pots were sunk there in obscure rituals. Others sidestep romance and suggest it was just a dumping ground for used ceramics....

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201712270033.html

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Yesterday I started to list the top ten most read posts of 2017.  I gave you numbers 10 and 9.  Working up the list towards the most popular of the year, today I'll give you numbers 8 and 7.

The eighth most read post was not from September like so many of the top ten.  In fact it was from January of 2017.  It was the 1/18/17 post with the heading, A Few Tips For Finding Modern Jewelry On Dry Sand Beaches.

Here is that link.

http://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2017/01/11817-report-few-tips-for-finding.html

The seventh most read post is a much more recent post.  In fact it has only been out there a couple of weeks.  It is the December 12th post, which included one of my very popular Ole Timer Talks.  That one was about a crate of dishes, possibly Kang Hsi, uncovered by heavy erosion on one Treasure Coast;

That post also showed the heavily eroded Fort Pierce South Jetty beach.  It would probably be higher on the list if it was not so recent.

Here is that link.

http://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2017/12/12817-report-erosion-at-one-renourished.html

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For Tuesday a 3 - 5 foot surf is predicted for the Treasure Coast along with a north wind.  That could do something.

A 6 - 9 foot surf is predicted for Tuesday.

Another year is about to fade into history.  I clearly remember starting the year and it doesn't seem that long ago.

Happy hunting.
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/29/17 Report - El Nuevo Constante Shipwreck. A Few Important Things Detectorists Need To Know About Jewelry.

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

Source: See link below.

There is a very good web site about the El Nuevo Constante, which wrecked in Sept. of 1766.  The web site provides a concise history of the Nuevo, its discovery and salvage.  There are many useful illustrations.

You will find a copy of the ship's manifest, the structure of its hull, and pictures of many recovered items.

The article also tells of the ship's trip to the New World, saying Nine days earlier stevedores had completed loading the main cargo: 1,334 boxes of mercury, each of which weighed 150 pounds. Mercury was vital to Spain because it was critical in the extraction of silver from ores. Other cargo on board was wine, liquor, iron, nails, plow points, vinegar, and a "box of relics from the holy places in Jerusalem," all bound for Mexico.

Besides precious metals many other items were salvaged.  Many were well preserved because of a thick layer of mud.  

Fire bricks, coal, lead patches and many other types of items are illustrated in the article.

I think you'll find it interesting.

Here is the link.

http://www.crt.state.la.us/dataprojects/archaeology/virtualbooks/NUEVO/hist.htm

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It seems that I talk a lot about identifying old artifacts, especially shipwreck artifacts.  It might not seem like it, but it is just as important to be able to correctly identify modern jewelry.  It is easy to make a BIG mistake.

Years ago when I found a gold ring marked KP, I thought it was gold plated.  I threw it in my goodie bag and didn't think much of it.  But KP does not indicate a plated item.  KP actually stands for karat plumb.

Plumb means “TRUE”.

It comes from the French Word “Plum” or “Plombe“, and can also mean “Completely“, “Weight“, or even “Exact“.

So now the Real Meaning of Plumb becomes clear…

It means that the Gold Stated is Correct. It’s at least the amount Stamped on the Item, or Greater (Never Less).    (Source: http://www.jewelry-secrets.com/Blog/whats-karat-plumb/)

So KP isn't a bad thing, as I once thought, but a good thing.

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Some jewelry can sell for multiple millions.  You certainly don't want to make a mistake on something like that.  Here is a ring that Sotheby's sold for 32 million dollars.

I also used to think that diamonds were clear, not colored.  Wrong again!  This blue diamond is very valuable.  There are also diamonds of other colors, such as yellow and pink.

Here is link to a slideshow of Sotheby's 20 best selling gems of 2016.  They start at about 3 million and go up to the 32 million dollar ring shown above.

http://www.sothebys.com/content/sothebys/en/news-video/slideshows/2016/the-best-selling-jewels-sold-this-year.html#slideshow/2016.the-best-selling-jewels-sold-this-year

One thing you might notice from looking through the slideshow is that very often fine gems are on a small ring and setting.  You don't want to be missing the smaller rings.  They often have the best gem stones.

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The most popular blog post of December was the 12/3/16 post Historic Florida Shipwreck Claimed by France: Your Attention and Action Needed.  Antique Bottle Find.

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It rained all last night.  It is cold and a little chilly today.  The surf is going to be smooth for a couple of days.  Might be a good time for wading.  Also we still will get a little negative tide.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net