Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeaches report.
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| Broken Old Salter's Eye Lotion Bottle. |
That would be a bottle I'd like to have if it wasn't so badly damaged.
Can anyone provide any information on Salter's Eye Lotion?
If you want a challenge or you want to learn to understand your metal detector a little better, here is a recommendation: visit the banks of the Indian River Lagoon where you can get to the river without passing on private property, find an area where the surface trash covers the ground and try to pick out any good targets that might be hiding between the trash. That isn't easy. First of all there isn't a lot of good metal targets down there. And secondly, the trash is horrendous. You might find something interesting, and if you don't, you'll still improve your detecting skills. I don't think I really have to tell you that the exercise will require a ton of patience.
As sad as it is to say, the shallow water and banks on the west side of the river are virtual trash pits. Before garbage pickup, many residents just dumped their garbage over the hill. Much of it is still there, appearing and disappearing with the storms, weather and whatever. You'll see the remains of everything and anything; wrecked cars, model T parts, wrecked boats, tires, cans, bottles and glass, old commodes, pressure tanks, etc. etc. etc.
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| Trashy Area Along the West Bank of the Indian River. |
Recently I took a metal detector down to the edge of the river and gave it a try. I quickly found out that many of the bottle tops gave a coin tone and a conductivity number to match.
You might want to focus on a particular tone or conductivity number for a while. After digging enough of those, change it up and focus on another range of targets for a while.
You might find to pick good targets out of the trash. It isn't easy because of the amount of trash. The trash can be so dense that you are almost always over more than one target.
It isn't likely that you will find many coins, but there are some to be found. On my trip, I found a few. One was a 1982 penny that had lost one third of its weight to corrosion.
It is like reading any beach bur different too. There are signs that will tell you where coins are more likely, and where they are highly unlikely.
The sand on the west side of the river is about six feet deep. That is what I was told by a fellow that builds docks. Like on the ocean beach, there are places where coins will be closer to the surface. The penny was found in an area where weeds had been growing in past years, and even though they weren't there now there was still a dense patch of organic material where the roots were. That is the reason the penny did not get buried more deeply, and the organic material caused it to quickly corrode.
It is not likely you'll find many coins and it will be difficult to find quality coins, but that is the challenge. There is a good chance, however that you will find some older things of interest in the process if you keep your eyes pealed. The bottle at the top of this post was found when I was mucking with my metal detector through the trash.
When picking through such dense trash, you'll be forced to go slow enough that you'll have a good chance of making a sight find of some sort.
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| Side Rail of Houseboat That Sank In The River During the 2004 Storms. |
There are some old shipwrecks in the river too, as well as more recent ones. I've mentioned some in the past.
Metal detecting in the river will test your patience.
An occasional fossil can also be found in the river. In fact, almost anything can be found in the river.
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DJ sent me a link to the story of the last black bear killed on Hutchinson Island. Interesting local history that you might find interesting and maybe sad.
I'd like to see some more good high surf. Maybe we'll get it.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
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| Source: MagicSeaWeed.com. |
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
