6/16/18 Report - A Closer Look At Some Old Treasure Coast Cobs. Tobacco Use Started Much Earlier Than Previously Thought in North America.

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

Philip V Half Reale Showing Mint Mark and Partial Date.

Since I have my close-up photo system working well I decided to go back and photograph finds that I was never able to photograph so well.

While using the system I get a better look at old finds and document them in the process.

Above is a half reale that I found on a very cold day in December of 1989.  I told that story before. It was freezing.  I actually hit ice on a bridge on 95 north.  I was going to my parents for Christmas and was traveling from Fort Lauderdale to Palm Coast and stopped for a short hunt at John Brooks.  The short hunt turned up several cobs including the one shown above.  You can clearly see the OMJ, and the 17 and part of the next 1 in the date.

You don't often get that much of the mint mark and date on a half reale, especially if it is a beach find.

Below is the reverse of the same cob.

Reverse of 171? half reale shown above.

Below is one more half reale found on the same hunt.

Half Reale Found at John Brooks in 1989.

You can see bits of the monogram in the photo above.  It is another Philip V cob.

There are traces of rust on both of these.  More on the second one.  I didn't really see it as well before.  Also you can see bits of shell attached.

Neither of these have been cleaned and remain pretty much as found.

Now that I have good pictures of the original found condition, I might clean them a little.

Reverse of Same Philip V Half Reale.

I'm sure the cross will show better if I play with the lighting.  Nonetheless, you can tell it is the type of cross found on cobs minted in Mexico.

There is more sand sticking to this side.  I'd say some of it got cleaned off as the cob was washed around in the surf before being deposited on the beach.

As I've said before, cobs found on the beach are often way under their original weight.

I'm glad I had these labeled with the date and place of the find.  Always a good idea.

I'll have more cob photos in the near future.

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A study into the use of tobacco has yielded some interesting findings including dating the practice to around 4,000 years ago – about 1,500 years older than previously thought.  The study, “Evidence of Tobacco from a Late Archaic Smoking Tube Recovered from the Flint River site in southeastern North America”, has been undertaken by various researchers and was led by Dr. Stephen B. Carmody , Troy University (Ala.) assistant professor of anthropology.

“For the past eight or nine years, I have been exploring pipe use, pipe-smoked plants, and the use of tobacco here in the eastern woodlands of North America,” said Dr. Carmody.  “We have made several interesting finds.  Until recently, the earliest evidence for the use of tobacco was discovered in a pipe that was approximately 2,500 years old, dating to what we refer to as the Early Woodland Period.”

Here is the link for more of that article.

https://theonefeather.com/2018/06/study-finds-older-use-of-tobacco-than-previously-thought/

Happy hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

6/16/12 Report - Clay Pipes, Found Stash & Increased Seas

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


First off, James F. wanted to express his gratitude to those who identified the makers mark on his bronzze strap and ring.  He didn't think he'd ever figure it out.

It looks like James might be on to a good site.  It was all because of good research. 


Whether you hunt on land or in the water, you might find something like this floating water proof cell phone case to be a handy addition.

http://www.overtons.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?r=view&i=72599

Even land hunters can get caught in a sudden downpour.


A homeless man found a bag full of cash and gold coins worth $77,000 while washing his feet in the Colorado River. The money was confiscated by the police but after no evidence of a crime was found and the previous owner was not located,  the homeless man was awarded the money.

Here is the link.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/14/texas-city-lets-homeless-_n_1594941.html?icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl2%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D169836

Here is the bowl of a clay pipe found by Jorge Y. while diving off Gibraltar.  He wondered if anyone might be able to narrow down the date for it.

As you know, while this particular pipe was found overseas, clay pipes are occasionally found in Florida, and some in connection with shipwrecks.

I found two good web sites on clay pipes, one of which gives a number of ways of narrowing down a pipes manufacture date.  The size of the bowl and the size of the hole both changed over time, as did certain other design features.  For example, over time the bowl became more upright.

Here is a great web site that tells about that..

http://www.dawnmist.demon.co.uk/pipdex.htm

And here is another great web site that provides a list of makers marks for clay pipes.

http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/claypipes/pages/about.asp


The winds are now from the east, and the seas have increased a bit, now running up around 3 or 4 feet.  That isn't much, but it could create a few small cuts.  While the cuts, if you can find them, won't produce any old coins unless the particular area has been eroding in the recent past for some reason, such as obstructions to the flow of sand, it could expose some  newer targets.   More generally though, don't expect much change.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net