6/1/20 Report - Manila Galleons and Archaeology. Porcelain. Beach Cusps or Scallops.

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

People find blue and white shards on the Treasure Coast 1715 wreck beaches and wonder if they might be Kang Xsi.  I get a lot of questions about that and in the past have posted some information about Kang Xsi, including  tips on identification.  Below are two intact Kang Xsi (various spellings) cups that sold in the recent Sedwick auction for $700 plus buyer's premium.  We usually just find shards on the beach, but they can be worth a little too, especially when attractively mounted.

Here is the Sedwick lot description for the two cups.

Intact blue-on-white Chinese porcelain cup with handle, Kangxi period, ex-HMS Winchester (1695), very rare provenance and condition. 72 grams, 2-1/2" tall and 2-1/8" in diameter. A lovely little piece with nothing missing (the handle manufactured separately and applied or possibly re-applied after glazing), the glaze worn away but with clear flowers in vase on balcony design on exterior, highly desirable as the only intact specimen found on this rare wreck. From the HMS Winchester (1695), with photo-certificate.


I found a good book with a lot of information on Chinese porcelain and the Manila galleons.  The title is Archaeology of Manila Galleon Seaports and Early Maritime Globalization, Part II.

That resource contains tons of photos, including the photo below of a wreck still containing a cargo of Chinese porcelain.

Source: Academia.edu link below.

That photo reminds me of the fellow who found a stack of plates recently exposed by new erosion to a wreck beach and didn't pay much attention to them. When he learned they could be valuable, he returned to find them, but couldn't.

During the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries, the Spanish navigators established and operated the Manila Galleon maritime route which connected East Asia and New Spain in the American continent. The galleons sailed across the Pacific via the hub seaports and trade centers of Manila in the Philippines and Acapulco in Mexico, forming a prosperous sea route for more than 250 years. This pioneering navigation of pan-Pacific regions promoted early global maritime trade as a new maritime Silk Road between the East and the West...

The Spanish conquest of the Philippines began with the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in March 1521 (Pigafetta 1969). When Magellan was killed in April 27, 1521 by a local chieftain in the island of Mactan by the name of Lapu-lapu, the remaining Spaniards hastily left and went back to Spain. It was not until exactly 44 years after the death of Magellan that another expedition arrived in the Philippines (Cebu) under the command of Miguel Lopez de Legaspi, with specific instructions from the King of Spain to find the return route from Manila to New Spain (present day Mexico). The discovery of the tornaviaje or the return journey from Manila to Acapulco by Fray Andres de Urdaneta, Legaspi’s pilot and navigator in 1565 completed the maritime route that was later utilized by the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade (Schurz 1985). The first few galleons left from Cebu until Legaspi transferred his capital to Manila, leaving Cebu in economic disarray (Fajardo 2018). The galleon trade represents one of the earliest manifestations of economic globalization where Asia, the Americas and Europe were linked together through maritime high ways. 

The Galleon trade fostered both economic and cultural exchanges between the Philippines and Mexico, which can be observed up to this day (INQUIRER.net US Bureau 2017). The Manila-Acapulco galleon trade route was operational for 250 years (1565–1815) where merchant ships traversed more than 18,000 km across the Pacific Ocean from Manila to Acapulco and vice versa. At the western terminus, Manila became the world’s premier entrepot during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries that linked peoples, cultures and material goods between Asia and the Americas (Schurz 1985; Fish 2011)...

I highly recommend reading this lengthy document.

Here is the link.

https://www.academia.edu/41712660/The_Chinese_Porcelain_from_the_Port_of_San_Blas_Mexico?email_work_card=title

Not only did the Manila galleons distribute items that ended up on the 1715 Fleet and Treasure Coast beaches, but Spanish colonial items also ended up in the ports of Asia.

Source: See academia.edu link above. 

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In the past I received questions about how scallops or cusps are formed on the beach.  Here is an illustration that explains that.

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Gold has been doing well.


The stock market is up this morning, which is really a statement for all of the positive things going on with economy, space exploration and pharmaceutical industry.

The surf is small today but will increase tomorrow.  The wind has already changed.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

5/13/20 Report - Archaeology of Manila Ports. Passing of Eugene Lyon. Fort Pierce Reef. USS Nevada.

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

Rocks Being Moved For Construction of Reef.

Source: WFLX.com (link below)

St. Lucie County has begun construction on a reef inside the Fort Pierce Inlet just off Raccoon Island.  The reef will create a deeper than normal area inside the lagoon that will be assist development of juvenile fish and serve as a sand trap for beach grade sand.

Here is the link for more about that.  (Thanks to DJ.)

https://www.wflx.com/2020/05/12/st-lucie-co-creating-artificial-reef-inside-fort-pierce-inlet/

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Deepwater searchers have located the wreck of the famed USS Nevada off the coast of Hawaii.

A team consisting of U.S.-based archaeology firm SEARCH, Inc. and robotics company Ocean Infinity announced the discovery on Monday.

USS Nevada was located 65 nautical miles southwest of Pearl Harbor at a depth of over 15,400 feet...

Here is that link.  (Thanks to Douglas.)

https://gcaptain.com/searchers-locate-wreck-of-unsinkable-uss-nevada/

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Dr. Eugene Lyon, an international expert on Spanish Colonial Florida and the Spanish maritime system, died on May 3, 2020 in Vero Beach, Florida.,.

Most of us probably know him for his work in the Spanish archives to identify the Atocha and Margarita. 

Dr. Lyon received the grade of Orden de Isabel la Católica (Official of the Order of Isabella) from King Juan Carlos of Spain, and the grade of Comendador in the Order of Christopher Columbus from the President of the Dominican Republic. The City of St. Augustine granted him its highest honor - the Order of La Florida. In 2003, the Florida Historical Society gave him the Jillian Prescott Award for lifetime service to Florida history. In 2005, he received the Mel Fisher Lifetime Achievement Award...

Here is the link for more. (Thanks to DJ.)

https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/staugustine/obituary.aspx?pid=196167090

Condolences to all friends and family.

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If you ever found a blue and white fine porcelain shard on a Treasure Coast beach and wondered if it is Kanghsi or if you just want to know more about the Manila galleons and Spanish trade with China, you'll want to read Archaeology of Manila Galleon Seaports and Early Maritime Globalization. 

Source: Academia.edu link below.

You'll find photos of many types of artifacts, including Spanish colonial coins, cannons and, of course, an extensive collection of porcelain as well as shipwreck distribution patterns.

Source: Academia.edu link below.

Here is that link.

https://www.academia.edu/41712660/The_Chinese_Porcelain_from_the_Port_of_San_Blas_Mexico?email_work_card=title

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Today we'll start with a 2 -4 foot surf increasing a foot or so by the end of the day.  The surf on Thursday and Friday is now expected to be around five or six feet.

Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

1/21/20 Report - Vero Man and Treasure Coast Fossils. Kang Hsi Notes. Big Surf Coming.

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

Source: SiberianTimes.com web site.  See link below.

The Kotelny island woolly mammoth was killed by humans some 21,000 years ago, say scientists.

Dr Albert Protopopov shared new pictures of the remains found at a location which was then part of the vast Beringia Land Bridge connecting what is now Siberia and North America.

'The traces on the bones show that the mammoth was killed and butchered by ancient people,' he said...

Here is the link for more of that article.

https://siberiantimes.com/other/others/features/arctic-island-woolly-mammoth-shows-strongest-evidence-yet-of-human-slaughter-and-butchering/

You might be aware that some of the oldest things you can find on the Treasure Coast beaches are fossils. It might surprise you to learn that you can find mammoth fossils on our beaches. I've found both mammoth teeth and a section of a tusk.

Mammoth Tusk Section.

Source: SiberianTimes.com (Same link as above).

The tusk section I found was of about the same diameter as the one shown in the above photo.  The end was sticking out of some eroded sand on the Treasure Coast.

Every Floridian, full or part-time, should know about the world-famous "Vero Man" site and James Kennedy's history making find of a 13,000 year-old mammoth bone bearing a human carving.

Wikipedia describes Vero Man this way: Vero man refers to a set of fossilized human bones found near Vero (now Vero Beach), Florida, in 1915 and 1916. The human bones were found in association with those of Pleistocene animals. The question of whether humans were present in Florida (or anywhere in the Americas) during the Pleistocene was controversial at the time, and most archaeologists did not accept that the Vero fossils were that old. Recent studies show that the Vero human bones are from the Pleistocene and are the largest collection of human remains from the Pleistocene found in North America.

See https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/6/110622-mammoth-bone-oldest-art-americas-science/

And also https://www.livescience.com/20088-early-floridians-mingled-mammoths-mastodons.html

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Shards Found South of Seagrape Where Kang His Has Been Found.

Photo by Robert C.

I recently received multiple questions about Kang Hsi porcelain.  As you might know, Kang Hsi porcelain is sometimes found on 1715 Fleet shipwreck sites and on the neighboring beaches.

Robert C., who sent in the above photo showing shards that he found, was wondering if others might know of Kang Hsi porcelain found on the Treasure Coast having colors other than the more common blue and white.

I'm sure he'd like to know if anyone had opinions to offer on the shards shown above.

I've talked about Kang Hsi porcelain in the past, but made some new photos that I think might be helpful for those attempting to identify Kang Hsi.

Below is a comparison of a piece of what I believe to be Kang Hsi porcelain and a piece of common European blue on white pottery side-by-side

Broken Edge of Common Blue on White Pottery (left) and Kang Hsi porcelain (right)

First off, in my experience, the paste of Kang Hsi porcelain is very white and very fine as compared to the common blue on white shards that you'll often find, and Kang Hsi porcelain is generally thin.

Another thing you will notice from the above photo is that the color will sit on the surface of most shards, while the color on Kang Hsi will penetrate the glaze.  The yellow on the shard on the right is encrustation, not a part of the shard.

I am far from an expert on this, and will gladly accept correction if I am wrong about any of it.  From my experience, though, these observations seem to hold.

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It has been a relatively busy year so far.  While there have not been a lot of shipwreck finds, there have been some finds, and there has been periodic erosion at a few spots around the Treasure Coast.  Too bad there is so much renourishment sand to deal with.

The surf predictions look real encouraging.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

The surf will start to build today and peak tomorrow (Wed.).

The wind and primary swell is northerly, but the wind is a bit off-shore until tomorrow

Not only will we have high surf (if the predictions are correct), but we'll also see some swells coming from the north and a few wind direction changes.  Altogether, it looks promising at this point.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/14/20 Report - Some Early 2020 Treasure Coast Finds.

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

One Uncleaned Half Reale With Two Others.

Finds and photo by Terry S.

Yesterday I posted photos of some finds made by Terry S.  After sending those pictures, Terry sent me the photo above.

Referring to the items I posted yesterday, Terry then continued with the following. 

… Just before I found them I found this half reale. I didn’t clean it to be able to show others what they look like when found. If you look closely you can make out the cross on it. The cleaned 1/2s on either side I found a couple years ago and the dime is to show size...  There are a lot of people out there that have never found a 1/2 and don’t know what they look like when found before cleaning. I enjoy your blog and check it daily as many of my friends. You put out a great blog and I commend you. Terry

As you can see, the uncleaned new find (in the middle) is encrusted as found, and it is difficult to tell what it is except for the faintest bit of the cross showing.  I'll talk more about that another day.

Thanks Terry.

Below are a couple interesting finds from Alberto S., including a quarter for size comparison.

Shard and Button Find

Finds and photo by Alberto S.

Alberto asked me for comments on these and one other find he made.  I thought these two were the most interesting.  He said the button rang up as a 12.8 on a CTX 3030.

That is a very interesting button.

Concerning the shard, what I would want to see is the edge of the shard.  I once did a post on the subject of identifying porcelain and Kang Hsi.   Actually, more than one post.  Anyhow, the edge of Kang Hsi porcelain will show a very fine dense and very white paste.  The blue paint will have depth and appear to sink into the glaze rather than sit on top of it.

Here is one link that will direct you to additional information.

https://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2019/05/52919-report-book-on-1715-wrecks-kang.html

Thanks Alberto.  Very interesting.  Of course, any information or comments about those finds would be appreciated.


DJ sent me a photo from the Facebook page of a Tom J. whose page says he was in Melborne with the family for a couple of days and one afternoon did some detecting north of Wabasso where he found the item shown in the following photo.  He said it rang up as a 20 on the Equinox and thought it was going to be a penny.

Item Reportedly Found North of Wabasso by Tom J.

Photo submitted by DJ

I magnified the photo and it appears to have a Potosi like cross on it, but it also appears to have a strange raised edge around it.  I can't really see it very well.  I also was not able to read the entire Facebook page, but the text I could read ended by saying "So don't get too impres…"  Sounds like there might be a surprise ending.  I wasn't able to read the reveal, but have a suspicion.irme

See tomorrow's post for the conclusion of this story.

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The beginning of the year wasn't the worst for metal detecting on the Treasure Coast.  It is the time of year when beach detecting conditions often improve.  Too bad there is so much renourishment sand on so many beaches.  Still, as you can see, some interesting things have been found.

The predictions call for a 3 - 4 foot surf on the Treasure Coast for at least three of four days.  The low tide will be decent.

Nobody has run down the mark's on Duane's silver ring yet.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

9/14/19 Report - Spanish Fort Site Excavation. Bottles and Movement of Submerged Objects.

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

An excavation at the site of a Spanish fort has yielded artifacts spanning centuries, including the medicine bottle shown above.

In 1626, the Spanish Empire dispatched a fleet of warships from Manila to the northern tip of Taiwan and established a small colony called Spanish Formosa.

The San Salvador fort was built there to counterbalance Dutch power in southern Taiwan and to safeguard Spanish interests in the shipping route between China's Fujian province and Manila in the Philippines.

However, Spain's rule in Taiwan ended in 1642 after years of battling and the fort was ceded to the Dutch... 

Here is the link for more about that.

http://focustaiwan.tw/news/afav/201905110003.aspx

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Dan B. found the following bottles and would like any ideas about the broken neck, which was new to him.

Finds by Dan B.

Photo by Dan B..

Here is Dan's description of these finds.

Bottle on left just has an N on the bottom, is dark green, and has a seam.

One in middle says 54. 

The one on the right is a Lea and Perrins Worcestershire that I looked up and seems to sell for 15$. Its neck is slanted and is a nice color green. 

He'd like information on the bottle piece.

You might ask why he would care about that piece.  One reason is that if he can identify the piece he might be able to better identify the age range of the things he can expect from the site as well as the type of bottles.

I know of one good bottle site that has some interesting history.  Back in the day, a professional baseball player lived along the Indian River and would sit out on the dock drinking and throwing the empty bottles into the river.  Of course a lot of liquor bottles found there, but they aren't real old.  That doesn't mean that there are no older bottles found there, because bottles were collecting there before that happened, and bottles can be moved a lot.

It obviously helps to know the history of the area.

--

I was going to talk some about the movement of objects today anyway, but bottles are a bit of a special case, so I decided to talk on how old submerged bottles move in water.  I'm sure that some people won't be much interested in how bottles move, but understanding that will help you understand how objects in general move, which of course will help you know where you might find those objects.

Some people just want to know where to go or where other people are going and having luck. I'm thinking of calling them "X marks the spot" hunters.  They just want to know where the X is  They will hunt mostly the same spots over and over unless they get word that another place is producing. They mostly want to know where people are hunting and what is being found. That isn't me.  I like to figure things out - not that I don't appreciate a helpful tip.  But if you can figure things out for yourself, that will help you adjust to new places and different circumstances.

First off, bottle movement is more complex than the movement of an object like a coin or ring.  Why?  Because bottles come in various shapes, can be capped or uncapped, and can be empty or full, and filled with different things, such as air, water, sand or mud.

Normally when you find a flock of surface bottles near shore, most of them will be laying parallel to the beach.  I think I could go out this morning and take a photo of about fifty moss or seaweed covered bottles in a small area just like that.  I've checked them multiple times before and have picked up the older or more interesting ones.  They are where I found them over a year ago.

Most bottles will not be capped and will be filled with water.  They'll lay on the bottom.  Occasionally whole bottles will get buried.  That occurs when the bottle is full of something like maybe mud or the bottle gets trapped somehow.

When a bottle lays in an area where barnacle and moss or seaweed attaches, it can become heavier and won't move as much, eventually getting covered and settled. Otherwise rounded bottles will be very mobile.

But not all bottles are rounded.  Many older bottles are more rectangular, such as old medicine and pharmacy bottles.  They obviously won't roll around as much.

Once a bottle gets covered it will take a lot for it to move.  The sand can accumulate over it and the seaweed can hold it all in place, however those bottles can get uncovered by periods of rough water.

Bottles of different shapes can get sorted and accumulate together just like coins or other objects.

More mobile bottles can move in and out from shore, but once weighed down or trapped, can stay in place until something more dramatic happens to move them.

When bottles are filled with water they are close to neutral and will be much more mobile than coins or rings, but how they move in water and where you will find them is determined by the same basic factors - density (combined) and shape.  In a way they are something like watches because there can be trapped air that keeps them near the surface and makes them more mobile than would be the case if there were only the density of the materials and shape of the object to consider.  Rounded bottles filled with water are similar to waterlogged wood, and you'll often see cut limbs laying on the bottom with the bottles.

A year or two ago a lot of the seaweed died and bottles started showing up next to shore.  I think the death of the vegetation allowed the sand to move and the buried were freed.

What I like about bottles that they will show up during conditions that do not produce much in the way of coins or gold.   Like I've often said, when conditions are not right for one kind of treasure there will be something else that you can find.

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Nothing but small surf.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

3/24/19 Report - Six to Ten Foot Surf Predicted for Thursday. Indian Massacre Artifacts. Porcelain Find.

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

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

Last week didn't turn up much despite the erosion at various beaches.  Where there was more erosion, it didn't last long.  And at other beaches it just didn't get down to the older layers of sand.

Back in February, I said there would be old coins found, and there were.  There weren't many though, as far as I know.

My beach conditions rating was a little overly optimistic in February, as it was last week.  I thikn ther reason for that is that I didn't adequately take into account the large amount of renourishment sand that has been dumped on the beaches in recent years.  Despite the erosion, it didn't get down to the older layers of sand.

Despite the significant erosion at John Brooks both in February and last week, all we saw was the same old brown sand.  And there were almost no shells to be seen.

In February I think I gave a four rating for a very brief time.  That was too high.  I should have gone no higher than a three.  And last week, I flirted with going to a three rating.  In retrospect, that would have clearly been too high.

At least I think I learned something.  The accumulating renourishment sand on and off-shore needs to be taken more seriously, and I'll have to be a touch more conservative with my beach conditions ratings.

That said, it looks like we will have another chance at improved conditions in a few days.  Right now MagicSeaWeed is predicting a six to ten foot surf for Thursday.  Of course, things can change over the next few days.

I still remember those trips I made to the Treasure Coast when I was living in Broward County not having any idea what things might be like on the Treasure Coast.  I remember the wasted trips and then finally finding something.  I was starting to think it would never happen.

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The attack was the Wethersfield Indian Massacre of 1637. Artifacts that could provide new context for understanding the incident, along with a large cache of items spanning four centuries, have been uncovered behind the Webb Dean Stevens Museum in Wethersfield during an archaeological excavation over the past two years. Concluding in November, the excavation was required by the Connecticut State Historic Preservation Office as a prelude to the construction of a new visitor/education center getting underway this spring.


The nearly 19,000 items collected will add layers of knowledge about the lives of the colonists, says Sarah Sportman, who supervised the dig. Sportman is a senior archaeologist with the Public Archaeology Survey Team, a private, nonprofit research and public education organization based in Mansfield. “I think we’re really just starting to get a handle on this period archaeologically,” Sportman says. “The interesting thing about the project is that we’ve actually found archaeological material from the 1630s all the way up to the 20th century. Every period of occupation on this site really tells a rich story about this property and about the town of Wethersfield.”...

Here is the link for the rest of the article.

http://www.connecticutmag.com/the-connecticut-story/connecticut-s-jamestown-an-incident-in-wethersfield-nearly-years-ago/article_23470b4e-45a7-11e9-a081-e75a6b99c142.html

The funny thing to me is that all of that stuff was behind the museum, but they didn't dig it up until they had to before they did new construction.  If it was in your backyard, you probably would have dug it up long ago.

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Found Porcelain.

I found this piece of porcelain.  I think I found a similar piece of a cup  before.  Maybe I can find it.  I'm sure this one is porcelain, but the design looks a little odd to me for Kang Hsi.  Unfortunately there is no marking on the bottom.  That would help.  The design looks a little crude like it might be a European copy.  But I don't know.

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Don't forget to verify details on the Kellyco closeout sale before going if you were planning on going.  Someone told me it is over.

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It looks like a beautiful day to be out.  Keep watching the surf report.  Maybe we'll have some better hunting before long.



Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

3/14/19 Report - Great Coin Collection Dug Up. Kang Hsi Porcelain. Surf Worth Watching.

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

Source: CoinWorld (See link below.)

An eight-coin 1876 Proof set containing silver and minor coinage, buried by its owner in the backyard of his Chicago home more than two decades ago, was brought for authentication and grading April 27 to the Central States Numismatic Society convention in Schaumburg, Illinois, by the late owner’s son...

The unusual story has a tragic element. The late collector, who died in 1994 at age 84, suffered with Alzheimer’s disease the last five years of his life, according to his son. The son said there’s a possibility that his father may have buried his entire extensive collection of United States coins. The coins, which have been off the market for more than 50 years, were primarily silver and gold issues...

The son said he has purchased a metal detector to help better pinpoint where else on his father’s property other coins may have been buried.

The son said his father told him some time before his death that, if something happened to him, to be sure to look under the home’s front porch. After his father passed, the son said, he did just that, and discovered three metal coffee cans housing Morgan silver dollars that were also wrapped in plastic bags. Although he has never executed a complete inventory of his discoveries to date, he said there are examples of Morgan dollars from the Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco, New Orleans and Carson City Mints...

Here is the link.

https://www.coinworld.com/news/us-coins/2018/05/family-finds-1876-proof-set-buried-in-yard.all.html


When I post stories like this, there is always something to learn from it. These kinds of stories generally tell you where things were discovered and how. That is something to remember for your own hunts.

It seems it is not highly unusual to bury valuables in the back yard or under a porch.

I've seen some porches that I'd love to get under, especially at commercial locations where there have been millions of people and there are spaces for things to fall into.

I still remember the first time I detected under a walkover at Hollywood beach and found a good bunch of coins.  It was exciting.  I hadn't been detecting very long at the time.

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Not all treasure is made of silver or gold.  There are treasures that are not even metal.  One thing you can find on the Treasure Coast is fine Chinese porcelain that was being carried on the 1715 Fleet.  I've mentioned it before and you are probably aware of Kang Hsi or Kangxi (spelled various ways) porcelain.  On the beach you will usually find only a small piece but there are cases when intact cups, plates or other porcelain items have been found.  Those can be quite valuable.  The small pieces are often mounted in silver or gold jewelry.  The Kang Hsi item shown immediately below is offered by Sothebys is offered with an estimated price of 6 to 8000 dollars.

Source: http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2019/kangxi-the-jie-rui-tang-collection-part-ii-n10031/lot.301.html

Unless you have studied, it can be difficult to identify Kang Hsi porcelain from a lot of other pottery.  Kang Hsi is often blue and white, and that is also a common color of a lot of old but less valuable pottery.  I've done posts on how to tell the difference.

See https://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2013/12/122913-report-1715-fleet-kang-hsi.html

In the past I've also posted photos of pieces that were found on the Treasure Coast.

Here is a link to a Sothebys auction of  Kang Hsi porcelain.

http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/2014/kangxi-porcelain-n09110/kangxi-porcelain/2014/02/kangxi-porcelain-a-.html

That will give you a good idea of possible values.

And here is a Kang His teapot that was found on a shipwreck, although the site doesn't say which wreck.

https://orientalceramics.com/index.php/product/a-yongzheng-porcelain-teapot-from-the-ca-mau-cargo/

They are not always marked, but if you are lucky enough to find a mark, this site that shows the Kang Hsi marks might come in handy.

https://antique-marks.com/kangxi-chinese-porclain.html

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Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

\
It looks like we could get some good surf next week.  The forecast surf has increased to 4 - 7 feet now.  It will probably change some in the next few days.  It could get either bigger or smaller.  It is something to watch though.

In the mean time, we're getting some decent southish winds.  There are a few beaches that sometimes improve with south winds.

The tides are pretty flat.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/21/19 Report - Seeing Back Through Time. Another Kind of Find. Increasing Surf and Big Tides Coming.

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

Large Porcelain High Tension Insulator.

I've found a good number of insulators during my detecting outings, but most are smaller and glass rather than porcelain.  This is a larger porcelain insulator from a high tension line.  

It has acquired a grey patina.  Underneath is a nice shiny brown.  I think more of that will show if I clean it.

It is marked VICTOR.

I've found some insulators with my metal detector that still had wire attached, but most were found by sight.

Maybe I'll show more of those in the future.  Most of them are nice, but not worth a lot.

Here is what I found on the history of Victor Insulators, Inc.

 The Village of Victor is located in Western New York State, seventeen miles east of Rochester.  The Village of Victor was incorporated in 1879.  At the hub of three railroads it quickly became an industrial center of the region and is the birthplace of the wet process, high voltage porcelain insulator.   

Look around you at every power pole in your area and think Victor Insulators.  Virtually all porcelain insulator companies owe their origins to the inventor, Fred Locke.  He built the Locke Insulator business in Victor in 1898 and today it is known around the world as Victor Insulators, Inc. Porcelain insulators are made of high quality clays, combined with selected minerals, glazed with colored pigments, then fired in a 2,300 degree kiln.  Standard and custom shapes of insulators are still being produced today...

Here is that link.

http://victormug.com/Victor.pdf

And here is a long list of porcelain insulators along with prices.

https://www.insulators.info/porcelain/photos/photos/u465-yel.htm

I haven't found this specific one yet.

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I'm going to meander down memory lane before I get to my main point today.  

I awoke this morning before sunrise with a smile upon my face that lasted at least an hour.  I had a dream, or more accurately, a few dreams, that took me back to a time some sixty or seventy years ago.

It was a different time and place, but one I've definitely not forgotten.

The boys who spent their later teens on the beaches of Normandy or Midway, or at the Battle of the Bulge or liberating concentration camps, or in the Pacific had returned from the war and built houses and started families.

I was the child of one of those boys who tried to make a better life for his family.  I grew up rich, even though we didn't have much money.

It is a green valley in rural Pennsylvania populated by farms dating well back into the 1800s.  Scattered between the old farm houses were a few new small houses built by the veterans with whatever they could scrape up.

In one of my dreams, I revisited that valley where I and my friends grew up in the 1950s.  Some of us went to Viet Nam, and some of us visited the beaches of Fort Lauderdale for Spring Break.  Who said life is fair?

No matter how the historians write about it, it is never the same as being there.

My dream took me back to an event that I've told about before.  My friend and I found a dump filled with bottles.

Just like it once was on the Treasure Coast, at that time we didn't have garbage collection and the farms and families buried or burned their trash.  Below every old farm house was a dump that had accumulated close to a century of bottles and miscellaneous garbage.

Well, we got bottles from one of those dumps and threw them into the creek at the bottom of the valley.  Then we ran downstream along the creek to a rock cliff that stuck out above the creek.  As the bottles floated by, we imagined that they were warships and we tried to sink them with our bee bee guns before they got by.  That is what I relived in my dream.

So how does that have anything to do with treasure hunting or this blog?

Not long ago I actually visited my old stomping grounds up north for an all too-short visit.  Those old dumps are now overgrown.  There was little evidence that they ever existed.  But it was like I could see through time.  I could see the huge oak tree that was no longer there.  I could see the big old black barn that was a part of both my history and my mother's, even though it had been replaced by a characterless aluminum building.  I could see the spring house, that was so nice and cool in the summer, and the dump, both of which had been bull-dozed.   Hidden by a heavy layer of weeds and trees and completely invisible to any new comer, I could clearly see the old baseball field, along with the kids and parents and many events that took place there in times past.

Kids know their neighborhood like no one else - or at least we did.  We knew where arrow heads were found.  We explored every hill, valley, spring, creek, meadow and clump of trees.

My grandparents also took me places and showed me where things happened when they were kids.  My grandmother showed me the part of the stone chimney that remained from the house where she was raised, and where she went to picnic.  And I can remember every inch of it today, even though I haven't been there for years.  

Finally, here is my point.  If you detect the area where you grew up and where your family settled long ago, you have a tremendous advantage.  On the other hand, if you find yourself living in an area that is newer to you, you might want to talk to some of the older citizens who don't mind reminiscing about their childhood in the area.  They can probably see back through time too.

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I've been enjoying the coin collecting magazines I picked up at the Treasure Coast Coin Collectors table at the Vero coin show yesterday.  I'll have more to say about that some other time.

I was thinking of talking about beach search patterns today, but didn't get it done.

I went out to check for the lunar eclipse last night, but was early and didn't see it.

The moon was beautiful anyhow, and we are now having some really big tides.  Too bad the west wind the surf has not increased much yet.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

As you can see, the Treasure Coast surf will be up to three to five feet on Tuesday and Wednesday.  That combined with the big tides should help out some areas.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net