9/30/14 Report - Portable Antiquities Scheme And The PAS Web Site. Switching It Up.

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

Treasure Coast Lion Head Gold Ring
Find Marked 10K.

I've talked about England's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS), which as their web site says, was developed ... to encourage the voluntary recording of archaeological objects found by members of the public in England and Wales. Every year many thousands of objects are discovered, many of these by metal-detector users, but also by people whilst out walking, gardening or going about their daily work.

The PAS has been highly successful because it respects the public and encourages them to be involved and rewards those that make properly reported finds.  That is very much unlike what we have in the United States, which presents the public with a confusing mess of rules and regulations, topped by intimidating penalties.  I once wrote to Tallahassee asking what a person finding a Native American artifact on the beach should do and who they should contact or whatever.  I never received a reply.  A person in this country that finds something would not know what to do and might well be afraid of doing anything.

One of the big problems is that here almost anything and everything is considered historic and is protected.  PAS, on the other hand, defines treasure as being over 300 years old.  In Florida, anything 50 years old is considered historic and protected.  That would include my high school class ring and a lot of my other possessions. 

In Florida, at least the fossil collecting laws are reasonable.  You can obtain a permit to collect fossils on state land (which includes all waterways in the state) for $5.00 per year.  Reporting finds is required.  

But what I wanted to do today is simply point you to the PAS web site.  The web site is a useful tool.  It illustrates the public-friendly attitude of the program.

Here is the link.

http://finds.org.uk/

The PAS web site makes it clear who to contact, explains the program, answers many questions, explains how to conserve items, how to collect and display items, provides a database of finds, and even gives people advice on selling items that do not qualify under the program if a person finds something that he eventually wants to sell.  In short, it is helpful, treats the public with respect and consideration instead of as a mistrusted enemy, invites participation, and most of all has been very effective.

Take a look.

Don't write and ask me what the metal detecting laws and regulations are in Florida.  As I just said, it is a confusing mess, and I'm not going to try to explain it even if I could.

I noticed a YouTube video testing the Minelab 5000.  It is a  detector costing over $5000 and is designed to be used in the gold fields.  But what struck me most is that it has a setting for fine gold and another setting for larger gold.  In the test that I saw on the video, the "fine gold" setting detected two small nuggets but not two larger nuggets.  Then the other setting was used and the other two nuggets were detected, but not the smaller ones.

To me that just emphasized to me something that I have been learning to appreciate more and more myself.  It takes more than one shot to cover an area well, and using more than one detector can be very helpful.   That is true in any area of size, but especially true in a junky area.  You'll find things with one detector that will be missed by another.  And you'll find things in one mode that will be missed in another mode while using the same detector.  An area that is worth detecting can be covered many times and good targets will still show up.   I challenge you to put that to the test.  If you don't find it true, I'll bet that you are hunting the area the same way every time instead of changing where you focus or how you use your detector or detectors.

I'll also bet that if five different detectorists visit the same site, four of them will hit the same spots.  The tendency is to go to the nice flat open areas.  Some areas simply appear more inviting.  While the types of areas that draw people will most likely be over-hunted, the probability is that there will also be areas that remain overlooked.

To give just one example.  The tag that I showed yesterday was in a yard that had been hunted several times with different detectors.  The tag was found in an area less than a foot wide between a concrete driveway and bushes.  A large coil could not be used there.  And many detectors would have been nearly useless there because of the rebar in the concrete drive way.   To top that off, there was also a iron item buried close to the tag.

Most people tend to see and approach a site the same way over and over again.  If you make an effort to switch things up, I think you'll find that there is more to be found even though you might have hunted the same site before. While most people will make a bee line to those nice inviting areas, the little nooks and crannies can contain a lot of goodies.


Now that September is nearly over I can report that the most read post of August 2014 was the 8/6/14 Report -  Young Boys Find Very Rare and Old Gold Hair Tress.   Fake or Real Escudo?  Error Dime.  Poor Beach Conditions.  It's All About ...  

It is interesting that the most read post was not the post that received the most g+1 clicks.

Coincidentally, the gold hair tress was an item covered by the PAS.

There are only a few hours left to respond to the blog poll.


One area of disturbed weather has been sitting off of North Carolina for a few days now, but it is not likely to form, and it is not likely to affect us.

On the Treasure Coast we are having a two-foot surf.   It will be just a touch less for the next few days.

Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@Comcast.NET

6/12/14 Report - Another Gold Grill, Mystery Object, Relics Found & More Millionaires My Patoot

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

Another Found Gold Grill
Find and photo by Jeff C.

Here is a find by Jeff C.   Oh no!  Not another grill!

People seem to be losing these things left and right. 

,Jeff said,  I had to laugh when I saw the photo of the grill. Two weeks ago in the wpb  area I found one. See photo. I brought mine to the coin store in psl. where I turned it into 2 beautiful Morgan's and $11.. ($52 total for gold).. Thanks for your blog.......Jeff C. Psl...

Imagine you are digging an old site that dates back to something like the 1500s and you found one of these and you didn't know anything about it,  what would you think it is?   Who would you think wore it and why?  Do you think your interpretation would be very accurate?

My interpretation would probably be wrong.




Mystery Find by Robert H.

You might enjoy this basic article on archaeological interpretation.  Here is the link.

http://www.archaeologyexpert.co.uk/ArchaeologicalInterpretation.html



Here is find by Robert H.   This one is a mystery item.  What do you think it is?

Let me know.

SDC 2300 Folded for Travel.

The Minelab SDC 2300 is now available for order for just under $4000.  

I like how it folds up.  Nice and compact.

It isn't for everybody though.  The price is steep and it is a gold nugget shooting detector.







An archaeological study is being conducted of a hippie commune where the Grateful Dead and other musicians of the period gathered.  Vinyl records found at the site indicate a more diverse background than was expected. 

http://westerndigs.org/vinyl-records-excavated-at-famous-60s-commune-challenge-hippie-stereotype-study-says/

No, this isn't a joke.   And I don't know what they expected.




Finds and photos by William M., above and below.

Here are a few really neat finds from William M. who has been detecting in Alachua County.

Wonder what happened to the old sausage plant that was planned to become a technology/research center back in the 70s? 


Thanks to William, Jeff and Robert for sharing their great finds and photos.


I get a lot of questions about laws concerning metal detecting.  Those are almost always near impossible for me to answer.  

As you saw in our discussion concerning the St. Lucie City Parks, there were no rules against detecting but there were rules against digging and damaging or removing plants and things.  The result was that they decided to not allow detecting - at least in one case that we know about.   Hopefully they'll change that decision.

The applicable laws or rules depend upon who owns or has jurisdiction over the property.  There can be federal, state, county, city and other laws.   It can get very complex and confusing. 

There are also specific historic and archaeological sites, which may not be marked, that are protected.  Also protected vegetation is very common on our dunes.

The leased salvage and exploration areas in the water are also difficult to explain simply.  You have to know the center point of each leased site and be able to determine the circular or semi-circular boundaries.

As a result I can not answer most of the questions that I get about laws concerning metal detecting.  There are no simple answers for general questions about the laws.  It is simply too complex and I don't know all of it anyway. 


I keep seeing articles about all of the millionaires that are being created today.  That is highly misleading.  A dollar doesn't buy much today.  A dollar in 1970 would buy you more than five times than what a dollar would get you today.  That means that today's "millionaire" has less than 200,000 in 1970 dollars. 

Someone hoping to live off of their life savings won't make much in interest off of a million dollars today with the super low interest rates.  A CD or something safe making 1% would only get you around $10,000 in income for a year.  Not enough to live on, and certainly not the lifestyles of the rich and famous.  More like a poverty level income.

Make the dollar worth 5 cents and we'll have many more millionaires.  That shouldn't convince anyone that the economy is booming and people are getting rich though.


On the Treasure Coast today we still have little surf and South winds.  The tides are getting bigger though.  Nothing that will change beach detecting conditions much though.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

5/27/14 Report - More On PSL Parks Rules, Action Needed, Emails and More On Returned Ring

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

Crazy Bottle Opener Find.

As you probably know by now, last week one detectorists who had been detecting the Port St. Lucie city parks for quite some time was told that he could no longer detect in one of the parks.  He was told that if he was going to remain in the park he had to put away his detector. 

After some one called to ask about it, the Assistant Director of the Department of Parks referred to two ordinances which did not refer to metal detecting but did address actions such as digging and disturbing the grounds.  

Here are the specific ordinances.

The city ordinances say, (c) No person shall dig or remove any sand, whether submerged or not, or any soil, rock, stones, trees, shrubs, or plants, down timber or other wood or materials, or make any excavation by tool, equipment, blasting, or other means or agency.


Also , No person shall dig in or otherwise disturb grass areas, nor in any way injure or impair the natural beauty or usefulness of any area.

You can find a link to all of the city ordinances if you go back a few posts.

I hope detectorists in the city and around the state are planning to address this issue.   Freedoms are lost a little at a time.  They must be protected.  If no one takes action, Florida will lose a hobby valued by many of its residents.  the Treasure Coast will lose a lot of tourist revenue, and jobs will be lost by those working in the metal detecting and supporting businesses.  The State of Florida has one of the biggest metal retailers in the country, as well as numerous smaller ones, not to mention the treasure salvage business, museums, etc.

I am willing to collect names of those of you who wish to be added to a letter requesting that metal detecting be permitted in the St. Lucie County Parks.

This is not only important to those who live and detect in Port St. Lucie.  Other cities and governmental bodies will do the same thing.  I therefore hope that we get the support and action of detectorists everywhere, as we did when the proposed Florida Statutes were stopped a year or so ago.

If you participate in other detecting forums, let the readers of those forums know that their support and action is also needed.


I received a number of emails concerning the Port St. Lucie Parks decision to stop metal detecting.  Here is a small part of one email from Terry T. that expresses a common sentiment.

Here is what Terry said,

It is a total shame that this country has become what it is because of elected officials. The youth today will never be able to enjoy what the older, and past generation's have enjoyed. Last July 40,000 new law's went into effect. How many new law's will go into effect this year? How many new law's do we need to live under? How many new law's will the next generation have to live under? ...

 Here is a small part of an email from Joe D., who talked to Mr. Keen, Assistant Director of PSL city Parks, after hearing about the detectorist who was told that he could not detect in a PSL city park.

 I remembered a little more of my conversation with Mr. Keen that I didn't have time to write yesterday. While explaining to him how I "dig" targets, I mentioned "probe" or "probing". He said that there was no rule on probing in the ordnance....

 SW wrote the following,

...A little over a year ago I was hunting my small local park, the Park and Rec. guy pulled in, sat and watched me for about 10 min., he left and two minuets later a Sheriff pulled in, parked diagonal across several spots, ran my plates and proceeded to stair at me. It made me quite uncomfortable as I was the only one in the park. When I left he followed me the four blocks to my house, he parked 3 houses down and sat there for well over a half an hour before leaving. I have not been in any park after that. I know for a fact if you get caught in the Savannah's they will confiscate your equipment including your vehicle. I was hunting private property adjacent to the rail road tracks (with permission). A small plane buzzed me, shortly after cops were everywhere. Good thing I had a letter from the owner, and was able to contact the owner by phone. They did not ask me to leave, they told me to leave and never return. There were lots of threats, jail, taken equipment, loss of business license. They said I was in the wrong spot. I know where I was I had maps and GPS. In closing I go nowhere without permission. An old timer that said he has walked and hunted along the tracks, those days are long gone. You will be arrested just walking the tracks. Sorry, just a little angry.

There are horror stories when over zealous officials run amok, but there are also wonderful stories that show how important metal detecting is.

One of many such examples was provided by Warren D. (who goes by ROBOCOP as a tribute to his dad) and who recently searched and found a lost ring for a Chinese exchange student at FIT.

He provided this follow-up to illustrate a couple of points who was to be taken to dinner as a reward for searching for and finding the ring.
...
She told me when she lost the ring her college friends, all foreign exchange students said, Go ask that redneck over there with the metal detector maybe he can find it. I wear a straw cowboy hat on the beach, now I laughed.

I told her I was born in Brooklyn, New York. My dad was a NYC cop in Manhattan. I got my BS from FIT in 1972 and my MS from FIT in 1983 when I worked at the Space Center. I said tell your friends I have more degrees from FIT than they do. We both laughed. I told her about the old saying you can't tell a book by it's cover and it's probably been my motto going thru life. I said tell your friend's that they read me wrong and do they like to play poker?

She is a graduate student in Electrical engineering and she told me her major which I can't recall the exact technical terms but she said it is the technology they put in automobiles that senses nearby cars to have collision avoidance. I said that sounds like metal detecting. More laughs.

She was interested in the differences in my metal detectors. Why one worked better in the water than the other.

I told her about pulse induction versus VLF and multiple frequency and mineralization, etc.

Very pleasant person. A lot of misperceptions in this world. From all sides including me. At least we were able to talk ours away.


This is just one of many examples of rings and other valuables being found by detectorists, who also remove a lot of trash and even dangerous items.

Although people might judge people by appearances, detectorists are fine group of people who do a lot of good deeds but are often misjudged by those who do not participate in the hobby.

We need to educate the public and our elected officials.

Sephan, a detectorist who reads this blog, is an attorney.  He is the one that gave me the link to the city ordinances.  Here is his suggestion.

You might get a group together to do a petition to exclude metal detecting from these two provisions.

I am willing to put together a letter to send to the parks department if there are a good number of readers who will sign on to it.

Some have already called the city to indicate their support for allowing metal detecting in the parks.

If that is something you wish to do, please be organized, prepared and friendly and present your position concisely.  Remember, there are no provisions against metal detecting, even though that seems to be what is being enforced. 

I don't know how many tons of trash I've removed form parks in the past.  Also dangerous items such as knives and brass knuckles. 


On the Treasure Coast beach detecting conditions remain unchanged, but there is no question that gold will be found after the busy holiday weekend.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net