5/10/20 Report - Eight-Reale Kicks Off 2020 Salvage Season. Old(?) Wood Handle Fork Find. 18th Century British Indiaman Wreck. Surf Building.

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

2020 started off as a good year for beach hunting.  A good number of reales were found on Treasure Coast beaches January through March, and then came the beach closures.

Now the 2020 salvage season has begun.  The calm surf allowed an early start to the salvage season and at least one eight-reale was found off of Douglass Beach already.  The 1715 Fleet find was made by Queens Jewels, Jason and Joey Gooch working on the M/V Blackwater salvage vessel.

Congratulations!

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Two Tine Fork or Skewer.

As I mentioned yesterday, I decided to go back and look at some tableware that I found in the past and never researched much.

Here is a peculiar two-tined fork or skewer.  I believe it is probably a skewer rather than a fork simply because of size and feel.  It also shows very little wear, but it could have been repaired.  I'll show you why I think that might be the case.

There are no maker's marks or anything like that on this one.  It does not appear to be very well made.  There is some obvious asymmetrical grinding on the back near the base of one tine.

Wood Fork Handle With Wood Pins.

The rivets are not metal.  Wood pins hold the handle to the tang.  I haven't seen that on any other tableware that I've found.  Mostly they seem to have metal rivets.

The handle appears to be a relatively soft wood and very square - not nicely shaped for the hand.

Poorly Fitting Tang and Handle.

Notice how square the edges are and how poorly the tang fits into the handle.

My opinion is that the fork or skewer was either not made by a company that made tons of them or else it was repaired - maybe both.

I'd guess it is old, but don't know much of anything about this one.  It lacks any identifying marks.  The use of wood pins makes me think it is probably older, but it shows little wear as it is.

I don't think I'll ever find out much more about this one.

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I've found a lot of silverware over the years.  Some came from the beach.  Many of those were in very poor condition.  A good number also came from inland sites where some were dug and some were evidently secreted.  They were generally in better condition.  It is very common to find silverware at home sites.

I recently started researching some of my old silverware finds.  Yesterday I posted a photo of a spoon with a maker's mark I couldn't identify.  Mitch King said the mark is that of the AB&Co., England.  I don't have the dates on that company yet.

Thanks much Mitch!


Spoons have been around for thousands of years, but forks, which took over for knives and fingers, came later.

Forks were the last of the flatware tools to be added to this gastronomic arsenal. The early Greeks were known to use forks, and one was carried to Italy by a Greek princess in 1071. There is some disagreement about when tined instruments first appeared in inventories on the continent. Many credit Catherine de Medici with bringing them from Italy to France in 1553 upon her marriage to the future King Henry II, but gold and silver forks, used only for eating mulberries and other foods that stain the fingers, are listed in the inventory of Charles V of France (1338-1380).

Nevertheless, by the 1600s, fork usage had spread all the way to England, where a gentleman traveler by the name of George Coryat credits himself with the momentous introduction. This may have been a bit of a boast, as Queen Elizabeth I counted them in her inventory. Even so, forks were not readily adopted in England. The Church had frowned on them, ruling that they took glory from God who gave us fingers to eat with, and were seen as effeminate in many corners. However, King Charles I of England declared them “decent to use” in 1633, and the fork slowly but surely gained acceptance at the table...

You might find the following linked article on the history flatware interesting.  It is the source of the above excerpt.

https://rauantiques.com/blogs/canvases-carats-and-curiosities/flatware-history

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Here is the title and abstract of an article about an early 18th century British West Indiaman wrecked near Soldier Key.  If you know the area around Key Biscayne you'll be familiar with a lot of the history and shipwrecks in that area.  Actual treasure chests were recovered from Key Biscayne, not to mention many other treasures.  I spent a lot of time in that area when I lived down south.


A FINE WRECK IN SHALLOW WATER: INVESTIGATION INTO, AND CONSERVATION OF, A HEAVILY DISTURBED 18TH CENTURY BRITISH WEST INDIAMAN, THE SOLDIER KEY WRECK

Allen Donald Wilson

In the summer of 2012, a team of archaeologists excavated a known shipwreck site in the
submerged bottomlands in north Biscayne National Park. This site had been excavated
previously by John Hall, a professor from the University of Miami, in the early 1980s. Hall never
produced a report on the excavations and did not curate the artifacts recovered. The purpose of
this 2012 research was to document any remaining material culture, determine the best way to
preserve the site, and ultimately to use whatever remaining hull structure and portable artifacts
were available to determine the nationality, previous ports of call, and potentially the name of the

vessel as well as how the ship came to wreck in that location. 

The excavation revealed the midships to stern portion of a British West Indiaman that
dates to the early to mid 18th century. The sparse artifact assemblage suggests that the vessel
was coming from Jamaica en route to England when the ship succumbed to a hurricane.
However, a large number of ships wrecked in the region during the time period the Soldier Key
Wreck would have sailed. Unfortunately, no name could definitively be ascribed to the ship. 


Here is the link.

https://www.academia.edu/19559882/A_FINE_WRECK_IN_SHALLOW_WATER_INVESTIGATION_INTO_AND_CONSERVATION_OF_A_HEAVILY_DISTURBED_18TH_CENTURY_BRITISH_WEST_INDIAMAN_THE_SOLDIER_KEY_WRECK?email_work_card=view-paper

This one is in Biscayne National Park and I do not know of any treasure from the wreck being reported.  Still it is an interesting read.

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The past couple of days I posted links to some very good studies.  One was a major study on near-shore shipwrecks and another was on privateering.  You won't want to miss those.

It looks like the surf will be building for a few days and maybe get up to five or seven feet.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

Happy Mother's Day,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

11/7/19 Report - The Feversham and Other Shipwrecks. Houses Sinking. Past and Present. Higher Surf Coming.

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

Source: underwatercouncil.com.  See full link below.

.
There was a lot in the recently concluded Sedwick Coins auction that was from the Feversham wreck.  I hadn't heard of that one, so looked it up.  In the process I found an interesting article.  Here is an excerpt.

The popularity of recreational scuba diving has resulted in many shipwrecks being discovered along Nova Scotia, Canada’s coastline over the past forty years. Some divers have had the opportunity to discover and salvage long lost treasures from shipwrecks such as the HMS Feversham (lost in 1711), La Chameau (lost in 1725), HMS Tilbury (lost in 1757), and Auguste (lost in 1761). All of these have proven to hold valuable cargos of silver and gold. These recovery efforts in Nova Scotia stand in sharp contrast to many areas in the world where it has become increasingly difficult from a legal standpoint for recreational and professional salvage and commercial divers to recover artifacts and treasures they may find while exploring underwater. (See Sidebar, “Arguments Against Amateurs.”...

And here is the link for more.

http://www.underwatercouncil.com/Newsletters/UNESCO/Immersed%20Article.pdf


As it turns out the Feversham was lost only four years before the 1715 Fleet.  Note the gold/emerald ring in the photo that looks very much like one discovered on the Treasure Coast.

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"Sustainable" Homes Sinking.

These sustainable homes were built on Marco Island in 1980, but erosion has left them stranded.

The structures were part of a six-building complex with solar power and a water-collecting system.

They were beachfront property when built in the 1980s.

Erosion, hastened by hurricanes and storms, has destroyed the domes.

Here is the link for more about that.

https://weather.com/news/news/2019-11-06-dome-homes-florida-disappearing-beach-erosion-future

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When your eyesight grows dim from time you can see what others can't.  Where others see a modern steel building and an empty grassy spot beside, you see a spreading oak tree and an old black barn with weathered cracking boards where children waited for the bus every morning.  Where others see old houses, you see brand new homes surrounded by green yards carved out of farm fields and the children who first laughed and played there.  Where others see a spreading school house with twelve  rooms, a cafeteria, gym and a parking lot where the ballfield used to be, you see a four room schoolhouse with worn wooden floors and wooden desks liberally carved with initials and other art work  carved over the years by the more raucous children going back to your parent's generation, not to mention the scary boiler down stairs that was kept going by the janitor that lived across the road.

There are many things that only you know.  Only you know where the fuzzy little duck you won at the county fair ate the mushroom beside the pussy willow tree and died.  You know how cried you about that.  You know how your grandpa entered the church every week, turned right inside the door and placed his hat with hats with a long line hats worn by the other men on the shelf above the coat rack before exchanging pleasantries with the other men before making their way upstairs to the sanctuary.  You know where the spring house used to be and where the mint grew in the valley by the creek.

There are sacred places.  They are frozen in time.  They are the places where your parents and grandparents are still young even though you are old.  They are the places where the past lives on as strongly as the present.

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November is often a good month for detecting.  Everyone knows about the legendary Thanksgiving storm that uncovered treasures along much of the Treasure Coast.  It is the month when cold fronts start coming through.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

One will be coming through soon.  The wind will be turning tomorrow and we're supposed to get some higher surf Saturday.  Also it looks like another bump in the surf is predicted for Wednesday.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

9/21/18 Report - The People of the Treasure Galleons and Those Who Salvaged a New World Wreck. Internet Domination.

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

In 1634, the galleon Los Tres Reyes was wrecked  at the entrance to Cartagena harbor on Aug. 4.  Local boats were recruited to do the salvage.   The work was done mostly by black slaves, and even though they were clearly designated as slaves, they were paid three reales a day for their work.

That seems to be a pretty good amount.  Just for comparison, a first class seaman at the time would be paid about 44 reales per month - a little over one reale per day.  And a cabin boy or page on a galleon would be paid about 22 reales per month.  Wages went up rapidly from the 1500s into the 1700s, so the amount would be much higher in the 1700s.  Most wages nearly doubled from 1514 to the early 1600s.

Pages were the lowest paid of mariners.  They were often orphans with no better choices in life, or wanting to learn and develop a career as a seaman.  Above the page was the apprentice seaman and common seaman.

The highest paid of a fleet was the captain-general of the galleons, who around the year 1630 would make about 5000 reales a month.  In descending order from there was the admiral of galleons, captain-general of merchant fleet, admiral of merchant fleet, joint captain sea and land, sea captain, master, master or rations, pilot, contramaestre, diver, guardian, master gunner, water bailiff, dispenser or provisions, notary, chaplain, carpenter, caulker, cooper, gunner, drummer, barber/surgeon, and then the common seaman.

That information is taken from original source documents in the Spanish archives and published in Carla Rahn Phillips' book, Six Galleons for the King of Spain.  That book follows the building and life cycle of six galleons built in the early 1600s, including costs, logistics, events, etc. 

I think we often forget that people of the treasure fleets.  This book puts the treasure fleets into a more complete and realistic context.

I have some personal observations from the 1715 Fleet beaches that I've wondered about over the years.  One is the high percentage of half reales found on some of the wreck beaches relative to the small number of small denomination cobs salvaged from the nearby wrecks.  One thing I've wondered is if the half reales  (and some trade goods such as silver rings, which have not been found on the wrecks) were used as payment for the salvage workers.  I have no evidence to support that idea.

The lack of silver rings found on submerged wreck sites by treasure salvage crews  is a bit puzzling because silver rings have been found on Spanish colonial archaeological sites.

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Google, who has cooperated with China to develop a repressive government-controlled internet for China while suppressing conservative expression in the US, says China is well on its way to developing a dominant internet to rival that of the US.  US tech companies have been willing to give up their intellectual capital to have a piece of the Chinese market.  China is making a serious move to be THE world leader, and a big part of that is control of the information super highway.  The interenet, as you probably know, was originally developed by the US Department of Defense.

Here is a link about that.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/20/eric-schmidt-ex-google-ceo-predicts-internet-split-china.html

The internet is a indispensable tool for detectorists and treasure hunters.  As someone who was into detecting before the internet was common, it has changed things dramatically.

Before the internet, research was much more difficult and there was very little sharing of information.  A lot of the detectorists back in the eighties, especially those detecting for modern jewelry, were very secretive.  Some of the best detectorists hunted mostly before sunrise and, were seldom seen and never told what they found.  Some of that is still in me, although I've certainly opened up a lot.

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Source: nhc.noaa.gov

There are four areas of weather to watch in the Atlantic now.  I'd watch the one down by South America with most interest.

The  Treasure Coast surf won't change much in the next week or two if the predictions are correct.  I'd like the weather to cool down.  We often get a nice fall storm when the weather changes.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/30/17 Report - Beach Conditions. Unexpected and Old Shipwreck Find As Told By One Blog Reader. Converting Junk Beach Finds.

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

Happy Halloween.

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I took a look at a few beaches yesterday.  Here are some photos.

John Brooks Beach Looking North Yesterday Just After Low Tide.

A lot of sand yesterday at John Brooks.  The beach had very little form and was fairy mushy.  A good bit of sand was moved around in recent days or weeks.  That is a lot of area to search.

John Brooks Beach Looking South Yesterday Just After Low Tide

The same thing to the south.

Surf  Breaking On Bar at Walton Rocks Yesterday Just After Low Tide

The surf was a little rougher than I expected.  It was really pounding the sand bar here.

For the next few days expect a one to two foot surf.

Frederick Douglas Beach A Little After Low Tide Yesterday

Frederick Douglas Beach had a little more form to it than John Brooks.  You can see a dip near the top of the photo.  Rocks and heavier things were washed up there.

There has been a dip around that area been and off for months now even though the sand has been moved a lot.

I don't know what the Vero/Sebastian beaches are like.  I suspect they are similar, but it is possible that a spot or two has opened up somewhere on the Treasure Coast.

There is a north wind and a north swell, but the surf is supposed to be only a foot or so today.  We haven't had too many north winds or swells for quite some time.   Too bad it comes with such a small surf and moderate tides.

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I receive a lot of email from guys that have done a lot.  Some have made important archaeological discoveries, made big finds and done a lot of treasure hunting and shipwreck salvage, but they are probably not the names that most people know.  They usually aren't the best self-promoters, but if you knew what they accomplished, you would be impressed.  They deserve a lot more credit than they get.  A few have written books, but they still aren't the big names that everybody knows.

Steve from Sebastian, who found the mystery coin that has the Cuban seal on it, has done a lot of treasure hunting and shipwreck salvage - much of it in the Great Lakes but also the Treasure Coast and other areas.  He has been at it for 40 years or so.  Here is one interesting experience he related to me.

... They have an expert at NGC that is a specialist on just foreign coins.  I had a cuff link in my effects when I visited with my wife.  The cuff link had a Roman image “coin like” object in it.  (The shipwreck it came from foundered in 1865.  The loss of President Lincoln was still fresh on everyone’s lips).  

He spotted this cuff link in my brief case as he introduced himself, and grabbed it and without a word, ran off to “the inner sanctum” (where -nobody- from the public goes) as I thrilled the president of NGC, with stories of the wreck, and five divers being lost over the years.  (Multiple salvage attempts) 1715 Fleet ???  (;

15 minutes went by before the foreign specialist returned.  He handed it to the president, and with an amazed smile like a young child declared...”the coin is real!”  A -200 BC- Roman Silver Denarius!  So I then had the honor of recovering the -oldest coin ever recovered...bar none...from a shipwreck on The Great Lakes!!!  (:

Thanks for sharing Steve.

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On a much less serious matter...

At the top of the page you see not a Jack-O-Lantern but a Coco-Lantern.   It is made entirely of things found at the beach, including one coconut, copper wire, small candle that I think is called a tea-candle, and aluminum can.

The hollow coconut was carved, top cut off, holes drilled for handle, aluminum can cut to line inside of coconut to reflect light and candle inserted.  So it is all made of beach finds, except I used two eyelets to attache the wires.  I could have done without them.

I like picking up things at the beach that can be transformed and used.  I don't like buying things.  I like finding them.

One day I found about 30 unused tea candles on the beach and collected them all.  They'll also come in handy at Christmas.

Here is a picture in light.  I could have taken time to carve it more artistically, but I thought it was fun.

Happy Halloween,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

5/8/17 Report - Deep Water Galleon Salvage in 1950. Personal Flying Machine.

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

Diver Using Metal Detector
Source: Oct. 1950 Popular Mechanics
See link below.

I ran across this neat article in an old issue of Popular mechanics. The title of the article is Quest for a Galleon's Gold.

The article is about the salvage of a Ship of the Spanish Armada, which was sunk in 1588.   The salvage rights were granted by Charles II to local Dukes.  There is a report on a salvage effort conducted as early as 1683,  Salvage continued from time to time over the centuries.

Besides the metal detector and airlift, they probed with an air-supplied nozzle to find the buried ship.

The ship is believed to be either the San Juan or Florencia and could have contained pay for the entire Spanish Armada and a king's crown.

I don't doubt that this wreck has been explored in more modern times, but I found the 1950 article very interesting, especially some of the illustrations, a couple of which I posted here.

Source: Oct. 1950 Popular Mechanics.

Link below.

Click here to go to the original article.

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Flying Machine.

Sunday I saw a couple of guys at the beach with these motorized propellers that they wear while strapped to a parasail or whatever you call it and go flying.

I've seen people use these on the beach before.  It could be quite handy for checking out the beaches, but I don't think I'll try it.  

If I did ever try it, I'd probably be flying about ten feet off the ground.  

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Crumpled Copper Find.

I don't know what this went on or what it was for.  It obviously was attached to a surface (has a hole at both ends for a screw) and the round hole in the middle.

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There is not much time left to respond to the blog poll.  Thanks to all those that responded.

Yesterday there were a lot of boaters and beach-goers, as well as the men with their flying machines.

We still have a couple of days of one foot surf.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/22/16 Report - Beach Conditions Today. Treasure Hunting On The Treasure Coast Over the Decades. What Has Changed.

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

Douglas Beach Thursday Morning Just After Low Tide

Different View of Douglas Beach This Morning.

I took a look at the beach this morning.  As you can see from the photo above, there was very little in the way of cuts.  At some spots there was a little cut less than a foot high.  In front of that was a sloped front beach, which was mushy towards the top and a little firmer at the bottom.  It didn't look very promising.

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In yesterday's post I said I might start a new series of posts about treasure hunting on the Treasure Coast over the last few decades.   I'll get that started today.


Some people think that most of the treasure has been found and that is why there are decreasing finds being made. Some would be a little more specific and say that the "easy" finds have been made.  If you think about how many big finds were made both in the water and on the beach in the early days - many without the use of a metal detector - it would be easy to conclude that the easy finds have been made.

You might have read at one time or another how beachcombers used to find flat black items on the beach and skipped them back into the ocean.  That was decades ago.  It is very rare for reales, especially the larger ones, to be found by sight these days.  In fact they aren't found real often even with a metal detector, and when it does happen it is probably one of those special days when conditions are just right.  That doesn't happen very often.

In 1940 the local newspapers reported that gold coins, cannon, cannon balls and other shipwreck items were found on the beach along with the remains of what were believed to be the bones of Spanish shipwrecks.  Those things were reportedly found on both the beach and in the shallow water.

I suppose those reports were accurate.  Of course I can't prove it one way or the other, and I'll entertain the possibility that they could be wrong to one extent or another, but I suspect that they are basically true.

I've also read that the mid-century salvage crews made a lot of big finds without metal detectors, sometimes in very shallow water.  And some of them successfully worked without blowers - again making some impressive finds.  I don't think that happens very often today either.

Comparing the reports of finds made forty, fifty or sixty years ago with those of more recent days, it certainly appears that it was easier to find treasure on the Treasure Coast back in the earlier decades.

If you've been waiting to make some nice beach finds, you probably know that there haven't been a lot lately.  There are some finds from time to time, but not the kind of days when you walk out and quickly fill your pockets with silver or gold.

If it is harder to make big finds these days, the question remains as to why.  Why would so many more finds be made by sight back in the early 1900s?  There are many believe that it is simply a matter of all the past finds reducing the amount of treasure that remains to be found.  That could be.

It could also be that back in the forties and up to just a few decades ago, beach and water conditions were better for treasure hunting.  It could be that there was a period of continued erosion.  I'll check on that as soon as I get a chance.   I think I've seen studies on the amount of erosion that occurred along the Treasure Coast over the years and decades.

The beach and inlets have opened and closed over the centuries as the result of both nature and man.

In 1924, the Sebastian Inlet was opened at its current location and small jetties were completed.

In 1939, Approximately 72,000 cubic yards of sediment are removed from the inlet at a cost of $6,000.

In 1941 the Inlet closed due to a northeaster. For safety reasons, it was left closed during World War II, then permanently blasted open in 1947 and has remained open since.

Here is the source for that information and more on the Sebastian Inlet.

http://www.sebastianinletdistrict.com/Inlet_History.html

Shallow water visibility also changes along with the opening and closing of inlets.

Areas to the north of the inlets fill with sand while the areas immediately south of the inlets cloud up to some extent when the inlets are open.  Bigger and bigger jetties are required, and that means more sand piling up to the north of the inlets and more and more frequent replenishment projects to the south of the inlets.

Besides natural trends, man has had an effect on beach conditions too.  We all know how often the beaches of the Treasure Coast have been replenished in the last decade.  It seems that every year replenishment sand is being dumped somewhere along the Treasure Coast.  Even when the beaches erode again, the sand moves southward along the beach and covers the shallow water areas.  If it wasn't for the renourishment sand, I think we would have had more finds in the past couple of months.

Well, I haven't answered the question yet, and this post is getting long.  I'll finish this post tomorrow or some other time before long.

To be continued...

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Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/8/16 Report - October 1715 Salvage. Listed Jewelry Finds From Rio Mar. GPS Coordinates For Wrecks, Obstacles and Dive Sites.

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

Here is an excerpt from a document referred to online as Exhibit 99.  The excerpt is a translation of a report written by Don Miguel de Lima y Melo on the 15th of October, 1715.

All of the cargos of the other ships were all lost, less a few leather bags off my ship, but this was little because by the day following the disaster the hold of my ship was completely full of water with over a codo and a half (27 inches) over the main hatchway. This was caused because we were unable to cut the rigging on the leeward side of the ship to dislodge the foremast. By the movements of the sea, caused by the mast still being erect, the bottom part of the ship opened and if this hadn’t happened I would have been able to recover all of the cargo on my ship.

However, for the first eleven hours following the ship wrecking, the ship was strong as it had been before the disaster which is the ultimate proof of its great strength.. I have been fortunate in bringing much of what was salvaged to the Havana, but the remainder is buried underground in my Real [camp] and I am hoping it could be picked up by the next schooners that arrive there. But sir, most of the cargo is badly damaged and wet due to the water entering my ship and in carrying the things from my wreck to the shore in a small boat… Only my small boat and another of the Capitana were the only launches which were left after the disaster...

There is some interesting and useful information.  What was salvaged was buried for safe keeping until it could be dispatched.  That would undoubtedly be back in the dunes.  And I'm sure that at least some small amount would be dropped or missed.

Here is the link for more about that.

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/85684/000102826906000019/ex99-2ahc8k.htm

Here is another excerpt that you might find interesting.

The Carmen carried a number of wealthy passengers on their way back to Spain. It is likely that these passengers carried items in their luggage not declared on the manifest (contraband). This is supported by the fact that several recovered items from the site are not listed on the manifest. For example items recovered include:

1) an emerald teardrop
2) a three-carat ruby stone
3) a gold finger ring with amethyst

4) 8 gold rings
5) 5 gold earrings
6) 2 gold brooches
7) 2 gold flower ornament holders
8) a gold hat pin
9) a gold hair piece
10) 2 gold crucifixes
11) 3 pairs of gold cuff-links
12) 3 gold pendants
13) 3 gold wire pieces
14) a gold grooming spoon
15) a silver candelabra

And a partridge in a pear tree.

As you probably know, the Carmen is thought to be the wreck at Rio Mar.

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You might also find this web site useful.  It gives GPS coordinates for shipwrecks and all kinds of submerged junk along St. Lucie County.   It is useful for diving or fishin but you might find it useful for identifying things you come across.

Here is the link

http://www.floridagofishing.com/reefs/ce-reefs-st-lucie-county.html

Similar web sites give data for the other counties.

Here is the link or Indian River County.

http://www.floridagofishing.com/reefs/ce-reefs-indian-river-county.html

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Thursday and Friday the surf is supposed to be only one or two feet.   The surf is supposed to be two to four feet Saturday.  That could be interesting.  We'll have to see how it develops.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

9/16/16 Report - Three Tropical Storms Plus Now. Padre Island and Emanuel Point Shipwreck Study. Fossils.

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

Julia has become a tropical storm again.  It is lingering off of South Carlina and it looks like it is bringing some northeast winds to parts of North Carolina, South Carolina an North Florida.

That is the kind of thing I'd like to see happen off the Treasure Coast - a storm that sits off shore and churns for a while.

We now have three tropical storms, two depressions, but no partridge in a pear tree.

Karl is expected to become a hurricane, but is expected at this point to move to the north before long.  I've made the observation before that when they get strong that far away they tend to move north into the Atlantic.

Another depression is about to come off of Africa.  

It is pretty busy out there.

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You might enjoy this fossil slideshow.  Just some very neat fossils.

http://animalmozo.com/2016/09/03/24-insane-fossil-discoveries

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I found a paper on the Padre Island and Emanuel Point shipwrecks.  Simplified, the hypothesis is that the pattern of ceramics on a wreck site can help you determine something about the type of ship was involved.  There were however some other details that you might find interesting, for example the following illustrations on early salvage techniques.

I suspect that there will be differences between deep and shallow water wrecks and some other factors.

Dragging for a Wreck.
Source: Arnold, 1979.

Salvage Divers Following Chain Down To Wreck.
Source: Arnold, 1979

The source of those illustrations is the following.

Arnold III, J. Barto, 1979.  Documentary Sources for the Wreck of the New Spain Fleet of 1554, David McDonald, translator. Texas Antiquities Committee Publication, No. 8, Austin.

You might find the study of the wreck sites, ceramics, etc. interesting.

Here is the link.

http://etd.fcla.edu/WF/WFE0000406/Sorset_Scott_Ryan_201306_MA.pdf

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The World Health Organization found that the United States ranks third (behind India and China) in most depression, anxiety and drug and alcohol abuse.

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Promoting interest in Florida archaeology.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/10/16 Report - More January Treasure Coast Finds. Importance of Adjusting Your Detector Stem. Salvage of CSS Georgia.

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

Steve L. said, I love reading your posts and check for new ones daily.  I am new to detecting as of June 2015 but was lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time early December...  I wanted to share my finds with you, six lead balls a full small nail and part of a larger one.  Thanks for all your help and I look forward to more finds in the future.    

Finds and photo by Stever L.

Thanks for sharing Steve.  Nice finds!  You did well to find shipwreck items on the beach so soon after beginning detecting.

There were reports of many musket balls, shot and other lead items being found.

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This might seem like a small thing but it can make a big difference.  Adjust the length of your detector stem very carefully.  A lot of new detectorists have the stem too short and as a result their coil is too high off the ground.  An inch or two can make a big difference.  Someone emailed me about this not too long ago.

Also, if your stem is too you very well might tend to lean forward as you try to keep your coil close to the ground.  When you do that you'll get tired much more quickly.

Make the necessary adjustments so that you can maintain good posture and keep the coil as close to the ground as possible.

More frequent adjustments might be necessary when you are working uneven ground or working on a slope.

Take a minute to check your stem length.  You might be surprised how much of a difference it might make.

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Here is an excerpt from a story about the salvage of the CSS Georgia, a confederate gunship.

...More than half of the haul retrieved during the $14 million government project, however, was of a much more mundane nature: nuts, bolts, washers, bent iron rails and other material that did not shed any new light on the lives of sailors serving aboard the vessel.

Altogether, 16,697 artifacts weighing a total of 135 tons were returned to a watery grave at the bottom of the Savannah River, said Jim Jobling, project manager for the Conservation Research Laboratory at Texas A&M University, which is tasked with cataloging, cleaning and preserving artifacts from the Civil War shipwreck.

"Anything I considered to be unique, I would say, 'I want this, I want this,'" Jobling said. "I picked through everything. No unique stuff went back in the river."...

I found this article both interesting and telling.

Here is the link for the rest of the article.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/half-artifacts-confederate-gunship-returned-river-36047145

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Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

7/20/15 Report - Alternate Methods To Metal Detecting. Air Lift Dredge. Silver Rosie dimes. History of Shipwrecks Book.

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

90% Silver Rosie
Source: http://cointrackers.com/coins/839/2004-s-roosevelt-dime/

Metal detecting isn't the goal for most of us.  The goal for most people is finding things.  Metal detecting is just the method.

Sometimes people act as if metal detecting is the goal, but we shouldn't forget that there are other methods for finding things.  Sifting, dredging and eye-balling are a few examples.

There are times when other methods will pay off, and there are times when metal detecting just won't work.

Other methods might actually be the best choice in some situations.  One would be when metal detecting isn't allowed.  Another would be when valuable objects are not made of metal.  Another might be when there is too much overburden or junk.

There are times when you can eye-ball coins and things somewhat effectively.  For example, when a strong wind has scoured a busy dry beach.  I've done that.  You can find a good number of coins by eye-balling.  Or when there has been erosion at a good spot where coins and things are being uncovered in front of your eyes.  Or along streets or curbs.

There have been places like that where I have found a good numbers of coins.  While you obviously won't find buried coins by eye-balling, you can find uncovered coins, and in some cases you can follow up with a detector.

Eye-balling can be the first step in narrowing down where you want to spend your time detecting.  If you find a coin or two that has been just uncovered along the surf line that is a place to check with a detector.

A good thing about eye-balling is the ease of quickly scanning large areas.  It works best in busy areas where there might be high concentrations of targets.

You might eye-ball for bills along a fence line after a carnival, for example.  Or along a sea weed line.

I know of one dip in the water off of a busy resort where bills tend to collect.  Snorkeling for bills often produces a few ones, fives or twenties.

In my 6/15 report I posted about how Russ P. does some sifting sometimes when he doesn't have a promising detecting spot.  It is a lot of work, but can be effective in the right place and has the advantage of being able to uncover non-metallic targets as well as metallic.

One thing you might consider is an air lift dredge.  It is only for those who dive though.

Here is an illustration.  It isn't too hard to construct an air lift dredge and it can be used to lift metallic as well as non-metallic items.  Of course it is easier to buy than make if you have the money.

I believe the Fisher organization used an air lift dredge in areas known for emeralds.

The illustration shown here and the excerpt below is from Wikipedia.

Typically, the airlift is constructed from a 3 metre to 10 metre long, 10 cm diameter pipe. A controllable compressed air supply vents into the inside, lower end of the pipe (The input end always being the lower end). Compressed air is injected into the pipe in one to three second bursts with an interval long enough to let the resulting bubble to rise to the higher, output end of the pipe. The bubble moves water through the pipe sucking debris from the lower end and depositing it from the upper end of the pipe. Ejected debris can be either cast off (as in simply removing oveburden) or collected.

Here is a YouTube demonstration..  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuHgxoFrz6s

Two problems with air lift dredges is that they are most effective in deeper water and are not easily moved.  A small gas powered dredge would work in shallow water.  Keene is one well known manufacturer of portable gold dredges.

There are other methods that I haven't yet discussed.  Some much less expensive and easy to construct.  I just wanted to make the point that metal detecting is not the goal, and that there are plenty of other techniques.  Also that there are situations when other techniques might even work better.

Of course, you can use different methods in combination too.  The bigger point is to keep thinking.

What inspired me to write this today is that I've been using some alternative methods lately but want to get some good pictures and record results before I post about them.  Just like with metal detecting, sometimes they don't work out real well, but sometimes they do.

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I ran across a book you might want to take a look at.  It is History of Shipwrecks by Angus Konstam.
You can preview it free online.  Click on the underlined title above to go there.

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Here is something to watch for even though it would be rare to find in circulation.  Starting in 1992 the San Francisco Mint  produced some 90% silver Roosevelt dimes, though all such silver dimes have been struck in Proof format.  A 2004 S dime would have a melt of around $1.00 and in mint state sell for around $6.00.

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The Treasure Coast predictions are for a two-foot surf next Monday.  Normally I wouldn't pay any attention to that, but we haven't had anything that big for weeks, if you can believe that.  I never thought I'd see the day when a two-foot surf looked like a bump up.  It might not even happen.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

7/9/15 Report - Swimming Beach Finds Today. Gold Spirals. Question For Maritime Archaeology.

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

Couple Finds From This Morning.

I hope you enjoyed looking at the finds made by the crew of the Capitana.  Today I'll get back to the beach.

People have evidently been going to the beach on these hot days. There are a good number of recent loses out there.  Most everything I've been finding is shallow, including a fair number of modern clad coins.  They look like they haven't been out there very long at all.

The sandy beach conditions aren't good, but at least there is the modern stuff to find.  A lot of junk jewelry though, and some good jewelry.

The rings to the left were found this morning.  The picture isn't great.  The ring on the left is 14K white gold.  The picture makes it look discolored.  It isn't.   .175 troy ounces.  I see from the picture that it still had sand on it too.

Recovery of most targets has been easy due the shallow depth.  No need to dig deeper than necessary.  If you can tell a target is shallow, don't over dig.

The surf was a little higher this morning than I expected.  It was about two feet I would say.  The surf predictions say that we'll have a few days of two foot surf and then back to one foot again.

The sand on some beach fronts is really packed good.  The fine sand continues to accumulate.  If it wasn't for the recent drops, targets would be pretty scarce.

Treasure Coast Beach This Morning Near Low Tide.

You can learn to identify a lot of targets with a PI detector from the signal.  Fish hooks are very distinct.  It just takes practice.

It is a good idea to switch hunting modes.  If you have a favorite mode, you can use it a lot, but you'll benefit from using any other modes you might have once in a while.  If you really get to know another mode, you might find that it has some benefits that can be put to good strategic use.

I was using motion mode first this morning, but before finishing and after getting a lot of the targets out of the way, I rechecked the area using non-motion mode.  The signals are very different in the different modes.  It took me along time to get accustomed to using motion mode, now I'm just as comfortable with it.

There are times for each.  It can be almost like using two completely different types of detectors.

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Bronze Age Gold Spirals Found

The Danish National Museum announced on Wednesday that archaeologists have uncovered a trove of gold spirals that may have been used for religious ceremonies during the Bronze Age, when the Danes’ ancestors worshiped the sun.

The spirals were recovered from a site that had been excavated before, where a team found four gold bracelets. Amateur archaeologist Christian Albertsen offered to continue searching the area on behalf of the local West Zealand Museum, believing there was more to be found – and he turned out to be right.

The some 2,000 gold spirals that were found have been dated as originating between 900-700 B.C...

Here is the link for the rest of that article.

http://www.thelocal.dk/20150708/danish-archaeologists-make-huge-bronze-age-find

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Unlike our state archaeologists, who seem to think that everything 40 years old is important enough to protect from the citizens of the state (and that is reflected in our laws), some in archaeology have actually questioned the idea that any and every item having a little age is actually archaeologically important.

William Baker, in a chapter he wrote for a book bearing the title Maritime Archaeology, actually points out that "most relatively modern unidentified ship finds" are of no importance to anybody other than what might be salvaged and sold.

You might want to take a look at this preview of his chapter, which is entitled The Technical Importance of Shipwreck Archaeology.

Here is that link.

http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-1-4899-0084-5_3#page-1

I think I had the entire chapter online one time but can't find it now.

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Well, like I said, conditions aren't good, but you will find some stuff at the swimming beaches these days.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

6/24/15 Report - Captain Martinez and Crew of the Capitana Still On The Treasure Trail. Great Finds!

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

There they are.  That is a super bunch of reales, and if you look down around the middle of that bunch you'll see an escudo.

Congratulations to Captain Jonah Martinez and the crew of the Capitana!  Really great job!

Who said it has all been picked?

Treasure is still there.  The problem for beach hunters is getting to it.  We can't use blowers so we'll have to wait until Mother Nature uncovers whatever is out there and kicks it up.

Stormy weather is the time for beach hunting, and calm weather is the time for the treasure salvors.

These guys are already having a great year.  Who knows what's next?

You can see every denomination of reale there.

The escudo is a one-escudo.  The other escudo was incorrectly reported as a two escudo.  It is also a one-escudo.

Dan sent me the correction saying, The gold coin that we recently found is also a 1 escudo. Same as the first. And the 51 silver reales and gold coin was our earlier finds. Two day total.


Great two days, for sure!

It would be fun to study the entire group.

Below are close-ups of the escudo.   All of these photos were sent by Captain Jonah.

The Capitana Busy Finding Treasure.

You can't ask for flatter water and bluer skies.  Beautiful day for finding treasure.

Artifact and Escudo.

Bet that gave a screaming signal.

Thanks Captain for sharing your great adventure with all of us.

The Treasure Coast beaches are about as poor as I've ever seen.  Nothing real promising in the forecast either.

I've been doing some experimenting and scouting.  I can't wait for a something to move some sand.  I'm ready.



Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net