4/3/20 Report - Alternatives to Metal Detecting. Putting Treasure Back. Hoard Uncovered. Seeking and Finding: The Necessity.

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

Tool - Possibly Paleo.

Photo submitted by JamminJack

4/4/20 correction: I originally described the above item as an archaic point, but JamminJack tells me it is close to six inches long so could be an axe or something else and may be paleo.  Also, it was found by Jack's buddy.


Some people have been doing other kinds of hunting since the beaches have been closed.  I received the following message from JamminJack.

I have been getting back into arrowhead hunting. The field was plowed last week, and was able to find two bags of flint and two archaic period points during one day visit.

Crockpot Shard.

Find and photo by JamminJack.

Today my buddy was already out and found the scraper (not shown) just as he was going back to his car. The scraper is close to 5 inches. 

Small Bottle.

Find and photo by JamminJack.

I found the ceramic crockpot piece and small bottle. Bottle about 2 inches...

Good signs for metal detecting too.  This is obviously a site that was populated or visited by different groups for quite a while.

I know I have that exact same bottle somewhere.

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Underwater archaeologists have returned 52 pre-Hispanic ritual objects to the place where they were found: the bed of one of the two crater lakes of the Nevado de Toluca volcano.

Members of the underwater archaeology team at the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) deposited the mostly spherical and conical resin objects on the bed of the Lake of the Moon earlier this month.

The objects, believed to have been made by the Matlatzinca people between the 13th and 15th centuries and placed in the lake by pre-Hispanic priests, are stored in a specially-made container that allows water and sediment to flow over them. As a result, they are protected from deterioration.

The trove of objects is the first in situ underwater archaeological archive in Mexico, according to an INAH statement. The decision to preserve the objects in their place of origin complies with recommendations in the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage...

Here is the link for more about that.

https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/archaeological-objects-deposited-in-lake/

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While removing the floor of the church in Obišovce near Košice, the foundations of the old church were uncovered. After this discovery, the archaeological company Triglav conducted research that took place at the beginning of February 2020, the Regional Monuments Board Košice reported.

During this work, the archaeologists discovered a unique treasure trove of coins, kept in a ceramic mug and covered with a small stone slab, under the original stone floor close to the western entrance of the church.

The hoard consists of more than 500 coins, most of them mining salary plates. The silver coins were wrapped separately, probably in linen clothing. The coins date the treasure to 1702 at the earliest...


Here is the link for more about that.

https://spectator.sme.sk/c/22359500/archaeologists-unearth-treasure-in-obisovce.html

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Even when they don't yet see it, treasure hunter's know there is something good out there to be found.  Treasure hunter's by nature must be optimistic.  Not only do they believe that there is something good out there to be found, they also believe that it can be found, and they can do it.

You might have misinterpreted something I said.  It happens, but I never meant to imply that we should not take the threat seriously or that any individual should not be responsible in every action.  It is just the opposite.

I believe that men are not only created with inalienable rights, but they are also created with  minds capable of finding wonderful solutions.  Humans are creative.  That is how they have survived and thrived.

Yes there is evil - great evil, but eventually, through great vision, effort and hardship, mankind generally wins.  Innovators do not blindly accept authority.

You might call me an optimist.  I am a treasure hunter in some small way, although my seeking is not always limited to objects.  Sometimes my seeking is in the stars, or in the thought-ways of the mind.  I like astronomy, and I like thinking.

Some may think we will fail.  I think there is a better way.  I believe that there are ingenious solutions waiting to be found.  I believe in tirelessly seeking those solutions and, remaining open to alternatives ideas, always believing that we can do it, and knowing that we have not only survived in the past, but also improved.

I encourage striving and seeking the smarter and better way.  Thinking is the ultimate weapon.   We can not simply accept fear, sloth, inertia and blind dependence, but must always seek the better solution - the better way.

I seldom believe that what I am told or where I am is the end of the matter.  I  tend to believe that there is usually another and better way to be found, and I believe that it can be found, but only if we believe and strive.

 ---

The Treasure Coast surf predictions have changed a little.  Now Sunday should see something like a 4 - 6 foot surf and Sunday, a 5 - 7 foot surf.   That isn't quite as much as was predicted a few days ago.

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

10/29/18 Report - Eerie Eelie Beach. Some Small Erosion. Not Kang Hsi, Oxidation on Nice Mercury Dime.

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

John Brooks Beach Sunday Afternoon.

The surf wasn't large but the wind direction was good so I went out to take a look at the beaches yesterday.  Often when a front comes through you'll get a little cutting.  As you can see from the photo above, there was a little erosion.  The surf and tides were high, so the cut was low on the slope. The sand in front of the slope was fairly soft.

The weather was beautiful, and on such a beautiful Sunday afternoon, you'd expect to see a lot of people, but there were very few people at the beach.  Evidently the Red Tide was still keeping people away.

I felt a little respiratory irritation, but not as much as at Jensen Beach a couple days ago.  There were a few dead fish and eels.  

I didn't know there were eels in the lagoon until the I saw some dead ones over there recently.

John Brooks Beach Sunday Afternoon.

Notice how the water is washing up onto the beach here was at about a thirty degree angle.  That was directly below a cut and was the cause of the cut.  

Frederick Douglass Beach Sunday Afternoon.

Above is the view looking south from Frederick Douglass beach.  As you can see there was less erosion there.  The depth of the foot prints also shows you that the sand was soft there.

Fort Pierce South Jetty Beach Sunday Afternoon.

There was a nice cut south of the Fort Pierce Jetty.  Unfortunately that is all renourishment sand.  

Notice the steep slope in front of the cut in the distance.  That is down near the old picked-over wreck.

For such a beautiful day, it is a shame that people weren't able to enjoy it more.

---

Blue and White Beach Shard.

If you were walking the beach and found this shard, at first glance you might think Kang Hsi.  If you've seen much Kang Hsi, a closer look will show that it is something else. Take a look at the broken edge.

Edge of Shard.

The paste is not as white and fine as Kang Hsi.  This paste is more coarse and not as hard.  But that isn't all.  The top layer of blue sits on top of the surface.  Kang Hsi has a transparent layer and the blue penetrates down through that layer.  I think I've shown that before.

---

1942 Mercury Dime.

This is an old find that I decided to experiment with.  I'm experimenting with methods of removing the black oxidation.

Close View of Oxidation.

This dime was probably in excellent shape when it was lost.  The date and lettering is still very nice.

It is very rare to find a nice silver coin on a salt water beach that isn't badly damaged.

--

We'll have some more north wind, but the surf won't pick up until late Tuesday.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/14/18 Report - Treasure Coast Finds Beautifully Displayed. Escudos and Silver Cobs At Auction. New Weather.

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

Very Nice Display of Treasure Coast Finds.

Finds and photo by Terry S.

I recently asked people to send in pictures of displays they have created to show their finds.  Terry S., a very well known Treasure Coast detectorists, sent in photos of displays that he created, including the one shown immediately above.

Here is his description of the items.

Top to bottom. Latch believed to be 1715, a 1/2 reale, 3 fishing weights, a silver trade cross with the image of a candle on the lower half. This stands for the light of Christ and was used to trade with the natives. A lead bottle cap, a silver ring believed to be old, ships spikes, a musket ball, two pieces of kangki blue & white porcelain 1715, two prehistoric  horses teeth and a megalodon sharks tooth. 

Terry also said,  I enjoy your blog and read it every day. Well done!

Thanks for sharing Terry.  That is one beautiful treasure display!

Notice the variety of types of treasure featured in this display.  

I hoped that by showing various ways of displaying finds, it would encourage others to do something nice with their finds.  Terry's is a very beautiful example, but I'd like to get photos of all kinds of displays, even if they show only one or two items.  Sometimes a single find can be displayed very nicely by itself.

I'd like to receive a photo of your favorite find or finds displayed.

----

The current Sedwick Coins auction begins with thirty-two 1715-Fleet escudos.  There are a few that already have bids.

The auction also includes a number of heavily corroded silver cobs like those you might find on a Treasure Coast beach even though they are from a variety of other wrecks.  Being in less than excellent condition, they are also less expensive.  

If you are hunting for cobs on the Treasure Coast beaches and you haven't found many yet, you might want to look through lots 1777 to 1871 just to become more familiar with the kind of cobs you might  expect to find.

Auctions are very educational.  I recommend that you browse the catalog.

---

The most read blog post of the past month is the following:

http://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2015/05/52815-report-unique-beach-treasures.html

It isn't a recent post, but got a lot of attention recently.

---

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

I was surprised to see some new activity on the weather map.  The system at about 80W is at about the same location where Michael formed.

We'll have to watch those systems.  It is late in the year but still very warm.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

3/22/16 Report- Kangxi Seal and Treasure Coast Shard. Shirley Temple's Blue Diamond.

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

Shirley Temple Blue Diamond Auctioned
Source: CNN

(CNN)Got a spare $35 million? This blue diamond ring owned by a bouncy, curly-haired child star could be yours.

Sotheby's is auctioning the 9.54-carat ring it says belonged to Shirley Temple, the movie star-turned-diplomat who appeared in films such as "Bright Eyes" and "Curly Top."

The cushion-cut stone was a gift from her father in 1940, Sotheby's said in a statement. At the time, she was 12 and her movie, "The Blue Bird," had just premiered...

For the rest of the article 

http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/20/entertainment/shirley-temple-ring-auction-sothebys/

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Kangxi pot shards are sometimes found on the Treasure Coast beaches. I've shown some examples in this blog in the past.  I've also shown the mark that identifies such porcelain.  That was not too long ago.

You can see a piece found on a Treasure Coast beach by going to the following linked post.

http://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/search?q=kang+hsi

Here is a picture of that piece.

Sample Kang'Hsi Shard That Was Found on the Treasure Coast.

The spelling varies.  Sometimes you will see it as Kang'hsi

Kangxi (4 May 1654 – 20 December 1722) was the fourth emperor of the Qing dynasty the first to be born on Chinese soil south of the Shanhai Pass near Beijing, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China from 1661 to 1722 (Wikipedia)

Sotheby's will be auctioning the Kangxi seal shown below.

Bearing the inscription “Revere Heaven and Serve thy People”, the Seal of the Mandate of Heaven is the largest and most powerful ever carved for the Kangxi Emperor, the greatest and longest reigning monarch of China. The Mandate of Heaven is the philosophical tenet that Heaven granted emperors the right to rule based on their ability to govern and their righteousness and was used throughout the history of China to validate and legitimize the rule of the emperors. During Kangxi’s reign, the seal was at all times kept in the Palace of Ultimate Purity, where emperors entertained and a major venue for their policymaking...

Here is the link to the Sothebys video about the seal.

http://www.sothebys.com/content/sothebys/en/news-video/videos/2016/03/kangxi-history-power.html

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On the Treasure Coast we had a north wind this morning that shifted to east later, but only a two to four foot surf.  I hope to get out to take a look some day soon.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/13/16 Report - Lots of Sand on Treasure Coast Treasure Beaches. Orange Sand. Grinding Crust. A Shard.

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

John Brooks Beach Yesterday Afternoon.

Its baaaaaack.  I'm talking about the sand.

I looked at four treasure beaches yesterday afternoon and each one had a lot of new sand on it.

Turtle Trail, which I've  been talking about a lot, has so much newly accumulated sand that the blue bags that were exposed a few days ago, are now completely covered again.  The black sand had disappeared too.

South of Turtle Trail Yesterday Afternoon.

The other beaches were similar.  There was a light beige new sand on all of them, and the beaches were now convex.

It is always helpful to have some rocks, stumps, posts or anything that you can use to judge the changing level of sand.

There weren't any shells to speak of either.

North of Seagrape Trail Yesterday Afternoon.

John Brooks, Turtle Trail, Seagrape Trail and Wabasso beaches all looked very similar with tons of new light beige sand.

The beach front at John Brooks was firm.  I dug a hole to see what was underneath.  In the first foot there was nothing but more of the same sand.

Wabasso Beach Yesterday Afternoon

I don't think I posted this shard yet.  It was found about a week ago.

I tried a different way to remove crust from heavily encrusted objects.  I used a grinder, like you would use to sharpen tools.  It worked well for removing the bulk.  Of course you should be careful to not hit the object inside.  This method is pretty fast.

I intended to take pictures of the orangish sand that was uncovered at Turtle Trail in recent weeks, but it got covered up again.  The old sand was showing below the renourishment at the bottom of the cliff.  It was also seen under just a few inches of sand on the beach in front of the cliff.

That older sand could have been the source of some of the finds.  If not, it was certainly a sign that a lot of the renourishment sand at that location had been removed.

The other beaches were not eroded down to the old orange sand, and as far as I know, were not producing.

I hope you took the time to take a look at the thesis I mentioned yesterday.  It contains a wealth of great information, including a lot about armaments.

The surf on the Treasure Coast is now down to 3 - 4 feet and will continue decreasing until it is down to 1 foot by Sunday.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/24/14 Report - More On The Mystery Find. Metal or Ceramic? Smooth Surf For More Days.

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

Another Picture of The Mystery Object.
Find and photo by Robert H.

Mystery objects, or what I call "whatzits," can be a lot of fun.  You can learn a lot while doing the research to figure them out.  I've already learned some things from this one.

If you didn't see the pictures of this object that I showed in yesterday's post, take a look.

The first thing that struck me is what appears to be an ornamental design that you can see in the top picture of yesterday's post.  I'd never noticed that on an olive jar before. 

Then Robert told me something else.  Here is what he said.

I was also very convinced it was some sort of pottery but now I'm not so sure. On the CTX it gives off a silver reading and tone. I scratch tested it when I got home. 3 different corners. It all seems to be metal but I could be wrong. I'm thinking pewter or bronze possibly. I would say it was 8 to 9 inches or more deep in the sand. It gave off such a nice strong signal the whole time. Could be the shape the reason why it sounded like it did. I've found gold rings that have sound like silver items or copper/zinc pennies or reading on the detector. All depending on the different metals alloyed. I guess the real question would be how does bronze or pewter react with my detector.

Interesting!  The new picture, which I posted above does appear to show a metallic shine on some of the edges and corners.  He said that It gives a silver tone on the CTX.   Now, like Robert, I started to think it might actually not be a sherd.  But then I got some more good information.

William B., who has been working on the Capitana for a couple of seasons, provided some great  information.  Here is what he said.

I work on the Capatana out of Sebastian. Regarding the shard ...  most of the olive jar pieces found on the 1715 fleet wrecks will ring on a detector, as will ballast stones. They obviously have some metal content, probably iron.  I have only been diving for 2 seasons but I have found hundreds of pottery shards and I have never seen a pattern as the one posted by Dan. Also, it looks a little too thin to be an olive jar shard.

Thanks much William.

OK.  So now I don't know if it is pottery or metal.  It evidently gave off a detector signal, but I just learned that olive jars shards found on the 1715 Fleet wrecks can cause a detector signal. 

I guess the signal could be the result of mineral deposits, such as leached iron, or maybe he signal is from clay or paste bearing mineral deposits or something that was added to the paste. 

It could also be something in the glaze.   Iron glazes, for example,  are common and have been used for centuries.

When I first learned that the piece emitted a detector signal, I wondered if there might actually be something embedded in it - possibly something being smuggled.  That seems very unlikely.

Even if the piece is a type of pottery, it does not appear to be an olive jar, since according to my reading, and more importantly, William's experience, it would be rare for an olive jar to have such a decoration.

So at this point, I don't know if it is pottery or not, but if it is a piece of an olive jar, it definitely seems to be an unusual one.  Maybe it ornamentation was applied later, or maybe it was manufactured as some other object or type of container from the beginning.

It is always more difficult to identify an object from pictures when you can hold or test an object for yourself.

Even though we haven't yet solved the puzzle, I've learned a few things in the process.

I love hearing the thoughts and opinions of the many knowledgeable readers of this blog.  I didn't mention all of the excellent comments that I received relevant to this object in this post.

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On the Treasure Coast we'll have a smooth surf at least until this weekend when the surf might be a touch bigger.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/23/14 Report - Very Interesting Mystery Find. Gold Band Found. Buckle Found. New Blog Poll Posted.

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



Find and photos by Robert H.

Here is a very interesting find made by Robert H.

Notice the design shown on the top picture and the ridge and groove shown in the bottom picture.

Robert would appreciate any ideas about the piece.  If you've seen a piece like this before or know of some good references, let us know.

Great find Robert!  I'll do some looking.

Other Side of Same Sherd.

One good book that might be helpful is John Goggin's The Spanish Olive Jar; An Introductory Study.

I'm not saying this is a Spanish olive jar, but just that these references might be worth checking.

Below is one very good link for information about Spanish olive jars.  It is from the book Pottery From Spanish Shipwrecks 1500 - 1800, by Mitchell W. Marken.

It is a preview of the book and is limited to one chapter or so, but it is a very good chapter.

Again, if you have any thoughts on this sherd, let us know. 

Here is the link I mentioned above.

http://books.google.com/books?id=-4q8LQ4WA90C&pg=PA41&dq=isbn:0813012686&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q&f=false


And here is another good link.

http://www.academia.edu/8566480/Sean_Kingsley_Michael_Decker_and_Ellen_Gerth_Rome_in_Spain_Spain_in_the_Americas_Amphoras_Olive_Jars_and_the_Economics_of_Long-Distance_Trade


This is the type of thing that can be found during a calm surf after a period of rough or high water. 

Added Later:  It appears the object might not be a sherd at all.   Gives a metallic reading on the detector.

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Steve from Iowa is in the area and hit some gold.  Here is what he said.

Arrived for my annual Christmas visit and checked out one of my local
spots. Pretty much sanded in. I noticed up the beach an area that looked
flat as if the beach had a slight fold in it so I decided to give it a
try. Shortly after I began detecting I got a whisper of a signal and dug
it. I spread the sand out with my foot and before I could swing the coil
over it I caught a glint of gold. Picked it up and lo! It was man's fat
gold 14 karat wedding band. Ten minutes later I found another ring, this
time an old junky one. It proves your point to check out those out of the
way areas. I'd never gone up there, so it paid off. Thanks for all your
great advice.

Thanks for writing Steve.






Nice Dug Buckle
Find and photo by Dan B.

Yesterday I showed a Masonic ring found by Dan B.   Have a look if you didn't see that.

Here is another nice find from Dan B.









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As we come to the end of 2014, a slow year for sure, it is a good time to look back and find out what people were finding.

I posted a new blog poll.   As always, your participation is helpful.

-----------

For those of you who wrote with get well wishes, my back is improving quickly. 

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On the Treasure Coast we'll have one more day of two-foot surf and then we'll get a few days of slightly increased surf, though nothing that I'd expect to significantly change beach detecting conditions.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@Comcast.net

11/22/14 Report - Big Waves On Treasure Coast But Beach Detecting Conditions Rating Stays At Level 2. A Few Beaches Are Eroded. Olive Jar Shard Found.

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


I took a look at a good sample of the treasure beaches this morning to see what was going on.

Wabasso Beach This Morning Just a Little After High Tide.
 

Wabasso Beach was among the most promising of the beaches that I saw this morning.  I did a little detecting to check it out.  Most good targets, including mostly modern era coins, were down the slope a ways from the cut.  The cut was not a long cut, but was about a foot or a little more in some areas.  It might be worth checking at low tide.

Seagrape and Turtle Trails had almost no erosion.  In fact it seemed to be accumulating for the most part.



Turtle Trail This Morning Just After High Tide.



Sea Grape Trail Looking South This Morning Just After High Tide.



John Brooks This Morning Near High Tide.

John Brooks was still cut and the waves were bigger now but most of the erosion there happened back Tuesday or Wednesday when the front first came through and we had the North winds.  The higher waves have not done much of anything since then.

The wind has now shifted and the waves are hitting pretty much from the East along theTreasure Coast.

There was scattered rain along the coast this morning too.

The wind and waves will be shifting soon and the waves will be hitting more from the South.  That is something important to watch.  The sand will shift, filling or making new cuts, as the waves hit at different angles.

Pepper Park was not cut at all.

Treasure Shores and Golden Sand are closed.  They decided to do beach renourishment just before the winter erosion season.   I guess they don't want the new sand to stay more than a few weeks.

November is often a good treasure detecting season.  You might recall the much talked about and celebrated Thanksgiving storm when a lot of treasure washed out of the dunes.

The peak months, from my experience, are November through February.


I'm not changing my Treasure Coast Treasure Beach Detecting Conditions Rating.  I'm sticking with a minimal 2.

A few beaches account for the 2 level rating,  Many have no erosion at all.

The waves are crashing on the shallow sand on the front of the beach.  That area will have to change to uncover the old stuff.




Olive Jar Shard.
Find and photo by William M.

William M. found a piece of olive jar a few days ago after the front first came through.  It matches the olive jar neck that he found before.

Congratulations William!

This lighter stuff will show up first.  Look through any big shell piles.


Expect up to about a six foot surf Saturday and Sunday.  Unfortunately the wind direction will be coming more from the South, so I'm not expecting much more improvement.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@Comcast.net

 

5/13/13 Report - Calusa Pot Shards, AT Pro First Find & Backyard Detecting

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

Check Stamped Pot Shard.

Two days ago I mentioned a book, Culture and Environment in the Domain of the Calusa, edited by William Marquardt, University of Florida, 1992.   Totally available free online.  I gave the link too.

When I mentioned that book two days ago I referred to the chapter on   shell artifacts.  I also wanted to mention the chapter on Calusa pottery.

To the right is one example of a pot shard shown in the book.

I saw one very much like it laying on the surface in plain sight right beside the road when they were doing construction on Indian River Drive.  When I first saw it I wasn't sure what it was.  It didn't look like a shard at first glance, more like a piece of bark or something.  It did catch my attention though, and on closer inspection I could tell what it was.

My point is that you will from time to time see such things laying in plain sight.  If you read through books like the above, you'll be prepared to recognize them when you do see them. 



William M., who has made a lot of really nice old detecting finds from the 17 or 1800s and who has one great Native American pot shard collection, got a new detector the other day.   He said,  I just got my Garrett (AT Pro) yesterday and walked across the street domain my house along the C-24 canal this morning to start practicing with it.

The area is full of iron trash...my first decent signal was a penny which I got some practice pinpointing on.. beautifully simple on that machine.... the very next non-iron target was silver! LOL.

Thanks for sharing William.

William didn't get real excited about this find, but I wanted pass along the story simply because it is instructive.



William's Second Good Signal
With His New Detector.

What I want to point out first is that phrase "across the street."  Sometimes we overlook places right under our nose.  Sometimes we think there won't be anything there and never look.  It is always worth taking a look at those places in our own back yard.  You never know what you might find but will some times be surprised.

Even if there isn't anything really nice there, it is worth finding out for sure.  And when you don't find anything any good, at least you increased your experience level and it didn't take a lot of time.

I often detect my own yard.  Even today and even though I've done it many times before.

I don't really expect to find anything worth while.  I've been over it many times with different detectors and think I've found most everything, yet occasionally I get the urge to take out my detector and check.  I always find something.  Not anything good.  And never have I found anything gold or even old there, but I always manage to find something.  Poking a little further under this or that, or working through some trash.  It can be a good way to push your technique and your detector to the next level. 

Hunt those overhunted areas occasionally just to see what you have to do to get the remaining whatever it is that is still there.

Hunt those real junky areas too, especially when they are in your own back yard.  It only takes a few minutes to walk out the door with your detector.  Learn to work through junk.  That is one thing most people don't really know how to do too well because they always try to avoid it.  It will teach you about masking and how to sift through junk most effectively.

There are places out there that have a lot of good targets remaining simply because most people won't try to work through all the junk.  Learn how to do it and then do it and you'll be surprised what you can find.

Burnt down cabins, sheds or whatever will be covered with iron junk.  Learn how to work through it and you'll have some good hunting that most people will simply pass up.  You might not find anything much good, or you might.  In any case, you'll KNOW what is or is not there, and most likely you'll learn something else in the process. 

I know one place in the Keys where I always stop and detect if I am in the area.  Lots of people pass right by there, but very very few people ever detect there.  It just doesn't look any good.  It is muddy - deep mud that you sink in up to your ankles every step.  It is weedy.  It is ugly.  There is very little reason to believe much of anything good will be found there, but every time I've stopped there to detect for a few minutes I've found a gold ring.

As surprising as it may seem, you can find very good hunting spots on old beaches that are overlooked by almost everybody even in big metropolitan areas that can become your own little honey hole.

A lot of good detecting sites will be overlooked by the vast majority of detectorists.  That's one reason they are still good. 

Trash and other obstacles can hide treasure.  Many treasures have a dragon of one sort or another that guards them.

I used to have a saying that I often repeated in regard to detecting.  Here it is.  If you don't want to do it, do it.   That is for those of you that are real hard core.  And I do have to state some exceptions.  Don't follow that advice when the reason you don't want to do it is because of morals, law or safety of self or others.  Otherwise you'll often find it good advice as it relates to metal detecting.


The surfing web sites say that we can expect a calm sea today with a surf of down around only one foot.  And just a tad more for the next few days.

If that is actually what happens, it might be a good time to get into the water of work the low tide area. 

Hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day.

Time flies. Make the most of it.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

7/5/12 Report - Couple Recent Treasure Coast Beach Finds

Broken Iron Spike

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

Despite the recent lack of erosion and sandy conditions around most of the Treasure Coast together with the smooth seas, you can still find an occasional shipwreck item.  Treasure coins are very scarce.

I'm showing a couple recent possible shipwreck finds today.

First is what appears to be a piece of a large broken spike.  It was very heavily encrusted.  I was curious enough to see what I could learn about this one that I took the crust off almost immediately.  My usual practice is to let things sit for a while before doing much of anything.  Sometimes I'll have an idea about how to proceed.  This time I removed the crust right away to see what was under there.

The second item is a shard of some sort.  The material looks very much like pot shard except for one thing that seems unusual to me.  The shard seems to be made of two distinct layers.  You can see the layers in the second photo of that item.

This is the type of thing you can find simply walking around and keeping your eyes open.  No detector needed.



Looks Like a Straight Edge Along Right Side



First off, it is a different shape from most beach post shards.  It is not shaped like a jar or container.  It is thinner than the olive jar shards that I've seen.   It seems to have an edge and the inner layer does not go all the way to what I think was the edge of the object.  Otherwise it looks like there were two layers to most of the object.

I'm thinking maybe it was rectangular and maybe decorative, but I'm stuck on the idea that the two types of material were intentional and functional.  Of course I don't know that.  In fact, it might not be very old.  I've never seen the two layers on old shipwreck pot shards before.

Inner Layer Except Along Straight Side

If anyone has any ideas about why this was made in two different kinds of layers, please let me know.  Maybe they just ran out of the original batch of material and finished with another kind, but I don't think that it is. 

There has been a dramatic increase in the amount of coin forgeries of all types by the Chinese.  Even grading agencies are having trouble detecting the new forged coins.

Here is the link to that story.

http://www.numismaticnews.net/article/cracking-down-on-fakes




It looks like we'll have flat seas again today.  The next couple of days, it might be a little rougher - up a foot or two, but nothing significant.

Low tide is around four o'clock.  Winds calmer today.

I'd expect a good number of recent drops today.  Also a good bit of fireworks trash.

You might want to hit the bathing beaches today.


Happy Hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net