5/16/20 Report - Metal Detecting a Couple Beaches Today. Meager Finds.

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

Wabasso Saturday Morning.

The waves had good height at Wabasso this morning.  It was nice and rainy - the kind of day I like - so I went metal detecting.  I also wanted to see if I could follow up on yesterday's finds.

Wabasso Saturday Morning.

I was hoping the beaches would improve a little, but they didn't change much since yesterday.  Most of the places I saw had more sand than yesterday.  There was one area that lost a little sand.

Turtle Trail Saturday Morning.

The bags down near the second flag pole were more exposed Saturday than the day before.  You can see that in these two photos.

Exposed Bags at Turtle Trail Saturday.

Despite the loss of sand, I didn't find much there.  Targets were scarce.

I did find a couple iron spikes and a small lead ball before quitting for the day.

Below are a couple photos I took at Turtle Trail Friday.  It wasn't looking good, yet I managed to find a few things yesterday, including the bronze spike and a lead strip.

Turtle Trail Friday.

I didn't photograph the same areas, so you can't really compare them.  In fact I almost forgot to take beach photos yesterday.

Turtle Trail Friday.

Here are some meager finds from today.  I was hoping for more beach improvement and some better finds.

Saturday Finds.

I did manage to get in some good field time.  I haven't put in a lot of time the past couple years and I needed the practice.

I used both the Equinox and ATX today.  I hadn't been using the ATX much lately and really needed some time with that detector.

Yesterday I showed some finds, including the bronze spike.  Below is a closeup of the crust on the spike.  I just thought it was colorful.

Encrustation on Bronze Spike.

And below is the void where a dissolved iron object had been.  I think I might be able to make a mold of that to recreate the shape of whatever was in it.

Crystal Filled Void in Corroded Iron Lump Found Yesterday.

Overall, I got in some much needed field time and got reacquainted with my ATX.  It seems if I don't use it much for a while, it takes me a while to get back in tune with it.  It is very different from the Equinox.  I wish I had more targets today so I could get a better comparison on the two detectors under real field conditions.

Seagrape Trail was still closed today.

I didn't get to look at many beaches, but it looks like this weather system didn't do a lot for us, and I think it is probably about over.

Oh, I forgot, I did manage to luck onto a modern gold band, but that isn't the kind of thing I was looking for today.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

Will have to take a different approach as we get into summer conditions, but hopefully we'll have some nice storms that stay offshore and cut the beaches without doing much property damage.

Happy hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/29/20 Report - Spikes Found. Diving Neanderthals. Columbus and Caribs. Searchable Database.

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

Spikes Found Early Last Week.

Here are some spikes I found last week.

Shipwreck spikes?   Nope.

They are railroad spikes.s

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Neanderthals went diving for shells to turn into tools, according to new research, suggesting our big-browed cousins made more use of the sea than previously thought.

The study focuses on 171 shell tools that were found in a now inaccessible coastal cave in central Italy, known as the Grotta dei Moscerini, which was excavated in 1949. Dating of animal teeth found within layers alongside the shell tools suggest they are from about 90,000 to 100,000 years ago – a time when only Neanderthals are thought to have been present in western Europe.

The tools had previously been thought to have been formed from shells collected by Neanderthals from the beach where they had been tossed by waves. But now experts have peered at the shell tools through microscopes, revealing many do not show the wear and tear that would be expected from such a fate, such as the presence of barnacles or marks on the shells...

Here is the link for more of that article.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/jan/15/neanderthals-dived-for-shells-to-make-tools-research-suggests

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Christopher Columbus’ accounts of the Caribbean include harrowing descriptions of fierce raiders who abducted women and cannibalized men – stories long dismissed as myths.

But a new study suggests Columbus may have been telling the truth.

Using the equivalent of facial recognition technology, researchers analyzed the skulls of early Caribbean inhabitants, uncovering relationships between people groups and upending longstanding hypotheses about how the islands were first colonized.

One surprising finding was that the Caribs, marauders from South America and rumored cannibals, invaded Jamaica, Hispaniola and the Bahamas, overturning half a century of assumptions that they never made it farther north than Guadeloupe.

“I’ve spent years trying to prove Columbus wrong when he was right: There were Caribs in the northern Caribbean when he arrived,” said William Keagan, Florida Museum of Natural History curator of Caribbean archaeology.  “We’re going to have to reinterpret everything we thought we knew.”

Here is the link for more about that.

https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/carib-skulls-boost-credibility-of-columbus-cannibal-claims/

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I started talking about Kang Hsi porcelain and other pottery and then got off on some other things, but you might find the following web site helpful if you pick up shards.

It is the Florida Museum of Natural History pottery database.

https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/flarch/blog/new-searchable-guide-to-florida-pottery/

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I thought that blog Followers might get notice of new posts, but someone said he didn't think so. 

I have some topics that I need to address, but they'll have to wait until some other time because they are fairly complex and it will take me a while to get them put together.

For now,
Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

11/21/19 Report - Lot of Modern Coins On Some Treasure Coast Beaches Despite Lack of Cuts. Shipwreck Survivors Repurpose Spikes. Ancient Village Found.

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

John Brooks Beach Thursday Morning

I took a look at a few beaches this morning on South Hutchinson Island.  They all looked pretty much the same.  No cuts anywhere.

Blind Creek This Morning.

The beaches seemed to be back towards the west a little but were smooth and fairly mushy in most locations, with some firm spots, mostly near the water.

Walton Rocks This Morning.

I found a lot of modern coins scattered over two beaches - maybe thirty or so, and a ring.   I'm often surprised by how much is out there.

I wasn't much interested in finding modern change but thought there might be something more interesting since there were so many coins.  The coins were packed closely together though.

One thing about when there is a lot of targets, even if they are junk targets, it tells you something about the distribution of things.

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Here is an interesting story from a web site I don't know much about.

I’m now convinced that if you want to find the remains of ancient civilizations, the fastest, surest way to do so is to start building a road. Anywhere will do. Just grab that shovel out of the old shed, say out loud “I am now building a road,” and start digging. Chances are you’ll find a 10,000-year-old village. It just keeps happening.  Either that or a school, but a road is easier for a single determined person with a shovel.

The latest ancient village discovered accidentally is in Northampton, Massachusetts. Construction workers excavating a site for a new roundabout discovered arrowheads, spearpoints, knives, and other tools. A private archaeological company, Archaeological and Historical Services Inc., was called in to excavate and analyze the site. Experts now believe that the site dates back to the early archaic period between 8,000 and 10,000 years ago. According to senior archaeologist David Leslie, sites from this period are “incredibly rare,” and this site represents a discovery of importance to understanding the development of the region.

Here is the link for more of that story.

https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2019/11/construction-workers-find-incredibly-rare-remains-of-8000-year-old-village-in-massachusetts/

Thanks to Dick H. for that submission.

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A few days ago I was talking about broken shipwreck spikes.  I provided my thoughts why so many were shipwreck spikes were broken.  Ron J.  referred me to an article, Search for the Lost French Fleet of 1565 (Canaveral National Seashore 1970-1971, by Douglas Armstrong), which says that spikes were saved, modified and used by shipwreck survivors.  That certainly makes a lot of sense and might account for bent, broken or otherwise modified spikes. Below is a brief excerpt.

It seems clear these spikes were being modified to make tools needed for survival or trade, including hammerheads, points, awls, chisels, and drills. In addition to tool making, these metalworkers were also making jewelry, almost certainly for trade, as they appear in styles (pendants, beads, plummets, etc., many fashioned from reworked French coins) that would have been appealing to the local Indians.

Image from John De Bry
as shown in OceanExplorer.noaa.gov link below.

And below is the description of the items shown in the photo above.

Iron artifacts recovered from the Armstrong Site that were salvaged from wreckage and modified by 1565 shipwreck survivors. At left, there are four examples of ship’s fastener heads which have been cut from their shanks by saw or chisel. Many examples were found, and they for the most part represent debitage from tool making using a forge and tools. Some could have been meant to form hammer heads by insertion into the striking face of a wooden mallet. At right are partially intact ship’s spikes. Each displays clear evidence of using a forge to heat and then tools such as saws, hammers, chisels, anvil, and clamps to remove stock iron for use in constructing new tools. 

And here is the link.

https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/14lostfleet/background/survivor/survivor.html

It could certainly be that some of what I thought were broken spikes were modified by shipwreck survivors to create tools or other useful items.

Thanks to Ron J. who hopes to get in some good metal detecting when he arrives in Sebastian from Stuttgard Germany in a few days.

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Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

11/5/19 Report - Charles II/Carlos Half Reales and Monograms. Lapstraked Ship Construction. Modest Surf and Tides.

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

Here is an interesting half reale.  It shows the Charles monogram, which, if you've found many half reales on the Treasure Coast, you've probably seen.

This reale was part of the intenet only session of the Sedwick Coins auction that concluded Monday.

Included in that session were some of the more common and less expensive lots, such as this one, which sold for $122, not including the buyer's premium.

Here is the lot description.

Mexico City, Mexico, cob 1/2 real, Charles II, assayer not visible. KM-23. 1.41 grams. Teardrop shaped, F/VF with weak cross but defined monogram.

I suppose the most interesting thing about this one is the clear monogram and the unusual shape.  It would probably make a nice pendant.

Below is one that I found on Treasure Coast beach showing a distinctive monogram as it would appear on a half reale minted by the Mexico mint.

1715 Fleet Cob Showing Part of Carlos Monogram

It is often easy to identify a Carlos monogram even when you only can see a small part of it.  One of the features that you'll see on Mexico minted examples is what looks like a fish hook on the end of the C.  Being near the center of the monogram and being very distinctive, it is often all you need.

In the example below you can see a part of the C and a big part of the A, you can also see the assayer initial that looks like a C, but would be a G, which would be Geronimo Bercerra.  That would indicate a date range of 1666 to 1677.

Partial Monogram Mexico Half Reale Cob Found on Treasure Coast.

Below is another Carlos half reale that sold in the most recent Sedwick auction.

Source: Sedwick Treasure Auction No. 26 Online Catalog.

This Potosi minted example is partially dated - something unusual enough for a half reale.   You'll notice that the style of the monogram is different than those seen on the Mexico minted Carlos cobs.  I find the Mexico monogram more aesthetically pleasing.

The Carlos monogram as shown on the Lima, Mexico and Potosi minted half reales are different for each mint.

Here is the stylized monogram that you would see on a Lima minted Carlos half reale.

Stylized Carlos Monogram For Lima Minted Half Reale.

Tomorrow I'll post a link to a video that shows how you can tell the difference between Lima, Mexico and Potosi minted Carlos half reales.

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A few days ago I was talking about broken shipwreck spikes from the Treasure Coast and discussed my theory on why so many are broken.  Here is an illustration that I think suggests how easily they could be broken.

Diagram Showing Lapstraked Hull.

Source: DIYWoodBoat.com

You can see how planks would be attached to the frame by clinched or roved spikes.  If you consider how all of the planks are attached to the frame, it seems that there would be a lot of broken spikes when the planks are ripped off of the hull.

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DJ sent this photo of the Seagrape Trail beach yesterday afternoon.

Seagrape Trail Area on Monday Afternoon

Photo by DJ

Thanks DJ!

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The tides are very flat now.  We're not getting much of a low tide at all.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

Looks like we still have a chance for an increase in the surf next weekend.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.netC

11/1/19 Report - Variety of Dug Spikes and Some Thoughts On Why and How They Are So Often Broken. Higher Surf Today.

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

Broken End of Bronze Spike

The discussions of Troy's find made me wonder about broken spikes.  I started to look at the ends of some broken spikes to see what the ends looked like.   And then I started to wonder why so many of the spikes we find are broken.

Like I said yesterday, I couldn't find the specific examples I wanted but had plenty of others.   Here is a broken bronze spike.  As you can see, the broken end is just a little irregular.  I don't know how much it got smoothed down by the years in the surf, if much at all.

Below is the other end.  It appears that is the head. although there is not much of one.

Head End of Broken Bronze Spike.

Broken iron spikes appear sharper, although they are often encrusted and some of that roughness might be created by electrolysis or cleaning.

Uncleaned Encrusted Iron Spike.

It seems to me that iron spikes are often heavily encrusted - more than bronze spikes.  I found the one above when looking for a similar one that I already cleaned.

Double-Clinched Spike and Broken Iron Spike.

The iron spike on the right in the photo above is a broken iron spike that has already been cleaned.  You can see how sharp the break is.

Bronze is stronger than simple iron, but weaker than carburized iron.

It is amazing to me that so many spikes break like that.

Here is a bronze rod that broke in two places.

Opposite Ends of Spike Broken Twice.

One end of the broken bronze rod shown immediately above is very smooth while the other end is more irregular - more like I would rightly or wrongly expect.  The end shown on the left is kind of scooped out.

Bronze is more dense and brittle than iron, and iron is more easily bent.  It also melts easily in a pot over a fire, so it might get smoothed out by any burning after a wreck.

Here is the photo of spikes found by Jerry P. that I showed yesterday.

Variety of Spikes Found by Jerry P.

In the above photo you will see broken spikes that appear to be very much like the one I just posted.

In the top left grouping, you see three that appear to be broken at nearly the same length.

Shipwreck spikes can either go completely through or the end can be hidden in the wood.  Those that go through are often clenched over.

While often appearing on the boat or ship as ‘straight nails’ to finish with their ends ‘short’ or ‘blind’ within or beneath timbers; large nails—that pass ‘straight’ through frames and strakes—can be found with the projecting end bent once, to become ‘turned nails’ (single-clenched) or twice to become nails that are ‘hooked’ (double-clenched), back into the timbers. Sometimes nails are hooked over quadrilateral washers called roves. They also appear in the lapstrake or clinker form, though this tradition exhibited a once unique form of clenched fastening, the lapstrake rivet. This was a nail with its projecting end nipped off after it passed through the strakes, to be peened or deformed over a rove.*  

*(See http://www.maritimearchaeology.com/information/reference/fastenings/)

Back to my original question, "Why are so many dug shipwreck spikes broken and how does it happen?"

Notice the two-piece bent spike in the upper left of the illustration of Jerry P's spikes.  That might provide a clue to one way spikes get broken.

I made a little illustration using Jerry's photo.

How Spike Can Get Bent When Two Beams Pulling Apart

The illustration above shows how I think a spike might get bent and broken by beams pulling apart either during wrecking or salvage.

I think the most likely breaking point is at the bottom of the straight segment.  It might break there either when the beams pull apart or later after being exposed.

Below is another image of a bent broken spike.

Bent Broken Spike.

Here is another way I think spikes might get broken.  Some spikes are clinched spikes.  They are bent over where the point protrudes from the wood.  I think a clinched spike might tend to break where it was bent over, perhaps when the bottom piece of wood gets pulled away.

Some spikes are doubled clinched.  I showed one of those above.  That one did not break at the bend, but the head was pulled through instead.

If you look at the double clinched spike, it looks like a weak point has been formed at the end of the vertical straight segment.  It looks like it could easily break there.


Here are some excellent thoughts on the subject by Joe D.


I am guessing that spikes could break, and bend for several reasons!

#1- Ships wrecked, and breaking up!

#2- Removal for salvage by sailors or Indians, twisting the boards apart on shore!

#3- Heating from ship's fire or, being worked!


Troy's item could have been repurposed after breakage, or just "sea polished" after years in the ocean! The few spikes i have are from an 1800's wreck aren't quite as smooth as his!

All conjecture of course!

Thanks Joe.

If you have an additional thoughts on how and why so many spikes get broken, let me know.

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The National Hurricane Center map is showing a little activity.

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

Could we get aThanksgiving storm like the legendary storm of 1984.  Some chance, but very slim.

Today we should see a higher surf and the wind coming from the north for a short time.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

The tides will be decent too.

Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

10/31/19 Report - A Variety of Nice Finds From Brevard and Indian River County. More on Spikes. Bigger Surf Coming.

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

Items Found At Radar Site at Melborne Beach by TM

Photo by TM.

I received an email from TM and photos of some of his finds that came from Brevard and Indian River Counties.


I’ve been detecting the south Brevard and north Indian River county beaches for about a year and a half now.

Found many items and try to clean my share of trash up.

Just thought I’d share a few things. 

Also I really enjoy the treasure beaches report.

TM's finds included those in the photo above and the four following photos.  Each is labeled with the location of the find.  Really a nice and varied group, including some really great finds.

Ring Found North of Bonsteel Beach.

Bracelet Recently Found Near Seagrape Beach Access

Clovis Point Found North of Sebastian Inlet.

Congratulations TM. Great finds! Thanks much for sharing. The Clovis point would be somewhere around ten thousand years old. Now that is an old find. From Wikipedia: The Clovis culture is a prehistoric Paleoamerican culture, named for distinct stone tools found in close association with Pleistocene fauna at Blackwater Locality No. 1 near Clovis, New Mexico, in the 1920s and 1930s. It appears around 11,500–11,000 uncalibrated radiocarbon years before present at the end of the last glacial period, and is characterized by the manufacture of "Clovis points" and distinctive bone and ivory tools. Archaeologists' most precise determinations at present suggest this radiocarbon age is equal to roughly 13,200 to 12,900 calendar years ago. Clovis people are considered to be the ancestors of most of the indigenous cultures of the Americas. You might enjoy reading more about the Clovis culture. Here is a good link. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-clovis-point-and-the-discovery-of-americas-first-culture-3825828/ ---


The past few days I talked a little about Troy's chisel or spike find. At this point, I think the overwhelming consensus is that it is a broken spike. That is my opinion and the opinion of others that I've heard from. If you think about it, I suspect there are hundreds of shipwreck spikes out there for every old chisel. I've discussed some of the reasons for concluding that it is a spike, and posted some of the reader's thoughts that I've received on the subject. I just received an email from Jerry P., who also believes the find is a spike. Jerry also included some photos of those that he has found.

Spikes Found by Jerry P.

Photo by Jerry P.

Notice in particular the broken spike that looks very much like Troy's. I still haven't found the particular examples I was looking for. I wanted to take a close look at the break. I did look at the break on some others. I don't know how good the photos are yet. I haven't uploaded them yet. Also, notice the bent one. I plan on talking more about how they get bent and broken in the future. What do you think about that. I have some ideas, but I'd think it would take a lot of force to break a spike like that. I hope to talk about that more in the future. How do you think spikes get bent or broken? Troy sent me a closer photo of the top of his find.

Find and photo by Troy C.

That gives a better view. Thanks Troy. I was going to upload some photos that I took but found out I have to recharge the camera battery. First the upload utility was giving me trouble, and now the battery runs down. Sheesh. I get back into that topic, maybe tomorrow. One thing I've noticed, especially with broken bronze spikes, is how smooth the break can be. --- I'm just going to tell you about the surf instead of wasting any more time trying to upload the image. Expect a 4 - 6 foot surf on Friday and Saturday. You'll have to look it up yourself. I also asked TM if he could provide any more info on his finds. Happy hunting, Treasureguide@comcast.net

10/29/19 Report - Seagrape Trail Beach Today. Conquistadors Explore Catawba Territory. More on Chisels, Spikes and Screws.

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

Seagrape Trail Beach Tuesday Afternoon.

Literally just in.  I received these photos from Seagrape Trail from DJ as I was in the process of posting.

Thanks DJ.

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About 450 years ago, Spanish soldiers on an expedition from Florida took over the native Catawba town of Joara, about 60 miles East of Asheville. 

Fort San Juan is the earliest known European settlement in the Southeastern US, established about 40 years before the English arrived in Jamestown.  That made Spanish the first European language spoken in Appalachia...  

https://www.bpr.org/post/exploring-southern-appalachia-conquistadors-and-catawba#stream/0


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I hoped to find a way to easily tell if an item might be a chisel or not.  I failed.

From what I've determined, chisels are typically flat on one side of the point and angled on the other, like the wood-working chisels shown below.

But there are chisels for working materials other than wood, such as hot metals and stone.  Among the chisels meant for working stone, there are bull-point chisels, for example, which are angled on both the top and bottom.

While I'd expect wood-wood working chisels to be most common on centuries old sailing ships, there could be other types for black-smithing or mining.

Who was it that said "The more I learn, the more I don't  know?"

I'd also expect wood-working chisels to have handles, which, like spikes, could also be broken off.

I planned on getting close-up views of several spikes and chisels, but couldn't find the ones I wanted to photograph when I went looking for them.

John C. sent this photo of a broken spike with the email message I posted from him yesterday.

Broken Spike Find.

Find and photo by John C.

At this point, I'm still thinking that Troy's find is more than likely a spike rather than a chisel.

Let me know if you agree or disagree.

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Jerry P. sent me the following email and photos.

What a great post on screws! There's no coincidence that I find a lot of screws on the beach adjacent old shipwrecks. So much so I had to purchase Witold’s book yeas ago and it definitely solidified it for me. If you don’t know don’t throw, these old screws are shipwreck history and excellent artifacts!! 

Old Screws Found by Jerry P. Along With A Copy of  Witold's Book on Screws and Screwdrivers.

Thank Jerry.  Of course they can also be good clues for the detectorist.

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Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

10/28/19 Report - Wabasso Beach. Chisels, Wedges and Spikes. How To Date Screws? Mystery Item Positively Identified.

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

Wabasso Area Beach Sunday Afternoon.

Photo by Scott B.

Along with the beach photo shown above, Scott B. sent a picture of an old screw he found in that general area about a month ago.  The screw is just under two inches long.  He wondered how long screws have been around.

Old Screw Found by Scott B.

Thanks for the photos and question Scott.

Witold Rybczynski's book on the history of screws and screwdrivers, One Good Turn: A Natural History of the Screwdriver and the Screw, says screws as we know them with threads and heads shaped for a driving tool used to attach two pieces together were used as far back as the 15th century.

On what I believe to be some of the oldest screws that I've found, you can tell that the threads are irregular, unlike those on more modern machine made screws.  The next time I run across one of those I'll try to remember to take a good closeup photo of the threads.

According to an article in AntiqueTrader.com handmade old handmade screws started out pretty much like square nails. 

... But the form used for the screw was a more or less round shallow depression into which the top of the shaft was hammered flat, producing a screw head. The slot for the bladed screwdriver was cut with a hacksaw.

So far so good. We’ve got the column and the head but what about the ramp, also known as the worm or the threads? Lacking a cold hardened steel die with which to cut the thread, the craftsman had to cut it himself by hand. This was usually done in laborious fashion with a file. When the smith had the length he thought was needed for the job, he simply cut or snipped the threaded shaft.

This entire hand-done process leaves a multitude of clues on the handmade screw, just waiting for our inspection. Starting with the top of the screw, the head, evidence of handwork is abundant. In most cases the head is not perfectly round and is not centered perfectly on the shaft. The hand cut slot is seldom perfectly centered on the off-center head. Below the head, on the smooth portion of the shaft above the threads, is the most likely place to find areas that still show a flat side of the original iron nail stock. This portion of the shaft is almost never totally round or totally smooth.

But the most obvious clue to the handwork is the thread. The pitch, the angle of the thread to the shaft, will vary considerably from thread to thread as will the depth of the cut into the shaft that produces the thread.

The edges are often flat since they were filed into shape, and the tip is invariably blunt since the smith just cut it off. And the overall shape of the entire screw is cylindrical rather than tapered, as is the case in modern screws. Because of the individual nuances and variables in the handwork process, no two handmade screws are identical.

Screws with these characteristics were produced until early in the 19th century. Around 1812 a machine was introduced that made screws on a lathe but the War of 1812 slowed its distribution and development. After the War, the new machine went right to work, turning out virtually identical screws with sharp even threads, but the heads still had to be hand forged and the slots were still cut with a hacksaw, producing slight variations caused by this last bit of handwork.

These new machine-made screws also resembled their ancestors in that they were still almost perfectly cylindrical and had a blunt tip.

The introduction in 1848 of the completely machine-made gimlet screw, with a tapered shaft and a pointed tip, marked the beginning of the modern era in screw production.

Source: https://www.antiquetrader.com/articles/furniture-detective-screws-give-valuable-clues-when-in-search-of-antique-furniture-origins/

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Yesterday I posted a find made by Troy C.  He thought it might be a chisel.  Here it is again.

Item Found by Troy C.

I asked for opinions on the find, and John C. wrote the following.

Possibly a bronze spike, Just missing the head, It's very hard to find an intact spike of this size, usually 5 1/2 to 6"in, They seem to be very brittle,  Most of the ones that I've found over the years are Broken, midway, Or 3/4, But occasionally they do break at the head, as shown in the photo. One thought is, Maybe Someone attempted to removed the spike from a plank, many years ago when much of the wreck was still somewhat intact and only removed the head in the process?

I think John could be right.  The tip doesn't look like it is shaped to remove material.  It is pretty blunt now, but it does look to me like the tip was intentionally angled both up and down at the same angle.  The shape isn't graduated like I'd expect of a wedge.

In the small amount of research I did, I found that it can be more complicated than I expected.  That is often the case.  The more you learn the more complicated it becomes.  For example, there are hot chisels and cold chisels.

Hunker.com presents the following distinction between hot and cold chisels, which might not be as familiar as wood-working chisels.


A cold chisel is a metal working chisel with a solid, hardened steel cylindrical shaft about 6 inches long. The tip is shaped to about a 60-degree angle on both sides to form a wedge-shaped point. It is is designed to cut steel and other metals that have either not been heated or have previously cooled down. The chisel is typically used in conjunction with a steel hammer, such as a ball-peen hammer, or 3-pound sledge.

A hot chisel is exclusively used in blacksmithing. It is used to cut and shape red-hot steel pieces. Since heated steel is many times softer than cold steel, these chisels are not typically hardened or tempered. They are of roughly the same size and shape as cold chisels, but feature a blade that is cut at a 30-degree angle, making them virtually useless for other cutting tasks.

The tip on Troy's has an angle on both sides.  It would be nice to be able to take a close look at the  head to see if you can tell if the head looks like it was broken off or if it has been struck as you'd expect of any chisel that has been used at all.

If it looks broken, I think I'd lean more in the direction of Troy's find being a broken spike, but I'm still wouldn't be certain.

Thanks John!

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I posted a mystery object yesterday, and DJ positively identified it.

Here is what he found.

Helena Rubenstein Lipstick Case.

Photo submitted by DJ.

That is what it is for sure.

One thing that was confusing me on this one is that I couldn't get it open.  Now I know how it is supposed to open so maybe I'll be able to get it open without breaking it.

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Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net