8/2/17 Report - New Distrubance Forms In The Gulf. Using Patterns and Technologies for Finding Detecting Sites. Device You Will Want To Have.

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

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

It looks like the Gulf is starting to produce a lot of weather.  We now have a new disturbance in about the same area that Emily formed.  At this point it only has a small chance of becoming a cyclone in the next 48 hours, but that is the way Emily started too, and Emily formed very rapidly.  Emily is no longer a tropical storm and is headed out to sea.

There is another disturbance out in the Atlantic, but it is too early to be too concerned about that one.

Expect another week of one and two-foot surf.  The tides aren't big now.

AFTERNOON UPDATE:  Emily and both of the other disturbances have now disappeared.

---

When I post links, they usually provide some type of clue or lesson.  That is definitely the case with the next article.  Here is a brief excerpt.


...So Stirn set out to develop a model to predict the location of more, similar villages.

He first determined all of the main traits that the newfound villages had in common — namely, that they were positioned on south-facing, sunny slopes near whitebark pine stands above 3,200 meters in elevation....

I often talk about patterns: weather patterns, beach dynamics, coin distributions, etc.  There are signs or clues to the location of treasures.  It is all about increasing the probability of success by understanding patterns.  

You might occasionally find something by wandering around randomly ( the blind hog occasionally picks up an acorn ), but you'll be much more successful if you recognize the signs or clues and patterns.  Treasure doesn't just fall out of the sky, it ends up where it is found as the result of human behavior and the laws of nature.  People are somewhat predictable, as is nature.  

Patterns can be complex, especially when it comes to treasure, and we seldom get the whole picture, but the more you understand the patterns, the better you will do.

In the article that I am referring to, several signs predicted the location of Native American villages that were previously unknown.  The newly located villages were located on south-facing slopes that were sunny, above 3200 meters of elevation near stands of whitebark pine.

There are signs or patterns that will help you located all kinds of things, such as metal detecting sites, shipwreck sites, coin holes, good jewelry beaches, etc.  I've talked about all of those things in the past.

The particular pattern that you will be looking for depends upon the kinds of sites you want to find and the types of treasures you are hunting.

The article was talking about Native American sites, but there are more general lessons that you can take from it.  Here is another excerpt.

Then, using Landsat satellite imagery, Stirn and his colleagues identified whitebark pine stands in the northern Winds that best fit their model’s description.

Ancient village sites were discovered in Wyoming after scientists predicted where the would be found based upon site characteristics...

They used Landsat satellite imagery to locate the village sites after they knew what to look for.  As I mentioned in a recent post, you can use webcam images to survey beaches, and you can use other internet tools such as Google Earth to locate good detecting sites.

When you make a find, observe where it was found.  Ask yourself why the item was there, how it ended up where it was found, and what are the clues or signs that might have led you to believe that it might be there.

Here is the link to the article I've been talking about.

http://westerndigs.org/thirteen-prehistoric-villages-discovered-in-wyoming-mountains-may-redraw-map-of-tribal-migrations/

---

This is an inexpensive device that I've used for a lot of years.  It still works and is very handy.

It is a battery tester and works on batteries of various sizes.  If this one ever quit working I'd get another right away.

---

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

7/28/17 Report - One-Ton Coin-Cache Found by Couple Detectorists. Slow and Systematic Does It. Microchiping.

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

Partially Cleaned Clump of 69,000 Coins.
Source: See link below.

What would a one-ton clump of coins sound like?  I don't know.  It depends upon how deep it was and maybe some other things, but whatever it sounded like, I bet it didn't sound like what most detectorists would dig.  It wouldn't show up correctly identified on any ID meter.  To find unusual things, you can't do what a lot of people do and pass up questionable signals.

What is the biggest cache every found?  I don't know that either, but this cache of coins weighed a ton and held 69,000 coins.  The cache, which was clumped together with earth, was painstakingly disassembled over a period of three years.  There were also some gold torques that seasoned the pot.


In 2012, a pair of veteran metal detectorists on Jersey in the British Channel Islands discovered a gargantuan coin hoard in a field they had been searching off and on for three decades. The hoard was the largest ever to have been found in Britain and appeared to have the potential to transform interpretations of Jersey’s history. But first it had to be moved. Just getting it out of the ground was fraught with tension. “With earth still attached, it weighed over a ton,” says Neil Mahrer, a museum conservator with Jersey Heritage. “We had no idea how strong it was, in that it was only held together by the corrosion between the coins.”

Here is the link for more about that.

http://www.archaeology.org/issues/263-1707/from-the-trenches/5641-trenches-jersey-celtic-coin-hoard-disassembly

Did you notice that they had been searching the field on and off for three decades before hitting the hoard?

---

I was reminded of the time when I was doing contract work for the Navy Air Rework Facility in Pensacola and a fellow told me he knew an old hotel site near Milton that he would take me to when work was over.  He had detected the site and not found anything of interest.

I had a detector along.  I don't remember which one, but I arrived at the site, and it looked like a battlefield.  There were holes all over the place.  Not little holes.  They were obviously dug with a shovel and the dirt was piled beside the open holes.

I detected and started finding silver coins right away.  I found tax tokens, a sterling silver plate, a gold lapel pin and some other things.

I don't know why the other fellow wasn't finding anything good.  He just watched me when I was there.  I remember him saying, you stay in one place a long time.

I guess it was true.  I didn't wander around randomly.  I visually surveyed the area and picked the spots that I thought looked most promising.

I assume he was randomly wandering, moving fast and hitting the big loud targets, which would mostly be junk.

---

This next story was all over the TV news.  You probably saw it.  Microchips are being implanted between the thumb and forefinger to hold identification and financial information.

Cash will be obsolete someday.

Here is the link.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/07/25/wisconsin-company-offering-to-microchip-its-employees.html

---

One Disturbance in the Atlantic.

This disturbance isn't expected to develop real soon.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

7/16/17 Report - A Metal Detector Beginners Observations and Experiences Plus Commentary. New Tropical Disturbance Brewing.

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

Tropical Disturbance In The Atlantic
Source: nhc.noaa.gov

There is now a disturbance that has a 20% chance of becoming a cyclone in the next 48 hours.  You would expect this to continue heading west and turning north at some point.

No significant increase in surf is predicted for the Treasure Coast yet.

---

NPR's Alex Chadwick talked with Slate contributor Emily Yoffe about her latest Human Guinea Pig experience: metal detector-ism. Subsequently Emily wrote a post on www.slate.com having the subtitle Metal Detecting Is The World's Worst Hobby. I listened to a few minutes of the NPR interview and read Emily's article.  I found the article interesting because it clearly presented the impressions of someone just giving metal detecting a try.  And as you would guess from the subtitle, Emily and her family, didn't like it at all.  You might wonder why.

First of all, the Staffordshire Hoard was one of her first references to metal detector finds that she made.  With images of such sugar plums dancing in her head, surely the reality must have been a shock after going out and finding the typical junk.  The point of that being that expectations need to be realistic.  Big treasure hunting dreams usually come true only after a lot of effort. Optimism is a plus, but patience is required.

The author of the article (Emily) called a metal detector salesman to purchase her first metal detector and told him she wanted something her seven year old could easily use and she wanted to find Civil War relics because she lived where they could hunt for those.  She was surprised when the salesman told her the seven year old would probably only want to go metal detecting one time.  That is about the way it turned out.  He also told her he had been detecting for three years (pretty much of a beginner himself) and had never found any Civil War relics.  She was surprised that a salesman would tell her something like that.

In her post she said, I started metal detecting for the latest episode of Human Guinea Pig, the column in which I do things people are curious about but wish someone else would do for them. But metal detecting was something our family actually did want to do, even without Slate's encouragement. It was my daughter's idea, actually. She requested a metal detector for her 7th birthday—she had seen a TV commercial that promised diamond rings and other amazing treasure.

Many people are curious.  They sit and watch and try to get a glimpse of what you dig, and they ask if you found anything.  Emily actually tried it, spurred on, it seems, by her seven year old daughter who was enticed by a commercial.  I guess the commercial worked to sell one metal detector, but the result was an entire family being turned off by the experience, and perhaps many more people being negatively influenced by her interview and blog post.   

She, as I suppose most beginners, was confused by the variety of detectors offered on the web.  That must be very common.  I receive a lot of questions from people wanting to get started who don't know what to buy.  

Here is something else she said that I believe people need to pay attention to.  The beep of the metal detector, like the car alarm, the busy signal, and the colicky baby, belongs in the catalog of irritating sounds. The booklet that came with my Tracker IV instructed me to study the different tones emitted by the machine so I would know the kind of metal being indicated. But I could never keep straight whether the chirp that resembled a dying sparrow meant iron or the drone like that of a truck backing up meant copper.

I agree one hundred percent that metal detector sounds are irritating.  Do they have to be so cheap and unpleasant sounding?  Most are.  Secondly, and more important, it isn't easy discriminate a lot of the sounds.  A musician might have an easier time with it than the average person.  In my opinion, that is one of the better reasons for visual displays.  (You might remember my recent post discussing aural versus visual signals.) 

After some discouragement, she consulted a neighbor who was a detectorist.  He showed a box of his finds, evidently exciting her interest to some extent again.  He did another thing for her.  She said, Phil adjusted the arm length on my Tracker IV, resulting in the immediate relief of what was becoming a debilitating case of metal detectorist elbow.  It wasn't long ago that I referred to the importance of a properly adjusted rod.

Metal detecting isn't something that someone with no experience or help can easily jump into on their own.  It is not as simple as buying a detector, turning it on and admiring the finds.

Emily's post (no pun intended) should be of some assistance to metal detector manufacturers.  It might also be of some assistance to beginners, as discouraging as it might sound.  If you are a beginner, expect to put in your time learning how to use your metal detector and find treasure.  It can be an activity that provides a world or interest and education.  Take your time to get educated before making a lot of commitment.

I personally found Emily's observations interesting.  They might be of value to both metal detector manufacturing companies and retail outlets. 

Here is Emily's blog post.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/recycled/2009/09/full_metal_racket.html

And here is the NPR radio interview here.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/recycled/2009/09/full_metal_racket.html

Happy hunting and happy learning,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

7/31/16 Report - 1715 Fleet Gold Rings Facts and Theories. Tropical Disturbance Quickly Approaching.

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

Life Rings Shown in an Illustration
Submitted to me by Darrel Strickland.\

I received some excellent information from Darrel Strickland, a very accomplished student of Spanish Colonial artifacts, concerning the rings found on the 1715 Fleet wrecks.  Darrel sent me a section of Bob Weller's book that discusses salvaged rings, including what are called "Life" rings. Weller refers to the 1999 Florida East Coast Shipwreck Project Report where the rings are discussed (pages 216-226).

Weller says his Crossed Anchors Salvage group found over 90 finger rings, mostly from the Nieves site.  In 1993, they discovered 22 gold rings on the Cabin Wreck site. He said he believed, as did most of the salvage community, that the rings were carried as cargo, as opposed to being worn by the crew or passengers of the 1715 Fleet.  The clustering, something that I used to talk about a great deal, was one of the reasons for that conclusion.

Weller mentioned "Ringsville," an area where a lot of rings were found clustered. He described  Ringsville as an area where there was "some sort of swale or low depression between the reefs."

You might find the speculated source of the rings interesting.  Weller speculated that "many of the more intricately engraved rings were made in China, traded at the Manila fair, and brought to Mexico by way of the Manila Gallions."  He goes on to speculate that the Spanish artisans did not have the capabilities during the 1600s and 1700s to carve ring designs nor cut the emeralds and diamonds found on the rings.  He did however think that some of the more simple rings could have been made in Mexico or by conquistadors or sailors with spare time on their hands.

Thanks much to Darrel Strickland for forwarding this information.

I also received the picture shown at the top of the post from Darrel with some additional information.  From that information I can tell that the Life Rings were engraved with different images than the one that was most recently found.

It seems to me that the Life Rings were customized and engraved for an individual with scenes that were especially significant for that person.  But that would not seem to fit well with the rings as cargo theory.  Of course, there could be a mixture.

You might recall my discussion of the lack of silver rings on the 1715 Fleet.  That seems to me to go along well with the gold  rings as cargo theory.  Weller does mention one silver ring, but that is not much compared to the hundreds of gold rings.   I have my own developing theory on the silver rings found on the 1715 Fleet beaches.

Here is an email Darrel sent me.

I have enjoyed your site for years. We have met on the beach before. 

I started detecting when Kip took my grandmother and I to a coin shop located in the Ft. Pierce Hotel during the late 60s. They bought me a Whites Coinmaster with the big blue rectangular box. We went to the old Colored Beach and found some coins. After that I never found one item. I was too young to understand the mechanics. I decided to stick with looking for bottles and arrowheads. It wasn't until I met Bob Weller and Jon Wilson that I decided to take this more seriously. Bob has passed away and Jon moved to Georgia. 

Growing up as a child in Ft. Pierce I knew all the Reale 8 members. Mel and Mo used to nickname me "cracker." Don't think it meant what most thought. I used to love the crackers they would serve when visiting. My grandmother, Beatrice Sisco, known as Bea, would loan them money or "invest" into their adventures. She ran a trailer park where the St. Lucie Museum is now located. Many of the divers would hang at the old Chucks and tie their boats at the old park. I assume this how they all got acquainted.

Since 1990, I began to research material for many of the infamous salvagers. It is sad that most are gone. Last year, in sync with 300th anniversary of 1715 fleet disaster, I donated most of the material to Vero Beach Library. I met Pamela when she first started there and always appreciated her invaluable time and knowledge in regards to Eugene Lyons, John Debris, Jack Haskins, Rex Stockton, Molinar, Mel and family, etc., etc., etc. These were just the few of many that I had the pleasure of meeting, researching for, or knowing. Pamela knew them and that impressed me because her responsibilities exceeded gathering material on treasure hunters and I knew it would be good hands.

It has been 50 years since my first adventure of metal detecting. Time flies and I hope that others will donate their material on ALL the local wrecks in that area before it finds it path to a trash can or just forgotten forever! 

Thanks much Darrel!

Darrel also helped, along with John Powel and Jim Baldwin, create the www.artifacts.org web site, which is absolutely outstanding.  Darrel also wrote a book on the 1715 Fleet and donated much material to the Vero Beach Library, where you can find it.  Ask Pamela Cooper at the Vero Library. She has accumulated a lot of material on the treasure wrecks.

---

No matter what you eventually do with finds, be sure to store them carefully.  Many artifacts get very brittle and break.  Many corrode if not carefully cleaned and stored.  It can be heart breaking to see a nice item break or be destroyed with time, and that can easily happen.  I was recently reading about a museum that stored historic items in old coffee cans that resulted in serious damage to the items.  Don't make that kind of mistake.

---

Two Tropical Disturbances
Source: nhc.noaa.gov

We have two tropical disturbances now.  One, having a 40% chance of becoming a cyclone in the next 48 hours is moving over the Lesser Antilles.

The surf will be up a bit this week, but just to about two feet or so.

Keep an eye on this first storm.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net