9/9/14 Report - 122-Year-Old Gravestone Found on Beach. Hoard Found by Detectorist. Tungsten Ring Markings. Laser Inscribed Diamonds.

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

This 122-year-old gravestone appeared on Ocean .  A headline or an article about that claimed the the gravestone "washed up" on the beach.

Some of those who read the article wondered how something like that could wash up on a beach, especially considering that there hadn't been any recent storms.

As we know, when things suddenly appear on a beach, it might not be because the object washed up.  It can just as well be that the item got uncovered.

An observer might notice the depressions in the sand around the corners of the stone.  The water obviously rushed around the corners, where the sand was suspended and washed away.

One thing I found most interesting about the article is the number of comments.  The discussion was pretty much what you would expect.  Some accepted the author's conclusion that it washed up while others realized that it might have been uncovered.

One person wondered why the inscription had not worn more on that beach gravestone when they commonly wear down while still in the cemetery exposed only to air.  One person found the obituary in the paper that gave details of the deceased and another located the a picture of the residence of the deceased.

The readers discovered that an old cemetery was moved and the old tombstones were used for breakwaters or sea walls and many are now buried under the sand of that beach.

It was interesting to follow the story from the misconception of the stone having washed ashore, to the discovery of the details of the deceased and to the source of the stone.

Here is the link.

http://www.missionmission.org/2012/06/04/122-year-old-gravestone-washes-up-on-ocean-beach/

And here is the article about the stones being removed and used to support a sea wall.

http://sfhcbasc.blogspot.com/2009/09/bits-and-pieces-of-san-francisco.html

You never know what will be found on a beach, and the unraveling the mystery of how it got there can be a lot of fun.

You might get more good information from comments than from an article anymore.  That is something to remember when doing research.






Here is a picture of a hoard discovered during an excavation that was being conducted on the site of an old department store.

The picture reminded me of the photo of the artifact cluster that Captain Jonah sent us a few days ago.  About the same size.

Anyhow, for more of the story about these Roman artifacts, below is the link.

http://www.eadt.co.uk/news/colchester_roman_find_of_national_importance_discovered_under_williams_griffin_store_1_3756005

Bottle collecting got popular in United States back in the 1970s.  Then a chip didn't matter if the bottle was rare. Today condition is very important and a rare bottle with a chip will auction for half what a perfect bottle brings, according to Jeff Wichmann, the founder and owner of American Bottle Auctions of Sacramento, Calif.

Concerning toys, it seems like it is the 70s and 80s stuff that is popular now.  The boomers are down sizing while the children of the 70s and 80s are now collecting.

Markings Inside Tungsten Carbide Wedding Band.

Here are the markings I found inside the tungsten wedding band.  Triton on the left.

These markings aren't like the stamps you usually find in gold.


Did you know that some diamonds are microscopically inscribed with a certification number of personal message?   You can sometimes read them with a 10X jewelers loop.  Sometimes they are covered by the setting. 

The best diamonds do not always have a certification number.  They can be buffed off.

For identification purposes, a carbon pattern is better than an inscription.


The only thing worth watching in the Atlantic is way over by Africa and still days away.

Right now we only have about a one foot surf on the Treasure Coast.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net


 

4/7/14 Report - Bad Timing, Tungsten Ring, 1715 Fleet Diamond Ring & Tips For Removing Encrustation

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

I went out today to do some volunteer sub-surface junk removal.  That was successful.  I did my civic duty.

Tungsten Mother-of-pearl Ring

As far as finds, I pretty much struck out.  I went to a place I like to hunt occasionally.  I hadn't been here for a few months.  I prefer to get there when there is a low tide early in the morning.  The tide wasn't low enough this morning for me to get to some of the areas I like to get to, so I had to settle for the remaining area.

At first it was really bad.  Nothing but sinkers. I expected some coins, but wasn't hitting any at first.

The bank had eroded but there were bushes covering everything in front of the cut so I couldn't get in there very well either.

At least you can scrap the lead or sell the sinkers if you want to.  I say it is better to pick them up and remove them than take a chance on encountering the same ones again some other day.  Might as well give a fisherman a good deal on some cheap used sinkers.

Well, it was slow going at first and frustrating because I couldn't get to the places I wanted to detect.

Eventually I started to get into the green encrusted clads.  I'll have to check them a little better because I have found some older coins there in the past, but I'll have to do some cleaning before I know if there are any older coins in that bunch.

Then I found this tungsten ring with mother of pearl inlay.  I got excited when I put my hand in my scoop and my finger slid into the ring but then I saw it wasn't gold.

I guess tungsten rings like this sell for around $100 new.  I have no idea what it might be worth used. 

They use a lot of different metals these days besides gold and silver for rings.

I also picked up this encrusted junk whatever it is.   If nothing else it will be a good extrication exercise.  Good practice anyhow.

Soaking the item first sometimes helps. 

Encrusted Object

Same Object Partially Extricated

Here is another tip for removing hard crust.  Instead of hitting it with a hammer of something (actually it is better to lightly tap rather than hit) use a pair of pliers or something like that.  I think you'll find that if you use something to squeeze the crust instead of hitting it you will have more control of the amount of pressure applied.  Squeezing is a more cautious technique and often will crack the crust just as effectively.  Don't apply more pressure than necessary.  Needle nose pliers will allow you to direct the pressure to very small areas of the crust that might look particularly weak.


Well, I didn't do so good today, but there is plenty to look at in the Sedwick Coins auction catalog.

Here is a diamond ring from the 1715 Fleet.  Sort of unusual.  The estimated value is $25,000 - $50,000.

Here is the catalog description.

Gold-and-diamond ring, 4-1/2 to 5 carats, clarity SI1-SI2, fancy gray color. 8.44 grams, size 5-1/2. One of the most impressive jewels we have ever seen from the Fleet, with 11 high-quality diamonds in a circular pattern with the biggest rectangular diamond in the center and wedge-shaped diamonds to the sides, certainly not faceted to modern tastes or standards but obviously quite clear and brilliant, the gold with crosshatch pattern on saddle but plain at bottom and inside, completely intact and undamaged, the whole item very much on par with the "Queen's Jewels" found by Bob "Frogfoot" Weller and featured in various magazines. It should be noted also that diamonds are atypical for Spanish wrecks (unlike emeralds) and jewels containing them should be considered extremely rare. With photo-certificate. Recovered from: Spanish 1715 Fleet, east coast of Florida

The lot number is 1531.   

Notice the cut of the diamonds.  That isn't how they cut diamonds these days.  You can often tell something about the age of diamonds by the cut.   Also notice how they used to set stones.  That is diagnostic as well.

There is a plain gold ring from the 1715 Fleet in the May auction that has an estimated value of  $900 or less.  


I took a look at one beach today other than where I detected.   The surf was about three feet on that Treasure Coast beach.  The tides are pretty flat right now.

The wind is coming out of the South today, but that will be changing in a day or two, but we still won't get much surf even after the change.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net