5/23/15 Report - Cluster Hunting and A Strange Coin Hole Containing Hundreds of Coins In One Small Area.

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

Jensen Beach This Morning.

I've been thinking of talking about cluster hunting and today provided a good illustration.

The first thing I normally do on a beach after looking it over and checking any spots that might look especially promising is run a loose scan with the intent of finding any clusters or hot spots.  I'm not so much interested in single finds as I am interested in finding clusters such as coin holes or coin lines.

To find a cluster first run a very loose pattern over large areas.  If you hit one good target then you can check to see if it might be part of a cluster.

Well, I  went to the beach this morning.  There were a few thunder showers in the area but I didn't think it would last and was prepared anyhow.

Not seeing cuts or any signs of hot spots, I quickly ran a loose scan over a hundred yards or so.  I  didn't hit a single coin until I came to a spot where it sounded like there was either something very big or a bunch of items.

When I started to dig, I found shiny new coins.  There were more and more.  At first I thought it was a spill, but then it got bigger than what I thought a spill would likely be.  By the time I quit I dug nearly 300 coins, which were distributed in an oval shaped area no bigger than fifteen by thirty feet that ran from near the water line to near the high tide line.

It seemed like it was too big for a spill, and if a coin hole, it was the most dense coin hole that I've ever seen on the Treasure Coast.  The coins were often so close that several would sound like a single large item.  The detector I was using isn't great on target separation anyhow.

I just realized that I probably should have switched to non-motion mode.  I don't know why I didn't think of that.  I guess I got too caught up in trying to figure out the hole.   Nearly three hundred coins packed into a small area and most of them, especially the first hundred or so dug close to the water line, looked like recent drops.

At first I thought there were only nice new coins, but as I moved up the slope some of the coins closer to the high tide line were encrusted or discolored, looking like they had been there a while.

I was thinking about leaving the coin hole without finishing it because the coins were so new looking that I didn't think there would be any gold there, but the coins were packed so close together that I was curious to see how many there were.  And I wanted to figure it out.  That is why I stayed as long as I did.

Beach Where the Coin Hole Was.

I couldn't see any beach features that would explain why the coins accumulated at that one spot.

Was it a spill?  Who would spill 300 coins?  But then there were some encrusted coins in with the new coins, so maybe it was a genuine accumulation.  I was curious and puzzled.

There was one wheat penny.  It didn't look like it had been on the beach long though.   Maybe it was a recent drop too.

Part of The Coin Hole

The coins were so close together that sometimes two or three would come up in one scoop.

I filled the holes several at a time as I went from water line up the slope.

Some of The Coins Dug This
Morning Just After Being Rinsed Off.

The coins appeared so new that the accumulation couldn't have taken long.  The hole was so dense that it appeared to be a spill, but the spill was bigger than a normal spill.

I found a cluster of some sort.  Not all clusters are the same though.  Some clusters contain old coins and things.  Some clusters contain gold.  This one showed no signs of gold and little evidence of older items.

I don't know the last time I dug continuously for hours in wet packed sand, but I was getting tired.

Finally I think I figured it out.  What I think happened is a few days ago, but not long ago, a beach wedding took place and people threw coins instead of rice wishing the married couple prosperity.

Maybe they weren't interested in fertility. :)

Or maybe it was something else.  I'm pretty sure now that it was not caused by natural beach processes.

That is about the only way I can account for 300 coins so closely packed without much movement of sand.

One of my main points today is that clusters are not all the same.  Some are not worth the time.  Those that contain older items or those that have accumulated over time are more promising.

While I dug these these coins I only dug one piece of junk - a beer bottle cap.  That is amazing too.

If you know of any traditions or anything else that could account for this strange cluster, let me know.

The surf on the Treasure Coast will be increasing a bit - up to near five feet or so next week.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

5/11/15 Report - Treasure Coast and Other Florida Beach Conditions. Good Ships and Travel Web Site.

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

Jensen Beach This Morning Near Low Tide

This photo shows a beach where some sand has moved.  At the bottom of the picture note the dip in the shallow water.  At the top left, note the sand bar.

The light sand between the two people (one is just a white dot) at the top left is where the sand was scooped out to form a shallow cut.  You would expect to find coins there.

That sand got washed into the water to add to the sand bar.

These days I'm happy to see features like those.  It means that things at least got shifted around a little.

You can easily read a beach like that and know where to spend your time.

Jensen Beach Looking South

The second photo was taken from near the same spot only looking the other direction.  There are not as many interesting features in that direction.

Another Beach On South Hutchinson Island

Here is another beach.  It was featureless.  I much prefer to hunt a beach that has distinct features.

That photo also shows where someone got married this weekend.  May and June is a time for a lot of beach weddings.

While our beaches are only producing modern items, I keep hearing about the St. Augustine beaches and the beaches up a little farther north where Ana caused some erosion.

Here is a good article on St. Augustine's disappearing beaches.

http://www.gulflive.com/news/index.ssf/2015/05/florida_coast_sea_rise_threate.html

Ana was the earliest tropical storm since 2003.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/TROPICAL_WEATHER_ANA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-05-09-06-21-18

It looks like there were good crowds on the Treasure Coast beaches for Mother's Day.  I hope you and your family had a good one.

Mother's Day has a surprisingly complex history.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/05/150507-mothers-day-history-holidays-anna-jarvis/

Here is an interesting web site that you might want to take a look at - Ships and Travel in the 18th Century

http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/~vaucher/History/Ships_19thC/


I ran into a good coin hole this morning.  Lots of coins.  Only one piece of gold though.

I define a coin hole as being roughly oval shaped, while a coin line I would say would be at least five times longer than wide.

The coin hole that I found this morning was on a convex beach front near the water.  It wasn't the most obvious spot.  Shells were just under the sand.

I'm not expecting anything for the Treasure Coast other than a one or two foot surf for a couple of days.

Sea Weed On Bahia Honda
Photo submitted by Dan B.

Thanks for this photo from the Keys Dan.  Seaweed like that can be a pain if it is where you want to detect, but you can sometimes find things tangled in seaweed such as dollar bills or chains.  It is worth looking.

The good thing about reading about the erosion up north is that it reminds me that it is only a matter of time until we finally get ours.

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I heard from some people interested in the opportunity I announced yesterday concerning diving on the 1715 wrecks with Captain Jonah.   If you didn't see that, you might want to go back and take a look, but the captain will be doing the selection and you need to contact him at the phone number provided.  Read it carefully before calling.  This is for one full time position.

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Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/9/13 Report - Nice Ring Found and Returned, Boxes of Gold Coins & More

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

Found by Michael E. Recently on a Treasure Coast Beach.
Submitted by Michael E.
Story below.

I'm very proud to be a part of the metal detecting community.  Things like the story that I have for you today is the reason. 

It actually happens much more than you probably know.  Lost valuables and sentimental items are found everyday. Often they are returned without any fanfare or recognition.  Often no one knows about the happy event but the person that lost the item and the person that found it.  The exchange takes place right on the beach where the item was lost.

Just being out there on the beach with a metal detector, people approach you and say I just lost something, can you find it for me.  Often it is found (not always right away) and returned.  I've returned everything from gold rings and chains to eye glasses and car keys.  I've been asked to look for dental retainers and false teeth.   I even was once able to find items that allowed an entire business that was brought to a screeching halt to open again.

All of that would end if metal detecting was no longer permitted.  Valuable rings and sentimental items of all types would remain lost.   Tourist would be stuck away from home without their eye-glasses, or stranded somewhere without their car keys.

If the loss isn't yours, you might say ho hum, that's just too bad.  That isn't what one of this blog's readers said when he was able to return a valuable and sentimental ring that was recently lost on a Treasure Coast beach.  I'm talking about the rings shown in the picture at the top of this post.

I also received a photo showing Michael with the smiling family that received their lost ring again.   I'd post it if I had the permission of the family.

Bernie and the St. Lucie Metal Detecting Club helped to bring the family and the ring found by Michael together.

Here is what Bernie said.

A Wedding ring was found last week on a local beach by club member
Michael E. I was contacted by Jose and his wife to help find their
lost wedding ring. After talking to Jose for a while and finding out
where it was lost I remembered that Michael had found a ring a week
earlier at the same beach.

 Jose emailed me a photo of the set and sure enough it was the ring
Michael found. I contacted Michael and told him the story. He was very excited to get in contact with Jose & his wife. Michael got together with the family and returned the ring on 8/9/13. A great ending to a great find.

Thanks to both Michael and Bernie for making this happen.  The media should pick up on this story.

Michael hasn't been detecting for real long time but has recovered 16 rings this July.  Way to go Michael!

Contact Bernie at twiprod007@gmail.com for information about the club meetings, hunts or events.


Here is a good story about a garage that was being cleaned after the passing  of a recluse and boxes of gold coins were found.  The coins sold for millions of dollars.

http://news.yahoo.com/gold-coins-nevada-recluse-sold-auction-3-1m-234611945.html

Did you notice that the article said that in the collection 20 or so of the gold coins were identified as counterfeit before the auction.  Counterfeits are very prevalent these days.


I already have another great story for you for tomorrow.


On the TreasureCoast today, nothing much has changed.  The wind is still from the east/southeast.  The surf is still running around two feet.  Expect current conditions to continue for at least a few days.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net