1/1/15 Report - Happy New Year! First Beach Day of the New Year. Viking Finds.

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



Silver Viking Cross
Source" Archaeology.org linked article.

More and more of the big archaeological stories that I read include a note stating, often very inconspicuously, that the discovery was made by a detectorist.  Those discoveries attributed to detectorists are most often made somewhere other than the US.  I would not be surprised if the laws and attitudes towards detectorists in the US are a factor. 

The story about this Viking silver cross is just one example.  The article began as follows: Metal detector enthusiast Derek McLennan found a hoard of more than 100 Viking artifacts on land owned by the Church of Scotland.

Here is the link for the rest of the story.

http://www.archaeology.org/news/2620-141014-scotland-viking-silver-cross

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In 2008, workers digging trenches for electrical cables in the tiny island town of Salme uncovered human bones and a variety of odd objects that they unceremoniously piled next to their trench. Local authorities at first assumed the remains belonged to a luckless WWII soldier, until Konsa arrived and recognized a spearhead and carved-bone gaming pieces among the artifacts, clear signs the remains belonged to someone from a much earlier conflict. Together with a small team, Konsa dug a little deeper and soon found traces of a boat’s hull. Nearly all of the craft’s timber had rotted away, leaving behind only discolorations in the soil. But 275 of the iron rivets holding the boat together remained in place, allowing the researchers to reconstruct the outlines of the 38-foot-long craft.

http://www.archaeology.org/issues/95-1307/features/941-vikings-saaremaa-estonia-salme-vendel-oseberg


If you are wondering about the relevance of these discoveries, there are often very useful clues in articles like that.  For example the discovery described in the paragraph immediately above was made while electrical cables were being buried.  How often have you seen something like that while driving around town?  Did you think about what might be uncovered?  Did you think about returning later with you detector?

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I took a look at the beach this morning before low tide. It was a little different than yesterday but not a lot.

There were scallops, as you can see.  The biggest cliff was about three feet at one beach and about one and a half feet at the other beach.

There were few targets but I found my first coin of the year, a zinc penny and first jewelry, a pendant.

Here is a video showing the surf and beach.

A Couple Treasure Coast Beaches This Morning Before Low Tide

The above photos show beach conditions this morning.   The sand in front of the cuts was mushy.  Very few targets there.

It was still rainy.  Not many people were on the beach this morning, just a few people fishing.

Happy New Year,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

7/27/13 Report - Beach Finds, Coin Downloads, Biggest Year for Shipwreck Discoveries, Dorian & More

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



Mystery Encrusted Object.
Photo by William M.

As I said yesterday, people are seeing interesting things along the Treasure Coast beaches, but no cobs or treasure coins.  A good number of fossils are being seen in with the shells, some encrusted objects and other items that tend to appear along with shells are being seen.

Here are a few photos from William M.  First is an encrusted object.  A museum is taking a look at this one.  Could it possibly be a hand guard?  That seems like one possibility.

Below is a connector that was found in the same hole as an olive jar neck.

Those are the kinds of things that are being seen on the Treasure Coast beaches right now.


A couple of days ago I also showed a 18th or 19th century button that showed up on one Treasure Coast beach recently too.

Thanks for the photos William.


As I often repeat, when beach conditions are not right for one kind of item, it is good for another.  Right now we are seeing these types of items that tend to go along with shell piles.

Old Connector
Photo by William M.

It appears that Dorian, much like Chantal did, is falling apart.  Now predicted to take a more southerly track, it is expected to reach Cuba as only a depression.



What do you think was the biggest year for important shipwreck discoveries?  I know that is a hard question, and probably impossible to answer, but one candidate has to be 1985.

From the online archives of People Magazine, December 1985, is this brief article mentioning three big shipwreck discoveries that year.   The discovery of the main pile of the Atocha, which occurred on July 20, 1985, and the Titanic and Whydah, both of which were found in 1985.

Below is the link to that People article.

http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20092640,00.html


The Numismatic News web site offers some very useful free downloads including a visual guide for grading circulated coins and another guide for handling and collecting coins.

Here is the site where you can get the downloads.

http://www.numismaticnews.net/



One waitress found $5000 in a diner booth and another woman found $20,000 along the side of the road.  Both women found the owners and returned the money and received a reward.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/26/georgia-waitress-jennifer-shaw-returns-money_n_3653696.html


Today's the day.   Most everybody knows that phrase and its role in treasure hunting.  The People article says that Mel Fisher said that almost every working day for 17 years.


In a very general sense, everyday is indeed the day.  Today is the only day you can grasp and work with.  It is the time at hand - it is where you make decisions and take action.  It is there to be used well or poorly.  The past is over and the future isn't here yet. 

If you take the phrase how I think it was meant - expecting that long-awaited big find - it seems to me that it was wrong hundreds of times before it was right.   But no matter if it is right or wrong, it represents a useful attitude.  It is the mind set of an optimist.   It enables a person to keep going with enthusiasm even when the odds are very long against you. 

A good positive attitude can be very helpful.   It is too easy to give up if you don't have a positive attitude.  Pessimists don't last long in treasure hunting.  And it would seems to me that pessimists struggle unnecessarily with life.

One way to maintain a good attitude is to have smaller goals as well as a large one.  Take pleasure in the little things as well as the big.  Don't define success too narrowly. 

Appreciate the little things in life.  The sun, the wind, the rain, the feel of sand between your toes, the relief of being in the water on a hot day, etc. 

Count your blessings.  Make it a habit.

Take advantage of obstacles and failures.  Learn from them.  Turn them around.  

Optimism leads to success, and success leads to optimism.   

Did someone need that today?  I thought about not posting it, but felt like I needed to.


Here is the new projected track of weakening Dorian.

Beach detecting conditions remain unchanged so far.  Most beaches are sandy and many have a lot of shells.

The ocean is smooth this morning.  The surf will be increasing up to a peak of about 2 - 4 feet Wednesday, and according to the predictions, decreasing again.

It looks like nothing is going to shake the beaches up for a while.


The poll is progressing nicely.  I hope the results will show our government officials the importance of detecting to the public and its impact on the region.

Thanks for responding.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

6/24/12 Report - Debby Headed Towards Texas & Find Actually Millions of Years Old



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



Sea Weed Covered Beach Before Low Tide Yesterday



I took a look at a few different beaches yesterday just to see what is going on.  They all looked pretty much the same.  There was a good bit of sea weed on all of the - some more than others.  The photos show that variation.  The one beach was pretty much covered by sea weed.  I understand it can be used as fertilizer.

There were also a good number of shells on the beaches -  again more on some beaches than others.  Unfortunately the shells were mostly small and broken pieces.  Not very good for either the shell collector nor the person that inspects shell piles for other goodies.

Both the sea weed and accumulation of small shells indicates building rather than eroding beaches.  Not a good sign for the detectorist.

The water was gentle - definitely smooth enough for the water detectorist, but murky.  Visibility near shore was poor.  The sea weed would also be a nuisance for both the beach and water detectorist.   Not to mention those little irritating pests that float in the sea weed.  A wet suit or some other  protection is recommended.

On the beach fronts in the accumulating sand, there were a variety of lighter targets, such as iron or aluminum, that got washed up with the new sand.  I've discussed before how it is really not weight that is important, but rather density and shape that influences where you will find objects on a beach, but I say light or heavy instead, simply because it is quicker, and I think you generally know what  I mean.

Another Beach Near Low Tide Yesterday Afternoon

I also recently mentioned that there are some dangerous sharp objects on some beaches now.  On one beach that doesn't have many targets of any kind, I dug a foot-long piece of barbed wire.  I don't know where that came from.  I haven't seen any barbed wire on that beach before.  While the barbed wire could possible cut you, it is not nearly as dangerous as those broken pieces of steel cable down at Walton Rocks.  Be careful of sharp objects that may appear on any beach.

I made a mistake the other day when I mentioned a possible age range for the horse magnum fossil that I showed.  Fred D., the fossil expert that often helps me to identify found fossils, indicated that I was not even in the ball park, for the age of that fossil find.  Instead of thousands of years, I should have been talking in terms of millions of years. 

Here is what Fred D. said.  The Pliocene goes back at least 5 million years to about 2 million before the present. Because of its dark coloration and degree of  mineralization, it is most definitely Pliocene. Judging by the size, it could be one of the two toed horses.

Thanks once again Fred.

Projected Path of Debby From NOAA.

It looks like Debby isn't headed towards Florida at all.  It looks like she is headed towards Texas.  That might be a good thing.  They had so much drought this year, that they can probably use the rain.

The sea is flat this morning.  It will increase a bit later in the day, but not much.

The wind is out of the south and will remain that day until later in the week, when we'll have a  few hours of a north wind, and the seas will increase up to about four or five feet around Thursday.

No change in detecting conditions expected for a few days.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net