2/8/20 Report - Beach Renourishment Projects and Conditions. Spanish Colonial Finger Rings and Other Subjects.

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

Rio Mar Still Closed
Photo by DJ

Beaches are being renourished around the Treasure Coast.  Rio Mar is still closed.

Ugly Sand at Vero South Beach
Photo by DJ

DJ sent in the following report.

Went to a few beaches starting with Riomar - STILL dumping sand. SO I went to South Beach and took that picture looking south toward Sandy Point. Decided to go north to Turtle Trail. There were 7 detectorists there. One told me they thought last nights’ front might have helped. I ran into Terry Shannon there as well, always a great guy! Had very good things to say about your work, results and dedication. Only down side today was a jerk that refused to fill his holes, I have seen this guy twice now over the last two months. Did not like my asking him to be a responsible detectorist. People like this guy will ruin what little freedom we all have left to detect on a public beach. As I was leaving, ran into three more detectorists arriving. 

Seagrape looked the same as Turtle; lower beach front, lots of small shells, so I did not take a picture. Headed up to Treasure Shores. Passed Golden Sands which is still closed for more sand dumping.  Three detectorists at Treasure Shores, I walked north towards the big curve. Beach front was lower and lots of small shells kicked up from the past days southerly winds. Mostly aluminum but plenty of sneaky targets, solid signals in two directions but the result was an aluminum can end (circular) or the top ring. 

Thanks DJ.

Anyone know where the sand is coming from?  I noticed a lot of trucks going back and forth from out west.

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There is a lot of discussion about the question of silver rings on the 1715 wrecks.  Just a couple of days ago I posted a link to an article about one beach find that was "certified" by one company to be 1715 Fleet.

The subject of silver rings and their apparent absence on 1715 Fleet wrecks has been mentioned in this blog several times in the past.  Cathleen Deagan, in her book, Artifacts of the Spanish Colonies of Florida and the Caribbean, 1500 - 1800, vol. 2: Portable Personal Possessions, published in 2002,  presents on page 126 an illustration showing several  1715 Fleet rings.  One of those rings is described as a silver Claddagh ring.  Claddagh rings have remained virtually unchanged in design for centuries.  If that illustration is correct, the ring I posted the other day may be the first certified silver 1715 Fleet ring, but it is not the first 1715 Fleet silver ring recovered.  Unfortunately Deagan does not give other details on where the ring was found.  Perhaps one of you salvage people can tell us.

We all know about the relatively common copper-alloy rings and gold rings, but you might be surprised to know that many rings made of other substances were brought to the New World but are very scarce among the salvage records.  Shipping records show (Deagan, 2002, p. 116 and 117) that among the many finger rings shipped to the New World between 1511 and 1613, many were made of glass, some of jet, and some of bufano wood.  Silver wasn't specifically mentioned, but examples have been recovered from Spanish colonial archaeological sites.   Shipping records presented in Deagan's book document several thousand glass rings shipped to the New World in 1590 and thousands more in 1592.  You can understand why those might not survive the ocean for hundreds of years.

I'll also point out the Deagan example ( p. 83) of a 17th century silver "sacred heart" finger ring from Santa Catalina de Guale (Georgia), so we know they were present on Spanish colonial sites but perhaps not common.

Well-informed readers and salvage divers provided some welcome comments on the subject.  A couple mentioned that silver rings might not survive very well in the ocean, and a couple also were surprised that the ring was certified.


Below are a few comments from Jammin Jack.

If any were found, most likely from an overlapping wreck from a later period. 

Certifying the ring was surprising to me, but I am sure Steve had reliable sources.

Also, most research material may include sites from the Gulf, Atlantic, Caribbean, etc. This can cause very controversial arguments, but silver rings on wrecks have always been rare - ANYWHERE! ...

Jammin Jack also told of an experience he had with electrolysis.

I found a (ear)ring back when Noah Wells was leaving the lab. Bill Moore took over the process. We all thought possibly silver with gold filigree and hoping 18th century. I wished I left it alone. After cleaning, it was silver, and very fragile. It was determined late 1800s, and had a small value. I still have the ring as a reminder that sometimes cleaning can ruin the historical value. The below picture is the day I found it. If I showed what it looks like now...well, we learn from our mistakes. 

Silver Earring Find Before Cleaning.

Photo by JaminJack

My first attempt at electrolysis also taught me a lesson. I ruined a buffalo nickel. Thankfully it wasn't any big deal, but I did learn that if I used electrolysis, the process should be carefully monitored, which is something I do with any cleaning method these days. I think it is one part caution and one part curiosity. I like to make sure nothing bad is happening and I'm too curious to wait long to find out how it is going.

When monitoring progress on any cleaning I'm doing, I now like to view the object under magnification.  I've recently learned that you can think an item is clean when there is still some encrustation, sand or shells attached.  I just feel like I get a better look at what is going on when I use magnification.

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The surf will begin to increase tomorrow, but only reach 3 -5 feet Monday, and then decrease again after that.

The tides are getting bigger.

Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

10/22/19 Report - Heart Shaped Cobs and Featured Treasures. Auction Details. Photo Records.

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

Heart-Shaped 2-Reale

Source: Sedwick Auction Catalog For Current Auction.

I received an email from Sedwick concerning the current auction.  The email included a photo of several featured lots including the one shown above.  Below is the lot description.

Potosi, Bolivia, cob 2 reales Heart, 1685VR, unique. S-P40; KM-24; CT-615. 7.14 grams. A very fat Heart enabling lots of visible legend (including a third date), with small (holed) stem at top, aligned axis, full details on an evenly thin flan (no doubling), VF with nice toning, in fact the earliest known date of (genuine) Hearts of any denomination. These special presentation pieces are the sole product of the Potosi mint and relate to the Sacred Heart symbol in Catholic faith. Pedigreed to the Aureo & Calico auction of April 2016 (lot #1293).

I've posted about the Sacred Heart image and heart-shaped cobs a number of times, including the original research on the heart-shaped cobs by author and researcher Laura Strolia.  Below are some links.

https://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2015/11/11515-report-more-on-heart-shaped-cobs.html

https://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2015/11/11x15-report-dug-silver-christ-figure.html

https://aleteia.org/2018/06/08/explaining-the-strange-symbolism-of-the-sacred-heart/

See also

https://aleteia.org/2018/06/08/explaining-the-strange-symbolism-of-the-sacred-heart/

A previous Sedwick auction included a number of the hear-shaped cobs.

Here are some of the other featured lots from the auction.

Some of the Featured Lots in the Current Sedwick Auction.

The following information was also included in the same email. World, U.S. Coin and Paper Money 

Auction 26

Friday-Saturday, November 1-2, 2019

We are just 11 DAYS out from our live floor and online Treasure, World, U.S. Coin & Paper Money Auction 26. This must-attend sale starts at 9:30 AM EDT on Friday, November 1 for Sessions I, II & III, and 9:30 AM EDT on Saturday, November 2 for Sessions IV and V. Session VI, the express, online-only session, follows at 10:00 AM EST (note the time change!) on Monday, November 4.

Now is the perfect time to register for the auction, as any registration issues can certainly be accommodated more easily in advance. Please don't wait to register on the day of to avoid missing out on some desirable lots!

Even if you already have an iCollector account, you still must Get approved to bid for each auction by entering and confirming your information for this auction, like reviewing your shipping information and choosing your preferred way of payment. Registration and bidding online are always FREE (no extra fees or percentages for bidding online).

Remember, tie bids go to the earliest bidders, so don't wait for the live closing to bid on anything for which you have a strict number in mind.

This week is also your LAST CHANCE to order a printed catalog, schedule to bid by phone, or mail/fax your bids. If you'd like to do lot viewing ahead of the sale, please contact us now to set up an appointment. Otherwise, lot viewing will be available at the auction site beginning at noon on October 31.

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Yesterday I posted two old photos.  I received some nice emails concerning  that post.

One photo was from the early 19th century, and the other from the mid 19th century.  You might have noticed that in the older photo the children are dressed in their best, and in the other photo they were wearing whatever would keep them warm on a cold day of play outside.

The difference suggests something I think is significant.  In the early 19th century, photography was more of a big deal, especially for rural folks.   By the mid-19th century cameras were more common.  Photography had become more casual.

With cameras in the phones that everybody carries around, these days people take thousands of photos.  You don't need to buy film and pay to have prints made from negatives.  People take so many photos they are no big deal.  In fact they take so many photos that the vast majority will be forgotten and lost in a very short time.

I'm glad I have the old prints.   In addition to photos of about six or seven generations of family members, I have photos of many finds that I made years ago.  I'm glad I made those photos.  They provide good records and remind me of the time I made the finds.

Unfortunately a lot of the digital photos that I've made are on some old floppy disc that can no longer be used, or some dead computer or USB drive that no longer works.  I'm so glad I have the old photos and that my grandmother kept them over the years.  She made a lot of them with her Brownie Box camera.  I'm glad she kept her photos along with those that were passed down to her.  And I'm glad my mother kept them too.

My first recommendation is to take photos of your finds.  My second recommendation is to get prints made of those you want to keep.  The digital world changes so much that I've had bad luck trying to keep photos in a digital form.  And good luck to anyone from future generations that might want to access them unless they are maintained on a web site such as ancestry.com, which is a good way to share your generational photos.

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Yesterday I received a 1953 wheat penny in change at Walmart, so there are still some showing up in circulation.

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The National Hurricane Center map shows nothing of interest for the Treasure Coast.

Here is the surf prediction.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

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The more I learn, the more I don't know.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

6/20/19 Report - Sacred Heart Imagery and Cobs. Mystery Object. Sharing and Passing on Finds. Shoe Polish Bottles.

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

Here is a mystery find from John C.  As you can see it is only an inch or so across.  He says the center appears to be copper.

What do you think?

[ UPDATE:  This one has been solved.  Will have that for you tomorrow.]


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Sacred Heart Image.

There is a good chance that you've found a pendant or item bearing the image of the Sacred Heart.

Here is an article on its symbolism and meaning.

https://aleteia.org/2018/06/08/explaining-the-strange-symbolism-of-the-sacred-heart/


I've addressed the issue of heart-shaped cobs to some extent before.

https://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2015/11/11515-report-more-on-heart-shaped-cobs.html

And I posted Laura Strolia's excellent research on the sacred heart as it applies to heart-shaped cobs.

https://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2015/11/11x15-report-dug-silver-christ-figure.html

===

I have often talked about labeling and storing your finds.  It is easy to forget the details over the decades, and someday you might want to pass the items on to someone else who will appreciate them as much as you did.  In that case it will be helpful to have the information to pass along with the items.

Maybe one of your children or a relative or friend has a special interest in some of your finds.  Share what you know and what you have learned about your finds.  Share the joy and passion with people who appreciate your finds.

We all know that you can't take it with you. so you might want to leave special items to those who appreciate them.

As you probably know, a young adult member of my family passed quickly and unexpectedly away about three weeks ago, and the process of taking care of the estate has barely gotten underway.  The person that passed didn't have very much at all.  He didn't have a house of his own or hardly any possessions, unlike many detectorists who have put together nice collections over the years.  He had very little money, yet the government requires those who are in mourning to take care of the distribution of the estate, whether it is big or very small.  Just because you don't have much, doesn't mean it will be easy.

One of the best things you can do if you have a checking account or any kind of financial account is make sure you have a beneficiary or beneficiaries designated.  That can make things easier.

If you want your cherished finds to go to a good home, get a proper will made by a good attorney in your state or residence.  We all know that there are some people who will appreciate old coins, arrow heads, old bottles, or artifacts, and there are some who know nothing about them and who will throw valuable or cherished items in the garbage.  In Florida, if you have a will, it is easy enough to specify who you want to get your favorite items, but you do have list them and specify who you want to get them.  The list will go along with the will.

A minimal funeral can cost thousands of dollars.  You might want to provide for that so your loved ones don't have to deal with the details and expenses while mourning your loss.

I know that people don't usually want to think about it, but you might also want to determine who gets your favorite finds.  It is better to deal with it when you don't really have to.

Most of all, enjoy your finds today and share the information and joy that you got from them.

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If you old enough you probably remember shining your shoes with Esquire shoe polish.  I remember doing it before church every Sunday.

I've been organizing my bottle finds and photographing them.  I've been doing mostly the more common and less valuable ones first.  

Here are a couple Esquire shoe polish bottles.

Esquire Shoe Polish Bottle.

I don't usually keep the screw top bottles, but some are so nicely embossed that I do keep them.

There would have been a cap with an attached dobber to apply the polish.

Below is the type that I remember using.

Esquire Shoe Polish Bottle

Front and Bottom.

Bottom of Same Esquire Bottle.

to search

From Wikipedia -

During the Great Depression Sam and Albert Abrams, chemists and entrepreneurs from Brooklyn, took over an ailing boot polish maker, the Knomark Manufacturing Company of Williamsburgh, Brooklyn.  In 1938 they purchased the Esquire brand.  After a saturation advertising campaign in 1944, the company became the best selling shoe polish manufacturer in the US... In the late 1950s, they sold the Esquire brand and the 1914-built Esquire Building on 330 Wythe Avenue in Brooklyn. In 1957, Revlon acquired the Esquire brand which made annual sales of 15 million dollars. Revlon sold the Esquire shoe polish brand and other Esquire product brands in 1969...

You can see "KNOMARK INC." on the top of the bottom, but it is in the dark area.

I like the older bottle barrel shaped bottle much more then the more recent bottom one.

I'm adding some of these to my TGBottleBarn.blogspot.com web site.

Funny how you can find local history laying around everywhere.

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No change in beach conditions.

Happy hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/5/16 Report - Love Tokens. Travel Restrictions. More Small Surf for Treasure Coast.

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

I recently found some interesting articles on the Collectors Weekly web site.  As the name would suggest, they talk about all kinds of collectibles.  One interesting article was on love tokens.

Love tokens are coins that have been altered to deliver a personal message of love. The illustration above shows on example.  I showed another, a day or so ago.

The most desired love tokens are only modified on one side, so the coin is still identifiable, but sometimes both sides are carved or etched.

The Collectors Weekly article says, "In this world before voice mail, text messages, or quick-and-easy photo snapshots, love tokens —common coins engraved with sentimental messages—offered long-distance couples tangible reminders of their bond."

Here is another paragraph from the article on love tokens.  "Of course, the tradition of love tokens had precedence. Starting in the late 16th century, the French would fashion 13 specially carved coins, still considered valid currency, to be given to a young couple at their wedding. These treizains, which evolved into modern-day marriage medals, would be blessed by the priest during the ceremony. Rosin has a few, and clasped hands and an arrow piercing two hearts were common motifs."

You might remember my post on las arras matrimoniales, which in English might be called "wedding tokens" or "unity coins."  In the French language they are called treizains.

Here is that link to that post.

http://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/search?q=thirteen+royals

If you find an altered coin, especially one that has been altered on both sides, you might not recognize that it was once a genuine coin.

Love tokens became popular in the United States and Great Britain in the 1800s.

What got me started on this topic is the ring I showed yesterday.  It had a human face carved on the front of a sacred heart.  It seemed to be assumed that it was created that way, but I thought it could have been altered - the face being carved at some later time, maybe by a sailor or passenger.

I've also found coins, on which the design on one side was very clear and the other side invisible or nearly so.  I never before really considered the possibility that the blank side might have been intentionally modified, perhaps to create a love token or something else, or because the altered side might be blank either because it was incomplete, or because the etching was less deep and therefore quick to disappear from corrosion.

Elaborate professional looking examples were made by skilled artisans, and crude examples were created by amateurs.  Below are a couple more examples from the Collectors Weekly article.

Notice the familiar motifs.  We see the flaming hearts of love on both, and the clasped hands of friendship on the one.

Some were decorated with gem stones or enameling.

Here is the link to the collectors weekly article on love tokens.

http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/how-victorians-fell-in-love-with-pocket-change/

You might also want to look at the Love Token Society web site.

http://lovetokensociety.com/jewelry/

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Maybe you heard about the heavy rain and floods around the country.  One of my favorite land hunting sites up north recently received heavy rains, and I'm eager to get back up there.  The old path and hillsides that I hunt were undoubtedly refreshed.

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If you are doing any vacation travel, you should know that failure to declare food products can result in up to $10,000 in fines and penalties. Some items are not permissible because they can carry pests or disease.

I've had to leave grapeshot and other finds behind when traveling by air.

The spreading Zika virus is one of thing that reminds me of the need and benefit of controlled immigration. 

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Tropical storm Earl is still churning down over Mexico.  The surf on the Treasure Coast will remain steady at 1 - 2 feet for several days.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/4/16 Report - A Very Unique Gold 1715 Fleet Ring. Sedwick Coins Auction of Potosi Transitional Cobs. Bridge of San Luis Rey.

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

 Illustration of Unique 1715 Fleet Sacred Heart Ring
Submitted by Darrel Strickland

This very unique ring was found by the MV Gold Duster years ago on the Cabin wreck site and was reported in the 1999 Florida East Coast Shipwreck report.  There are other rings of the Spanish colonial period that feature a face, but they are very different than this one.

To begin with I want to point out that author and researcher Laura Strolia wrote extensively on the sacred heart in Spanish Colonial history. See my 11/5/15 and 11/9/15 reports, for example.

Here is a direct link to the 11/5 post.

http://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/search?q=sacred+heart

If you read those posts you know that the sacred heart symbol was a very common design motif during the Spanish colonial period,  I've also posted information on cobs that have the shape of the sacred heart.

What is unique about the gold ring shown above, is the face engraved on the sacred heart. The face looks very much like something from a Picasso painting.

The native populations created similar types of images.  This is believed to be one of very few objects found on the 1715 Fleet that clearly shows the work of mestizo (mixed Spanish and indigenous heritage) artisans.

Two low carat gold rings and a low carat clasped hands bracelet, along with a small number of silver coins and one gold coin were found in the same area.  The report asks, "Could this (the ring) represent the holdings of a mestizo of some means aboard the vessel."  There are many questions remaining to be answered.  As I've said before, I have some developing theories which I'm not yet ready to make public.

It looks to me that this ring could have been altered.  It could be that the face was a later addition. It reminds me of a Victorian love token.  Those were often made from coins that were engraved with person messages and images.  I'll take a deeper look at love tokens some other day.

Here is one Victorian love token that was made from a dime.

A Love Token Made From a Dime.
Source: http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/how-victorians-fell-in-love-with-pocket-change/

Although it has been speculated that the face was originally created with the face of Christ on it, it would be easy to imagine a bored sailor or passenger engraving a face upon the ring.

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Among the items included in the next Sedwick Coins auction in November of this year will be the following.

• The Charles Eidel collection of shipwreck and Spanish colonial coins, assembled in the 1980s by one of the most active collectors in the field, and the Roberto Mastalir collection of Potosí 1652 Transitional cobs, assembled with hundreds of specimens pictured throughout Sr. Mastalir’s multi-volume reference The Great Transition at the Potosí Mint 1649-1653 (2015-16), in fact the most complete 1652-Transitional collection ever assembled.

•There will be hundreds of Potosí, Lima and Mexico cobs of all denominations from several collections.

It is not too late to consign yours.

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If you are a student of the 1715 Fleet or the Spanish Colonial era, you should read the Pulitzer Prize winning book, Bridge of San Luis Rey.

It is fiction, but I think you could call it historical fiction.  It is based on a real bridge constructed between Lima and Cusco in the 14th century and used for centuries.  The story takes place on July 20, 1714 when the bridge collapses killing five people who were crossing.  The bridge actually did not collapse then, but the disaster was used to explore the lives of the five people who were killed during the fictional collapse.  At least a couple of the people were loosely based upon real people.  In the book, a Brother Juniper, a Franciscan monk who was on his way to cross the bridge when it collapsed, interviews everybody he can find who knew the five people killed in order to learn what he could about God's will and the five people who died.

I hope I didn't tell too much, but I do think you'll find it good reading.

I think you should get college credit for reading this blog.

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Tropical storm Earl is now over Yucatan.  Otherwise there is no new weather to watch.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

6/3/16 Report - Lost, Found and Returned Necklace by Warren D. Sacred Heart of Jesus. Problems Related To Antique Shipwreck Ceramics.

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

Necklace With Gold Coin Pendant
Find and photo by Warren D.

I received the following email from Warren D. yesterday.

Yesterday I was detecting the wet sand behind the a major hotel in Indialantic with my White's TDI pulse detector when a woman approached me and asked if I could help her and her husband. I said sure and she pointed up the beach to a neighboring hotel where a man in a orange shirt was scraping dry sand. I told her my name and asked what did they lose. She said a necklace with a gold charm on it. As we were walking there she said she took the necklace off and laid it on a beach chair and they forgot about it. When they left they just folded up the chairs and walked to the parking lot and put the chairs in the trunk of the car. I said I hear that happens a lot and it made me think this could be a little more complicated than I thought. I met with her husband and said I'll do a big box search and drag my foot and trace their steps to the staircase. I kept asking them if I was staying in the general area OK. After about an hour the woman followed me and I gave her a running commentary about targets and some were too deep to be a recent drops and the distance was about 60 yards from the chair spot to the steps.

I found a tungsten ring, a quarter and bottle caps and was moving kind of fast to cover the area and I sensed they were leaving soon and Susan said they were flying out that day. I said give me your contact info and if you want put it on Craig's list lost and found and someone may find it. Well she and her husband decided to go in to the hotel and prepare to check out and I continued hunting about another 15 to 20 minutes and I got a hit. It was about midway between the chair location and the stairs and I assume the charm/coin must have fell down on edge and didn't lay flat. Coming from a different direction my coil got a hit. I brought the White's TDI with the Sierra T-foot coil 18" by 5" because my plan was to do wet sand and go deep. But this was hunting for a shallow target but the size of my coil gave me good coverage.

I got it in one scoop, it was shallow maybe under a half inch of sand. All balled up the chain was very fine. Luckily it was hidden or it would have been a eyeball find for somebody. 

I pulled out my phone and their contact info and I said Susan, I got it come back to the beach. They came back out to the beach and they were holding hands. Her Husband Rocky tried to hand me a bunch of bills and I said no thanks, I like the challenge. I said have a good vacation now and I bet you lost a lot of sleep last night. 

They're back home now and they just sent me these pics. The charm or coin is a Gold coin, $10 or $20 piece.

Warren D.

As you and I know, that kind of thing happens all of the time.  Tourists or locals lose things and get them back because of a friendly detectorist.

Thanks for sharing Warren.  I'd like to tell more of these types of stories.

You might remember how Warren returned a fine ring back a while.

Notice that he found another ring while searching for the necklace.  That happens a lot.  You look for one thing and find something else.  Things are lost where things are lost.  One is a good sign that there could be another.

If a coin is on edge, it will often give a much less of a signal when you sweep over it in one direction than if you sweep over it another direction.  Try it out for yourself with your own detector.

Stick a coin in the ground and sweep over it one direction and then at a 90 degree angle and notice the difference in the signal.  The difference when using some pulse detectors might not be as great, but you should experiment so you learn exactly how your detector responds to a coin like that.

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In some old posts I posted information about the Sacred Heart of Jesus, including information relating to heart-shaped reales.   Laura Strolia did a great article on the heart-shaped reales that I posted in my Nov. 8, 2015 post.  You can find other posts mentioning the subject in this blog too.

June is the month of the year that the Catholic Church dedicates to Sacred Heart of Jesus. But just what does a devotion to the Sacred Heart mean? Here is one article on the subject.

http://epicpew.com/8-facts-sacred-heart/

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Here is a good article on some problems relating to antique ceramics found on shipwrecks.  It provides a few helpful reminders for dating shipwrecks as well.

Here is one excerpt.

Let us take for example, the small models of boys portrayed wearing blue aprons and seated with arms and legs outstretched. A number of these were recovered from the Nanking Cargo (1752). This fitted the dating theory well, as the group had always been attributed to the mid 18th century. The same figures appear also to have been found on an unpublished wreck from about 1730 – 1740. By comparing them closely, it can be seen that the 1730 – 1740 figures do indeed relate to those on the 1752 Nanking Cargo.

When similar models were discovered on the Tek Sing (1822) it was assumed by some that they were mid-18th century “antiques” on board a 19th century ship. However , after closer study, slight differences were found in the large group of 1822 Tek Sing figures. They are not “antiques” at all, but simply later examples of an enduringly popular model.

Here is the link.

http://orientalceramics.com/index.php/shipwreck-ceramics/

The pictures do not seem to show up on the site.  Make sure to scroll all the way to the bottom of the article.

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Expect a good flat surf through the weekend.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net