7/6/19 Report - Bone and Shell Artifacts From the Treasure Coast and South Florida and Reader Thoughts.

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

Yesterday I talked about points.  Below are some other items I've shown before.  They all came from the same Treasure Coast beach, but were found at different times in shell piles.  Mostly found by a shell collector, included are what appears to be a celt, made from a heavy conch shell, an arrowhead, a discoidal, and a rounded shell, maybe either a discoidal or a preform of some sort.

You can see more examples of many similar items online.  I'd recommend checking out the PeachStateArchaeologicalicalSociety web site, where you'll find many examples.

http://peachstatearchaeologicalsociety.org/index.php/26-shell-decorative/446-shell-tools-2



Here are some other Florida items.

Two Bone and Two Shell Artifacts.

The two on the left appear to be shaped bones for punching.   To the right of that is what appears to be a shell punch.  And last is  a piece of shell that I'm told was for shaping a shaft or something.  The wood, if that was the case, would be drawn through the curved depression at the top.

Not only are stone points occasionally found on beaches, but there are also other types of items.

I don't know much about these types of  things, but if you are on the beaches much, you might see pieces of shell that appear to have been worked into a usable form such as a spoon, scrapper or cup.

The Horse Conch shell shown below is a bugle.  I thought it might be Native American, but the people at the Florida State Museum said it is probably modern.

Horse Conch Shell Bugle.

The first thing I noticed was the slot.  Then I noticed the top was removed and that it works as a horn if you blow it.

Here is what I learned after doing a little research on the bugle.

In classic Mayan art, the Horse Conch is shown being utilized in many ways including as paint and ink holders for elite scribes, and also as a bugle or trumpet.

In southern Florida, Native Americans, including the Calusa and Tequesta, used the horse conch to make several types of artifact. The whole shell, or more commonly only the columella, was attached to a wooden handle and used as a hammer or woodworking tool. The body whorl was used as a drinking cup. The columella was also used to make plummets or sinkers.

So now it is known that the shell is a Horse Conch, and that Horse Conchs were used as bugles, and additionally, that they were used by the Calusa and Tequesta Indians.

I also found that locals used conch shells as horns in the 19th century when they hunted possums with dogs. 

Of course it might be even more modern than that.

I have learned to blow it with pretty good results, but it takes some practice.

The shell below looks like it was modified to make a ladle.  It is over a foot long and has what appears like a nice handle.  You'll see things like that in the shells at the beach.  Shell collectors pick them up all the time.

Ladle.

I'm never sure when I see things like that, if it is accidental or worked.  I just don't have the knowledge and skill to know without asking.  Just by appearances, I find it very unlikely that this one was broken accidentally in that way, but it could have.

Here is example of a piece that I would think would NOT break that way naturally.

Broken or Formed (?)

And here is one that would make a nice cup or holder - with legs yet.

Two Views of Broken or Formed Shell.

You'll also see columella that look like they might have been worked.

One reader provided excellent information on the coral arrowhead I posted yesterday and said it looked reworked.  He explained why and referred to a couple great references.  One is the Overstreet Arrowhead Identification and Pricing Guide.  You can find that online.  He said he gets the new one every year to see the new point photos and stone tools.  It also has a tutorial.  Looks like an excellent reference.

Here are a couple of links.

http://www.overstreetid.com/

https://www.amazon.com/Official-Overstreet-Arrowheads-Identification-Arrowhead/dp/1440248680

Very useful.

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As you probably know, there are laws regarding archaeological resources.  They are many and complex and can be very confusing.  I can't summarize or interpret them all, so don't ask me to.  Do, however, realize that there are strict penalties for removing artifacts from state and federal lands.  If you have WRITTEN permission, you CAN collect artifacts on private land.  That is my understanding.

On the Treasure Coast it is not unusual to find artifacts on your own property.  I've found artifacts on my property and have posted some examples.  It is not uncommon.

Beachcombers, shell collectors and tourists will pick up unusual or interesting items and remove them without knowing what they are.  If you look through any large collection put together by a shell collector, there is a very good chance you will find an artifact.  I've been asked several times while on the beach, about items found by tourists.

Metal detectorists do not generally go out looking for artifacts and might not recognize them.  I think I've shown that they can be difficult to identify.  I am not good at identifying stone and shell tools in particular, and have to ask those know.

We all want to respect artifacts and follow the laws.  Laws can be broken unwittingly, and I hope this post will help you begin to become more familiar with artifacts so that you will be better able to identify, respect and protect them and follow the laws.

As a beginning, you might want to look at this summary of the Florida laws.  Here is a link.

https://dos.myflorida.com/historical/archaeology/underwater/laws/

I know that quick summary might give rise to more questions than it answers, but that is the best I can do.

One good principle when in doubt is to take photos and report your find.  Most of us carry smart phones with good cameras these days, so that is easy to do.

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I also received an email from Susan E. who appreciated reading the Declaration of Independence, which I posted a couple days ago.  Here is what she said.

Thank you for printing this document.  While I was reading the list of grievances against Britain, I knew that each one referred to specific events.  What if a Revolutionary history textbook began with the Declaration, and then used as its chapter headings each of the complaints and justifications presented in the document?

What was most important to the Congressmen?  Why were the grievances listed in that order?  Were any left out, and if so, then why?  What was/were the "last straw(s)"?  And how do all of these things compare to what the rest of the people thought and felt? 

Susan

Thanks Susan.  Great ideas!

I'm surprised that I have not yet received photos of any Treasure Coast arrowhead finds.  Maybe they are not found on the beach as commonly as I thought.

Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

7/5/19 Report - Other Kinds of Treasures You Might See On Florida Beaches. The Official Florida Stone and Arrowheads. First Find of Dinosaur Eggs.

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

Arrowhead Found on Treasure Coast Beach.

I recently posted a broken spear point that was found on a Treasure Coast beach and decided to post some more Native American artifact finds.

The above arrowhead was found in a shell pile on a Treasure Coast beach.  I was told that it looked like it was made of agatized coral, which is Florida's state stone.

Agatized Coral specimens are collected and are sometimes sold for nice prices.  Here is a web site where you can see some specimens and learn more about agatized coral.

https://www.spiritrockshop.com/Agatized_Coral.html

The site says, In 1979 the Florida Legislature designated agatized coral as the Florida State Stone.
It is described in the statute as “a chalcedony pseudo morph after coral, appearing as limestone geodes lined with botryoidal agate or quartz crystals and drusy quartz fingers, indigenous to Florida.”

Continuing, Much of Florida’s natural foundation is composed of soft, highly-fossiliferous limestones intermixed with sand and clay. This is known as the Early Miocene Tampa Formation. There are several distinct exposures of this formation which produced silicified corals and mollusks; the best known of these is Ballast Point on Tampa Bay in Hillsborough County. Six Mile Creek on a nearby Tampa Bay exposure of the same formation produced only calcareous specimens.

Wondering if the arrowhead might really be agatized coral, I took a closer look.  Here is what I saw.

Magnified Surface of Arrowhead.

Despite my overwhelming ignorance of geology and such things, it looks like it could be coral to me.

The image was enhanced somewhat to show the markings.

Below is an interesting translucent arrowhead that I found online somewhere.

The one I posted at the top of the post is not translucent.

I've talked to a few tourists that have found arrowheads on Treasure Coast beaches.  I remember, for example, one lady that came up to me near the Disney Resort and showed one she found.

Here are a few more arrowhead finds.

Three Arrowheads.

Arrowheads are not really rare finds on the Treasure Coast beaches, but they seem to be found more by shell collectors than detectorists.

If you know about Native American artifacts, you might be able to provide additional information on the ones I showed today.

I talked about Native American artifacts made of metal in previous posts,  but most of those found on the Treasure Coast are made of stone, shell or other materials, and are not sought or often found by metal detectorists.

As you know, I often recommend keeping your eyes open for other types of items while you metal detect.  There are many different kinds of treasure that you can find on Florida beaches and you never know what you might see.

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Riley Black, from Smithsonian Magazine, points out that the first naturalist to discover and describe dinosaur eggshells was, in fact, the Roman Catholic priest Jean-Jacques Pouech. Father Pouech was the head of Pamiers Seminary in southern France, but in his free time he explored the geology and paleontology of the Late Cretaceous rock preserved in the foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains.  That was in 1859.

Here is how he described his find.  The most remarkable are eggshell fragments of very great dimensions. At first, I thought that they could be integumentary plates of reptiles, but their constant thickness between two perfectly parallel surfaces, their fibrous structure, normal to the surfaces, and especially their regular curvature, definitely suggest that they are enormous eggshells, at least four times the volume of ostrich eggs.

Here is the link to learn more about that.

https://aleteia.org/2019/06/29/how-a-catholic-priest-was-the-first-to-discover-dinosaur-eggs/\

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Its amazing how people can see things so differently.  If you are a five year old, you might have seen the Macy's fireworks last night as little more than a bunch of sparkling lights and noise.  If you are an environmentalist, you might have noticed all the smoke and pollution.  If you are a left winger, you might have thought of the waste of such an extravagant display put on by a capitalist organization to increase profits at the expense of the poor against the backdrop of city built on the backs of immigrants. If you are on the other side politically, you might have seen a celebration of the country and opportunity and success. You might have thought about the invention of gun powder and the millions killed, or the evolution of rocketry and going to the moon.  A person could easily write hundreds of pages about the events, history and conflicting views represented in that single fireworks display.  Rather than responding emotionally to the first things that you hear of that catch your attention, if put it all together, add a large dose of facts and sift through it all, you'll end up with a more realistic, pleasing and well-balanced view of the world.  That's my opinion.

I hope you enjoyed Independence Day and gave some thought to it

We should be seeing some more treasure salvage finds before long.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

7/4/19 Report - Declaration of Independence and Forth of July Holiday and Some History.

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

Post Card Postmarked Over 100 Years Ago.

I decided that it might be good to go back to the origin of the holiday and remember that it isn't just about fireworks or taxes on tea.  A long list of grievances and previous attempts to mend them are mentioned.  I hope you will take the time to carefully read the entire Declaration once again.


During the American Revolution the legal separation of the Thirteen Colonies from Great Britain in 1776 actually occurred on July 2, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a Resolution of Independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia declaring the United States independent from Great Britain's rule.  After voting for independence, Congress turned its attention to the Declaration of Independence a statement explaining this decision, which had been prepared by a Committee of Five with Thomas Jefferson as its principal author. Congress debated and revised the wording of the Declaration, finally approving it two days later on July 4. A day earlier, John Adams had written to his wife Abigail: 

The second day of July 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

hen in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

It seems that the subject of slavery has been so mixed with that of the founding fathers and the founding of the United States in the news lately that it might be good to recall some relevant history.  First, slavery was common in the New World before the Europeans arrived.  Secondly, slavery was common in Africa before the Europeans got involved.  Thirdly, the first slavery in the New World by Europeans was the enslavement of the indigenous peoples by the Spanish colonists before they began importing African slaves.  And slavery was common in Iberia centuries before the Spanish brought it to the New World.  For example, the Muslims in Iberia enslaved Christians.  The point being that you can't just blame it on one group or another.


The context of actual history can make finds more meaningful.


Enjoy the Fourth,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

7/3/19 Report - Old Buttons Cleaning and Preservation. What You Might Need To Know To Be Ready For Your Big Find.

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

Back of Flat Button As Found.

This button was found near the 54th Regiment of Foot and 76th Regiment of Foot buttons that I showed recently.  It is a flat button with a gold wash or gilt.  Much of the detail is obscured.  There is no detail on the front, and the gilt is gone from the front.

As I've explained many times, be careful when you clean a coin or other item.  Use the least aggressive or dangerous method that will do the job and monitor the progress very closely to prevent any damage.  If you don't know for sure how to do it, it is better to wait.

Well, this is an example of not doing it right.  I decided to clean this one, and decided to see how a quick immersion in acid would do.  A very quick immersion would have been alright, but I put in the Muriatic Acid and forgot about it, leaving it in overnight.  That was not good.

This is what happened.

Flat Button After Overnight Immersion in Muriatic Acid.

As you can see some of the dirt came off but so did some of the gilt.  That is a good example of what not to do.

You can now see the flourishes but the word ORANGE, which is at the top and bottom between the flourishes.

I've found gilded pieces tricky.  You don't want to lose any gilding, but it can easily be damaged and removed.

I would not have even considered using the acid if the button was one of the better ones, but thought I could get away with a quick dip.  Unfortunately it was more than a quick dip.

Aluminum Jelly or Naval Jelly is often recommended for use on buttons having gold or silver gilt.

The change in color on the above photos is due mostly to a change in lighting.  I should have been more careful about that too.

Here is an article that will help you do it right.  Additional methods are described including heated hydrogen peroxide.

http://archive.wetreasures.com/feature/201202.htm

Beside cleaning, buttons will often need some type of treatment for conservation.  Pewter, for example, is fragile.  When you find a pewter button the first thing to do is keep it moist.

After you properly clean it, then you need to protect it, otherwise the edges will start chipping.

If you look at the edges of the two buttons below, you'll see chips around the edges.

People often coat pewter buttons with a 50% mixture of Elmers glue and water or a thin cover of urethane.

Neither of the of the above have been cleaned or preserved yet.

I've learned many lessons the hard way and post them here so you won't have to repeat them.

I once did a post asking "Are you really ready for your big find."

Everybody is eager to make a big find, but there are many mistakes you can make when that happens before you are ready.

These were the first old buttons I found and I didn't have the knowledge or experience to treat them properly.  If you are like me, you will make a lot of mistakes the first time you find different kinds of items.  Here are some of the kinds of mistakes you can make.

1.  Not carefully digging.  You can easily destroy or damage finds during recovery.  That can be very disappointing when you find out that the item was something especially nice.

2.  Not identifying the item correctly.  When an item comes out of the ground, it can tell you something important.  Its age and quality might tell you that the area deserves more serious attention, but if you don't recognize the item, you can miss that important clue, or worse yet, discard an item that has more value or is more interesting than you recognize.

3. Not carrying the item safely.  I broke some nice bottles while carrying them down the beach and lost a gold chain out of a hole in my shirt pocket.  I walked back about a mile and refound the chain, but it was a lot of extra effort.

4.  As I showed today, a nice item can easily be damaged by the wrong cleaning method.

5.  After proper cleaning comes conservation.

6.  You might also fail to record information about the time, location and other details of the find.  Again, if you are like me, after a few years you'll discover that you wish you had done that.

For example, I just ran across some arrowheads I stored in a plastic bag.  I had some information in the bag written on paper with the items.  The paper crumbled and I can no longer read what it said.

More often, I never wrote down the information that I later wish I had.

7.  Then there are legal, partnership and media issues that might need to be handled properly.


In summary, if you don't yet have the knowledge or experience to deal with things well. there are a lot of things that can be done to ruin or diminish what otherwise would be a great find.  In my case, it hasn't been anything huge, but there are many cases when I wish I had done things differently.  Most of those happened early in my treasure hunting days, and many of them were "first" finds of a particular type.

See https://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2017/02/2717-report-metal-detecting-conditions.html

Here is a nice web site showing a lot of button backmarks.

http://relicman.com/buttons/Button9900-Backmark-Index-PAGE2.html

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I asked people to send in photos of their Native American Treasure Coast beach finds, particularly points, but haven't received any yet.  I know that people find them.  On a couple occasions I've had tourist come up to me and show me an arrowhead they picked up.  One of those was at Wabasso.  A tourist staying at the Disney Resort showed me one she found and asked me about.

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I was so glad that the Medicare helpline helped Joe Nemeth.  I could just see him hanging on the phone in his Tequesta home waiting for an agent to help him.

And Terry Bradshaw didn't do very well with his Weight Watchers program, but he got a walk-in bath.

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I plan to do some more posts on old buttons as well as Native American finds.

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No change in beach conditions is expected real soon.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

7/2/19 Report - Part of Rosary Found Off Shore by Sea Reaper. Lead Shot Found. Revolutionary War Records Free. Spear Point.

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

Salvage Boat and Tender Working North of John Brooks Monday Afternoon.

The salvage season has started well.  The weather has been good for salvage work, and most of the crews have found some gold, along with other items.

For the beach detectorist, things have not been so encouraging.

John Brooks Beach Monday Aftternoon.

There was just a faint strip of shells along the waterline.

Wherever there were people at the beach, there were people in the water seeking relief from the heat.

John Brooks Beach Monday Afternoon.

Most of the salvage vessels on the Treasure Coast have already found some gold this year. I already talked about one piece - a probably religious item. More recently, part of a gold rosary was found by captain Josh Fisher-Abt and the crew of the Sea Reaper. That item was farther from shore than most, and it was speculated that it may have been from a passenger that went overboard before the ship  broke up

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Musket Balls, Lead Shot and Melted Lead From Turtle Trail Area.

Most of those shown above, as well as other pieces not shown. came from just a few feet north of the Turtle Trail beach access a few years ago.

Among the items are a lot of small caliber bullets that look like they were shot into the dunes or sand.  As well as on the beach, I've found them sliding down the cliff in front of the dunes.  There are more than those shown.  I always wondered if someone was shooting birds or just doing target practice.  They are flattened out and look almost like buttons.

There are a few musket balls in the mix.  One larger one and a few smaller ones.  Note also the melted lead bits at the bottom.  Also there are a few larger caliber bullets.

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Here is something you might find interesting.  Ancestry.com is giving free access to Revolutionary War records for a limited time.

Here is the link you can use to register.

https://go.fold3.com/revolutionary-war?xid=2388&utm_source=content&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=odp-revwar-july2019

I've found at least six ancestors that served in the Revolutionary War through my wife's research, beginning with Nehemiah Day who served in New York and New Jersey to Captain John Wetzel, on the Western Front.

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Putin's net worth shows how socialism solves the wealth inequality problem. 

https://www.foxbusiness.com/features/what-is-russian-president-vladimir-putins-net-worth

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I'd like to see photos of Native American artifacts found on Treasure Coast beaches.  If you have any points or other finds. send them in and I'll post a good selection if I get enough.

Here is one to start you off. It is a broken spear point.

Broken Spear Point.

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No change in Treasure Coast beach conditions is predicted for the rest of the week.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net