Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
Paper Thin Remnant of Copper Lincoln Cent.That is what I think it is. It was found in a shell pile.
I'm disappointed that something happened to the poll. I lost over half of the votes one night. Something happened with google. I don't know what.
I was going to use the results to help validate my rating scale. Well, anyway it seems the percentages stayed pretty much the same but I'm not sure how accurate the poll results are now. I'll still take a look at the results but can't draw conclusions with the same degree of confidence.
I wanted the poll to reflect on the period when there was a three rating, but since we had a 2 rating come up last weekend during the poll, I can't tell how much of the results came from which period.
I'll repeat this type of poll some time in the future when I can attach the results to one well defined period of erosion.
As the results are, there were five respondents who reported that there best find during the previous four weeks was a treasure cob. Undoubtedly the category of most interest to the readers of this blog would be treasure cobs. As I said, the period covered by this poll included one period when I had a three rating issued and another when I had a 2 rating issued.
That finding seems to validate my beach conditions rating scale. There were cobs found during the period of the upgrades but not a lot of them. If I had issued a four or five rating, I would have expected more cob finds.
Anyone who found a cob probably also found other things such as clad coins. This poll, though, only asked about favorite finds. I suspect that very few if any finds would have been regarded more highly than a cob for most respondents - maybe for some, a big diamond ring or something.
Realize that the poll as worded doesn't give much information about either the total number of all kinds of finds or the number of hunts required to make those finds. I am certain that most people, especially those with good finds, were out to the beach a number of times during the period in question (4 weeks).
Not too many people on the Treasure Coast target US relics, but six respondents mentioned that a US relic was their favorite find. We also have a some of out-of-state readers, so I can't draw too many conclusions about that other than the fact that some of the blog's readers do like and hunt for relics.
Nine respondents listed fossils as their favorite find. I didn't know how many people that read this blog are interested in fossils, but this tells me that a number are interested fossils. As I've mentioned in some posts, fossils are found on Treasure Coast beaches as well as on the mainland.
The same number of respondents (18) mentioned clad coins, US silver coins, and shipwreck artifacts as their favorite find during the previous four weeks. Of course that doesn't mean that the same number found silver coins as found clad coins. Undoubtedly a lot more clad coins were found, but they weren't favorites. Actually I'm a little surprised by the number of silver coins found, and part of that might be attributable to out-of-area readers - but maybe not.
I did get reports of a lot of clad being found and shipwreck artifacts being found, including a number of spikes.
As the poll results suggest, most other categories are easier to find than cobs. Beach conditions have to improve for most cob finds to be made. My beach conditions rating scale is constructed to provide a rough probability of finding cobs. Artifacts and other objects can often be found during conditions that I would rate as no higher than a 1 on my rating scale.
The most frequently list favorite find was jewelry (more than one our of four).
I had a number of reports of jewelry finds during the past four weeks. Although heavy gold jewelry will quickly sink to deeper levels, there is a constant resupply of jewelry for our beaches. And the high price of precious metals makes any gold worth recovering these days.
I'll conduct this kind of poll every once in a while. I like to know that my rating scale is accurate, and the poll helps me to know how accurate my conditions ratings are.
Remember, my rating scale is constructed to predict the likelihood of finding cobs only. That will correlate with other items, but not perfectly.
Treasure Coast Beach Conditions.
Conditions are currently poor, but the wind changed and is now coming from the north. That gives a better angle to the waves.
Seas will increase through the day, reaching up around six feet tomorrow. Combined with the wind change, there might be a little (I said little) improvement in beach conditions. Watch for minor cuts on the beach front.
I didn't expect to do a post today, but got the time to go over the poll. Hope you got something out of it.
Happy Thanksgiving.
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
