Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
 |
| Eye Ball Found on Pompano Beach From FloridaToday.com. See link below. |
A Jacksonville Times-Union story reports a British military button was found in the mud near the St. Augustine lighthouse. They believe the button came from the wreck of a British ship that sank in 1784 as the British were fleeing Charleston.
Here is the link.
They say that the button may be indisputable evidence that the shipwreck was from the fleet leaving Charleston. They evidently have a far different standard of proof than I do if they can take one button and say that it proves the identity of a particular ship, fleet or event.
Below is a the link to a blog post on the same subject. It is worthwhile even if they do get carried away. They might eventually be proved right, but they are putting way too much weight on a single button. Also, it was a button that got sucked through the dredge instead of found in context.
http://www.blogstaugustinelighthouse.org/blog/lamposts/day_of_discovery.php
The eye ball would have made my Halloween post, but it came a little too early. I mentioned the eye ball find a few days ago. They think it is a swordfish eyeball that was removed and discarded by a fisherman and found by a beachcomber one morning on Pompano Beach. I erroneously mentioned that it was a glass eyeball. It was not.
http://www.floridatoday.com/viewart/20121016/NEWS01/310160014/Eye-found-Florida-beach-likely-swordfish-s-experts-say?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CLocal%20News
It goes to show once again that you can find almost anything on a beach.
I've been talking about coin lines and coin holes. By those terms I mean to refer to accumulations of coins that occur on a beach over time as a result of the movement of the waves, sand and other objects, resulting in a dense patch. In the past few days I've given a few examples.
Those terms as I've been using them are not meant to refer to concentrations of coins that occur during a single event, for example a cache being buried. That is different from the coin lines and holes I've been talking about.
I once found nearly a roll of Susan Anthony dollar coins close together in the shallow water of the surf. They were found individually and close together but were not part of a coin line or hole, as I've been using those terms. I believe they were dropped together rather than accumulated together over time. I want to make a distinction between a coin line or hole and any other concentration of coins.
Any concentration of coins on a beach, whether dropped all at once or accumulated over time can be periodically covered and uncovered. It might seem that the collection is washing in and out as it disappears and then appears again when it is actually being covered and uncovered instead of moving.
Sometimes people will say that shell piles get washed away when if you really inspect the beach, you'll discover that what really happened is a layer of sand was deposited over the shells. Of course shell piles do sometimes get washed away, but that is not always what happens when they disappear. You can learn a lot by carefully observing the movement of sand and other objects as the waves and tides come and go.
Genuine coin holes (and lines) can move, but sometimes the apparent short-term movement of a coin hole can be due sand covering one part and uncovering another part.
When you find a genuine coin hole or line, you will often be able to see where erosion has occurred. Sometimes there will be an obvious cut, but sometimes not so obvious, and sometimes the signs of erosion are very subtle and can easily be missed.
In summary, the main thing I wanted to do here today is make a distinction between what I've been calling coin holes and other concentrations of coins that do not occur over time as the result of the forces of nature. Genuine coin holes and lines, as I've been using those terms, are (1) accumulated and concentrated by forces of nature, and (2) are accumulated and concentrated over a period of time instead of dropped or deposited in a very short time period or as a single event.
I understand that several members of the St. Lucie Metal Detecting Club are going to attend the Nov. 3 benefit Treasure Hunter's cookout. That is great.
I'm dropping my Treasure Coast Beach Detecting Conditions rating back to a 1 (poor).
Rafael has moved well away from us now.
The seas on the Treasure Coast will be around 3 to 5 feet today. Low tide will be around 4 PM.
The seas will be down to around 1 foot by Saturday. That will be a good time to check out the low tide zone.
Happy hunting,
TreaureGuide@comcast.net
