12/29/12 Report - Is It Fake or Reale, Blue & White Ceramics and More

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




Fake or Real?  Can you tell?
Find and photo by John B.

John B. sent these photos of finds he made on 12/28/12 on Singer Island.  Thanks for the great photos John.

Well, have you made up your mind yet?   See if you can see any tell-tale signs.  It might be a little harder with these photos.  I could see the photos in the email a little larger than is shown here.

One thing to look for and which is often the first sign of a fake is a seam around the edge of the coin indicating that it was cast in a mold. 

You can always test to see if a cob is made of silver or gold or some other base metal, which of course you can't do with a photo.

Also look at the coin details to see if it looks to be made from striking with a die or from a mold.

I still am not good at telling the difference between a fake and a good cob from photos.  I never know if I trust what I see in a photo.  It seems much easier to me when I see an example in person and can touch and feel it.

See if you can tell if it is real or fake.


Are you the 500,000th reader? It probably already happened today, or soon will. 

Who would have believed it? Certainly not I.  Check the blog hit counter.





Samples Picked Up During My Pre Christmas Walk

A few days ago I wrote about taking a little walk and showed some of the junk I picked up.  Among the junk that I didn't show from that walk were these pieces of blue and white ceramics.

You will see pieces of blue and white ceramics similar to these at many old sites.  Often it will be your first clue to stop and detect. 

Of course blue and white ceramics span centuries, so you can't tell how old a site might be without further analysis.

You probably know something about the Kang Hsi porcelain carried on some of the Spanish Galleons.  That is not what this is.  These pieces are common and later.

It isn't real difficult to tell the difference between cheap ceramics and fine porcelain.  Check the broken edges to see what the paste looks like.  The good stuff will tend to be thinner, finer grain and often whiter. 

I gave a reference back a couple of years ago that gives the details on how to really tell the difference.  You might want to check the old posts.



Information on the whale that died on Pompano Beach this past Sunday is being sought.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/12/20/feds-looking-for-swimmers-who-rode-dead-whale/?intcmp=obnetwork


A Gainesville man was recently convicted for illegally importing dinosaur skeletons and bones.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/27/us-usa-crime-dinosaurs-idUSBRE8BQ0ND20121227



The Treasure Coast beaches are now sandy and sloped.  Conditions for finding old shipwreck items are poor.

I did see one beach with a good number of shells and lot of small pieces of fossils.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net