1/3/13 Report - Gem Stones, Jet & Coal

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

Beach 14K Ring Find With Large Stone

I don't think detectorists pay much attention to stones.  Paying attention to stones can be helpful though.  First, there are gem stones - some of which are more valuable than the gold in the ring, but it can be difficult to identify the type of stone but even more difficult to assess the quality or value of the stone without the assistance of a jeweler.

When conditions aren't good for finding old shipwreck items, you might consider switching to hunting more modern items, such as jewelry.  It is easy enough to detect bigger rings, but if you aren't careful you can easily miss small rings containing valuable gem stones.  I've commented on that before.

Pay attention to stones that you find on the beach even if they aren't gem stones.  You can find ballast stones from old wrecks for example.  There are some of those from the 1715 fleet for sale on eBay now.  They can provide important clues to nearby wrecks and how things are being moved on the beach.

You might also see stones that were formed into tools by Native Americans.  I've posted points that were found on the beach in the past.

Below is a lump that I found on a beach recently.  I don't know what it is yet.  It could be coal, but I don't think so, or petrified wood (maybe), or jet.  I don't know.

Coal of course could be associated with a shipwreck of different ages.  It could have been cargo or for use on the ship.

Actually jet is petrified wood.  It is sometimes found on beaches naturally and sometimes mined.  Jet was often carved centuries ago to create beads, jewelry and amulets.  A lot of carved jet has been found on Spanish colonial archaeological sites and shipwrecks.  Maybe I'll talk about that more in the future.



I've mentioned the Sons of the American Revolution before.  The Fall issue of their magazine contains an article telling about Spain's support of the American Revolution.  If you want to join SAR, you need to be able to trace your ancestry to participation in the American Revolution. 

The St. Lucie chapter meets every second Saturday of the month for lunch at 11:30 at Manero's Restaurant in Palm City.  For more information call 772-336-0926.

And by the way, there is a similar association for women, the Daughters of the American Revolution.  I saw them mentioned on one of the morning shows today.


On the Treasure Coast this morning the ocean and river are nice and smooth.  Good water day.. 

The wind is out of the west blowing the water out with a fairly low tide.

Low tide this afternoon will be around 6 PM.

Nice day to get out, but there is a lot of sand on the beaches.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net