Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
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| 14K Pendant Beach Find. |
What peaks your interest? As I said the other day, different people like different things. But people change over time too. What interests you at one point, might not interest you at all a year later.
There is such a wide variety of types of targets that can be found on beaches, and that can help anyone remain interested. If you get bored with modern jewelry, you can hunt fossils. No matter what it is, there is always something else you can target.
When you are very much into one kind of item, such as maybe shipwreck items, you might not see how or why others are interested in other things. But when you get to know more about those other things, you might learn what is interesting about them.
The more knowledge you have of different kinds of items, the easier it is to maintain a high level of interest.
I've never had the problem of being bored. Yes my interest level rises and drops for certain things, but there is always something that has my interest.
I do tend to get bored with certain types of targets when they become easy and routine, and I often feel that the things that I haven't found as much are more interesting.
When I first started detecting my goals were small. I counted coins and face value of finds. My counts got higher and higher and I'd gradually change my expectations and goals. It wasn't long before the number of coins wasn't really of much interest at all, then I started counting gold rings. Coins then became primarily of interest as a sign or indicator of what the beach was doing at a given area.
Anytime I could find a hot spot (accumulation of coins that had been on the beach a while) I new there was also a good chance of also finding older jewelry that had also accumulated.
As time goes by I continue to raise my standards. What was a good day when I started detecting would not be considered a good day today. And what was a good day after ten years, would not be considered a good day today. My standards and expectations keep increasing.
I think it is good to keep records and set goals. It lets you know where you are and gives you a way of judging your performance. It also pushes you to keep learning and improving.
Another change is that I'm less and less interested in the monetary value of finds. Now I like things that either have some mystery about them or that have some style or history to them.
The pendant shown today, for example, isn't anything great, but it just seems to me to be more attractive than most, and it isn't a type that I've already found two or three times before. It isn't hugely interesting to me, but I like it better than some simply because it is attractive to me. Small, compact, nice square lines, not gaudy. Just more attractive to me than most.
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| Another View. |
The shards are most likely old, but the mystery remained for some time. I couldn't figure out how it was used or what it came from.
You can see that photo in yesterday's post.
I did learn what it is just today. William M. said that Native Americans drilled holes in pots that cracked and used ropes to tie them together.
It did look to me like it was a hole for a rope. William also said he might be able to send photos of some examples.
The identity of that item was a long standing mystery for me, and I'm glad to have it figured out.
Thanks William.
In any case, metal detecting never gets boring if you keep learning, studying and raising your standards. It might be difficult to get excited by things that have become routine, but there are always new things and new surprises.
One thing to remember is, you wont' continue to learn and improve if you think you already know everything.
On the Treasure Coast today the surf is around two or three feet. The cool wind is still coming in from the West. That is expected to not change for a while.
About a week out, they are predicting a higher surf, but as I usually note, the predicted higher surf when it is that far out, often does not happen.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
