Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
Super 1918 newspaper article showing a couple of fellows who sifted for treasure on Coney Island, reportedly with enough success to buy cars and houses.
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| Vintage newspaper clipping submitted by Bill T. |
I want to blow up a few of these to focus in on them.
First notice how crowded the beach is. Of course there will be more targets on a more crowded beach. A lot of targets are required for several things besides simply producing a large number of finds.
If you detect on a beach with a lot of targets you'll learn much faster about target distribution patterns that can be found in the wet sand or water. On some beaches, like many found on the Treasure Coast, the typical target density is simply too small to be able to easily identify coin lines and holes a lot of the time. It takes more than one or two targets to make a line or hole apparent. If, on the other hand, you run into a line with tens or hundreds of targets, the distribution pattern becomes much easier to see. Not only can you see the where the coins were deposited, but you can also see how the pennies are distributed near the borders and quarters near the middle etc. If there are not enough targets, that will be impossible to see. That is just one of the many advantages of learning to detect on busier beaches.
These fellows in the newspaper clipping constructed sifters out of boards and wire. There are times when you can productively sift without detecting. Remember, detectors are basically pinpointing devices. When you have enough target density, it is faster to cut out the detecting.
Maybe you have heard of the Merkitch sifter. It is a sifter on wheels with a handle much like that of a lawn mower which you drag through the sand. You don't dig but sift the sand by pulling or pushing the sifter. I can tell you it is a lot of work.
I wonder if these guys were digging for clams or something when they discovered they could find coins?
Remember, there are alternatives to detecting, but it usually takes a special situation and high target density to make all the work worthwhile.
Notice the shells in the sifter with the coins.
Also notice that they are digging right around the post in one picture.
People tend to talk about coins and things sinking, which of course they do, but on a beach that it is not done by gravity alone.
Besides gravity, think about how the sand moves. I once showed an illustration of an experiment showing how an object steps its way down a sand bank when a current is moving up the slope. The current removes the sand from the front of the object until enough sand is moved that the object "steps" down the slope. The object moves in a series of small steps. When it moves down the slope, it is stopped by sand that has not moved yet. Then the current rushing around the object moves enough sand that the object takes the next step down the slope.
Water rushes around objects like air around an airplane wing. That moves the lighter sand away from around the heavier object and the heavier object then descends into the vacancy where the sand was.
Objects sink in sand very much because of the movement of sand, not just the force of gravity on the object.
I showed how that works back in my 3/10/14 post.
Watch how the currents move the sand when you are on the beach. Watch how the sand bars move. It is easy to see that on some of the beaches right now in the shallow water and low tide area. You can see ripples in the sand and how the sand is flowing.
When the currents are strong enough to move sand but not strong enough to move heavier objects, the objects "sink," if you want to use that word, quickly.
Thanks for sending me the great clipping Bill.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, Rick Scott supports a private funded rail project from Miami to Cocoa that would use existing rails and would later connect to the Orlando Airport. The paper reports opposition to the project based upon noise and harm to the standard of living on the Treasure Coast.
If you ever traveled by train in Europe you know how convenient that is, and I fail to see how a passenger train would create a mere fraction of the noise of those freight trains filled with gravel. Personally I'd like to be able to get to the Orlando Airport by rail if it was fast enough. PBI has few direct flights anywhere anymore. For me, one draw back of living on the Treasure Coast is the distance to a major airport.
Read it and decide for yourself.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/stateroundup/gov-rick-scott-supports-controversial-rail-project-on-floridas-east-coast/2183293
ST AUGUSTINE — "America's Most Sacred Acre" — the name given to the tranquil, shaded waterfront cemetery and grounds of the Nombre De Dios Mission and Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche — has been the center of activity and attention for six weeks.
...
All to uncover the foundation and inner walls of what experts say is the first shrine ever built in the New World to the Virgin Mary, the mother of Christ.
Here is the link for the rest of the story.
http://www.ocala.com/article/20140607/ARTICLES/140609779?p=5&tc=pg
On the Treasure Coast we still have a one to two foot surf. Wind is mostly from the South. The tides are the slightest bit bigger.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
