3/18/15 Report - Surface Hunting Old Bottles To Locate Old Detecting Sites. Accu-Sound Pinpointer.

Writtten by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

Miscellaneous Bottles Found While Surface Hunting On The Treasure Coast Yesterday.

Besides doing good library research, another way to find good detecting sites is to simply go out and scout around.  One of the first signs of an old site will normally be broken pieces of class or pottery on top of the ground.

A lot of people dig for bottles, but they can also be found on the surface on beaches or along waterways.  I found my first old bottles after Hurricane Andrew when I was hunting silver coins with a detector and noticed old bottles floating in the surf.  I started picking up the bottles, and that was the beginning of my bottle collecting.

Below is the type of area where these bottles were found.  Their were many more modern bottles, broken bottles, pieces of glass and other junk.  The few older bottles were partly buried, except for the small ones.

Areas Where Bottles Were Found.

At this particular location I've found mid-19th century bottles and a surprise horse tooth fossil.

If you find a cluster of old bottles, it might be a good sign of a nearby old detecting site.

None of these bottles are very interesting, and they aren't worth much, but if you are in an area like that something more valuable might also be found.   It is worth looking.  You never know what you might find.

Generally there will be so much junk in an area like this that it won't be worth detecting.  You might however detect the original site that is the source of the bottles.

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A bottle of wine from a blockade runner that sank in 1864 was opened and drank.   The verdict - yuk!

Here is the link to that video.

http://xfinity.comcast.net/video/Uncorked-Wine-From-1864-Shipwreck/414769219890/Comcast/Today_in_Video/?cid=hero_sf_TIV

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An Inexpensive Pin Pointer.

I got this pinpointer free with the purchase of a metal detector.  It is one of the less expensive pinpointers.  It is also not very effective.

I tested it with the four objects shown above and you nearly have to touch the object to get a signal.  It could be of some help I guess.  But if you really want a pinpointer, you probably want something more effective.  I never use a pinpointer myself, and my experience with this one did nothing to convince me that I should.

A pinpointer is not as much help if you beach detect.  You can sift sand fairly quickly.  If you hunt in muddy soil or clay, a pinpointer might be of more use.

I personally pinpoint rather well with my metal detector, being able to determine a lot about the location, size, shape and depth of the object from the detector.  There are also other helpful tricks that you can use instead of a pinpointer.  I've talked about some of those in the past.

Some detectors provide easier pinpointing than others.

I actually made a video showing the use and effectiveness of this particular pinpointer but haven't managed to get it uploaded to the blog yet.

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Sotheby is auctioning a large selection of valuable travel and discovery books including some on the Indians of North America and various voyages and wrecks.  If you are looking for good lead information or just like to read history, this auction will give you a good start.  You don't have to buy the books, but when you see one you like, you can do an internet search for digital books, cheaper replications, or other material you might find by the same author.

Here is a link to the auction lots.

http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/2015/exploration-discovery-library-franklin-brooke-hitching-l15411.html

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There is little hope for improved beach detecting conditions on the Treasure Coast in the near future.  The surf is smooth today.  Tomorrow (Thursday) we're supposed to get something up to about five feet, but the wind will be southerly.  That's too bad.  Maybe we'll get a little stirring.

Happy hunting anyhow,
TreasureGuide@Comcast.net