Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
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| Lot 720 as shown in the Sedwick Coins Online Auction Catalog. |
This heart-shaped eight reale brought a winning bid of $100,000 in the Sedwick Coins treasure auction that concluded this week. It is the best example known.
I held this reale myself and inspected it carefully. It is beautiful. Unlike many heart-shaped cobs, this one is not holed.
Potosi was the only mint to make cobs in this shape. Heart-shaped cobs from other mints do exist, but they were shaped into hearts later instead of being struck on a heart-shaped flan.
The purpose of these special cobs is not known for certain. There is an article about that on the Sedwick Coins web site.
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Underwater archaeologists have discovered 22 shipwrecks around a small Greek archipelago, revealing what may be the ancient shipwreck capital of the world...
"Surpassing all expectations, over only 13 days we added 12 percent to the total of known ancient shipwrecks in Greek territorial waters," Peter Campbell, of the University of Southampton and co-director from US based RPM Nautical Foundation, told Discovery News...
Here is the link to that article.http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/22-shipwrecks-found-in-single-greek-location-in-greece-151028.htm
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A hiker travelling the ancient route between western and eastern Norway found a 1,200-year-old Viking sword after sitting down to rest after a short fishing trip. Further studies of the area will take place next spring...
That sword was in really amazing condition too.
Here is that link for that article.
http://www.thelocal.no/20151021/hiker-finds-1300-yr-old-viking-sword
One more example of how amazing objects can be found without a metal detector.
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A lonely beach can be as busy as Times Square on New Years Eve if you really listen to your finds and use your imagination a little. Fossils tell of giant sloths, mammoths, tapirs and Megalodons. Treasure coins conjure up ghosts of pirates, missionaries, conquistadors, sailors, and half-drowned survivors. Arrow heads and shell artifacts echo early man hunting and going about the business of survival. Badly corroded World War II dog tags announce in sad muted tones the names of young men who trained in Florida for a landing in Europe that would change the world. Modern coins and jewelry items tell of those who played, grew up and raised families on the Treasure Coast as well as tourists who came to enjoy the sun, sand and surf. It is all there. You can feel it if you are quiet enough. You can see it if you respect it enough.
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It looks like we are in for a week or so of 2 to 4 foot surf. Not very encouraging.
Please respond to the blog poll if you hunted the Treasure Coast beaches during the last half of October. It will help me evaluate my beach detecting conditions ratings as well as tell us what was or was not found.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
