8/31/16 Report - Tropical Storm Hermine Heading Towards Big Bend. 12th Century Cache. A Great Resource.

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

One Hurricane, One Tropical Storm and a Depression and Another Disturbance.

In my opinion the most interesting of the disturbances shown on the above map is the one over by the Canary Islands.  I feel like the others are not going to do a lot for us.

Gaston is still lingering in the middle of the Atlantic.

Depression Eight will be heading away from North Carolina and out into the Atlantic.

Our new Tropical Storm, Hermine, formerly referred to as Invest 99, is going to pass over North Florida and out into the Atlantic and up towards North Carolina.

The path of Hermine appears to be a little more narrow and bit farther north than it was yesterday.  It has strengthened.

There is a surge warning or watch along the big bend all the way from Spring Hill up to around Alligator Point.

The south winds could result in a touch of improvement to a few (very few) scattered spots on the Treasure Coast.

We're supposed to have a four foot surf on Wednesday.  After that the surf is supposed to decrease as Hermine results in west and southwest winds for the Treasure Coast.

The big bump in the surf for next week that was in the predictions disappeared as I thought it would.

Like I said, I more interested in watching the new disturbance leaving the Canary Islands.

There should be a few very small cuts developing today, but nothing big.

There should be improved hunting in spots around the big bend, and definitely North Carolina.

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About 273 copper coins related to the 12th century have been found in ancient jar...

Here is the link.

http://www.azernews.az/culture/101501.html

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I found a good read, absolutely full of interesting information.  It is the PROCEEDINGS OF THE SYMPOSIUM “EDGE OF EMPIRE” HELD AT THE 2006 ANNUAL MEETING OF THE SOCIETY FOR HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY SACRAMENTO CA Edited by Filipe Vieira de Castro and Katie Custer.

There is a lot of good stuff to read there.

Here is the link.  (It takes a while to load.)

http://nautarch.tamu.edu/shiplab/00-pdf/Castro%20and%20Custer%202008%20-%20Book%20-%20Edge%20of%20Empire.pdf

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I'll be checking out the beaches before long.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/30/16 Report - Two Storms and Predictions. The Encarnacion. The Brick Wreck and Mystery Wreck.

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

Tropical Depression Nine
Source: WHNT TV

As you can see Tropical Depression Nine supposed to go up into the Gulf and then cut back over Florida.  Wind strength is expected to be near tropical storm force.

Source: windyty.com.

Above you see the expected wind pattern for Friday AM as the storm passes over North Florida. Notice how the wind will be hitting us from the soutwest.

Surf Chart From MagicSeaweed.com

You can see from the above surf predictions how the surf decreases as the wind shifts.  The surf will be small as the storm passes north of the Treasure Coast.

North Carolina should have some nice hunting conditions.  They have one storm right off of the coast, and when the other one passes over Florida, it will head north to North Carolina.

Depression Number Eight Off Coast of North Carolina.
Source: windyty.com.

The above shows the first of the two storms that will create northeast winds for North Carolina.

If you look at the surf chart again, you'll notice that after this weekend's small Treasure Coast surf, they are predicting six to nine feet by the 8/9,  As I've pointed out before, when large surf is predicted that far ahead, it seldom actually happens.  Time will tell.

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...According to archaeologists from Texas State University, the Encarnación was part of Spain’s Tierre Firma fleet, which was critical for maintaining trade routes between its colonies in the New World. Built in Veracruz, Mexico, the merchant ship, or naos, sank during a storm off the Caribbean coast of Panama in 1681. The researchers were surprised to discover that on further investigation, the lower hull and the cargo hold of the ship were almost completely intact and filled with artifacts that the Encarnación had been carrying...

Here is the link for the rest of the article.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/mysterious-spanish-shipwreck-reveals-how-they-built-their-boats-180955310/?no-ist

The article mentions granel, a concete like substance use as ballast.  Can anyone find me pictures of granel?  I'd like to see some examples.

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Here is a nice little post discussing, among other things, a dive on a couple of Florida wrecks - the Brick Wreck and a mystery wreck.

Here is the link.

http://fpangoingpublic.blogspot.com/2011/06/divers-down-at-hads.html

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There is another disturbance coming off of Africa.  Maybe we'll get on the right side of one of these storms.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/29/16 Report - Tropical Depressions Eight and Nine. Detectorist Strikes Gold After Jeanne. Collection of Bronze Artifacts. Detector For Divers.

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

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

The map is really lighting up.  We now have a hurricane, two depressions and a disturbance.  They've been hanging around for a while now.

Looks like Tropical Depression Eight should create some good hunting in North Carolina.  Its not going to make landfall but it is going to create a high surf.  That is about what I would call ideal.  No hurricane to deal with - just a storm lingering off the coast.

Tropical Depression Nine, formerly called Invest 99, will become a storm and head up towards the Florida Panhandle.

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

On the Treasure Coast I'm not expecting much.  We'll get around a four foot surf, but it will hitting primarily from the East, with a secondary swell from the south.  At least there will be a few spots that get stirred up a little.  Overall, nothing very significant locally though.

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Sometimes it comes easier than you would expect.  You can just be at the right place at the right time.

That was the case for Reggie S. who found a fine 8-escudo as a new detectorist after only twenty hours of detecting.  He happened to be near the Cannon Wreck after Hurricane Jeanne.

Some of the biggest name detecting braggarts who have been detecting for decades have never found such a fine eight-escudo.

That is almost as good as the lady who found an escudo on her very first detecting outing.

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A man who spent many years collecting metal artifacts from the ocean near the power plant where he worked in Israel secretly amassed a huge collection of valuable and ancient treasures.

Bronze Artifacts
Source: LiveScience.com

The item in the middle is a type of ancient hand grenade.

 Here is the link for more on that story.

.http://www.livescience.com/55852-worker-discovers-bronze-age-treasures-in-israel.html

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If you ever wandered what type of detector the salvage divers use, some use the Aquascan Aquapulse.

You can look at those at the following site.

 http://www.kellycodetectors.com/catalog/search/result/?c=&q=aquapulse+aquascan

Just because it is used by divers doesn't mean that it is the best choice for beach detecting.  In fact few beach hunters use that type of detector.  The best detector for you depends upon where you hunt, how you hunt, and what you want to find.  You will want to chose a detector that suits you.

Most people would probably not like my primary choice.

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Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/28/16 Report - Weather Disturbances. A Few Cheap Finds and Beach Analysis.

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

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

The two disturbances nearest us haven't developed much.  They aren't moving very fast either.

The one down by the keys will move into the Gulf.  The other one is still aiming at North Carolina. Gaston is supposed to turn around and head northeast.

We'll have a two to three foot surf, and possibly a three to four foot surf by Tuesday.

I don't expect any significant improvement in beach conditions for finding old shipwreck items, but there will probably be a few (very few) spots like the one that I discussed yesterday around the Treasure Coast.

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Yesterday was the first day for a while that I talked about hunting modern items.  That hunt was a purely recreational hunt.  I didn't expect to find anything good and if I was really serious about finding something good,  I wouldn't have bothered with that beach at all.  I was there and just wanted a little relaxation, and there is always some remote chance of something interesting popping up.  What I uncovered was a very common distribution of finds.  That is why I took the time to illustrate it.

I've talked about the math of detecting in the past.  It has to do with probabilities and the value of finds.  The beach I was talking about yesterday is not good for either the quantity or quality of finds. It is not a beach where people wear good stuff and if you find anything much good, it is probably stolen property.






Here are two pictures of the first jewelry item that came out of the jewelry hole that I circled on my illustration yesterday.




It was completely black, as shown on the right, when it came out of the ground.  The picture on the left shows how it looked partly cleaned.

It was one of those rings that rolled down the slope after being uncovered.

I think it is titanium or steel or something like that.  I haven't done any testing yet.  It is unmarked.

Above is a pendant found in the same area.  It was only a couple of feet from the ring.

Both items were obviously lost for a while and both were covered by a black crust and show signs of corrosion.

That beach is so heavily detected that you don't get too many things that aren't newly lost without some waves and erosion.

Above is a bangle bracelet found outside the jewelry hole that I outlined yesterday.  It is typical of the kind of cheap stuff found at that beach.   There are a lot of large hoop ear rings found there too.  The reason I am showing these finds is that they are so typical of this beach and I wanted to illustrate how different beaches produce a different quality of finds.

My main point today, though, is that if you want to maximize the value of your finds, which most people want to do, you should do an analysis.  Consider both quantity and quality of finds.  You can do a partial analysis simply by watching the people at the beach.  If they have cheap stuff or expensive stuff, that is mostly what you can expect to find.  That seems obvious enough.  There are some exceptions, which I won't get into now.

A beach that produces high value targets, such as expensive watches or diamond rings, doesn't have to produce nearly as many targets.

Figure the average value of finds, and then take into account the number of targets.

If your average find is worth 50 cents, for example, and you find an average of ten targets on every visit, the expected find value would be $5.00.

If you can usually find a gold band or something, bringing your total up to an average of maybe $20 per visit, the expected find value at that beach would be about $20.  This is an over simplified example, but I hope you get the idea.

Now lets say there is another location, maybe a very high end condominium beach, where you seldom find anything good, lets say only once every ten visits, (not bad) but the finds include things like Rolex watches or expensive diamond rings that bring your value per visit up to $5000.  The expected value per find at a place like that would be 250 times greater than that of the second example even though nine times out of ten you strike out. There are beaches like that where the finds are rare but valuable.  At those types of beaches, a lot of people might visit a few times and conclude that there is nothing there because the finds are so rare, but it still might be worth hunting because of the high value of the finds.

I talked about this before in greater detail, so I won't get into it any deeper now.

It can take some time to get a decent analysis of a beach.  And, of course, things will change as conditions change.  My main point is to consider both the quantity and quality of finds at a particular beach.  Changing conditions also affect the analysis by changing the probability of different kinds of finds.   A few high-value finds can drastically change the analysis.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/27/16 Report - Cluster Hunting During Generally Poor Beach Conditions. Three Tropical Disturbances Now.

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

Three Disturbances.
Source: Nola.com/hurricane

We now have three disturbances and hurricane Gaston, which is in the mid Atlantic.

It looks like North Carolina might get some good hunting.

Invest 99 L is moving into the Gulf where it is expected to strengthen.

The Treasure Coast will be getting days of south winds and some rain, and about a 2 - 3 foot surf.

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I went for a little hunt yesterday morning.  I did manage to find one little cut.  It wasn't any higher than one foot at the peak, but ran for maybe 80 yards.

It was not an entirely new cut though.  There has been a touch of erosion at that same spot on and off for some weeks now.  I knew to look for it because I've seen it a few times over the past weeks.  Once an area has lost some sand, it is more susceptible to additional losses.

Sometimes I do one type of post for a while, and then do another type.  When I began this blog, the purpose was to give a daily beach conditions report relative to finding old shipwreck items.  Since conditions for finding old things has been so consistently poor and there were seldom any significant changes to mention, I quit giving a daily rating, but I will give my beach conditions rating when we get some significant changes.

Sometimes I talk about using a detector, and other times maybe reading a beach, or finds.  Lately I've been posting a lot of finds and haven't talked too much about techniques or strategies.  Today I'll talk a little about cluster hunting.

As you probably know if you've been reading this blog very long, I very often recommend digging everything.  A lot of people don't agree with that, but one reason I do not use discrimination very much is that I spend a lot of my time where there are more good targets and very little trash.  There are times when I will dig in a trashy area, but very seldom when I'm in the wet sand or shallow water. I can't give a lot of detail about all of that again today. That would take a long time, and besides, I've talked about a lot of that in the past.

Anyhow, yesterday I did some "cluster hunting." I dug a pocketful of coins and some jewelry in a small amount of time.  I dug no bottle tops or pull tabs.  They weren't present where I was spending my time even though the particular beach has a lot of pull tabs and other junk.  I could have spent my time on other areas of the beach and found tons of bottle tops and other junk.

Here is an illustration of the area that I focused on today.  The illustration is a little rough, but it will help me to explain.

I was hunting the front slope of the beach at low tide.  In the illustration, that is the area between the top black line and the bottom blue line.

There was a cut (outlined in brown) that was about 80 yards long.  The cut was small, only about a foot tall at the peak and got even smaller to the south and north.

The productive area (coins and things) were between the orange lines.  To the north (right) the cluster started south of the end of the cut.  The productive area did not extend to the wet sand during low tide.

The targets were relatively dense in front of the cut.  The productive area ran almost parallel to the water line as it extended beyond the cut and to the south.  Targets were farther apart as I went beyond the cut to the south.  Some targets to the south were also deeper.

The jewelry was found close together in one area (blue).  It was mostly junk, because the people at that visit this beach wear cheap stuff.  That is just the way it is.  If the beach goers at this beach was a little more glitzy the finds would have been better.  That is something you have to take into account.

The first key to cluster hunting, is to locate the cluster.   It took me a few minutes to find it.  The first area I checked was the wet sand, which produced nothing.  There are times that I would walk directly to the cut, but this beach has a history of a lot of wet sand finds, so I did a quick check of that area.

After digging a few targets that are close together, but apparently not a part of a spill, the next in cluster hunting is to get a rough estimate of the size and location of the boundaries of the cluster, as well as identify the center of the cluster.  The center of the cluster is where dense objects will be located and where the finds will be close together.  I won't get into tons of ifs ands and buts or other details today.

I wasn't much interested in modern stuff today.  The modern stuff at this beach is cheap stuff.  It is rare to find anything good there.  I worked it out simply because it was there, and I was there.

Once you identify a cluster and its boundaries you can pick up a lot of finds quickly.  You won't need discrimination because the area you are working has been sifted and sorted and there won't be much junk in the cluster.  If you start moving outside the cluster, you might start hitting more junk.

Again, this applies to wet areas.  Areas that have been high and dry will not have been sifted and sorted like this.

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Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/26/16 Report - Survey of Some Treasure Coast Beaches and A Morning Hunt. Weakened Storm.

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

Frederick Douglas Beach Yesterday Evening Just After High Tide

I took a look at a few beaches yesterday to see how things were developing.  The first picture shows Frederick Douglass beach.

Notice the white water.  I'd estimate the waves to be three to four feet at that time.  The waves were hitting from the east.

The beach was mushy.  Notice the small shells and sea weed.  Sea weed is an indicator that light stuff is washing up and being deposited -  not what you want to see if you want to find old coins.

At least the sun wasn't beating down. 

Walton Rocks Beach Yesterday Afternoon Just After High Tide

The waves weren't quite as high at Walton Rocks.  The sea weed is covering more of the beach here. That shows that it is not being washed away as the high tide retreats.

The sea weed will often help you see where the water got to during the last high tide.  The water didn't get real high up on the beach here.

Fort Pirece Inlet South Yesterday Afternoon After High Tide

You see the sea weed line here again. Also note the small shells and mushy beach front. The waves were not nearly as big here.

This beach has lost about a hundred yards of sand since it was last renourished, but that was not recent.

The above map from nhc.noaa.gov shows the system I've been watching now near the Bahamas, has decreased in strength. It looks to me like it will have very little affect on the Treasure Coast beaches. The image I showed yesterday from windyty.com turned out to be a poor indicator.  I don't think the storm will develop like that now.

There is a new system shown in the Gulf.

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I went for a little hunt this morning and found a one foot cut that ran for about 80 yards.  I did what I would call a classic Treasure Guide cluster hunt and found a good cluster of targets, including a couple of pieces of jewelry. 

I don't have time to get into that today, so I'll talk about it tomorrow.  

We got enough action yesterday to create a few productive spots, but not anything that I saw that would produce old finds.

Happy hunting, 
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/25/16 Report - Invest 99-L Still Heading Towards Florida. Octant Find. Fisher News. IRC History Books.

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

Wind Prediction for Early Sunday Afternoon
According to wyndyty.com.

The biggest news for me is Invest 99L, a low pressure area, coming our way.  I ran the wyndyty.com prediction out to Sunday, and from that it appears that the storm could develop and come in around the Miami area, as shown above.

Notice that according to this prediction, the system has a nice tight center by Sunday afternoon.  Also notice that the strongest winds are to the northeast.

If this is what happens, we won't get very much wind from the north or northeast.  After it passes we'll be getting a lot of South winds.

Of course, this is just a prediction and things could change significantly.

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

Above you can see where things stand at the Thursday 8 AM update.  At this point, there is still just a 50 percent chance of the low pressure area becoming a cyclone in the next 48 hours.  

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Here is a really nice artifact found by Darrel S. years ago.  He said, I have found some late 18th century items. I found the part to an octant south of Turtle Trail. Image (bottom) is from Sedwick's auction for reference.

Part Of An Octant Found by Darrel S.
Photos submitted by Darrel S.

Below is a picture of a complete octant as shown in a 2010 Sedwick auction listing.  You can see a part like the one found by Darrel on that octant. 

Source: Sedwick Oct. 23, 2010 Auction Listing.

That is the kind of item that an inexperienced detectorist might find and discard as being of no value. As I often say, if you don't know what an object is, hold onto it until you are very confident that you know what you have.  .

Very nice find Darrel!  Thanks for sharing.

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Recently I showed a chisel that was found on the Treasure Coast.  The J.B. Magruder recently found an iron chisel along with some other items on the Atocha site.  The Magruder will be moving down to the Atocha Main Pile to look for emeralds.

The Dare continues to explore targets identified by Dolores an the EM metal detection system.  They might move North to the Lost Merchant site.

The Fishers are adding Captain Dan Porter and his Sea Reaper to their Key West salvage operations.

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Here is something really useful.  It is a listing of Indian River County local history books in the Indian River County library system.

You'll find many more related books (hundreds) by using the following link.

http://www.irclibrary.org/genealogy/irchistorybooks.pdf

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/24/16 Report - Storm Headed Towards Treasure Coast. 18th Century Shipwreck Appears On Beach. $100 Million Pearl Found.

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

Source: nola.com/hurricane

Tropical wave 99L has not yet become a cyclone, but has a 60 percent chance of doing so in the next 48 hours.  It is passing the West Indies and is still aimed at the Bahamas and the Treasure Coast.

Fiona has dissipated and Gaston is still strong but headed north into the Atlantic.

Surf Predictions From MagicSeaWeed

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Ship Reappears On Beach.
Source: TheGuardian.com (See link below).

The sifting sands of time come and go, each time with the possibility of revealing something new to the lucky souls who happen to pass by at the right time.

The remains shown above are thought to be those of the Sally, which ran aground on Devon beach in 1769 with a cargo of port wine.

Here is the link for more about that.

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/aug/15/200-year-old-shipwreck-sally-emerge-from-water-devon-beach

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A 75 pound pearl found by a fisherman is estimated to be worth $100 million.

Click here to see the rest of the story.

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Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/23/16 Report - Storm Aiming At Treasure Coast. Iron Shipwreck Objects. French in Pacific New World.

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

Tropical Wave Heading Our Way
Source: See link below.

This is the big news for me today.  The weather system following Fiona is heading our way.  You can see that in the picture above.  It is still a few days away.  The strength and possibly the track could change before it gets here.

Here is the link to that.

http://blog.spiritdaily.com/news-links/tropical-wave-could-develop

Fiona is still heading north of us, and Gaston is expected to become a hurricane soon, but is still expected to head out into the North Atlantic.

Below is the relative position of all three.

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

The surf is expected to increase daily for several days.  See the chart below.

Surf Predictions For Fort Pierce
MagicSeaWeed.com

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Here is some good reading.  It isn't about the Treasure Coast, but it does relate to the exploration and discovery of the New World.

It is the 1918 text of the Annual Publication of the Southern California Historical Society - a lengthy but interesting bit of history about the French and the Pacific trade.  Take a look.

https://archive.org/stream/annualpublicatio19181920hist/annualpublicatio19181920hist_djvu.txt

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Collection of Iron Finds by Darrel S.
Photo submitted by Darrel S.

Here is what he said about the photo.

Image from my personal collection. Fortunate to have John Powell and Lance restored my ferrous artifacts. Some took years, others less time. From Corrigans over past 25 years. You will see an awl as well as a double pointed object believed to be used as an enscriber (I believed part of crossbow.) I will send images from McLarty Museum later of both possibilities.

The double pointed object that he refers to is at about the five o'clock postiion.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/22/16 Report - Another Cache From the 2004 Hurricanes. Old Great Lakes Shipwreck. Fort Benton Dig. Fiona and Other Weather Systems.

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

Another Post-Hurricane Cache
Source: 2015 Orlando Sentinel Clipping
sent to me by Darrel S.

This cache was found by Joel Ruth in Brevard County just after Hurricane Jeanne.  I've been talking a good bit about caches lately and decided to add this one.

There were really a lot of finds after Jeanne and Francis.  Coins were found in bunches by a number of  detectorists after the hurricanes.  I've shown only a very few of those that I know about.

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Zika appears to be spreading.  Portect youself from mosquitos in any case.  Here is a link about that.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/health-care/article96420487.html

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ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — The second-oldest confirmed shipwreck in the Great Lakes, an American-built, Canadian-owned sloop that sank in Lake Ontario more than 200 years ago, has been found, a team of underwater explorers said Wednesday...

The sloop Washington was built on Lake Erie in Pennsylvania in 1798 and was used to transport people and goods between western New York, Pennsylvania and Ontario. It was placed on skids and hauled by oxen teams across the Niagara Isthmus to Lake Ontario in 1802 after being sold to Canadian merchants...

Here is the link.

http://www.denverpost.com/2016/08/17/explorers-find-second-oldest-confirmed-shipwreck-great-lakes/

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FORT BENTON – Perhaps as many as 120 years have passed since the historic old Fort Benton had both its blockhouses, defensive towers at opposite corners of the fur-trade-era fort...

An archaeological dig is underway to determine exactly where the southwest blockhouse was, its pieces long ago repurposed...

Here is that link.

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2016/08/15/digging-history-fort-benton/88810422/

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This has been a tough year for me.  Jan. 1 I broke and tooth, then a multitude of things happened including my mother's hospitalization, then I spent this past weekend in the hospital.  My luck has been as bad as the weather had been hot.  I've had a two decades worth of inconvenience in a single year. I'm fine now. It was a weird thing, and I'm back to normal. Hope the worst of this year is over.

I was headed to the walk-in clinic when I got sick as a dog and had to pull into an gas station.  I drove over to an unpaved exit that I thought was pretty much out of the way where I had to open the door and throw-up everything in side me, while some fellow blew his horn for me to move because I guess I was inconveniencing him.  I really appreciated that.  Actually I was too sick at the time to pay it much other than passing attention.

It has been month after month of the same type of weather.  I'm hoping for a change there too.  I'd like to see a good long storm but not a hurricane.

Source: nhc.noaa,gov

Fiona is still out there and heading towards Bermuda.

The second one (yellow) has not strengthened yet, but could head our way.

The third is expected to become a cyclone very soon, but is still expected to head out into the North Atlantic.

This morning the surfing web site predicted a ten foot surf for the Treasure Coast, but that didn't last long.  It is not back down to around three feet.  Those big bumps you see in the surf report 7 to 10 out seldom last.

We'll have to wait a little longer before we get any kind of a good idea about what these weather systems will bring to the Treasure Coast.

Glad to be out of the hospital.  I did my last post from the hospital bed.  First time I was a hospital patient in the last sixty years or so.  Don't want to be one again.

I still have a lot of finds and stuff to show you.  Sometimes I'm missing a detail that I'd like to include and don't have the time to spend researching it.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/21/16 Report - Three 16th Century Shipwrecks Found Off Florida Coast. More On The Beach Cache or Caches. Atlantic Storms.

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

It's relatively common to find debris from rocket launches in the waters off Cape Canaveral in Florida, but divers exploring the seabed recently uncovered artifacts from an age of exploration long before America's space program: 22 cannons and a marble monument in what they think are three 16th-century Spanish shipwrecks.

The finds include three ornate bronze cannons — two that are 10 feet (3 meters) long and one that is 7 feet (2 m) long — and the marble monument, engraved with the coat of arms of the king of France, which has been identified from the manifest of a 1562 expedition to Florida by the French navigator and colonialist Jean Ribault...

Here is the link for the rest of the story.

http://www.livescience.com/55795-colonial-age-shipwrecks-found-off-florida-coast.html

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Yesterday I had what I would call a very good post for you.  Scott's story illustrates the kind of thing we all like about metal detecting.  I enjoyed it very much because it is the kind of thing we all can relate to.

After discussing the cache some more with both Darrel and Scott, it appears that there might have been some confusion.  It is looking like there could possibly have been two different Bobs and two different caches. There are details that match and detail that don't.  It sounds like there are two different Bobs.  And there are two different locations given by the different reports. Yet the two independent descriptions of the cache are extremely similar, including the type and number of cobs.  It would be very interesting if there were two very similar caches found at the base of the eroded dunes at two different beaches.  (I don't have permission to give the one location.)  That would bring up some questions.

This confusion does not diminish the value or interest of Scott's and Darrel's accounts. It actually makes the story all the more intriguing.   Think about it.  Two different caches composed of a very similar number of exceptionally nice 8-reales, both found at the base of newly eroded dunes.

It is just the nature of treasure stories to leave some unanswered questions.

Thanks to both Scott and Darrel for their stimulating accounts.

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Source: nhc.noaa.gov

There are three weather systems in the Atlantic now.  The first is Tropical Storm Fiona, which seems to still be headed towards Bermuda.

The second has a lower chance of becoming a cyclone real soon, but the projected path for it comes closer to Florida.  It is about five days away.  We'll have to wait to see where it actually goes.

The newest has a strong chance of becoming a cyclone in the next couple of days, but is expected to head north into the North Atlantic.

The nine to fourteen foot surf prediction disappeared in a hurry.  Now it is nothing like that.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/20/16 Report - More Of The Story of the Handful of Eight Reales. Fiona Still On Track. 9 to 14 Foot Surf Predicted For Treasure Coast.

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

On 8/16/16 I posted the picture below and told about the truly exceptional reales found by Bob M. You just don't find cobs in that kind of condition on a beach very often, and high denomination cobs are very unusual at the beach were they were found.

As great as the find was, I got even more of the story from somebody else that was on the same beach that day when these reales were found.  This additional information made the story even better.

Superior Reales Found by Bob M. After 2003 Storms

Photo submitted by Darrel Strickland

Scott (aka Trez) is the other person that was there that day.  Scott sent me the story as he saw it in an email.  The email follows immediately below.

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I love the photo of all the cobs in Bob's hand.  Here is the story as I remember.   I know Bob would remember it, thats for sure.

I was with him on the beach that day when he found all those cobs.  All came out of a very small area right at the base of a freshly cut dune. That particular day we both were working/walking South along this particular stretch of beach.

We were both be-bopping along for sometime and no one else was there yet just us.  We didn't even know each other.  We may have said hello as we both took off in the same direction along the dune line.  We were just walking/detecting and both trying to get out of each others way I guess.

I would have to stop and dig a target then he would pass by me, then he would stop and dig a target and I would pass by him and so forth and so forth all the way down this stretch of beach. I guess he was the luckier out of the two that day as I stopped to dig a target he passed me and his next target was all those PERFECT FRESHLY MINTED pieces of 8 (if not mistaken they were all 8). I passed him not looking or being nosey as he dug them.  I just moved along thinking to myself damn that guy just scored something good, but at the time didn't know how good...

It wasn't until the high tide started coming back in until we saw each other again.  I had jumped up into the dunes for a break and to keep my Sovereign XS from getting soaked and wave washed.

As I sat, here came Bob, he saw me and I saw him, he stopped and came up into the dune with me,  We finally introduced ourselves to each other and sat and talked about the day.  I brought up the part where he passed me and stopped and dug for awhile.  I had to ask him ok what did you find??? He was super nice, and you could see the surprise and happiness on his face as he reached into his pocket and pulled out 8 reales by the handfuls.  These were/are not your typical beach/water reales.  These were FULLY weighted pieces as if they just pulled from the burlap sack and buried in the dune until they would be found again.
They were and still are the finest examples of beach found 8 reales that I (personally) have ever seen come from any of the wreck-site beaches (they are pristine 8s).

Even as I think about them now as I write this, they were incredible coins.
Thank you Bob for letting me hold them, examine them and drool over them.  I have to admit that find still haunts me.

I saw Bob a few times since then but never at the beach, usually unloading his bread truck at a store, but we always said hello to each other.

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Thanks Scott.   You weren't the lucky one to hit those reales. but you had a great experience and helped us all by filling in the details and giving more of the story.

The story I'm talking about isn't just about a find.  It isn't only about coins.  It is about a lot more than that.

I'll start with the coins.  They were forgotten - buried under sand for centuries.  Nobody knew about them after being lost for such a long time.

Those who manufactured them, transported them, valued and expected them, protected them and lost them, saw them differently.  They meant something different to all of those people.

To some, those coins were a heavy burden.  To some they were a curse.  To others they were a highly coveted.  That was the part of the story that happened long ago before the cobs were lost and forgotten.

Then they were found.  The light of human consciousness shined upon them once again, and once again they became something important to somebody again.  They became a part of another story as experienced by Bob and Trez.  In a way, Bob M. brought those coins back to life as they became a part of Bob's and Scott's life.  History was uncovered, and at the same time, history was made.

Unlike the countless grains of sand around him that day, those cobs became very meaningful again.
A coin or artifact has no meaning by itself.

Meaning is a matter of relationships - how an object relates to other objects and to people.  A part of history was recovered and restored.  But just as important, those three hundred year old cobs entered powerfully into the present.

The coins didn't give meaning to Bob.  Bob gave meaning to the coins. Bob M. brought those forgotten coins back to life, but that wasn't the only magic that took place that day.

They became a part of Scott's life too.  He wondered about and then saw the cobs that he missed finding by just a few feet. They became a part of his story.  Because of the story we now know, they have become a part of each of us.

Some of us assimilate it more completely than others.  The story will be more meaningful to some. Some of us will note the extra fine condition of the cobs, and we know how unusual it is to find cobs like that at that particular location because we've hunted there before - some of us many times, so we know the location, the dunes, the sights and normal slope of the beach.  Some readers will carefully note how they were found "right at the base of a freshly cut dune."  Some of us will immediately relate to leap-frogging with another detectorist on a lonely beach, wondering what we missed and then discussing the day standing or sitting at the top of a dune as the water comes in.

I have no doubt that when Bob sat down with Trez, Bob was as eager to show his find as Trez was to see what he might have missed. Maybe you've been there before.

We've all been there. The difference between finding and not finding is very thin.  One step one way or another can make all the difference.  It can be a matter of a foot or even an inch.

Trez didn't lose.  He took a lot away from that day.  And he shared it with us.

There is more than one person in any good story.  No man is an island, just like no object is an island. People have no meaning without relationships, and as the archaeologists always say, objects have no meaning without relationships.

Bob felt the magic when he recovered those cobs, and maybe you felt the magic when you read the story Scott shared with us.  Maybe the picture of those coins excited something in you.  Maybe you could relate to the experiences that Bob and Scott shared.  Maybe it brought back memories for you.

Hundreds of readers have now shared in their story to some extent. They read, looked, wondered, remembered, thought, and felt.  The magic was passed on through the sharing of their story.

Not the end.

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Predicted Track of Fiona
Source: nhc.noaa.gov

Fiona is still heading towards Bermuda.  There is another distubance behind Fiona that has a 10% chance of becoming a cyclone in the next 48 hours.

We'll have some nice negative tides today.  The surf will remain small for at least a few days.

They are predicting a surf of nine to fourteen feet about nine days from now.  That would be something, but as I've said many times, their longer range surf predictions aren't really that good.  We'll just have to keep watching for a while to see if that is really going to happen.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/19/16 Report - 68 Karat Treasure Coast Emerald Find. More On The Recent 1809 8-Escudo. Tropical Storms.

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

The 68 Karat Emerald Found At Golden Sands Beach.
Photos submitted by Darrel S.

This emerald was found while the lady below was collecting shells at Golden Sands beach.  She took it to the McLarty Museum and showed it to Ed Perry, who took the photos.  Ed sent an email to Darrel S. who sent the photos and information to me.

Lady Who Found 68 Karat Emerald On Treasure Coast Beach.
Photo submitted by Darrel S.

Unlike the coin I showed the discussed the past couple of days, this emerald is not a new find.  It was found back around 2005.

People sometimes ask me where to detect. I've been posting a lot of finds lately and sometimes even telling you where they were found.  That should give you some ideas.

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A few days ago I was talking about thumb rings and gimmel rings and showed some pictures from James Planche's book, An Illustrated Dictionary of Historic Costume, From the First Century B C. to c. 1760.   Larry had a book that was printed in 1940 in which the same illustrations and text appeared, so it looks like the information that I presented came from an earlier source than the one I referenced.   Thanks Larry.

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The 1809 8-escudo that I showed yesterday shows FERDIN VII in the legend, which would undoubtedly refer to Fernando VII who took the throne in 1808 but who was not the king in 1809 when the coin was made.  Fernando VII was replaced by Napolean's brother, Jose Bonapart, from 1808 to 1814 before Fernando was returned to the throne.

That type of coin ( referrred to as type 15 in Monedas Espanolas desde Juana y Carlos a Isabel II ) was made in years 1808 through 1812.  Assayer H.J. is listed only for the years 1809 -1811.

There appears to be a long unbroken series of silver coins for each year leading up to 1810 in the Florida Collection.  I'd guess probably from wrecks affected by the 1810 hurricane.

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Source: nhc.noaa.gov

Fiona still is headed for Bermuda.  It appears that another storm is forming behind Fiona.

The tides are fairly large now, but the surf will remain small for at least a few more days.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/18/16 Report - Unusual Capitana Eight Escudo Find. Tropical Storm Fiona.

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

Eight Escudo From Mexico Recently Found by the Capitana Guys.
Photo submitted by Captain Jonah Martinez.

I had a fascinating post almost ready to go and changed everything as a result of the new gold coin find made by the Capitana guys.  It is not what you might expect.  As I said, yesterday, it is NOT a 1715 Fleet.  And as I said yesterday, there is more than the 1715 Fleet out there.  We also have a new tropical storm out there too.

Same Eight Escudo
Photo submitted by Captain Jonah.

This coin was minted in Mexico.  The assayer initials are H. J.  You can see the mint mark and assayer initials at the bottom of the coin in the first picture.

Larry, who joined the Capitana this year had some fun finding this one.  Larry had worked with Jonah on other boats in the past.

Here is some information added by Captain Jonah.

I believe this coin came from a wreck of the hurricane of 1810. We read the Charlestown 1810  paper saying the Spanish lost 6 ships along the east coast of Florida. One of them being the arches wreck. Probably another scattered into Sebastian  the more I dug into old finds. The more I found to support this. Still very cool.

Cool is an understatement.  Not only is it a great find, but it makes us more aware of other wrecks along the Treasure Coast.  Congratulations!  And thanks much for sharing!

This type of coin is pictured in Monedas Espanolas desde Juana y Carlos a Isabel II by Calico et al.

Here is an online reference with a translation of the legend.

http://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces15007.html

You can find mention of wrecks like that in Steven Singer's Shipwrecks of Florida: A Comprehensive Listing.  You can review a preview of that book online.  Below is one example.

There are some leads to start with if you want to research that further.

I had a ton to talk about today.  I'm going to tell you more about the handful of 8 reales that I showed a couple of days ago.  Someone that was there was able tell me more about that find.

I'm also going to show a 68 karat emerald found by a person collecting shells on the Treasure Coast.

That is just a little of what I'm going to post in the next few days.

One big news item is Tropical Storm Fiona.

Tropical Storm Fiona
Source: nhc.noaa.gov

Well, I want to get this posted.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/17/16 Report - New Eight Escudo Found by Capitana Guys! How Cobs Appear On The Beach. The Alamo. Tropical Depression Six Forms.

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

New Eight Escudo Shown by Larry B. on the Capitana.
Photo by Jonah Martinez

Captain Jonah and the boys of the Capitana are hitting the gold again. Captain Jonah said, Here's a earlier 8 escudo from the season congrats to Larry B. Aboard the Capitana. One thing is it isn't from 1715.

Naturally we often talk about the 1715 Fleet. There is so much of it out there. But there are other treasure wrecks along the Treasure Coast too.

Congratulations guys! Always love to see your finds.

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I've talked a lot about the movement of sand in the past. I haven't done that for a while. I received a question yesterday that prompted me to talk about that a little today.

In calm weather waves break close to shore and the sand moves in and onto the beach. Each tide more sand moves onto the beach.

When the sea is rough, sand gets carried out and away from the beach.

Add caption

I borrowed the above illustration from somewhere long ago and can't find the source right now.  I think it was from some university class notes somewhere rather than a published book.  Maybe I'll find the source again.  

Illustration Showing Accumulated Protective Layer of New Sand (Red)
I just made this illustration.

In the above illustration there is a protective layer of unproductive new sand covering the front of the dunes, the front beach and the sand in the shallow water. Any of those layers can get eroded down to expose more productive coin-bearing sand.

As I've explained in the past, sand that is moved in during the most calm weather. like we've had most of this summer, will not contain coins or much of anything other than sand. The force of the water simply isn't strong enough to move much else.

In the above illustration I circled one very important area - the area right in front of the beach. When the water gets rough, this sand can get moved out into deeper water, thus exposing coins and other things.

Also, don't forget the importance of the north/northeast seas that result in strong north to south currents that slice away at the sand on the beach and carries it along with the longshore drift to the south. The result is that the protective sand that covers things like coins is carried away so they can be washed up onto the beach.

If you don't follow any of that, I recommend searching back through old posts and reading some of those.

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Experts discovered stones beneath San Antonio’s Alamo Plaza last week that could be associated with the main gate of the 18th century Mision San Antonio de Valero, as the Alamo Mission was originally known.

Here is the link for more of that article.

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2016/08/08/are-archaeologists-close-to-finding-alamos-main-gate.html

Thanks to Dean for that link.

They recently recovered the tip of a Mexican sword while excavating at the south wall gate of the Alamo.

The artifact is believed to be from a sword issued to a non-commissioned officer in the Mexican infantry and dated about 1835, according to Nesta Anderson, the lead archaeologist on the dig. It could have been used in the famous battle for the Alamo in 1836 or in construction along the southern wall, she said at a news conference at the site Thursday morning.

Here is that link.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/news/state/texas/article95169787.html#storylink=cpy

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/state/texas/article95169787.html

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We now have Tropical Depression Six, however as I suggested a few days ago, it looks like it will head north before coming close to us.

Predicted Path of Tropical Depression Six.
Source: nhc.noaa.gov

Expect a little bump in the surf tomorrow.  Something like maybe three feet.  Then not much again.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net