10/31/16 Report - CSA Plate. Various Detecting Goals and Strategies. Indigenous Alaskan Trade. Pre-Clovis Americans.

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

Find Photo By Dan B.

Notice the small CSA plate in the middle.  That could get a person excited.

As I often say, the find is sometimes only the beginning of the hunt.  That is especially true if you are a relic hunter.  After the find comes the research to find out as much as you can about the item.

Dan did his research.

Pictures of CSA Cap Gun Set.

It looks like the plate came off a a cap gun set like the one shown above.

Good research Dan!

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I started to talk about strategies the other day.  It can be a complex and lengthy subject.  One of the first things is to define your goals.  The goals of a modern jewelry hunter will usually be economic. They want to find the most valuable finds that they can.

Non-detectorists usually assume that treasure hunters are driven by economics.  They assume that they are in it for the money, and they often ask, "What is the most valuable thing you ever found." That can be a difficult question for many detectorists to answer because they are interested in things other than the economic value of their finds.  Some want to find old things or unusual things or things that tell a story.  They might not ever want to sell anything.  That is not why they hunt.

One of the most important things in developing an effective strategy is to know exactly what you want to accomplish.  Why are you detecting and what do you want to find?  Sometimes people detect just for the fun of it or the exercise.

I mentioned a few days ago about when I was digging tons of clad coins.  If I was trying to maximize the economic value of my finds, I might not be interested in digging tons of clad.   It would hardly pay off economically.  There are other reasons to dig clad though.  One is to gather information.  You can gather information about what went on at the location, how long things been accumulating there, how old are the items that are being uncovered, and where the items are coming from - for example if they washing out of the dunes or being washed up onto the beach out of the water.

You can tell a lot from the distribution of coins.  If you are finding a disproportionate number of nickles for example, maybe someone usually detects that area discriminating out targets in the nickle/aluminum range.

Zinc pennies will often be near the outside borders of a coin line or coin hole while quarters will be nearer the center and also closer to gold rings.  If you are detecting a lot of pennies, that is just a bit off of detecting a lot of aluminum.  In either case, you might want to move towards the heavier items.

Another reason to dig clad is to uncover things that might be associated with the coins or masked by the coins.  Pennies and other things can mask better targets.  I often find that after clearing away a coin hole, I am then able to find targets in the area that I did not notice before when all of the coins were in the way.  After clearing away the loud targets, listen for the more subtle signals.

Be clear about your preferences.  Be clear about how you value things.  That will help you be more strategic in your detecting.

I'll continue with this topic in the future.

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A bronze buckle and a cylindrical metal bead found in Alaska are the first hard evidence of trade between Asia and the indigenous peoples of the North American Arctic, centuries before contact with Europeans, archaeologists say.

An analysis of the artifacts has shown that they were smelted in East Asia out of lead, copper, and tin, before finding their way to an indigenous village some 700 years ago...

http://westerndigs.org/asian-metal-found-in-alaska-reveals-trade-centuries-before-european-contact/

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For more than a decade, evidence has been piling up that humans colonized the Americas thousands of years before the Clovis people. The Clovis, who are the early ancestors of today's Native Americans, left abundant evidence of their lives behind in the form of tools and graves. But the mysterious pre-Clovis humans, who likely arrived 17,000 to 15,000 years ago, have left only a few dozen sources of evidence for their existence across the Americas, mostly at campsites where they processed animals during hunting trips. Now a fresh examination of one such campsite, a 14,000-year-old hunter's rest stop outside the city of Tres Arroyos in Argentina, has given us a new understanding of how the pre-Clovis people might have lived.

http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/09/14000-year-old-campsite-in-argentina-adds-to-an-archaeological-mystery/

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The surf has decreased down to around four feet or less and will remain about that for the rest of the week.  I'm not anticipating any improvement in detecting conditions until possibly around a week from now.

Happy Halloween,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/30/16 Report - Condition of Some South Hutchinson Island Beaches.

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

Detectorist Below a Cut At Jensen Beach.

Yesterday I took a look at some of the South Hutchinson Island beaches a little after high tide.  There were a number of detectorists on the beaches.  

There was a small cut and dip where the detectorist was in the picture above.  Jensen beach had eroded significantly in the past few weeks.  Still it is not back as far as it was maybe 15 or 20 years ago.

Looking North From Frederick Douglass Beach Yesterday

Frederick Douglass Beach has a low flat front beach.  You can see two detectorists in the picture above.  Note also the seaweed.

John Brooks Beach Looking South Yesterday

There were some small scallops at John Brooks beach.  You could see a few peaks along the high tide line.  The front beach at both Frederick Douglass and John Brooks was pretty mushy.

Looking Down Over a Five Foot Cliff at Fort Pierce South Jetty Beach Yesterday.

This beach is almost back to what it was before the most recent renourishment project.  It seems to me they've lost close to a hundred yards of beach in the past year.  Coins are being found here along with some cheap jewelry.  Notice, however, the seaweed, as some of the sand comes back.

It is better than summer conditions, but not good enough for me to upgrade my treasure beach conditions rating.  Mostly you'll find modern stuff and perhaps some encrusted conglomerates or something like that.

I intend to continue my discussion of strategies sometime soon but just don't feel like writing much today.  That is all for now.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/29/16 Report - Big Dug Object. One Beach Coin Hole and Search Strategy. Speakers for Upcoming Sedwick Event. Continuing Wind Requires Monitoring Of Treasure Coast Beaches.

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

Barrel-like Object Dug by Jeff W.
Photo submitted by Jeff W.

I received an email from Jeff W. who sent the above picture of the item he dug.  He wondered what it was.  I don't know for sure what it is, but I urged extreme caution.  There are still World War II bombs and other things on some beaches that can be uncovered after storms.

Anytime you are digging something big like this, exercise extreme caution.  My first thought was depth charge, but of course I don't know what it is.  It could also contain hazardous materials.

My recommendation would be to report it to authorities.

Be cautious.  Be safe.

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Rough Diagram of One Productive Beach.

A few days ago I told you about a beach that I saw and could tell that it would probably have a lot of targets.  I stopped to check it out and quickly found a lot of modern coins there.  After getting an idea of the target distribution pattern, I stopped digging coin signals in the hope of finding a ring or something.  That is the same beach I tried to illustrate above.

The cut extended about three hundred yards, going from over six feet at one end (right) and tapering down to nothing at the other end.  A heavy concentration of coins (A) was found in front of the cut roughly near the middle, but actually more to the right than is shown in the illustration.  Towards the far end of the cut (C) old items were found in past years.

My strategy of skipping coin signals in the hope of quickly finding a ring worked.  Two things were required before it worked though.

The first thing I did was sample the beach to define the target distribution pattern.  I  quickly ran a very loose pattern to find out where the coin hole was and its approximate boundaries.  After doing that I had a good idea of where in the hole any gold rings would most likely be found.  It was near the center of the hole but closer to the water.

You can often get a good idea of where things should be found by looking at a beach, but you can quickly check that by doing a little sampling.

In the past I would have cleaned everything out - coins, junk and all.  This time, with the incoming tide and the multitude of targets, I didn't have enough time to clean it out so I took a short cut.

I returned the next day, thinking there was a good chance of something else good remaining along with all the coins that I didn't remove the first day.  I used to know about how many coins on average I would find per gold item on the beaches that I hunted frequently, but I can't remember those numbers now.  I moved and haven't hunted those beaches for a long time.  It seems to me that one or two hundred coins per gold ring was typical, but I could be way off.

I detected the same beach a few days before all of this and found the gold choker that I posted.  I lost track of how many days that was too.

Although I knew there were still a lot of clad coins in area A, I wasn't much interested in them, and the gold you find at this beach, as infrequent as it is, isn't the more expensive stuff, so I was thinking about skipping down to area C where older items had been found in the past.  I'm more interested in older items these day anyhow, so I did that, again running a very lose scanning pattern, and checked out area C enough to determine that it wasn't really worth spending much time on.  It got mushier and the targets were scarce.  So I returned to the coin hole.

On the way down to C and back, I spot checked high and low on the beach and found that area B produced a variety of very shallow coins that were barely covered by a thin layer of sand.  It appeared as though they slid down the face of the cliff.

One thing I like to do is sample areas to determine what is going on in the area.  Sampling can be a good strategy.  It is an important strategy for me.

Another thing I like to do is develop a mental map of any target distribution patterns and get an idea of how things got to be where they are and how they have been moving.

After sampling and getting a good idea of what different areas might produce, you can then make decisions about how you want to approach the beach.  Keep sampling, analyzing and modifying your strategies as you work and continue to collect information.

There are a lot of different strategies that could be used.  The one that is right for you will be determined by a number of factors including what you want to find, the beach conditions, how much time you have and other factors.  One good strategy when things are not looking good is to simply leave and sample some other beaches.

You might not even be interested in digging clad coins and modern jewelry.  Different people are interested in different things.  I'll talk more about that and different strategies in the near future.

One of the most valuable things you can take away from any hunt is new information and a more complete understanding  A find is a find, but new information can help you locate many finds in the future.

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We've had a steady wind and fairly high surf, but I haven't seen anything that makes me think that beach detecting conditions have improved significantly.  I am not highly confident about that though, because I haven't had much time to look around much.  There could possibly be a spot or two that are producing, but if there are spots like that, I'd say they are few and far between.  I don't think the water has been getting high enough in the right areas lately, but again I haven't been able to do much scouting around.

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Speakers prior to the upcoming Nov. 12 Sedwick Coins auction at the Doubletree Hotel in Orlando will be the following.

- Martin Woodward (U.K.): Treasure Wrecks in English Waters

- Isaac Rudman (Dominican Republic): La vida de un coleccionista profesional / The Life of a Professional Collector (in Spanish)

- Paul Karon (U.S.A.): Analysis for Collecting Potosi Cobs

- Dave Horner (U.S.A.): Compilation of Treasure Recovery Stories 1970-1990

For more information check SedwickCoins.com.

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I'll try to get out to take a look at a variety of beaches some time this weekend.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/28/16 Report - Fairly High Surf. Metal Detecting Favorite Finds Are Usually Surprises. St. Augustine Area.

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

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

We've had a lot of wind, a fairly high surf, and even pretty high tides lately, but the angles haven't been good.  As far as I can tell it hasn't been hitting the right places yet.  The only places that I've seen erosion is by inlets or rocks or other obstacles.  I'm sticking with a 1 (poor) beach conditions rating for now.  I haven't seen a lot of the beaches and there might be a spot or two where you could find something good.  There are certainly some good spots for modern coins right now, but I haven't seen any good spots for cobs.  There might be one or two though.

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A couple days ago I mentioned that I stopped at one beach where there were a lot of modern coins and the tide was already coming in so I tried to skip signals that sounded like clad coins and managed to pick up a gold band.  If you've been reading this blog very long, you know that I often tell people to dig everything.  This was a special case and a strategy that I've seldom used.

Digging everything is highly recommended, especially if you haven't been metal detecting for decades and you don't know the area inside out.  You will learn a lot by digging a lot of targets and it will keep you from making a big mistake.

As I think back, most of my favorite finds were surprises.  Raw gold nuggets found on a treasure wreck beach are some of my favorite finds.  I wasn't targeting gold nuggets.  I didn't expect them on a Treasure Coast beach.  I don't know if I would have passed them over or not if I was discriminating or using target ID, but since I was digging everything, there was absolutely no danger of that.  Would you correctly identify gold nuggets while beach hunting or might you miss them?

Most of my favorite finds would not be easy for any detector to identify.  Take for example the Rolexes and other high-end watches.  Do you really want to take a chance on missing targets like that because you don't feel like digging? I know it doesn't happen often, but it doesn't have to happen often to be very worthwhile.

How about a three hundred year old pistol or rapier blade?  Would you correctly identify them or discriminate them out and pass them over and then complain about finding nothing but clad.

The vast majority of my all-time favorite finds were surprises.  You don't find those kinds of things everyday.  In fact it is to some extent their rarity that makes them so valuable.  You never know what you might find, and how you detect not only determines what you find but it also determines what you don't find.

I've told stories about how I learned those lessons.  It was a long time before I ever found a shipwreck spike.  I should have found one much sooner and surely would have found one much sooner except that in those days I was targeting modern gold and was skipping a lot of things that did not sound like coins or gold jewelry.  That was until I learned that I was missing things that I would really like to find.

The more narrowly you define acceptable targets, the more things you eliminate and skip.  It is a trade-off. There are interesting and valuable targets of all shapes and sizes and made of all types of materials. Be aware of that and realize that your detecting style will determine not only what you get but also what you miss.  Your strategy should take into account your goals and what might or might not be in the area you are working.  You can't be too sure of what might or might not be there.  There is always the possibility of some big surprise.  And isn't that what detecting is all about?  Don't you want to see something appear out of the soil or sand that you never expected?  Maybe you hoped for it, but didn't dare expect it.  Do you really want to eliminate the possibility of such a surprise?

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The damage to the Fort Pierce area was so light that you would never think that Hurricane Matthew passed by so recently.  For all practical purposes Matthew has been forgotten and life moves on.  That is the way life is.  About the only remaining sign of Matthew around Fort Pierce are the piles of limbs along Indian River Drive and perhaps a few other places where Waste Management has not yet finished picking it all up.  Things are not so normal elsewhere along our coast.

Here is what Darrel S. had to say about St. Augustine.

Went over this morning to check on our condo and I really did not see much to remind me a hurricane hit. Downtown St. Augustine was back to normal. So I thought, when I went Vilano, ton of debris out in front of every structure. From Vilano Beach up to Ponte Vedre Beach was not pleasant. I went back through St. Augustine and over the Bridge of Lions. In Davis Shore was same as Vilano. Also, sewage was backed up, and many still without water or power. Drove down to St. Augustine Beach and numerous streets had trash out front. Further down our condo was okay, but Crescent Beach had the largest devestation. Piles of trash and construction debris everywhere. Matanzas Inlet Restaurant no longer. Been eating there for over 45 years! Summerhaven was closed to thru traffic as well as the old A1A gone!! Went down to Marineland, and a new surf spot was created. The beach was now on A1A. Decided to turn around and as I went over 206 bridge could see numerous homes and docks damaged. Yet, as I was headed back to Gainesville there were people heading over for Fla vs Georgia game in Jacksonville this Saturday. GLAD to be back in Gainesville...

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Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/27/16 Report - Lots of Clad On Some Beaches. Rough Water Today. Australian Pines.

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

Looking out the window this morning, it sure looked like a treasure day - cloudy and windy.  We're supposed to have a four to seven foot surf.  I hope we get some change in wind direction.  The tides are still high.  The high water will help at some locations, but I'm not expecting much in the way of old items.  The swell is too much from the East.  It would help if the water gets high enough to hit the dunes where the renourishment sand has been removed.

I dug a ton of modern coins this morning.  There are plenty of those at the tourist beaches.  I want to talk about strategies but don't have time to do it today.

I received the following email and pictures from CladKing.

     ...Spent a couple days camped at  Sebastian Inlet State Park!  No-see-ums not withstanding, it was a decent stay! I only wish the state would spend some money on trees and maintenance! It was much nicer before they cut down all the Australian pines! (Been a long time since l camped there!)  Spent time fishing and detecting!   Bonsteel was still closed. Went to Amber Sands and detected up past Mclarty a good way into park! ( Asked ranger where permissible to detect of course; high water mark to water only) Found iron, and fishing tackle, and not much else on mushy sand! And one message in a bottle, which had only been out one day, so I returned it to the water for a second chance! Also hit Wabasso and Disney Vero, but again lots of iron and few finds! In my defense I was using a new coil, sooo!

   Sounds like you did much better in todays post! (Experience and local knowledge helps, haha) I did much better fishing than detecting; experience favored me on this one! Snook bite was awsome!! Also Redfish! Anyway, here's a couple pics near Mclarty, and Bonsteel ( Really!! Closed for that!!)

Pictures Of McClarty and Bon Steel Beaches by CladKing.

Thanks for the report CladKing!

Its always fun to camp and detect new areas.

I still don't know why so many beaches were closed for so long.  I have no good explanation.

The Australian Pine is not native and is considered to be an invasive pest.  Here is a summary from the Australian Pine Task Force.

Australian pine (Casuarina equisetifolia) is a fast growing tree native to Australia, Southeast Asia, India, Bangladesh and the Pacific Islands that has been introduced to tropical areas throughout the world as an ornamental; to stabilize sand dunes; to form windbreaks around canals, roads, houses, and agricultural fields; and for reforestation due to its capacity to thrive in poor and saline soils. As a result of these intentional introductions, Australian pine has become a highly invasive species and is found along most humid tropical or sub-tropical beaches around the world. In Florida, Australian pine occurs predominantly south of Orlando as it is sensitive to extended periods of freezing temperatures. Australian pine produces copious amounts of wind and water dispersed seeds and is able to colonize a wide variety of habitats including coastal areas, pinelands, disturbed sites and higher areas of elevation in the Everglades. The fast growth, prolific seeding and thick litter accumulation of Australian pine impedes the establishment of native plant species and their associated herbivores, disrupting natural processes. Australian pine readily establishes on sandy shores which leads to increased beach erosion and interference with the nesting of endangered sea turtles and crocodiles. 

I don't see how it can cause increased erosion.  It does in some cases make erosion more apparent, but I would think it actually has a stabilizing effect overall.

Here is the link.

http://www.fleppc.org/Manage_Plans/Casuarinamgmntplan_FINAL-05-13-13.pdf

I think most of the Australian pines have been removed from the beaches.  There are still a few though.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/26/16 Report - One Exceptional Four-Reale. Beaches This Morning. Increasing Surf.

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

Nice Four-Reale
Find and photos by Darrell S. 

This is not a new find.  Here is what Darrell said about it.

... My machine was still on and started screaming! I thought scrap iron or aluminium, but to my surprise was a beautiful 4 reale. I showed to some local gurus and they believed it was shaped as if snipped off a bar or strip. Many square shaped coins have been found, but not showing both edges of a bar or strip. There is a faint "4" right of the shield on edge of coin. It is so smooth it is hard to see unless up close. 

Cannot say who bought it, but Kenny made several copies. This was the actual coin before sold. I thought would be cool to take with the book. Kenny didn't remove the material in the bottom left hand corner when he made copies. We believed to have been part of a bag coins were in!!!

That is one very interesting coin Darrell!  Thanks for sharing.

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Surf This Morning Just Before Low Tide

Last night the wind was blowing pretty good.  The surf was supposed to begin increasing today as you can see from the MagicSeaWeed predictions.  You can see the surf as it looked this morning in the picture above.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

Tomorrow the surf is supposed to be up to 5 - 7 feet.  We're supposed to have a few days of 4 - 6 foot surf after that.  The problem is, at least for the next couple of days, that the wind and waves will be coming directly from the east.  There are still places where the beach is eroding, such as around inlets or other obstacles to the natural flow of sand.

This afternoon I tested one swimming beach that was producing tons of modern coins - so many that with the incoming tide there was no time to get them all, so I actually started to pass over obvious coin signals.  I expected nothing exciting nothing but modern coins, but I was surprised to dig a wheatie before I shifted strategies.  I didn't look at them when I was at the beach.  I just stuck them in my pocket as fast as I could.  I wasn't expecting anything even that old.  It was a 1940 penny, so maybe I'll have to take another look at that beach.

I did find one gold band in a hurry, which is what I was trying to do when I decided to skip targets that sounded like coins or junk.  I seldom do that, but this time just had a short time to work as I got there late and the tide was already coming in.

Wreck Beach This Morning Before Low Tide.

You can see the mushy front beach in the above picture.  The wreck beaches along South Hutchinson Island aren't doing much right now.  Modern coins can be found at various places.  The water did not get as high the past few days.

That is all for now.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/25/16 Report - Recent Land Finds, Wood Hulled Ship Construction and Components. Little UFO Fun.

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

Matthew uncovered some interesting things from south of the Treasure Coast up to North Florida.

Dan B., who treasure dives during the season, has been making fine finds on land in recent days.

Finds From One Site Dan hunted.

Finds by Dan B. From Another Site.

People sometimes say there is no place to hunt and nothing left to be found.  It takes work, but it is our there.  Research helps a lot.

Thanks for sharing Dan.

I've posted some iron artifacts in recent days.  There is more of that than I've posted too.  Some things are not ready for posting yet.

It is always good to have an idea of what a find might be and what it might mean.  Below is a sample illustration from great web site that talks about how wood-hulled ships are constructed.

And here is the link.

http://njscuba.net/artifacts/obj_hull_wood.php

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A day or two ago I posted an article about what was speculated to be an impossibly old aluminum part from a UFO.  Believe it or not, I once posted a UFO picture that I took by accident.  Of course I don't don't know what it is, but it looks like classic UFO photos.  You can see it better in the original photo.

I was taking a photo of the bottle and was surprised to see the item just above the top of the bottle.

And here is a closer view of the item.

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That is all for today.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/24/16 Report - Strap Gold Bar. 250,000 Year-Old Aluminum Find. Post-Matthew Modern Era Finds. Bigger Surf Coming.

Written by the Treasure Guide for the exclusive use of TreasureBeachesReport.blogspot.com.

Gold "Strap" Bar Currently Listed In The Sedwick Coins Auction # 20.

This could be the star of the most recent Sedwick auction. It has an estimated price of $60,000 to $90,0000, and already has a bid of $50,000.  Here is part of what the description says.

Complete gold "strap" ingot for making oro corriente pieces, marked five times with circular tax stamp of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (Charles I of Spain) and C inside box, 1128 grams, estimated 22K, very rare, from an unidentified early 1500s wreck in the Caribbean. 10-1/2" x 1-1/4" x 1/4". It is tempting to call this object simply a “gold bar,” but that does not convey its full importance, as its near-uniform flatness and its markings all indicate that this piece is the first example ever recorded of a complete “strap” (in Spanish: riel) for cutting into the known (but very rare) money pieces (small) known as “oro corriente,” which were used in place of actual gold coins (which were in short supply) in the colonies and thus represent the “first fish out of the lake” from the colonies in terms of local gold coinage...

You can find the auction catalog at Sedwickcoins.com.

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Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

The surf Monday is predicted to be only one or two feet, but the surf will start to increase Tuesday and according to the predictions, possibly reaching up to six or seven feet by Thursday.  The tides are still remaining pretty high too.

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Not only did Matthew provide access to old shipwreck items, but for many people it opened the window to more older modern era finds such as those shown below.

These Post-Matthew Finds Include A Couple Mercury Dimes and Buffalo Nickle.
Finds and photo by Mark M.

Renken Y. found the following heavy silver ring and military shell, both of which were lost for a good while.

Finds and photos by Renken

The shell casing looks like a WW II era shell.  Many of them were found along the Treasure Coast in the past.  It seems they don't surface as often as they used to.

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Source: See link immediately below.

This piece of metal was estimated to be 250,000 years old even though aluminum is a much more modern metal.  Some take this to mean that it must be a part of a UFO wreck.  Personally, I've long doubted the methods used for determining ages and so am not convinced that it is actually that old.  Might be though.

Here is the link to the story.

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2016/10/21/investigator-claims-ufo-wreckage-is-evidence-aliens-visited-earth-250000-years-ago.html

Thanks to Dean for the link.
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Thanks for all the responses to the blog poll.  The poll results showed that my beach ratings and predictions were accurate.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/23/16 Report - Iron Finds. Poll Results. Parks and Beach Accesses Open and Closed.

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

Post-Matthew Iron Find

Iron finds are often very corroded and difficult to identify with precision.  Proper conservation is absolutely necessary if you want to keep them.  I've talked about that in the past and if you search through the blog you'll find excellent instructions on what must be done.

Another Matthew Iron Find.

Some iron finds just won't clean up.  Sometimes the iron will be completely gone and nothing will remain except an empty mold in the shape of the object.  Sometimes other items will be in the clump, so it is good to check.

When I first dug this one I thought it might be a grapeshot, but don't think so now.

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The most recent blog poll has closed and the results are in (below).

If you detected since hurricane Matthew, what did you find?

Treasure coin(s) on the Treasure Coast	5 (9%)
Treasure coin(s) elsewhere	1 (1%)
Old shipwreck artifact(s) on the Treasure Coast	4 (7%)
Old shipwreck artifact(s) elsewhere	1 (1%)
Modern coins and items	27 (49%)
Nothing but junk	17 (30%)

As you can see, nearly ten percent of those that responded to the poll and had detected after Hurricane Matthew, found a treasure coin on the Treasure Coast.  That is an important number for me.  It is just right for what I rated as  level 2 detecting conditions for the Treasure Coast.  It is neither to high nor two low.  If it had been much higher I would hope that my rating would have been a three or more.  Of course that was undoubtedly helped along by the high number of people that were out detecting after the storm.

During a "1" rating I would expect almost nobody finding treasure coins, only an extremely rare exception.

You can also see that almost as many people found some type of shipwreck artifact on the Treasure Coast.  That could be almost anything from a spike to a cross or jewelry.

There were also some coins and artifacts reported from other places than the Treasure Coast, but not many.  The majority of those that read this blog are people that detect the Treasure Coast, so it is not surprising that that number is not higher.  

Nearly half of the respondents reported finding modern coins and items, and thirty percent reported finding nothing but junk.

The poll could have been constructed better, and I probably should have allowed multiple responses rather than a single response per person.  I don't take as much time as I should to construct these polls and always find something that I should have done differently.  Nonetheless, the results are still informative.  People did find treasure coins and shipwreck items, and I am very happy that my "2" beach detecting conditions rating seemed to be so accurate - neither too high nor too low.

Not only was it accurately predicted that cobs would be found, but the prediction of how many was also pretty good.

As I said before, Matthew was more like Sandy than Frances or Jeanne.  We got high water and some cobs, but not anything like the erosion and cuts of the other two storms.

Thanks much to all who responded and made this information available.

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Darrell S. submitted the following report.

According to my sources here is the following for upcoming week.

Sebastian Inlet State Park on the west side of A1A are reopened.

McLarty Museum reopened.

North Jetty Sebastian Inlet still closed.

Sebastian Bridge was closed, and no update, but assume the entrance to the campground, which is reopen, should be accessible.

ALL Indian River County Parks are under close supervision. Some open, others closed.

Turtle Trail will be closed due to loss of vegetation.

This report is from County Park site posted on October 20th.

Sea Grape is closed for repairs.

Ambersand, Treasure Shore, and Golden Sand were closed but may be open now.

Recreation Department No. 772-567-8000.

Great info Darrel. Thanks much!

I don't know why loss of vegetation results in a beach closing. Most if not all of it was planted recently in renourishment sand and was therefore nothing that you would expect to last more than a few years anyhow.


http://www.foxnews.com/science/2016/10/21/investigator-claims-ufo-wreckage-is-evidence-aliens-visited-earth-250000-years-ago.html

10/22/16 Report - Post-Matthew Finds. Musket Balls, Cross and Reales. Florida's Cyber Treasure Hunt. New Luna Wreck Found.

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

10-Year-Old Kaylee M.
Showing Her Hurricane Matthew Finds

10-year old Kaylee M. dug five musket balls and an old silver cross after Hurricane Matthew.  Great finds!

Not only does Kaylee like using detectors and finding treasure, but she also got dive certified already! Congratulations Kaylee!!

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The Spaniard Luna and about 1,500 soldiers, colonists, slaves and Aztec Indians traveled in 11 ships from Veracruz, Mexico to Pensacola. A hurricane struck Pensacola about a month later, sinking six ships into the bay and wiping out a significant portion of their supplies.

This might be the third Luna expedition shipwreck that has been found.  It is being referred to as Emanuel Point III.  Nearby is a land site that could be associated.

Here is the link.

http://www.pnj.com/story/news/local/pensacola/2016/10/21/third-shipwreck-luna-fleet-uncovered/92487848/

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The blog poll will soon be coming to an end.  I hope you responded.

If you've been watching the poll, you've seen that there were treasure finds made after Hurricane Matthew both on the Treasure Coast and elsewhere.

Here are some cobs and a couple indistinguishable pieces of silver that were found towards the northern end of the Treasure Coast after Hurricane Matthew.

Cobs and Silver Found On The Treasure Coast
After Hurricane Matthew By One Reader.

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As wealth becomes digital, future treasure hunters will be scouring networks to find lost or abandoned wealth like we scour the beaches today.  In fact that is already being done.  Maybe you've received an email from someone that found unclaimed funds that are due you.  That is in some cases legitimate.  See for example the State of Florida's https://www.fltreasurehunt.org/

It actually works.  I and others have claimed funds through that web site.

Were you affected by the DDos attacks yesterday?  Our country is skating on very very thin ice. The government seems to have their head stuck in the sand.  One report said, The massive outage drew the attention of the FBI which said Friday that it was "investigating all potential causes" of the attack.  From recent events, I would have thought it would be near impossible to get their attention.

Amazing that the politicians didn't seem to care about computer security until they got the idea that it might affect them getting elected.  They are trying to blame the leakers instead of admitting that they've been leaving the door wide open to the entire world by being so careless about computer security.  When one server is vulnerable, every computer that communicates with it is more at risk. Therefore you see a wide range of related users being affected.  The leakers did us a big favor if it wakes up some people.
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I'm dropping my Treasure Coast Beach Detecting Conditions Rating back down to a 1.  It could very well increase again in a few days if the predictions are correct.

We'll have a few days of smaller surf and then towards the end of next week some pretty big surf again.  Looks promising.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/21/16 Report - Jupiter Erosion. Finding Treasure By Following the Tracks In The Sand. Two Reale Find.

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

Eroded Dunes Jupiter Area Beach.
Source: See link below.

There is about a six foot cut along Carlin Park in Jupiter.  Here is the link submitted by Trae R,

https://www.facebook.com/postonjupiter/posts/1797526313835827

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I mentioned the other day about stopping at a beach to detect where I saw that someone else had already detected.  You can often but not always tell if someone has detected a beach before you.  You can see their tracks, and you can see the holes they dug even if they filled them in.  You can get a lot of information from signs like that.

On busy beaches, you might not be able to see tracks left by other detectorists, but on the Treasure Coast most wreck beaches aren't  that busy so you can often see the foot prints made by individuals.  I pay attention to those things.  In fact, I recognize the tracks of some detectorists.  I know the tracks of one fellow with big feet that often visits one of wreck beach, for example.

The other day when I stopped at the beach where I dug the choker, one of the first things I noticed after noticing from the promising shape of the beach, was a set of tracks along the bottom of the dune cliff.  Those tracks went back and forth in even spaces making five rows of tracks.  The foot prints were closer than when a person walks normally.  There was no doubt in my mind that a detectorists had gridded the area directly in front of the cliff.  I also noticed that there were very few holes, and he did a nice job of filling them, but it was still easy to see where the holes were.

I used that information.  Somebody had detected there.  They detected a tight grid at the bottom of the cliff.  And they dug a few (very few) targets.  It was not a beginner.  Beginners normally run a more random search pattern and do not go so slow and carefully.  There would be a larger space between their steps.

In this case I didn't choose to spend my time checking where the detectorist had already detected.  I do that sometimes, and that can be worthwhile, especially if you use another type of detector and are targeting something specific, but since I was in a hurry, I looked at where he dug his few holes, and checked down the slope closer to the water directly below the holes.  Bingo!  I hit the first coins in a coin line almost immediately.  It also turned out to be near the center of a coin line, where the quarters and other things were accumulating.  In a few minutes I had dug several coins and the gold choker and left knowing that I was undoubtedly leaving more good targets.  I didn't take the time to finish it out in this case.

Did you know that you might be leaving that much information for other detectorists to use?  If you aren't that competitive, you might not care ( I don't), but some experienced detectorists actually take steps to prevent others from benefiting from the tracks that they leave.

That just reminded me that I have in the past talked about tracking treasure as if you were an Indian tracking deer or some other game.  This is one element of that.

Some old timers would take steps to cover their tracks.  One way is to work just ahead of an incoming tide.  That will cover your tracks for you.

Some old timers would mislead those that follow them by digging holes where there were no targets at all.  Some would even drop a nail or pull tab by a hole where they removed a good target.

Some would try to make their holes less obvious by spreading the sand to really disguise the hole and kicking rocks or seaweed over the hole.

My main point today is that there might be good useful information in the tracks left by those that detect a beach before you.  I didn't start out with the intent of giving you a glimpse into some of the tricks of the old timers, but you might find that interesting or enjoyable anyhow.

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I was expecting to receive pictures of cobs found after Hurricane Matthew, but haven't recieved them yet.  I'll go ahead and post one - a two reale.

Mexico 2 Reale

This one like many beach found cobs is way weight.  It is about 4.3 grams.

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There is only one day remaining on the blog poll.  I'd appreciate your responses.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/20/16 Report - A Few Of The Diverse Recent Finds From The Treasure Coast. History of Conquest of Peru.

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

There are a few interesting beach locations out there despite the poor angle we've been getting from the waves. The high water helped, but it didn't get as high on the beach Monday night as it did the night before.  I'm seeing some accumulation on many of the beache fronts.  Still there were some old and new finds made Tuesday.

I went out looking for old stuff and found a little but on the way home saw a beach that I couldn't resist even though only modern finds were likely there.  I could tell by looking at it there would be numerous targets, most likely a good number of modern coins and perhaps a few pieces of jewelry and possibly something old.   I could see that someone had already gridded a good portion of the beach but I figured there would still be plenty left.  The area was too big to be covered thoroughly and most people miss good areas that aren't easy to detect.

I decided to stop and check it out.  I quickly found a coin line that contained something else.  Below is a gold choker that I found in the midst of the coin line.

God Choker Find

I hurriedly picked up a lot of coins but didn't have much time and am sure that I left a good number of coins and perhaps a few better things.  I can return at some later time. and I'd bet they will still be there if I don't wait too long.

The  choker is not very heavy, but gold always looks good coming out of the sand.

I picked up a real variety of finds the past couple of days.  Here is something very different.  It is not shiny but very old.  It is also a personal first.

Fossil Hoof Find

 I've found many fossil horse teeth, but this is my first hoof.  Tens of thousands of years old.  Very different from the choker.

And here is another different kind of find.  I don' have any idea what it is.

Very Heavy Unidentified Find,

It is solid and extremely heavy.  I can't tell what the metal is but it isn't silver.  Any ideas?

Here is what might be a grommet.  Like many items that I've dug recently, it needs more cleaning.  It appears to say "...D Hurnut."  And also 1847, but I'm not sure of that yet.

Whatzit?

Any ideas on this one?

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Here is a book you might want to read.  It is William Prescott's History of the Conquest of Peru, which is THE book on the topic.   You can find a preview online.

Click here to go to the preview.

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There is a copy of Alan Craig's book Silver Treasure Coins in the Florida Collection offered on eBay for $28.  That is a decent price for that book, which you'll often see listed much higher.

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If you will respond to the blog poll that will help us get an idea of how much Hurricane Matthew produced.  There are only a couple of days left in the blog poll.  Thanks in advance.

That is all for now.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/19/16 Report - T. C. Beach Conditions Rating Is 2. Sedwick Auction Online. Kang-Hsi From Bees Wax Wreck.

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

John Brooks Beach Yesterday Near Low Tide 

Yesterday I mentioned the bigger surf and higher tides.  I raised my Treasure Coast Treasure Beach Detecting Conditions Rating to a 2.  I had dropped it to a 1 for a couple of days.

Eroded Dunes Yesterday Afternoon.

Although there isn't much in the way of cuts and most beach fronts on the Treasure Coast are mushy. as you can see in the picture above, the high water got to the dunes and caused some erosion there. That is part of the reason that I increased my beach conditions rating to a 2 again.

The surf is supposed to be higher today so it should be hitting the dunes at various places around the Treasure Coast again.

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The Sedwick Coins auction number 20 is now available online.

Here is the link.

http://www.sedwickcoins.com/ta20/catalog.htm

In that auction are five nice balance scales.  You might remember the silver mystery item that I've posted a few times, including the following picture posted in my 9/26/16 post. Although I think it could be a scale weight, I'm not totally sure.  The shape is odd and it is not shaped well for stacking.

One of the scales in the auction is the one pictured below.

Scale listed in the Sedwick Coins Auction # 20

The weights in this set are for gold coins of various denominations, such as "ten dollars, "twenty dollars," etc.  There would be no need for stacking these weights, so one more doubt about my mystery item being a scale weight has been removed. at least in my mind.

If it is a weight for a coin scale, I need to identify coins that weigh ten grams like the mystery item. If I can do that, I'd be pretty confident that it is a coin scale weight,

Internet auction catalogs are excellent research resources.  They provide more fine examples and easier access to certain types of information than most museums.

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You've probably heard of the Bees Wax Wreck.  It is in California, not anywhere near the Treasure Coast.

The other day I talked a little about Kang-hsi porcelain, which originated in China but was found on 1715 Fleet wreck sites.

There is an excellent web site for the Bees Wax Wreck, which shows among other things, a fascinating picture of what appears to be Kang-hsi porcelain shards that were turned into arrow heads by the native populations after the wreck, as shown below.

Shards Turned Into Arrow Heads.
Source: web site listed immediately below.

Here is the link to that excellent web site.

http://www.nagagroup.org/BeesWax/gallery/gallery.htm

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Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/18/16 Report - Civil War Ordnance Uncovered by Matthew. Kang-hsi Of Manila Galleons. TCBDCR= 2.

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

Pot Shards From Manila Galleon
Source: Xinhualin link below.

The first thing I want to mention today is the big tides that will be combined with a 4 - 6 foot surf today and an even bigger surf tomorrow.  Unfortunately the winds will hit straight on, but there could be enough water action to help, especially tomorrow.

High water can result in a few scattered cobs on the beach even if there are not much of any cuts. However, you can almost always find some erosion if you look around enough after high water, especially around rocks and other natural or man made obstacles.

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4PM update: I was out this afternoon and as a result am giving a Treasure Coast a beach detecting conditions rating of a 2.

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Hurricane Matthew uncovered Civil War ordnance in South Carolina,  One corroded clump of grenades was exploded.

Trae R. sent the following link.

http://www.surfline.com/surf-news/great-white-nursery-discovered-off-new-york-old-civil-war-ammo-on-south-carolina-beach-ocean-oddities-east-coa_142415/

Here is another link about the same thing.

http://www.livescience.com/56458-hurricane-matthew-uncovers-civil-war-cannonballs.html

That reminds me of the grapeshot I found in the Carribbean, but left there because to take it on the plane could have meant hefty fines or other troubles.

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Mexican archaeologists have uncovered thousands of fragments of a 400-year-old shipment of Chinese "export-quality porcelain" that was long buried in the Pacific Coast port of Acapulco.

The shipment of rice bowls, cups, plates and platters dates from the reign of the Ming Dynasty's 13th emperor, Wanli (1572-1620), and is believed to have arrived in Acapulco aboard the China Galleon, which regularly sailed between Asia and the New World...

Evidence even shows that starting in 1565, the return trips to Mexico were manned by Chinese crews, said Fonseca.

Here is the link.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-10/17/c_135761246.htm

I've talked a good bit in the past about Kang-hsi porcelain, which is sometimes found on 1715 Fleet beaches.  I've posted pictures of shards in the past and even provided information on how to identify Kang-hsi (See photo above.).  My 3/29/13 post is one that talks a little about Kang-hsi porcelain.

Obviously not all blue on white shards are Kang-hsi.  There was other pottery shipped in the Manila galleons that was not as fine as the Kang-hsi.  Lower quality pots were used for storage.

You can learn to easily distinguish between lower quality pottery and Kang-hsi.

Here is a link to a great but brief overview of the archaeology of the Manila galleons.

http://www.themua.org/collections/files/original/61b274c68e00272c5e50f0af53f5b140.pdf

That is all for now.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net