Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
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| Coins Found by Detectorist Mike Smale Source: See DailyMail link below. |
- Treasure hunter discovers a rare hoard of 2,000-year-old silver Roman coins worth up to £200,000 with a metal detector in a farmer's field (but he'll have to split the cash with the farmer)
- Some of the coins were minted during the era of Roman general Mark Antony
- Experts said the find is very rare and each coin could sell for £900 ($12,000)
- Coins would have circulated widely during Roman times - some dating to 32BC
- Mike Smale, 35, found the hoard of rare ancient coins in a farmer's field
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| Detectorist Mike Smale With The Field's Owner. Source: See DailyMail link below. |
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4932822/Treasure-hunter-discovers-rare-2-000-year-old-Roman-coins.html
Thanks much to Dean R. for the link.
Thanks much to Dean R. for the link.
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| Turtle Trail Yesterday. Photo by Darrel S. |
Yesterday he stopped at Treasure Shores, where he found a number of detectorists already there, so he moved on to Turtle Trail, where targets were scarce once again. You can see the small dips or scallops that he described to me via email.
Thanks Darrel.
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I didn't mean to carry on with this topic, but last night I watched a bit of a new episode of Oak Island and saw two things that I wanted to comment on. First, there is now another spike. The new spike was found in the spoil pile. I will refer to that spike as the "rose head" spike. It is longer and does not have an offset head like the first spike. I think things got more muddled when they discussed the new spike and why it was not a railroad spike. I don't know who would ever confuse the rose head spike with a railroad spike. You could tell that even if the head was not present or was totally ignored.
The first spike, however, which I will refer to as the "swamp spike" was shown once again for a brief second or two earlier in the episode. The view they gave only VERY briefly showed the offset head before it was turned to an angle that did not show the offset head. It was super quick and you would not notice the offset head unless you were specifically looking for it.
It was supposedly the swamp spike that was researched by Dr. Lori. However the spike she had in front of her did not appear to me to have the same offset head. They undoubtedly were aware of the skepticism caused by that spike. It was discussed all over the internet.
After getting another glimpse of the the swamp spike when the cut back again when it was found, I was not able to dismiss my impression that it was not the same spike discussed by Dr. Lori. I hope to get another view of the spike that was in front of Dr. Lori and am sure I will in time. If anyone wants to go back and really study the images of the swamp spike found as shown when it was found and when it was discussed by Dr. Lori, I'd really like to hear your conclusions.
So to summarize, there is now a new spike (rose head), which I don't think hardly anyone would confuse with a railroad spike even though they took the time to present the reasons why it was not a railroad spike. It seemed to me that that would confuse many viewers and muddy the controversy around the railroad spike for the more casual viewer.
I haven't watched every minute of the show, and I might have missed or confused something myself. If I did miss something or you need to correct me, please let me know.
I recently posted some thoughts on how hard it can be to identify and date artifacts so I won't delve into that much again. I guess it is my scientific training that makes me very cautious about jumping to conclusions. To me it is very foolish to pick up something out of the dirt and quickly state that it is from a certain time period. I remember, for example, the time I found a musket ball on Cape Florida, where musket balls from the Seminole War period might be found. That was way back a few decades ago. I didn't recognize at first, that it was a new reproduction. Musket balls are still made today using the same processes, and they are used with antique guns etc. Rose head nails are still made today too. And just because a coin has an 18th century date, does not mean that it was lost in the 18th century. There are many possibilities, and quickly jumping to conclusions does not give me a great deal of confidence in either the source or the conclusions. I know that it is a TV show and they are going to try to make it exciting, but while saying that a piece of metal with holes in it could have been used in a treasure chest without providing any other evidence might excite some viewers, it will raise questions for the more discriminating viewer. I'd really like to see a more thoughtful scientific approach.
Just one more example. Did you notice the golden balls floating in the water in front of the diver's camera in the last episode? That is how light sometimes reflects off particles under water. Do you remember the "golden" object in the wall of the pit that they talked about as if it was gold? Might be, but I really doubt it.
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North winds have started today. Watch for the five to eight foot surf coming this weekend.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
