Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
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| Mystery Object No More (?) |
I've done this blog for a long time now - about ten years daily. That is a lot of posts. I know there were metal detecting forums and things before I started my blog, but I don't know of any that involved a single person doing a post on a daily basis for such a long period of time.
I get emails from a lot of people. I get questions, information, pictures and comments. Some are posted and some are not. All are read. And I try to respond to most.
I get emails from a lot of people. I get questions, information, pictures and comments. Some are posted and some are not. All are read. And I try to respond to most.
One thing I know is how difficult it can be to identify items dug up on a beach. That is a real challenge. Items found on a beach are isolated finds. By that I mean they are not found in a meaningful context. That is why archaeologists have no use for them.
Beaches are tumbled. They are tumbled like coins in a rock tumbler. The front of the beach is always getting jostled around. The waves hit and the tides come and go, moving sand and anything else in the area. The back of the beach only gets jostled once in a while - when the waves and tides are higher than normal.
On submerged shipwreck sites you have some context, although things can get scattered far and wide. You might have a hull and a ballast pile, and when you find items you might be able to make sense of the relationship between some of those items. That makes it easier to say that an item probably came from this or that wreck, but there are exceptions. Things from different wrecks and even different time periods can get mixed togethers. Still you have a better chance of identifying the source of an item than you do when an item is found by itself on a beach.
Items on a beach can be thousands of years old, centuries old, decades old or dropped just minutes ago, and they get mixed together in the same sandy soup. They get buried, and then the time is right they pop up to play a game of catch-me-if you-can with any sharp eyed beach comber or detectorist.
My point is that any unmarked piece of this or that could have come from nearly anywhere or anytime, which makes it quite difficult to identify. Archaeologists have made big mistakes. Even under the best of circumstances and with the best training and tons of experience, it is still difficult. The best trained and most experienced are at times taken too seriously, even by themselves, and fall into the trap of over confidence. Being wrong is one thing. It is natural. But being totally confident while being wrong is not so easy to overcome.
Having done this blog for around ten years now, I recognize the familiar pattern of excitement and hope that a detectorist has for a new mysterious find. Sometimes it ends in disappointment. But through the process, there is likely to be a range of emotions. There is the fun of the hunt and the excitement of a discovery. There is research and learning. And there is the sharing of the experience with other like-minded individuals.
When I started this blog I didn't know I would receive so much email. I intended to provide what information I could by sharing my own thoughts experiences. I didn't know that I would receive so much in return.
But what I started to talk about today is how difficult it can be to identify more or less amorphous beach items. I wanted to remind you that it can take decades to correctly identify an item, and it might never be identified, but keep at it.
I found the 10 gram silver ingot or whatever it is, shown at the top of the post, probably thirty or more years ago. It is marked with a "1" over a faint wreathe. I first figured it was a silver ingot. Some people thought it was a button, but there is no evidence that there was ever any type of connector. I was never able to identify the meaning of the 1 or the wreathe. After a number of years, I thought, like some others, that it might be a scale weight. But not too long ago, I read more about the assay process and decided it must be a post-assay sample. I think that is what it is now. It took many years to come to that conclusion, and it is possible that I will change my mind again, even though I think I know what it is now. I still have no idea of why a post assay ingot would be on the beach, but you can find almost anything on a beach. The point being that it isn't always easy and it can take a long time, which can be frustrating, enlightening and enjoyable.
The lack of context is not the only challenge presented by beach finds. They are often heavily worn or corroded. My experience shows that small beach cobs often ave lost a third or more of the original material. That can erase important marks and make items indistinguishable.
It is also difficult to tell age from the amount of wear. Here are two half reales. Which is the oldest?
If you go by the amount of wear, you might say that the top one is the oldest. Fact is, its the same coin. One side is dull and worn while the other is crisp and clear.
I found this cob at Jupiter beach a number of years ago. I'm pretty sure it came from the dunes instead of the ocean.
Here is why one side is so crisp. The monogram side was covered by a hard crust that actually protected the surface (below).
The monogram side was protected by the crust while the other side got worn down.
I've seen too many exceptions and peculiarities to be highly confident about much of anything. I don't expect you to accept what I say just because I say it. I hope you will test out for yourself any tips that I present. I try to explain my reasoning, examples, illustrations and sources as much as I can. I always appreciate alternative explanations and corrections and will gladly change my mind when I think it is warranted by the evidence. When it comes to the ideas and opinions of others, I present what I have, to the best of my ability, and let you be the judge. I try to lay it out there as fairly as I can.
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Google Stats tells me that yesterday there were just over 1100 page views.
I received some good new information for future posts. I heard of one beach burial that was uncovered, and also about a big collection of holed coins.
The tides are pretty flat now, as are the beach surf predictions for the next week or two.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
The lack of context is not the only challenge presented by beach finds. They are often heavily worn or corroded. My experience shows that small beach cobs often ave lost a third or more of the original material. That can erase important marks and make items indistinguishable.
It is also difficult to tell age from the amount of wear. Here are two half reales. Which is the oldest?
If you go by the amount of wear, you might say that the top one is the oldest. Fact is, its the same coin. One side is dull and worn while the other is crisp and clear.
I found this cob at Jupiter beach a number of years ago. I'm pretty sure it came from the dunes instead of the ocean.
Here is why one side is so crisp. The monogram side was covered by a hard crust that actually protected the surface (below).
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| Monogram Side Before Cleaning. |
I've seen too many exceptions and peculiarities to be highly confident about much of anything. I don't expect you to accept what I say just because I say it. I hope you will test out for yourself any tips that I present. I try to explain my reasoning, examples, illustrations and sources as much as I can. I always appreciate alternative explanations and corrections and will gladly change my mind when I think it is warranted by the evidence. When it comes to the ideas and opinions of others, I present what I have, to the best of my ability, and let you be the judge. I try to lay it out there as fairly as I can.
---
Google Stats tells me that yesterday there were just over 1100 page views.
I received some good new information for future posts. I heard of one beach burial that was uncovered, and also about a big collection of holed coins.
The tides are pretty flat now, as are the beach surf predictions for the next week or two.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
