Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
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| Stars Around Edges of 1914 Ten Dollar Gold Coin. |
I think there should be more where this one came from, so I'm holding off on discussing it until I find out.
Here are the basics on the coin.
| Category: Indian Head $10 (1907-1933) |
| Mint: Philadelphia |
| Mintage: 151,000 |
| Obverse Designer: Augustus Saint-Gaudens |
| Reverse Designer: Augustus Saint-Gaudens |
| Composition: Gold |
| Fineness: 0.9000 |
| Weight: 16.7200g |
| AGW: 0.4840oz |
| Melt Value: $651.03 (4/16/2018) |
| Diameter: 27mm |
| Edge: 48 raised stars |
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Captain Jonah said he hasn't finalized his crew for 2018 yet, so I'm publishing this again.
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Here is an email from Sebastian Steve telling how he made one great find.
In the early 90s, I had a contract with The U.S. NAVY to locate with sonar and identify with diving, WW2 Warbirds lost in Lake Michigan during training off the deck of the "Sable". These planes were to be recovered off the bottom of the Lake, shipped down to the U.S. Navy Museum in Pensacola and restored.
Simply put...these were beginner pilots for the most part, training in all types of conditions, landing on the pitching deck of the Sable. Many simple missed, and the planes ended up on the bottom of Lake Michigan.
Let's just say the weather off Chicago is not a walk in the park, like Sebastian. The old saying up on The Great Lakes was... "If you don't like the weather, just wait ten minutes!" So very true... the fronts came in hard and fast out of the west, even in the middle of summer. These fronts could be, and often were ferocious! You could feel the dead calm all of a sudden, the water would get inky black and oily calm, and then you look up and see the jet black wall decending down upon you. Next thing you knew... you were battling 40-60 knot winds and white cap waves in less than a minute. Hopefully you were near the Lee shore, and not much "fetch" to build the waves in the short distance.
We received documents from the Navy stating the last rough known position that the Air Birds were lost. But these coordinates were very rough, taken only off radar. So plenty of sonar work was required. Contrary to what many think... even on a $50,000 Klein Towfish Sonar... the image of a small plane laying flat against the bottom, was not much of a sonar target. All we could get for an image, is a small "U" shape, about 2 times bigger than this "U" right here. That was it.
I was looking for this particular SBD Douglas Dauntless for the Navel Air Museum in Pensacola. The depth was not an issue at all, as it was lost in only about 70 feet of water. Must of been rough that day when the SBD was lost, for its odd that a big flat-top steamer like the Sable was in so close to shore! She was after all 518 feet long! Drawing probably half that 70' of water...that is without any obstructions!
Speaking of obstructions... I did have a lot of strange bottom on the sonar. Very hard to differentiate the plane from nearby rough bottom. Not the flat, open sand you would expect. That "strange bottom" became a feature unto itself!
I was successful and did locate this particular SBD Douglas Dauntless! She was sitting upright on the bottom in quite good condition, preserved in the fresh, cold water of Lake Michigan. I could even by lightly brushing off the powder silt on the wing, read the fueling instructions! The cockpit top was gone, giving me a sign of relief that this pilot was in fact rescued. And he was. I slid down just behind the cockpit and laid out on the plane, transporting me back in time as I reverently grabbed ahold of the stick, or yoke. The hardwood handle was in perfect condition. Steering was a little tight however. (;
I did notice the engine had separated from the plane, and was laying on the bottom about 100 feet ahead of the plane. I was very happy to locate the engine as now the plane was complete. But as I swam out to inspect the engine...something another 100' feet ahead caught my eye!!??? What was all that? Piles and piles of beautiful city street heavy bricks by the hundreds, wood beams, some burned, sticking out of piles, and I spot an absolutely gorgeous silver spoon with the owner's name in script on the handle.
And then I realized what I had.... Readers...have you figured it out??? Just by one in a million...the wind must have been strong that day out of the west, so the Sable was conducting flight opps closer in to land than normal, to keep the landing deck more stable, and this SBD crashes into gigantic Lake Michigan, landing 200' from one of the --DEBRIS PILES FROM THE GREAT CHICAGO FIRE!!!-- After the fire, barges were used to haul massive load after load out into Lake Michigan off Chicago and dump the debris. The bricks were clean, and ready to use again, no mortar on them, must of been from streets just bulldozed up, and the bricks had been just set in sand. Think of the value today...??? I'm sure they are still there, if not that pile...another. These were like double the thickness of a regular brick...H/D paving bricks, each one with the name on. Sweet. THAT kind of TREASURE... really floats my boat!!! I regret to this day not grabbing one of those bricks for a souvenir of -The Great Chicago Fire-. But I did bag that pretty silver spoon! (:
Sebastian Steve
PS: If you would like to see the pic of the actual SBD Douglas Dauntless WarBird that I located go to:
http://www.navalaviationmuseum.org/attractions/aircraft-exhibits/item/?item=sbd_sunkentreasures
Simply put...these were beginner pilots for the most part, training in all types of conditions, landing on the pitching deck of the Sable. Many simple missed, and the planes ended up on the bottom of Lake Michigan.
Let's just say the weather off Chicago is not a walk in the park, like Sebastian. The old saying up on The Great Lakes was... "If you don't like the weather, just wait ten minutes!" So very true... the fronts came in hard and fast out of the west, even in the middle of summer. These fronts could be, and often were ferocious! You could feel the dead calm all of a sudden, the water would get inky black and oily calm, and then you look up and see the jet black wall decending down upon you. Next thing you knew... you were battling 40-60 knot winds and white cap waves in less than a minute. Hopefully you were near the Lee shore, and not much "fetch" to build the waves in the short distance.
We received documents from the Navy stating the last rough known position that the Air Birds were lost. But these coordinates were very rough, taken only off radar. So plenty of sonar work was required. Contrary to what many think... even on a $50,000 Klein Towfish Sonar... the image of a small plane laying flat against the bottom, was not much of a sonar target. All we could get for an image, is a small "U" shape, about 2 times bigger than this "U" right here. That was it.
I was looking for this particular SBD Douglas Dauntless for the Navel Air Museum in Pensacola. The depth was not an issue at all, as it was lost in only about 70 feet of water. Must of been rough that day when the SBD was lost, for its odd that a big flat-top steamer like the Sable was in so close to shore! She was after all 518 feet long! Drawing probably half that 70' of water...that is without any obstructions!
Speaking of obstructions... I did have a lot of strange bottom on the sonar. Very hard to differentiate the plane from nearby rough bottom. Not the flat, open sand you would expect. That "strange bottom" became a feature unto itself!
I was successful and did locate this particular SBD Douglas Dauntless! She was sitting upright on the bottom in quite good condition, preserved in the fresh, cold water of Lake Michigan. I could even by lightly brushing off the powder silt on the wing, read the fueling instructions! The cockpit top was gone, giving me a sign of relief that this pilot was in fact rescued. And he was. I slid down just behind the cockpit and laid out on the plane, transporting me back in time as I reverently grabbed ahold of the stick, or yoke. The hardwood handle was in perfect condition. Steering was a little tight however. (;
I did notice the engine had separated from the plane, and was laying on the bottom about 100 feet ahead of the plane. I was very happy to locate the engine as now the plane was complete. But as I swam out to inspect the engine...something another 100' feet ahead caught my eye!!??? What was all that? Piles and piles of beautiful city street heavy bricks by the hundreds, wood beams, some burned, sticking out of piles, and I spot an absolutely gorgeous silver spoon with the owner's name in script on the handle.
And then I realized what I had.... Readers...have you figured it out??? Just by one in a million...the wind must have been strong that day out of the west, so the Sable was conducting flight opps closer in to land than normal, to keep the landing deck more stable, and this SBD crashes into gigantic Lake Michigan, landing 200' from one of the --DEBRIS PILES FROM THE GREAT CHICAGO FIRE!!!-- After the fire, barges were used to haul massive load after load out into Lake Michigan off Chicago and dump the debris. The bricks were clean, and ready to use again, no mortar on them, must of been from streets just bulldozed up, and the bricks had been just set in sand. Think of the value today...??? I'm sure they are still there, if not that pile...another. These were like double the thickness of a regular brick...H/D paving bricks, each one with the name on. Sweet. THAT kind of TREASURE... really floats my boat!!! I regret to this day not grabbing one of those bricks for a souvenir of -The Great Chicago Fire-. But I did bag that pretty silver spoon! (:
Sebastian Steve
PS: If you would like to see the pic of the actual SBD Douglas Dauntless WarBird that I located go to:
http://www.navalaviationmuseum.org/attractions/aircraft-exhibits/item/?item=sbd_sunkentreasures
