Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treaurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
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| 10K Ring Find. |
This recent ring find is 10K gold. I don't know what the stone is yet.
I haven't done much beach detecting at all this year due to a variety of factors beyond my control, but the few times I did get to the beach, I did ok. The last few months I spent more time on an inland site, which took a lot of time. I couldn't just walk out and detect that site. I could only do it at certain times, and the site was challenging in a variety of ways. I posted several of the coins from that site recently.
Then I got into studying coin finds. I never guessed how involved that could get, but I found out there is a lot of study that can go into coin collecting if you get heavily into errors and varieties. There is really a lot to learn. I looked at coins and then had to go back and look at the same coins several times as I learned more what to look for.
My curiosity and interest has always been active and far-reaching. I can always find something interesting to study. I'm not one to stay on a narrow path or limit myself to one subject for ever. As a result my finds are varied.
Some people are more focused. They want to find Spanish colonial coins, or maybe valuable modern jewelry, or maybe Civil War or Native American artifacts. It seems that I like all of that and more, which makes it easy for me to be an opportunist. I'll hunt what ever is available and accessible at the time. That might include sea shells, fossils, bottles, jewelry, coins or artifacts or whatever else I might be able to find.
In each category I have my favorite finds. Two pieces of sea glass finds stick out to me, for example. It seems that for every category and type of find, there are a few, perhaps only one or two, that seem more interesting or that I like more than the others for some reason. It can have to do with value, but that is not often the case with me. It often has more to do with the story - either how or when the item was found or what I learned about the item.
One post that was read by thousands of people and is the third most read post of this blog is about one of those favorite finds - a truly exceptional piece of sea glass. It seems that other people liked the find as much as I did even though it was not a metal detector find.
I originally posted about that sea glass on 1/9/14. It is a remarkable piece of sea glass - something that I didn't appreciate for quite some time because I didn't know that much about sea glass and there was something remarkable about that piece that I didn't understand for quite a while. Not only was it a good sea glass find, being a rare red color and a particularly nice size and shape - it would be very suitable for a piece of jewelry - but what I learned later really set it apart. Not only was it an exceptional piece of sea glass but it glowed in the dark.
When you are like me, you often find things you don't know much about. And when that happens, you might not appreciate the find until after you've held it for some time. Then you learn more about it and learn to appreciate it more.
Well over a year after I found the item, I learned that the piece of sea glass held a secret. Not long after I found the sea glass, I noticed that on one side under normal light, there appeared to be small yellow speckles in the depressions on one side. I eventually found out that it was not only a nice piece of sea glass, but it was uranium glass. It was treated to glow in the dark. Additional research revealed that uranium glass was once used with a lantern on top of a buoy.
There are several reasons this is my favorite sea glass find. It is attractive, well-formed and by far the most valuable piece, but there is more to it than that. It held a secret and a story. It is a part of history, and it took me through a journey of discovery.
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There is no tropical cyclone activity in the Atlantic.
The surf is small, and we'll have some big tides today. There will be a good low tide. That will give you some opportunities in the wet sand and shallow water.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
