Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
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Two Sides of Same 1854 Gold Sovereign.
Photos submitted by Sebastian Steve. |
… But let’s take a look now at a “real life” situation... the pics of the “loose” English Sovereign, 1854 (Shown above.). A little different now...isn’t it? At least the obverse (front). Heavily soiled from laying loose for over a century in two feet deep of rotting, mostly organic detritus. You had better have your “eagle eye” out that day... when the dark side of the Sovereign slides by in the murky darkness!
But what an amazing contrast to the reverse! Both sides of this “loose” (not mounted) coin are -untouched-. No cleaning was done, the amazing difference in the two sides was simply “Mother Nature”... nor would you want to EVER clean a valuable, old shipwreck coin! For that matter any original, untouched coin! You will instantly ruin its collector’s value...and any grading firm such as NGC, will label it as “CLEANED.” 99% of serious investment coin collectors will not buy a cleaned coin...ever.
One swipe of your dirt covered fingers can cost you literally thousands of dollars on coins like the Double Eagles. I even went to the point of changing out my bag to a small wrist worn pouch. Why? Because the coin no longer had to free-fall through two feet of open water in the bag and collide with other finds. Anal? Not really...not with uber soft gold at stake.
Now if you have a coin that already shows substantial wear when you find it...and you clearly want to mount the piece as jewelry...then it’s your call. But don’t expect to -ever take it out later- to sell as a collectors coin. It just won’t fly!
Now...the coin when sent in to a grading firm... (or through your local coin dealer) will have on its label “CLEANED & X-JEWELRY.” That’s right...BOTH MARKS OF DEATH! Right in bold type on the front of the encapsulation. You might as well save the grading fee. Really.
This is why it always absolutely “kills me” to see on UTube, a video of a detectorist rubbing his soiled, just dug coin on his rough jeans, to ascertain the date!!! Worse yet...sometimes you can actually HEAR the rubbing! Don’t do it! PLEASE.... Wait until you get home and carefully soak the coin in plain ole soapy water. What if it’s a KEY DATE? Or in MINT condition under the hard dirt. You just never know what you have till it’s gone. I rest my case.
Thanks Steve! Great coin and good reminder concerning caring for coins.
I always cringe when they advertise uncirculated coins on TV and then show them being dumped from bags on the table. Good way to reduce the value quickly!
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Complete Nested Weight Set Found During the 2016 Salvage Season.
Photo submitted by Captain Jonah Martinez
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The most expensive household items on board were probably the copper cauldrons weighing 40-45 pounds each and used for cooking or for melting tar for repairs. The copper, imported and priced by weight, showed an increase of nearly sixfold on the north coast between 1540 and 1628, from 1.2 to 7 reales per pound. The price had risen to 9 reales in 1639. Far less expensive but equally important were the sets of measure of wood and tin, and the scales used to dispense daily rations. Each ship carried several sets of measures and at least one scale with counterweights, the measures costing 2 to 4 reales a set in Seville in 1626, and the scale about 50 reales. Hatchets, funnels, brooms, plates and cups, ladles and other utensils, jugs and jars, and a long list of other items completed the household equipment. As extensive as the list appears, it was really the bare minimum need for shipboard life, a spartan version of normal life on land.
I always like to find out how much things cost when they were used. It helps give you an idea of the worth of the reales or escudos back when they were lost.
Knowing about the variety of items on board also might be useful when trying to figure out what a find might be.
I just got some new photos of the cups from Jonah after he cleaned them up and repined and dolled the locking mechanism.
Those are amazing.
Thanks Jonah.
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This post took me a lot of time. It shouldn't have, but I had trouble getting the coin illustration the way I wanted it and then I lost what I already typed on the nested weights and had to do that all again. Now the computer seems to want to be contrary so I'm going to give up and wrap it up.
The high tides are nice and high on the Treasure Coast. Unfortunately the hot southeast winds are back and the surf is only about two or three feet.
Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net
