2/29/20 Report - A Couple Mystery Finds: One Copper and One Maybe Silver. Also A Newer Find.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

2-inch Long Pierce of Copper With Rolled Edge.

Find and photo by Bill M.

First, here is an item found just Thursday.  Bill dug this piece of copper Thursday on one of the Treasure Coast wreck beaches.

People often think first of sheathing when they find a piece of copper on a wreck beach, but copper was a common metal used for a variety of things.  For example, copper kettle parts and patches are among the most common artifacts found at 18th century archaeological sites.  Below are just some of the examples from one site described by Timothy McGuire in his book, Recovered Colonial and Revolutionary War Artifacts (Leprechaun Press, 2013).

Copper Pieces From an 18th Century Archaeological Site Identified as Kettle Parts and Patches

Source:  Recovered Colonial and Revolutionary War Artifacts, by Timothy J. McGuire, Leprechaun Books, 2013.

There are more pages of copper pieces described as kettle parts in the same book.

Pots and kettles were patched over and over again until the object was unrepairable, and then the pieces would be repurposed or finally discarded.

The following photo shows the rolled seam on an old copper kettle that I once found.

Seam on Old Copper Kettle.

I'm  thinking that the piece found by Bill M. could be from something like that with the seam torn apart.

Flat thin pieces of metal can often be found near the surface.  Shape is one characteristic that is seldom mentioned when it comes to how things move on a beach.  People tend to think mostly of density.

Here is a web site that discusses how to determine the age of antique copperware.

https://frenchkitchenantiques.com/copper

Look for signs hand-hammering, dovetailing and rivets.

Here is more on rivets.

Rivets

Hand hammered copper rivets

To attach the iron or brass handles to copper vessels rivets were used for making strong joints. Rivets could be made from a variety of materials, but the most common ones are made of copper.

These would be carefully hammered into a round shape to fit the hole. Light hammer marks can often be seen on the surface of the rivet and are a good way of telling modern and antique kitchenware apart.

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I posted the mystery find shown below a day or two after digging it on 1/22 and asked for opinions.

Mystery Find.

There are holes on each end and the ends are flat while the middle bridge is bowed up.  It is shaped very much like a pull handle, but very small.

Among the excellent thoughts, DJ thought it might be a hasp and provided the following photo that shows a hasp, although a more ornate and perhaps larger one.

Hasp Example

Submitted by DJ

That could be it.  Perhaps to a small box or something.  I don't know.

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A couple weeks ago Joe D. was hunting a park and found the 40% silver Kennedy half shown below.

Silver Half

Find and photo by Joe D.

Joe mentioned it was found in a junky area and didn't give a great signal.

Congratulations Joe.

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Joe D. sent this photo of sand be added to the beach just north of the Seagrape Trail stairs.  It looks like the main purpose is to protect the front yards and buildings of the beach-side property owners.

Sand Added To Portect Front Yards of Beach Side Buildings.

Photo by DJ

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With the recent offshore winds and small surf, you might be able to find some nice spots for a little low-tide hunting.  No big surf is expected for a while.

I still have a variety of topics to discuss.  I plan on doing more on beach dynamics.  Several people told me they'd like to see more on that.   Also more miscellaneous recent finds, and other topics.

Enjoy the cool weather,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

https://www.seawear.com/claddagh-story-legend.html

2/28/20 Report - Low Surf Now. Eight Reales Cleaned and Uncleaned. FKNMS Blueprint Petition.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of TreasureBeachesReport.

New Brown Sand Built Up on Front of John Brooks Beach Thursday.

Before I get into other things today, I wanted to show a few photos.  John Brooks has a new pile of sand on the front beach.  

New Sand on Beach Front at John Brooks Thursday.

It might not be easy to see in the photos, but it is like a new sand bar on the front beach.   That sand will continually shift in and out and work its way slowly south with the littoral currents.

Turtle Trail Thursday Morning.

Photo by Tyler C.

Turtle Trail actually lost an inch or two of sand over the bags since the last photo that I showed.

Tyler C. sent these photos of Turtle Trail that were taken Thursday morning.   Thanks Tyler.

Turtle Trail Thursday Morning

Photo by Tyler C.

The stairs at Seagrape are taped off.  If the access isn't closed now, I suspect it will be soon.

Stairs at Seagrape Trail

Photo by DJ

The surf will remain only one or two feet for a few days.  The wind is off-shore.

I've been intending to study the effect of wave periods, but really haven't gotten around to that in any kind of systematic thorough way yet.

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Not long ago I posted Bill P's directions for cleaning cobs with Muriatic acid.  I've received emails thanking me for posting that information.  

Jammin Jack gave it a try.  Here is what he said.

After reading your responses to using muriatic acid on coins, I took a chance on my last 3 coins. I diluted as mentioned, and used a soft nylon brush. A lot faster, but still needed scrubbing. I think they came out okay.

We always dumped our EOs in similar solution, but coins were either left as found or electrolysis. I always had someone clean my coins. Learning experience for a salty dog! Thank you for doing a section on cleaning coins...

Below are some of the coins Jack cleaned.

Eight Reale From the Bruce Ward Estate.
Photo by Jammin Jack.

Above is an eight reale from the Bruce Ward estate that was cleaned by Jammin Jack using the Muriatic acid method described by Bill P. as previously posted in this blog. Below is the same coin in its uncleaned state.

Same Eight-Reale Before Cleaning.

Photo submitted by Jammin Jack.

Here is another example from Jack.  First the uncleaned coin.

Uncleaned Eight Reale

Photo by Jammin Jack.

Same Eight Reale After Cleaning.

Photo by Jammin Jack.

Looks great, Jack.   Thanks for sharing the results.

Auggie Garcia of Sedwick Coins once told me that most people who buy treasure coins like them bright and shiny.

For your convenience, I added the post on cleaning coins to the reference site link list that you'll find on the first page of the blog.  It is the second link listed.

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Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Blueprint.

I received the following email concerning the FKNMS blueprint from the Mel Fisher organization as well as from another reader of this blog.  

PLEASE SIGN AND SHARE THIS PETITION:

The proposed expansion and new regulations of the “FKNMS blueprint” would discourage and quite possibly outlaw future explorers, researchers, historians, and salvagers from working other shipwrecks in the FKNMS. It will not stop Mel Fisher’s Expeditions on the Atocha and Margarita sites because they are grandfathered in due to “Pre-Existing Federal Admiralty Claims”.

Please help us protect the shipwrecks and the rights of future generations by signing the petition below.  The proposed regulations support leaving artifacts on the bottom ‘in-situ’ to rot. In-situ preservation is a total fallacy, a fact admitted to even by NOAA’s archaeologist. The expansion and new regulations would also negatively impact our locals, our visitors and a variety of businesses by limiting access to backcountry channels and sandbars, adding new no-motor zones, adding new no-access zones and imposing many other new overreaching regulations.

The expansion and new regulations would also have a severe negative impact on our commercial fishing, charter boat fishing, snorkeling, diving industries and just about all water related tourist activities. The damage to these industries will hurt tourism and create a negative "trickle down effect" on the entire economy in the Florida Keys.  

You don’t have to be a Florida resident to sign this petition.

Please SHARE or Forward this so we can get as many signatures as possible and show massive support to stop the expansion and over regulation of the Federal Government in our beautiful Florida Keys.

Please help us help our community and future generations by signing the petition at: SayNoToNOAA.org

==============================================  

Our mailing address is:

Mel Fisher's Treasures

1322 US Highway 1

Sebastian, FL 32958

USA

Our telephone:

772-589-9875

Forward this email to a friend:

http://us4.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=5e970e179d5f6020d8b1f2f63&id=7ca440e703&e=5cc0e990c1

FKNMS is the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

Use this link to sign the petition.

https://www.saynotonoaa.org/

To learn more about the FKNMS Blueprint see https://floridakeys.noaa.gov/blueprint/

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I have a lot of information back-logged waiting to be posted.   There has been so much going on this winter.

I plan to continue my discussion of beach dynamics, which people have told me they found very helpful.  I also plan to talk about the Winter Beach salvage camps, finds, including mystery finds, "big scoopin," and many other topics.

A lot of snowbirds have been detecting along the Treasure Coast lately.  I've heard from quite a few of them.   The Treasure Coast seems to be getting a lot of Sprint Break metal detecting action.

That's all for now.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

2/27/20 Report - Cuts and Eroding Beaches That Expose Treasure. Photo Comparison. 1715 Fleet Silver Rings.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

Seagrape Trail As It Looked Last Saturday

I distinctly remember watching Monday Night Football maybe thirty years ago when Howard Cosell commented to Dandy Don, "You have a tremendous grasp of the obvious."  It was meant as a humorous insult, but it strikes me now as something of a complement.  Advances in understanding are often made painfully slowly and often involve gaining a deeper appreciation of what was hiding in plain sight all along.

Were you ever metal detecting when a surprise wave hit you and almost knocked you off your feet?   It has happened to me numerous times over the years.   In fact I remember once actually getting knocked off my feet.  Inspiration can come with a sudden rush too.

I've talked a lot about the importance of what I call cuts.   If you looked at some of the beaches that were eroded last week, you might not have noticed any cuts, but there were cuts.  Those cuts were very high though.  The face of the dunes was cut.  At the bottom of the dunes you could see a layer of black sand over a layer of the old orangish sand exposed in some locations.

It is not often that we get a surf of over ten feet, but that happened on the Treasure Coast in both January and February.  And shipwreck treasures were found both times.

On the 22nd the high tide was bouncing off of the dunes, and the water was rushing with good force back down the slope carrying sand and other materials with it.  You can see from the photo above where probably two feet or more of sand was removed.  Old wooden posts that were previously buried were exposed, and stairs were left hanging two feet off the ground.

If you take a volume of sand two feet deep by maybe thirty by fifty yards, that is a volume of 3000 cubic yards of material being classified.  That can easily happen in one six hour tidal period, and that is undoubtedly a small part of what actually happened on the beaches that day.

So what is it about cuts that makes them so significant to the beach detectorists?  I mentioned it above.  When the water hits the face of a cut, or dune, the water rushes back down the hill with a lot of force.  If you get caught in it, you can feel how strong the flow is.  There are times when it can knock you off your feet.  That is obviously strong enough to carry sand - and other materials with it.

Yesterday I talked about the amount of water velocity required to suspend different kinds of particles and objects, and the amount of force required to transport those objects.  When the force decreases below the amount required to transport objects, they drop out and settle.

My main point today is that even though there weren't any obvious cuts on the slope of the beach last Saturday, there were cuts to the dunes at the top of the beach, and at high tide the water was bouncing off the face of the dunes and flowing down the slope, carrying sand and other objects until the flow slowed enough to drop whatever objects were being carried.

If you look at the photo above, the yellow line runs parallel to the beach.  There is something of a momentary dead spot.  The incoming water hits the water rushing back down the slope there.  But that is only momentary, as the next wave is already on the way.

Obviously that area will move as the tide comes in and goes out.  It proceeds up the hill towards the dunes during the incoming tide and then recedes down the slope and out as the tide recedes.

The red line shows how much sand has been removed from under the steps.

Compare these two photos.

It is always handy to have more than the most recent photo.   Old photos give you a base line.   You can compare different times and see what is happening.

If I know a beach is especially high, for example, then I know it will take more weather and erosion to make it productive.

The fluctuation on a beach is seldom two feet or more over a wide area.  Down at Turtle Trail, when the sand is low you can see a foot or so of the blue bags, but when the sand is high they are covered again.  There are posts down there that also appear and disappear.

Notice  the foot of the dunes and the slope right in front of the dunes in the last photo.

Thanks to DJ for those photos.

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Silver Finger Rings From the 1715 Fleet.

One of the most experienced Treasure Coast salvage divers said that no silver rings have been found on 1715 Fleet wrecks.  That is something that has interested me for a number of years, especially because of how commonly old silver rings are found on the wreck beaches.

I know of three examples of documented silver rings that have been correctly or incorrectly attributed to the 1715 Fleet.  That is such a small number that even if they are all correctly attributed, they are undoubtedly personal property rather than cargo.

Below are those I have seen listed as being from the 1715 Fleet.

1.  In Artifacts of the Spanish Colonies of Florida and the Caribbean, 1500-1800, Vol. 2: Portable Personal Possessions, by Kathleen Deagan, a silver Claddagh ring shown on page 126 is attributed to the 1715 Fleet.

2.  In the Winter Beach Salvage Camp, by Doubglas R. Armstrong (2012 revision), on page 52 a gold plated silver ring is attributed to the 1715 Fleet.

3.  And just this year, VeroNews reported that West Bay Trading Company certified a silver ring found by Jeff Emlet on a Vero area beach as being from the 1715 Fleet.  See my 2/6/20 post, https://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2020/02/2620-report-first-silver-ring-beach.html, for more information about that.

Without some type of specific markings and historical documentation, I do not know how you could tell that an isolated ring find would be from a particular fleet or wreck rather than from some other source, including, for example, contemporary salvage efforts.

In any case, I'd like to keep a list of silver rings attributed to the 1715 Fleet.   If you know  of any others, I'd like to add them to my list.  Please be specific about the source of information.

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Despite the most recent cold front, we're supposed to have nothing higher than a two or three foot surf for the next week.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

2/26/20 Report - Reading the Water to Find the Treasure Holes. Test Your Detector. Beach Privatization.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

Stairs at Seagrape Trail Saturday Morning.

Clipped form video submitted by DJ.

The posts at the bottom of the stairs at Seagrape Trail were getting washed out Saturday morning.  They had recently repaired them, but they were damaged again.  I was there that day but forgot to take photos.

Take a look at the stairs and the short posts sticking out of the sand in the photo below.  The posts are lower than the bottom step.  They weren't showing until the beach eroded.

Just To The North of the Seagrape Trail Access on 2/20

Clipped form video by DJ

Also notice the mass of water that is just below the stairs.  Just a few yards out is a wave surge behind that mass of water.  The surge will push the mass up the face of the slope, and the surge will rush up the slope towards the dunes.

Before I go much farther, I'd like to refer to what I think is the most important thing I've ever learned about beach dynamics.  The same principles apply to how things are moved in rivers and streams too, but for now I'm interested in these principles as they explain how sand and other items move on a beach.

Breaking it down, there is a certain amount of force needed to pick up different materials, including clay, silt, sand, pebbles, gravel and other items.  It takes more force to start an item moving than is required to keep the same item moving.

There is a certain amount of force required to suspend specific types of sand and other materials.  Generally it takes more water velocity and force to suspend clay than it takes to suspend sand, for example.  Even though the particles of clay are smaller, they are more cohesive so it takes more water force to pick it up.  And it takes more force to move pebbles than sand.  Things like the density of the objects, cohesiveness and even shape are important factors.  Pebbles are not more cohesive than sand, but they are more dense, so it takes more water velocity or force to get them moving.

There is also a certain amount of force required to keep an object moving once it is moving.  It takes less force to keep an object moving than it does to overcome the inertia and other factors that keep a particle or other object stationary.

The above chart shows velocity increasing from left to right on the horizontal axis, and particle size increasing from bottom to top on the vertical axis.  The right most red line shows that clay requires more force to suspend than sand, which requires less force to suspend than pebbles (or coins, rings, etc.).

Looking at the left most red line, you see that it takes little force to move already suspended clay or silt, but the force required to transport sand and pebbles or larger objects is greater.

Lets say you have enough water flow to get the sand moving, and enough to keep it moving, but then the force diminishes and the sand settles. The sand will be picked up where the force is relatively high, such as where the wave crashes, and carried up the slope until the water slows enough that the sand drops out of suspension.  If the water rushes back down the hill instead of slowly decreasing on the slope, sand can be carried down the hill, resulting in erosion.

The sand is moved when the force is great enough to pick it up and move it, and it is dropped when the force slows.  That part seems obvious enough, but there are other factors.  You have the tides and interacting multiple waves interacting.  Returning waves hit incoming waves, for example.  And there are irregularities in the surface of the beach.  And there is liquefaction.  (That is another topic for another time.)

There are different kinds of objects on the beach in addition to sand.  There are shells, and there might be coins and things.   Coins have their own peculiarities and methods of moving.  I once posted a number of ways that coins move.  But that is another discussion for another time.

Without getting into all the variables, sand will be moved differently than coins and things.  Different amounts of force are required to suspend and transport different objects.

Lets say you have just enough flow at the base of the slope to pick up and move sand.  It will be transported up the slope, and if the force slowly decreases, the sand will drop out and the sand will accumulate.   On the other hand, if the water picks up the sand and keeps it moving up the hill, and the water bounces off a cut or dune so the force is maintained at a high enough rate, the sand will wash down the hill again.  That is one way you get erosion.

Coins can be picked up if the force is great enough and carried up the hill along with the sand, but since it takes a greater amount of force to keep the denser objects moving, the water can slow enough to drop the coins while the sand continues to move out.  If the returning water force is great enough, the coins can be carried down the slope too.

You'll notice that when the water is bouncing off the face of a cut or off the dunes, the returning water can have a lot of force.  That means things will be carried down the slope until they drop out of suspension and settle in.

Different objects will settle at different places.  Like things will be dropped together.   As the water slows, coins and other things will drop out and settle before the sand.  That is how coin lines and coin holes are formed.   I've talked about that a lot in the past.

So what you are looking for is places where good targets have just been uncovered by eroding sand, or where those targets have been dropped.

After all of the fast moving water is over, slower water will move the grains of sand up the hill and drop the sand, building the beach and perhaps cover denser objects, such as any coins that were left behind.  Since you are interested in the areas where good targets are being uncovered or being dropped, you are looking for areas where the sand is being eroded or areas where the water has slowed enough to drop good targets.

It is all a beautiful balancing act.  Items are sifted and sorted like they are a gold pan, but on a beach the area is much bigger and there are a lot irregularities and complexities.  Still, I think you'll benefit if you get the ideas presented in the above chart.

...

PS: I lost the original source of the chart, so if anyone can find it I'd appreciate it.  I'd like to be able to credit the source.

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I received some questions and know that some of you might be wondering if your detector might not be working ok because you didn't find anything good last weekend.   Your metal detector is probably fine.  If you are not sure, test it on some small silver coins.  Maybe cut an old silver dime in half, take it to the beach and test your metal detector.  If you can detect a small piece of silver like that, you can detect a silver reale unless it is too deep or something is wrong with your sweep.  So pay attention to your sweep speed and height when you do your tests.   It never hurts to take some test targets to the beach to make sure.  But I'd bet that your detector is fine.  There is a lot of beach out there and you just have to put your coil over the right spot at the right time.   If you understand what I wrote above, that will help you.  Finding the spots is the main thing.

I know how it is.  When you don't get any hits, you start to wonder if you detector is working well.  Usually it is, but you can test it to make sure.

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Seems like there is some talk about beach privatization again.  I received the following emails from DJ.

Thought this bill died a couple years ago. 

https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/newswire/2020/02/03/privatization-coming-beach-near-you-opinion/4643308002/?fbclid=IwAR3H3OMcGB98u3ZpMiBp3FHuUbF_5KtXjwu8EHnbrEWL-V13REygssrCgFg

HB 631 was approved and still on the books, lots of legaleaze

https://www.flsenate.gov/Committees/BillSummaries/2018/html/1888

These bills are filed to repeal 631 and protect beach access for the public (as far as I can tell)

House Bill 6063 (2020) - The Florida Senatewww.flsenate.gov › Session › Bill › 6063

Senate Bill 1680 (2020) - The Florida Senatewww.flsenate.gov › Session › 2020

I’ll try to get more current info, they don’t make it easy to understand.

Hope we don’t have to face this too.

We had a petition going on this back some time ago.   Somebody needs to stay on top of this.

There is also some proposed legislation for the Florida Keys that the Fisher organization is fighting.  I've been meaning to post what I received about that, but there has been so much local news lately that I didn't get around to it yet.

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The surf will be small this week.

Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net