4/30/20 Report - More On Metal Detecting Watches and Researching Watch Finds.

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

Rolex Watch Found by JamminJack

Yesterday I talked a bit about finding watches.  JamminJack sent this photo of a Rolex he found.  He said he was surprised that it wasn't a knock-off.  It has a pearl face and diamond hour markers.

I'm glad he mentioned knock-offs.  Like everything else of value these days, there are plenty of counterfeits out there.

I once found a Malibu Polo Club watch that I was going to wear, so I took it to a repair shop to have a few links removed from the band.  I didn't know anything about the brand and never imagined that it was anything that anybody would counterfeit, but the dealer wouldn't work on it because it was a knock-off.

There are a lot of knock-offs, but there are tons of genuine watches that are worth a lot.  Certain Patek Phillipe watches are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, for example.  There are watches that I never heard of that are worth a lot, and I recently discovered that I should have paid more attention to some of those.

I have the following price guide on watches, but as happens with priced guides, the prices quickly become out of date.  Nonetheless, having over 1000 pages, this book provides tons of useful information, including tables of serial numbers, technical details and lots of history.  Being a 1997 edition, the prices are next to useless, but even if they are way off, you can still tell if you have something that might be valuable enough to get checked out.  It would be a pity to discard a watch worth hundreds or thousands of dollars.

At least if you find a watch you don't know anything about, there is a chance that you can find enough information to give you some idea.

Ladies Gucci Watch With Interchangeable Color Plastic Ring.

You might be surprised by the values of some watches.  Back in the late 1990s, I found several of the ladies Gucci watches like the one shown above.  Evidently a lot of them were lost.  I think maybe because the band was so rigid and the clasp not very good, but I never paid much attention to them because they seemed to be so common, however a quick check of eBay shows they can be worth over $100 in used condition.

Men's Gucci Watch Find.

I haven't even bothered to check out this Gucci watch yet, but I just saw a bunch of Gucci watches selling for close to $1000 so I guess I should get it checked out.

Back to the subject of knock-offs - there are a lot of web sites and videos that will tell you how to determine if a Rolex is real or fake.  One thing to check is the date bubble.  It should magnify 2.5 times.  Many fakes do not have a bubble or do not magnify the right amount.

Here is a web site that gives a number of clues on how to identify a real or counterfeit Rolex.

https://www.jewelry-secrets.com/Blog/how-to-spot-a-fake-rolex-watch/

In the old days, most of us probably used an acid test kit to test our finds.  Today it is easier, and you can get more detailed information, if you just take metal items to a pawn shop or jeweler that has an XRF analyzer.  Times have changed.

It is easier to take watches to an expert too, rather than trying to do all the research yourself.   That is what I do.   There is an authorized Rolex dealer in Vero, for example.  So any Rolex, or any other watch that I suspect might be good, I take to a watch dealer or someone who should know.  Watches aren't the easiest thing to research.

Rolex watches have a serial number and you can look up the serial number to get an idea of when the watch was manufactured.  You might think that you can find the original owner by using the serial number, but Rolex won't give that information.  I tried that  more than once.

You can check TheWatchRegister.com, but that database only shows watches that were registered by the owner, so a lot of the time you will not find the serial number you are looking for.

Concerning detecting watches - I previously did some videos on how the position of a watch can affect the signal you get from your metal detector.  I used the Ace 250 on those videos.

Using an Equinox metal detector, the results were similar, but with the Equinox you can also consult the conductivity numbers.  I think I did similar tests using an Aquanaut detector oot, but don't know if I posted it.

Here are the links to the three videos showing how the position of a watch affects the metal detector signal.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqZ9XJiKy7o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtIVumXmtyU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYGswg64oWE

If you want to find watches, it is worth practicing, as I mentioned yesterday.  I always thought I found so many watches because other people were using discrimination and missing them.  You don't want to miss watches, because they can be some of your more valuable finds.  That has certainly been true for me.


It might be also be worth reminding you about something else I wrote about in the past.  When you are trying to find the rightful owner of a find, make sure to not tell them everything.  If there is a personal inscription, for example, keep it secret so you can ask any one who claims to be the owner about the inscription.  You want to make sure you have the correct person.

I say that because I've had people try to claim finds that did not belong to them.  It happens way too often.  I did a post on that before and also did a post describing precautions to take when hunting a specific item for a person.

When searching for an specific item, make sure to get an exact description with positive identifying details before conducting the search.  If you find something better than what you were searching for the person might try to claim it.  It has happened.

In South Florida you will have more problems with people than on the Treasure Coast.  In crowded areas there will sometimes be people who follow you around trying to see anything and everything that comes up in your scoop.  In the past I described some of my favorite techniques for dealing with that too.


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The Treasure Coast surf will be decreasing from the current two to three feet.  You can expect a calm surf in the not too distant future.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/29/20 Report - Beaches Open and Detectorists Out. How To Metal Detect Watches.

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

John Brooks Beach 4/28 Shortly After Low Tide.

Here are the first beach photos that I took for four or five weeks.  In the distance you can see one detectorist, who evidently arrived not long after the beach opened.

Not much to see beside sand, although there was also a person to the south collecting shells.  No problem with social distancing here.  There was about a hundred yards between people.

John Brooks Beach 4/29.

The surf was just a little choppy.  You can see the shell collector in this photo.

Frederick Douglass Beach 4/28

You can see how sandy it was from the deep footprints.

Another Look at Frederick Douglass Beach.

A few people had already been there. 

b

Blind Creek Beach 4/28.

A little farther to the south, Blind Creek looked pretty much the same.

I'm afraid we are now into summer beach conditions and will be waiting for the occasional storm to move some of the summer sand.

There are also places where beach renourishment is in full swing, such as at Fort Pierce South Jetty Park.  It seems to me that they do that beach at least every year, but some official claimed it wasn't that often.

I had other things I had to do so, those are the only beaches I saw.  I don't know how the Indian River County beaches looked.

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Dj got out to do some detecting.  Here is what he said.   Can’t decide what this is made of. It has a consistent thickness of 1/16” of an inch. But it was good to get out on the first day of beach opening. As expected not much erosion; just some old cuts with large shells and less sand on the front than a month ago.

DJ's Find of the Day.

Photo by DJ

I'm sure everybody is happy to be able to get out on the beaches again even though we don't have the best beach detecting conditions. --- As you probably know, I don't use discrimination much.  One reason is that some of the better targets are very difficult to identify from a metal detector response.  That is especially true of items made of various materials and items that can be positioned in a variety of ways.  Watches are an example.

Sample Watches.

Guess, Armitron, Orient, Seiko, and Seiko.

I've probably found a hundred watches, including some very expensive ones, but for this experiment I just pulled out a few.

Watches will give different metal detector readings depending upon several different factors.  One, of course, is what they are made of. That sounds simple enough, but remember they are made of a variety of materials - the workings, watch case, and band can all be different metals. 

Another factor is how the watch is laying. They can be either face up, as shown in the photo, or often on edge. And since they are odd shaped, it depends upon which direction your coil goes over the watch. When face up, you can get one reading when sweeping more over the face, and another when you sweep more over the band. When these watches were face up, most of them gave a conductivity number on the Equinox of either 16-17 or 30-33. Some of the watches gave more of the lower range number, while other gave more in the upper range. The better watches tend to give more readings in the 30-33 range. 

If you stand them on edge, you'll often get a much weaker signal. In fact the first watch shown above, the Guess, if standing on edge and the coil moving in one direction (parallel to the edge of the face) indicated iron.  If you were discriminating iron, you would have heard almost nothing at all. 

The main point is that with a complex target like a watch, the signal will vary depending upon several different factors. If you know what causes the variations you can still get a good idea that you might be detecting a watch before you dig it up. Don't forget to vary the position and angle of your sweep to observe the differences.

Generally speaking, better watches will tend to have more of the higher conductivity numbers.

My most recent Rolex was found in dry sand, as were some of the other good watches, but another good place to check for watches is in shallow shell-filled dips in the water.  They will generally ride pretty high in the sand.

One way you can get to know your metal detector better is by practicing with a variety of known targets.

If it doesn't sound like a coin or ring that doesn't necessarily mean it is no good.

Happy hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net

4/28/20 Report - Oldest Gold Treasure Ever Discovered. Gold Coin Hoard. Copper Disc Shipwreck Ingots. Beaches Reopening This AM.

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

Source: See ArchaeologyInBulgaria link below.

What is the oldest gold treasure ever discovered?  There are a few candidates but one is the consensus winner.  Others could arguably be a bit older, but the Varna Chalcolithic treasure is often considered the oldest because of its size and representative nature as well as it's age.

The world’s oldest gold processed by humans, the world’s oldest gold treasure, and the world’s oldest gold artifacts have been discovered in Bulgaria.

They date back to the period between 4,500 BC and 4,000 BC, i.e. the second half of the 5^th millennium BC (so they are between 6,500 and 6,000 years old)….

They are the work of the people of Europe's first human civilization, which developed in the Neolithic and Chalcolithic, roughly 8,000 to 6,000 years ago, in Bulgaria and other parts of the Balkan Peninsula (Southeast Europe), along the Lower Danube and the Western Black Sea coast as well as further inland, in the valleys and gorges of the Balkans.

There are six very good candidates, but one is considered the oldest even though it might not technically be proven the oldest in the end.    It is the Varna treasure shown at the top of this post and below.

Varna Treasure.
Source: ArchaeologyInBulgaria link shown below.

Discovered in: 1972, by accident

Discovery Site: Varna Chalcolithic Necropolis, Black Sea city of Varna on Bulgaria’s Northern Black Sea coast

Dating: 4,560-4,450 BC (three graves outside the necropolis dated closer to 5,000 BC)

Consists of: Over 3,000 gold artifacts

Combined total weight: 6.5 kilograms

For the article containing additional information, including the other leading candidates, use this link.

archaeologyinbulgaria.com/2019/09/19/which-is-the-worlds-oldest-gold-the-five-oldest-gold-treasures-all-from-the-5th-millenium-bc-all-found-in-bulgaria-all-made-by-old-europe/

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The 16 Byzantine gold coins discovered in the ruins of ancient Marcianopolis, a very substantial Roman city in today’s Northeast Bulgaria. Photo: Devnya Ancient and Modern Facebook Page,
Source: See ArchaeologyInBulgaria link below.

A Byzantine gold treasure from the 5^th century BC, i.e. the early period of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium), consisting of a hoard of gold coins of Emperor Theodosius II which were probably hidden when the major Roman city of Marcianopolis (Marcianople) was destroyed by Attila’s Huns, has been found by archaeologists in Devnya, Northeast Bulgaria.

The newly discovered gold coin hoard consists for the time being of 14 coins featuring the image Emperor Theodosius II (r. 408 – 450 AD), one featuring his wife Aelia Eudocia, and one featuring his first cousin, Emperor Valentian III, Emperor of the Western Roman Empire from 425 until 455 AD, shortly before its collapse...

“On the fourth day [of digging there], we came across the first part of the coin hoard, which consisted of 10 gold coins, solidi of Emperor Theodosius II, and also ten bronze coins of the same emperor," the lead archaeologist elaborates.

“Emperor Theodosius II ruled [the Eastern Roman Empire] from 408 until 450 AD, and this coin hoard was most probably lost during the Hun invasion [of 447 AD] when the city of Marcianople was destroyed," he adds.

http://archaeologyinbulgaria.com/2019/10/26/hoard-of-byzantine-gold-coins-hidden-during-hun-invasion-discovered-in-ancient-marcianopolis-in-bulgarias-devnya/


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Copper Ingots From Bronze Age Shipwreck.

Source: See ArchaeologyInBulgaria link below.

… The discovery and characteristics of the disc-like Late Bronze Age copper ingots found on Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast at Maslen Nos was presented in Bulgaria’s Burgas by archaeologist Miroslav Klasnakov in February 2020.

“Analogous to similar finds from explored shipwrecks at the capes of Gelidonya and Uluburun in Turkey, the “copper cakes" from the Bulgarian Black Sea coast are also dated to the Late Bronze Age," Klasnakov was cited as saying.

“Unlike the ingots [of the same period], which are shaped like a stretched-out ox skin, found in [the interior] of today’s Bulgaria, however, relatively far to the west of the sea coast, these ones [from Maslen Nos] have a disc-like shape, and are found only beneath water," the archaeologist explains...

Here is that link.

http://archaeologyinbulgaria.com/2020/04/18/disc-like-copper-ingots-found-in-ancient-shipwreck-at-bulgarias-black-sea-coast-similar-to-gelidonya-uluburun-shipwrecks-of-mediterranean-turkey/

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When you think of treasure, you might not think of Bulgaria, but it has more than its fair share, including some of the oldest processed gold artifacts in the world.  

I was going to do the first story, but the ArchaeologyInBulgaria web site had so many great articles that I thought I'd just stick with it until the Treasure Coast beaches reopen this morning.

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It seems like the Information Age has turned into the Disinformation Age.  You have to intelligently sift through a lot of noise to find the few gems of information.

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The Indian River and St. Lucie beaches are expected to open at around 7 AM this morning.

The Treasure Coast surf won't be big and neither are the tides, but it will be nice to get some sand between the toes again.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/27 Update. St. Lucie County Beaches Reopen 7 AM Tuesday 4/28.

St. Lucie County is reopening its public beach accesses with restrictions to help continue to the spread of COVID-19, effective Tuesday, April 28 at 7 a.m.

St. Lucie County and Fort Pierce are reopening beaches for physical recreation including walking, jogging, fishing, surfing, swimming, snorkeling, collecting seashells, kayaking, paddleboarding or other activity provided that social distancing requirements are maintained.

The following restrictions will be in place at all public beach accesses in St. Lucie County:

• Social or recreational groups of 10 or more persons are prohibited;
• Persons using the beach shall practice social distancing by staying at least six feet away whenever practicable from another person;
• Activities that do not maintain social distancing requirements, such as congregating, partying, picnicking, camping, volleyball, Frisbee, football or other organized group activities are strongly discouraged;
• No coolers, tents, blankets, umbrellas, beach chairs or sunbathing are allowed.
• Equipment supporting people with disabilities is allowed.
• Hours are from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. 

Here's the link.

https://www.stlucieco.gov/living-in-st-lucie-county/beach-information



I previously posted about Indian River County beaches opening 4/28.

4/27/20 Report - Valuable Imitation Cobs and Coins. When Things Just Don't Look Quite Right.

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

Lot 1252 in Current Sedwick Auction.

See Online Auction Catalog

When you look at this coin, what do you see?  Does it look strange to you?  It probably should.

I was browsing the current Sedwick online auction catalog, and every once in a while, a coin would stick out to me.  I quickly browsed through a lot of coins, including ancient coins, coins of different centuries and different countries, different denominations and made of different materials, and featuring different designs, yet some of them just stuck out for some reason.  They just looked strange somehow.  And when I looked at the lost descriptions, I found they were described as "imitation" coins or cobs.  The one shown above is one of those.  Below is the lot description.

Caracas, Venezuela, "imitation cob" 2 reales, date "471" (early 1800s), quadrants of cross transposed, NGC AU 50, finest known in NGC census. Cal-749; KM-C13.1. 5.43 grams. Lightly toned over muted luster, with bold full details including 471 "date," two denominations (2) and "assayers" (M), three "mintmarks" (L), definitely one of the rarer "dates" for this series and a top-grade example as well. NGC #4771447-004.

We use a lot of different terms such as fantasy coin, fake, copy,  reproduction or counterfeit.  Sometimes those terms are used in a specific sense and sometimes a more general sense.  For me a counterfeit is meant to deceive, while a fantasy coin is not.  I suppose "imitation" is a general term, but I would not expect an imitation coin to be marked "copy" or anything like that.  Maybe there is a numismatic dictionary that defines the term, but I couldn't find one.

Anyhow, if you become familiar with a large number of examples, those "strange" coins might jump out at you.  It is easy to see what is strange about the coin shown above, but it might not be so easy to describe.  It looks like it was made by an unskilled person, and they didn't bother to put a lot of effort into it, but in general terms, it just doesn't look right.  If you are informed in an area, whether it is numismatics or some other area, certain things just won't look or sound "right."

One thing I should add, is that this coin, even though it is described as an imitation, that does not mean it is not worth anything.  This one is old and tells a story.  The auction estimate is $700 - $1000, and it already has a bid.  Lot 1253 is similar.  Check it out.

Here is another "imitation cob" that jumped out at me.

Lot 834 in Current Sedwick Auction.

This one looks messy.  One coin was struck over another coin, some of which shows through.

Cartagena, Colombia, copper "imitation cob" 2 reales, fantasy date "111" (ca. 1815), unique, quadrants of cross transposed, struck over a Cartagena provisional copper 2 reales (1813-14), NGC MS 63 BN. Restrepo-118.1; KM-unl; Cal-unl. A very rare type dating to the retaking of Cartagena by royalist forces in 1815, using Cartagena provisional copper coins for host flans overstruck with "imitation" designs meant to resemble Lima (Peru) cob 2 reales but with fantasy dates, this one "111" being the only one known to us (missing in all important collections), dark chocolate-brown in color with bold details including full pillars and cross, full "111" date and mintmark L, also with bold CARTAGENA visible in legend from undercoin, exceptional grade for any variety, in fact the highest grade possible, a true numismatic trophy combining rarity and quality. NGC #48372006-001.

This one is also old and has a lot of history behind it.  It is selling for a very good price.

I didn't plan to talk about imitation coins this morning, but these things just jumped out at me and I thought it was interesting.  Sone copies or counterfeits can be worth a lot.  If you look at enough examples, things that just don't look quite right will jump out at you.

There are a lot of curiosities to explore in the third session of the current Sedwick auction.

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I was planning on posting about some metal detector tests today.  I'll get back to that some other day.

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It seems like the surfers are having the same problems that the detectorists are, and they are suffering withdrawal.  Here is one sentence from an article on MagicSeaWeed that you might like to read.

For the first time in generations, surfers are having to skulk around and risk running afoul of the law if they are to ride waves. It’s like the 1950s all over again!

Here is the link.

https://magicseaweed.com/news/surf-bans-public-shaming-and-the-art-of-civil-disobedience/11848/

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I mentioned cause of death the other day as it relates to what we are seeing as Covid-19 statistics.  Tim M. sent this example.

My father, an Air Force veteran through out the "conflict" from 1957 through 1975 died of multiple cancers primarily agent orange specific leukemia. Death certificate states COPD.

That is one of the types of thing I was referring to.   For data to be meaningful, it has to be coded consistently and reliably.  Classification categories need to be clearly defined along with clear criteria for class inclusion.

In the past I've talked about the importance of definitions as they apply to metal detecting.  How, for example, do you define success?   If you are very clear about what you want to accomplish, your chance of success, as you define it, will be improved.

Tim also said.

I have been reading your blog for years now, and truly enjoy the knowledge you share. I personally  would be happy to pay a monthly or yearly subscription fee to continue to have the privilege of the continuation of the education you provide. '

Also I am completely on the same page as the sad state of people thinking beyond what media is promoting without any real scientific factual basis. 

I was most gratified by Tim's reference to "education."  

When I referred to subscription I wasn't necessarily talking about a fee, however I might be able to provide an upgraded level of specific timely service for a few folks that might find it worthwhile.

I'm still thinking about what I might want to do.  

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I've also been thinking about expanding on my formula for success.  I have a factor or two that I haven't yet added to the formula even though they should be added.

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The surf is supposed to be a touch bigger this week, but only up to around two or three feet.

As I've said some of the Indian River County beaches will reopen tomorrow.  I'll be watching for St. Lucie County news.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/26/20 Report - Carlos and Joanna Reales. Beach Openings Next Week. Paleovirology. Statistics.

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

Johanna and Carlos 2-Reale

Lot 71 in Current Sedwick Auction.

You might remember my posts on the Carlos and Johanna two-reale found by Terry S.  There are several listed in the current Sedwick auction.  Here is one that is similar to Terry's.   

Here is the lot description.

Mexico City, Mexico, 2 reales, Charles-Joanna, "Late Series," assayer G to right, mintmark M to left (M-G). Nesmith-49e type; Cal-93; S-M5. 6.70 grams. Low-contrast AU with bold full details including legends, steel-gray color all over. Recovered from: "Golden Fleece wreck," sunk ca. 1550 in the northern Caribbean 

Here is the one found by Terry for comparison.

Charles and Johanna Two-Reale Found by Terry S.

Photos by Terry S.

The auction lists other Carlos and Johanna coins, including a 3-reale, and a two-reales with another assayer's mark.

This Sedwick two-reale that I'm showing seems to be very similar to Terry's, though there are others in the auction that you might want to view.

The assayer and mint mark sometimes change sides.  Sometimes the assayer mark is on the left and sometimes on the right.

Besides this group of lots, there is a lot consisting of three (or four) Carlos and Johanna cobs listed as lot 1471.

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SebastianDaily says Indian River County beaches will reopen April 28, 2020, 7 AM to 7 PM.

Wabasso Beach, Golden Sands, Tracking Station Beach, Round Island Beach, the east end of Beachcomber Lane, South Beach, Humiston Beach, Sexton Plaza Beach, Conn Beach and Jaycee Beach will all be reopened. All other public beach access points will remain closed.

Walking, running, swimming, wading, floating, surfing, paddle boarding, and kayaking, and exercising will be permitted,  No sitting or laying.  

Here is the link.

https://www.sebastiandaily.com/community/indian-river-county-beaches-will-soon-reopen-22778/

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I said that the data we have on COVID-19 cases is dirty.  By that I mean that it is not it includes a variety of sources of error, one of the most important, in my opinion, is the use of inconsistent coding and reporting procedures.  Without getting into great detail, here is a just a brief part of what CDC says about their data.

CDC does not know the exact number of COVID-19 illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths for a variety of reasons. COVID-19 can cause mild illness, symptoms might not appear immediately, there are delays in reporting and testing, not everyone who is infected gets tested or seeks medical care, and there may be differences in how states and territories confirm numbers in their jurisdictions...

I could provide a lot more, but you can go to the site for yourself if you are interested.

If you have ever dealt with a death certificate, you might know that a cause of death can be described in various ways and is subject to a number of influences. Again, I won't comment any more on that,  but you are free to do your own research.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/index.html

Here are a few more articles that you might want to check.

An article in ScienceDaily suggests bears the title, Ultraviolet LEDs prove effective in eliminating coronavirus from surfaces and, potentially, air and water.

Here is the link to that.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/04/200414173251.htm

I've previously discussed the use of ultraviolet light for inspecting artifacts.  My favorite example had to do with a piece of red sea glass treated to be luminescent.   Ultraviolet light can be helpful for inspecting fossils too and other things.

Talking about fossils - did you know about the field of paleovirology?  Scientific American published an article entitled Ancient "Fossil" Virus Shows Infection to Be Millions of Years Old

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fossil-virus-bird-genome/

I've talked before about the benefits of opening archaeological information up for the public, and I've talked more generally about the benefits of open access science.  Here is an article about how doctors are pooling data to help understand COVID-19.  

https://www.wired.com/story/doctors-are-pooling-data-to-help-understand-covid-19/

The same attitudes and techniques can be effectively applied to a wide variety of types of problems.    It is no surprise to me that many of the same attitudes and approaches are useful in a wide variety of fields.

I always encourage  creativity and problem solving.   For me, that is what makes metal detecting so much fun.  I also believe you can get some good ideas from the most unexpected places if you are open and think about how you can apply the information.



You'll be able to visit some beaches next week and people won't be allowed to come up to you and ask if you found anything, but I guess they can yell it from a safe distance.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/25/20 Report - 16th Century Fort San Anton de Carlos. Calusa. Koreshan Community. IRC Beach Openings.

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

Site of Fort San Anton de Carlos

Source: See links below.

In 1566, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés arrived at the capital of the Calusa kingdom. During that same year Menéndez issued the order to construct Fort San Antón de Carlos, which was occupied until 1569. This fort was also the location of one of the first Jesuit missions (1567) in what is now the United States. We now can confirm what archaeologists and historians have long suspected: the location of the fort and the capital of the Calusa was Mound Key (8LL2), located in Estero Bay in southwestern Florida. In this article, we present the first archaeological evidence of structures and fortifications associated with the 16th-century Spanish fort and mission of San Antón de Carlos. We conducted this work, which includes both remote sensing and excavation, in an effort to better document the history of the Calusa capital up to and including the colonial period.

That is an abstract of an article published in Historical Archaeology.  Here is the link to the site where you can purchase the entire article.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41636-020-00236-6


FloridaMuseum.ufl.edu provides the following information on the same topic.

Florida and Georgia archaeologists have discovered the location of Fort San Antón de Carlos, home of one of the first Jesuit missions in North America. The Spanish fort was built in 1566 in the capital of the Calusa, the most powerful Native American tribe in the region, on present-day Mound Key in the center of Estero Bay on Florida’s Gulf Coast.

Archaeologists and historians have long suspected that the fort, named for the Catholic patron saint of lost things, was located on Mound Key. Researchers have been searching for concrete evidence in the area since 2013....

Artifacts From the Site

Photo credit: Amanda Thompson.

Researchers continue to question how the Spanish survived on Mound Key and met their daily needs despite unreliable shipments of minimal supplies from the Caribbean and strained relations with the Calusa – whose surplus supplies they needed for survival. The only Spanish fort known to be built on a shell mound, Fort San Antón de Carlos was abandoned by 1569 after the Spaniards’ brief alliance with the Calusa deteriorated, causing the Calusa to leave the island and the Spanish to follow shortly after...

Here is that link.

https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/spanish-fort-on-mound-key/

Additional information can be found in the newsletter by using this link.

https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/38/2017/03/RRCVol16_No3.pdf

Mound Key is a state archaeological park located in Estero Bay accessible only by watercraft. You can launch from nearby Koreshan State Park, which has its on unique history.

Here is what FloridaStateParks.org says about that.

Koreshan State Park offers a window into the lives of a unique and eccentric pioneer group that made its home under towering oaks on the banks of the Estero River.

In 1893, the Koreshans, a religious sect founded by Dr. Cyrus R. Teed, moved here and built a settlement based on a commitment to communal living and a belief that the universe existed on the inside of the Earth. Living celibate lives, the enterprising Koreshans established a farm, nursery and botanical gardens.

The park is home to 11 immaculately restored and nationally registered historic buildings erected by the Koreshans between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A quiet and peaceful refuge amid busy Fort Myers, the park's interpretative and natural resources provide great opportunities to learn and and to enjoy nature. 

Here is a little more history on that.

Following the 1908 death of Dr. Teed, who had renamed himself “Koresh,” Hebrew for “Cyrus,” the Unity went into decline. Several groups split to form other groups. One, The Order of Theocracy, left in 1910, moved to nearby Fort Myers and lasted until 1931. The fact the Unity was celibate did not help, although celibacy was not the real problem; there was a married status within the Unity. However, celibates were the highest order and held the most important positions. With members leaving and no new members joining, the Unity slowly dwindled.

In 1961, Hedwig Michel, one of the few surviving members, and president of the Koreshans’ religious community, deeded the property to the State of Florida, which then became Koreshan State Park. In 1967, after restoration of eleven buildings on the National Registry of Historic Places, the park was renamed Koreshan State Historic Site. In 2017, shortly after Hurricane Irma, the site again became Koreshan State Park.

That reminds me of the 1993 Waco siege of the Branch Davidians by federal agents that lasted 51 days and ended in a fire that killed 80 men, women and children.  David Koresh, the leader of the cult, was born Vernon Wayne Howell.  Maybe he got the idea for his name from the Koreshans or maybe it was a Bible thing.

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I saw a fellow from the Bureau of Land Management on TV.  He seemed to be encouraging people to visit and enjoy BLM lands. He suggested a visit to the blm.org web site.  They don't seem to have any land in Florida, unless I missed it.

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I just received more news on the Indian River County beach openings from DJ.  Here it is.

S: Some IRC Beaches to open 4-28-20 at 7am

The public beach access points at Golden Sands, Wabasso Beach, Tracking Station Beach, Round Island Beach, the east end of Beachcomber Lane, South Beach, Humiston Beach, Sexton Plaza Beach, Conn Beach and Jaycee Beach will open to the public on 4-28 with conditions. Click on this link to read IRC Executive Order #2020-005:   https://www.ircgov.com/Public_Notices/COVID-19/Beach_Re-opening.pdf

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If you've been wondering about your stimulus check, JamminJack Just got his.  Here is what he said.

I just checked my mail this evening, and there was the check for $1200. I went online immediately to compare to a legitimate one and looks real. I had just earlier that day checked "Get My Payment", and said should receive by 24th. Hmm, today!

If anyone needs info to check online here is what to expect;

Social Security 

Birth Date

Address used for filing

Zip Code.

Take Care, JamminJack

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On the Treasure Coast we'll be having nothing but one and two foot surf for another week.

Getting real close to 2.5 million page views.

Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net