5/12/16 Report - Diamond Ring Found In Shallow Water. Amphoras Full of Coins. Recovery Skills and Over-Scooping.

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

Diamond Ring Find by Shannon F.

Here is an email from Shannon F telling about finding the above diamond ring.

I'm dropping you a line to tell you a quick story about detecting in chest deep water at the beach. I went out at around dark with the tide almost low and started hunting. After about an hour I had found 2 silver rings and about a coffee can worth of trash. I was walking out in about knee deep water when I got a quick silver/gold tone/number. So I dug a 2 foot deep hole and couldn't find the target. I said heck with it and was walking up the beach. I was almost to the showers but couldn't let it go. I went back and dug like a man possessed. Moral of the story: NEVER GIVE UP ON A TARGET. 18kt with a nice real diamond.

Thanks for sharing Shannon!

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Amphoras Filled With Coins Found By Construction Crew.

Some 1,300 pounds of bronze Roman coins dating to the 3rd and 4th centuries have been unearthed by construction workers digging ditches in Spain.

The find, in 19 amphoras — storage containers — is unique not only because of the volume of coins but because the coins appear to have never been in circulation, making them almost pristine by comparison with other discoveries.

Workers in the city of Tomares, in Andalusia, were working on installing a water line to a park in the city of 24,000, according to the Spanish newspaper El País, when they noticed irregular terrain inside a ditch about a meter below ground level...

Here is the link.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/04/29/construction-workers-in-spain-unearth-huge-trove-of-ancient-roman-coins/

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Pinpointing and recovery skills can save a lot of time.  It is a big waste of time to over-scoop.  By that I mean scooping up more sand than is needed.  That can be caused by digging too deep.

Even if you don't have or use a depth meter you can learn to tell about how deep an object is buried.  Besides giving a louder signal objects near the surface will often give a more distinct sound.  The edges of the target will sound sharper, while deeper targets will give a softer sound, and the signal will not appear as sharp or distinct.

Pinpoint or non-motion mode will often make it easier to determine depth and size of the object from the sound of the signal.

If the object is right on the surface, just skim the surface with your scoop and no sifting will be necessary.  Of course you don't want to hit the object with your scoop in case the object is something that might be damaged.

Just dig as deep as necessary and no deeper.  Wet sand makes sifting a lot more difficult, as does shells and rocks.  Use the surf when possible, to help sift sand through your scoop more quickly.

Sometimes it is actually faster to take multiple scoops rather than filling the scoop and having the object slip off the top of the sand as the scoop is raised,  That is particularly true in the water where object might not fall straight down.  Objects that fall off as you raise the scoop might take a few seconds or more to find again, especially if the water is rough.

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On the Treasure Coast today we'll have a two to three foot surf, a south wind and moderating tides.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

7/5/14 Report - Little Diamond Sparkler Find & How To Recover Deep Targets In Moving Water and Mushy Sand,

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



Little sparkler found on the 4th.

You might recall the cobs recently recovered from the Green Cabin Wreck that Captain Martinez of the Capitana showed us not long ago.  Neither showed the denomination, but both are eight-reales.

Captain Martinez said both of those cobs are in the lab now and he'll send more info on them when he gets it.  He also said he'll be sending photos or new finds too.



On the Treasure Coast the seas are still calm.  I did a little hunting Friday morning near low tide.  Some people were out very early to reserve their place in the sun.

In the dry sand were a good number of shiny new clad coins, with just a couple discolored ones.  You can always expect at least some new drops on hot holiday weeks.   It appeared that at least 80 percent were recently dropped and did not show any effects of weathering. 

Now there will be all the new debris from fireworks to deal with on the beaches, such as sparkler wires.

I also sampled the wet sand and shallow water.  The wet sand didn't produce much besides some junk jewelry - no coins and no aluminum. 

There was a lot of sea weed piled up on the beach front and also in the shallow water.

The shallow water produced some junk jewelry too, and one good target (See above.), which was deep and took quite a while to recover due to its depth and the moving water and sand that kept filling the hole.

I stuck at it though.  It always really bugs me to have to leave a target giving a good signal just because I'm not able to get to it. 

While trying to recover that good target I thought of some tips that I should give you for recovering deep targets in moving water and sand in the shallow water. 

The small waves were breaking over the bar just to the East of me and then rushing over the dip, which is where I was trying to recover the target in semi-mushy sand.  It wasn't the most mushy I'd ever seen, just not firm.  The top layer was fairly thick and without any course shell sand.

Anyhow, here are some things to try when trying to recover deep targets in moving water and mushy sand.

First switch to pin-point mode and get a good fix on your target, noting both the position and depth of the object.

Second, remove a scoop of sand right over the deep target.  That little hole will serve to mark the location visibly, or if the visibility is not good, you  can relocate the hole quickly and easily by feel with your foot. 

If the water is rough enough and deep enough to make it difficult to stay in position (it wasn't Friday) try to keep one foot planted at the edge of the hole to keep yourself in good position.

Now, it is time to move sand.  If you got a good fix on the depth of the target, you have an idea how much sand you need to move.  If it is a lot, then I'd recommend foot fanning.

Plant your non-predominant foot (I'll assume you are right handed, or footed.) to the left of the small hole.  Don't anchor your foot too close to the hole because the hole will be expanding.

Take your long-handle scoop and anchor it to the left of your left foot so you can lean on it while trying to stand on one foot and fanning wildly with the dominant foot. 

Once you feel firmly set, start moving your right foot back and forth over the center of the hole until you have fanned enough sand to be getting close to the object.

Warning: doing this bare foot can result in things such as a fishing lure popping up and getting stuck in your foot.  I know.  It is best to have some foot cover.  A trimmed swim fin is excellent for moving a lot of sand.

Check the hole with your detector.  Still in pin-point mode, angle the coil up at about a 45 degree angle and face the coil over the sloping sand on four or more sides of the hole.   If the signal is louder when the coil is angled over the left slope of the hole than when it is over the right hole, then you have a good indication that the object is not in the exact center of the hole but off to the left a little.  If that is the case, or if the hole has expanded so that your left foot is now in the hole, readjust your stance farther to the left.

After fanning a lot of sand, if you fanned too much, the object can now be on the slope of the hole or even outside of the hole, so check with your detector once in a while to see if the target moved.  If visibility is good, keep watching for the target to show up.

The ideal is to fan just enough sand so that the target is just barely covered.  Then use your scoop to scoop it up.    (That is why your estimation of depth is important.)

 If you try to scoop up the object while it is deeply buried, you can scoop it up with so much sand that the object will be on top of a scoop full of sand and can fall out over and over again as you lift it through the moving water.    That is especially true of light objects as well as gold chains. 

Gold chains will very often slide out of the front of the scoop unless you get the entire chain well in the scoop, which is not easy.

Light objects like pull tabs can slide off as you raise the scoop of sand through the moving water.  Light objects like that can also be moved a good distance with the moving water when they fall out of the scoop.  It can take a little time to relocate them.  They will tend to be moved in the same direction as the moving water.

If a target moves a good distance after you try to scoop up, there is a good chance that it is aluminum.
A heavier target won't move as far when you lose it and will often fall back down into the hole.  A target can slip down the side and get reburied by sand refilling the hole.  That can result in the signal becoming more faint.  You might have to take time to relocate the object.

Despite the fact that you are trying to get deep, it is better to not over-fill your scoop when trying to scoop up a deep target in a hole. 

Also, before lifting the scoop, give it a little time and shake it a little while the scoop sits in the bottom of the hole to let the target settle better into the scoop.  Then when you lift the scoop, not so much stuff will slide out as the scoop is lifted.   If your scoop sifts fast that will help too.

I didn't know there was going to be so much to this when I started typing.

The process can be much easier if you have good visibility and can get a look at what is happening under water.  A snorkel mask can help.

One thing I want to emphasize is how to angle your coil up along the various slopes of the hole to identify the position of the object relative to the center of the hole.   When the hole is smaller all you need to do is put your detector in pin-point mode and place the coil angled up the slope from the center of the hole in four or more directions.   If the hole has become bigger, you can sweep up each of the slopes.  There is the possibility that the object has been moved up the slope or even out of the hole, as well as the possibility that it is still buried below the hole.


 A good fix on the location of the object can save a lot of work.  


Thursday night Hurricane Arthur came ashore near the southern end of the Outer Banks as predicted.  

http://news.yahoo.com/hurricane-arthur-scythes-outer-banks-north-carolina-072924809.html

That should have given the guys up there a good opportunity.  Hope they are all safe.

They are very good at predicted tropical storms these days.  The paths are pretty much right on.


I understand there are new rules on taking batteries on planes.  I'll get into that more tomorrow, as well as some other things.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net