10/9/19 Report - Mystery of the Strange Looking Coin. Sedwick Auction. Observations on Several of the Metal Detectors I've Used.

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

Interesting Lot in the Current Sedwick Auction Catalog.

Take a look at the above item.  What do you think it is?  Looks strange, doesn't it?

I was looking through the current Sedwick auction catalog and noticed the item shown above.  It is referred to as an "imitation cob."   Below is the lot description.

Caracas, Venezuela, 2 reales "imitation cob," date as 142 date (early 1800s), struck over a Spanish bust 2R (milled edge), rare, NGC XF 40. ,KM-C13.1. Well-centered pillars, off-center cross (with often off-the-flan M visible to right), faint toning around details, but most important aspect is that the edge shows traces of the rectangle-circle milling from a bust 2R (first we have seen). NGC #4841431-006.

So it looks like somebody for some reason turned a milled Spanish 2 reale into a fake cob, and didn't do a very good job of it.  The elements on the coin are very crude.  Was it made to fool people?  Maybe it was just somebody fooling around.  The date doesn't make sense at all.  There is a story behind that, but I can only wonder what it is.

Here is the link to the imitation cob.  

https://auction.sedwickcoins.com/Caracas-Venezuela-2-reales-imitation-cob-date-as-142-date-early-1800s-struck-over-a-Spanish_i34624997

There is another imitation cob in the catalog that is very much like the one shown above.

Here is the link to the Sedwick auction site.  

https://auction.sedwickcoins.com/auctionlist.aspx

You need to register to bid.

Among the more interesting pieces, in my opinion, were the gold finger bars.  The finger bars had some of the highest auction estimates of the entire auction.  They were in the third session.   Look around lot 80 or 81.

I really think there will be a lot of reales that don't sell.    There is something for everybody though.

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I wanted to rank the metal detectors that I've owned and used over the years.  I found out it wasn't easy to do that.  There are a lot of factors.

This isn't an objective ranking or comparison.

My favorites though are the Noga and MacDonald modified Nautilus detectors.  They were excellent at finding gold on the beaches and in the water.  That is what they were made for.  They nulled on iron, which I liked.   If I'd been hunting relics instead of gold at the time, it would have been a different story.  But they worked very well for what I was doing at the time, and back then I was doing it a lot and had a lot of success with it.  One story that I recall and that illustrates how those detectors worked, was when I detected a small gold bead very near the access at Turtle Trail.  I could easily detect the bead, but I could find it.  I put a handful of sand containing the bead on the coil and still couldn't see the bead.  I moved the sand around and the detector gave a signal.  The sand was course and a color that matched closely to that of the bead, but I eventually found the bead.

Herb claimed his detectors were better than the Noga ones, but I'm not sure that was true.

I know some of the coils for those detectors were hotter than others.

They were very easy to set up and use because they were made for one type of hunting and didn't require or allow much adjustment.

The reason it is so difficult to rank the detectors, is that most of them have things that I like and find very effective, but also negatives.

I'd tend to rank the Garrett GTX second among those I've owned, but it is very heavy, difficult to learn to use well, and loves iron.  Those sound might sound like serious problems, but when you learn to use it and if you aren't bothered much by trash, it is a powerful detector.  I have confidence that I won't miss much of anything with that detector.

Of course the best detector for you always depends upon what you want to do with it, and your style and even your personality.  There are some people who would never ever use the GTX.

In the middle of the pack are many others.  High in the middle of the pack I'd put the other Minelab detectors that I've owned, including the Excalibur and Sovereign.  

I used the Excalibur for several years.  It worked well, but I used it differently than most people.  I always used the pinpoint rather than the discrimination mode.  If I'd been able to get either the Noga or MacDonald detectors at that point, I would have been using them.

I'd rank the Fisher 1280 right up there with the Excalibur.   I used the 1280 a lot and found a lot with it.  It was a good detector and very reliable.  I eventually sold it for about as much as I bought it for.  Long before I sold it, I found enough coins to more than pay for it, not counting any jewelry.  I was keeping good records at the time and knew exactly when my coin finds went over the purchase price, which, if I correctly recall, was about $640.

The 1280 was also the detector that found my first silver and gold rings.  One of the things I learned while using that detector is the danger of using too much discrimination.  Overall, it was one of my favorites.

Maybe I rank it higher because it was the detector that I learned a lot from and it found me a lot in my early days of metal detecting.

I'd rank the Royal Sabre after that.  For such an old detector, it has a lot of nice features, but it I'd use it in dry sand or dry land only.

Then maybe the Stringray.   I had trouble with the Tesoro Stingray from the beginning.  I sent it back about three times and it was returned with the same problem.  They wanted to blame it on underwater cables or something in the area, so I told them to send me another one to try in place of the original one to see if it was the location or the detector's fault.   The replacement detector worked fine.  The original Stingray had a grounding problem and the replacement was hardwired.  

When I eventually sent the replacement in for repairs years later, they said it wasn't under warranty because it had been modified.  That is one way for them to get out of their Lifetime Warranty, but they should have had records showing it was the detector as I received it from them. 

When it worked, it was not the deepest seeking detector, but was good at detecting small gold.  It was never anything other than a back-up detector for me.

After that I can't say much good about the other metal detectors.  I probably didn't know enough about the White's CoinMaster to rank it fairly.  The same might also be the case for the Garrett pulse detector.  So I won't say much negative about them.  I know the CoinMaster didn't get a fair chance.  I just didn't know much about metal detectors or metal detecting when I had that one.

I know there metal detectors out there that might be better.  I'm just reporting my observations and feelings on some that I've owned and used.  The ranking is scientific and it isn't objective, but some of you might find my observations somewhat useful anyhow.

I didn't include anything about the Equinox today.  I plan on doing more precise testing on it.  So far I like it a lot.  It seems like an effective detector that could be useful in many situations.  Right now I'd rank it above the Excalibur and in some ways above the GTX.  I don't want to say much more about it yet, but it looks like I will be using it a lot in the future.

---

The surf is going to be about 3 - 4 feet for a couple days.  I'm not expecting much change to the beaches for a while.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

Minelab Equinox.  I'm just leaning the Equinox, but it appears to be an easy to use and adequate metal detector for a variety of situations.   I expected the visual displays to be more useful, so that was a bit of a disappointment.  You can avoid trash, but in the process can miss a lot of good targets.

10/5/19 Report - Rare Gold Coins Being Found on 19th Century Shipwreck. A Variety of Metal Detectors That I've Used Over The Years.

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

Blue Water Ventures has been finding rare gold coins on a 19th century wreck of the Steamship North Carolina off the South Carolina Coast.

Thanks to Dean R. for the lead on this story.  You'll find it mentioned in several sources.  Here are three links.

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article235661717.html

https://rarecoininvestor.com/2018/11/05/divers-searching-for-extremely-rare-gold-coins-on-1840-shipwreck-off-south-carolina/


https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/blue-water-ventures-international-and-endurance-exploration-group-announce-first-day-success-on-steamboat-north-carolina-1028570511

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I was trying to remember the metal detectors that I've used over the years and thought I'd make a list beginning with the first one I ever used and putting them in order, but I doubt that I got them all and I probably don't have every one in the correct order.

Radio Shack metal detector.   Back in the 60s probably.  Don't remember what it was called.

Whites CoinMaster.  It was purchased from a Sears Roebuck catalog and returned for some reason after some useage.

Fisher Aquanaut 1280.   My first submersible and the metal detector and the detector I was using when I got on the gold trail.

Tesoro Royal Sabre.

Tesoro Silver Sabre.

Garrett Pulse Induction submersible.  I don't remember what that one was called either,  I didn't keep it very long.

Steve Noga modified submersible Nautilus metal detector.  I think I had three of those.

Herb MacDonald Aquasound metal detctors.  Very similar to the Noga metal detectors. They were also modified Nautilus detectors in a Ikelite case.

Tesoro Stingray.

Minelab Excalibur.

Minelab Sovereign,

Whites PI Surf.

Garrett Ace 250.

Garrett GTX.

Minelab Equinox.

My most productive detectors were the Noga and MacDonald modified Nautilus detectors, which were great beach and underwater detectors.

Most of those detectors were pretty good at doing something.  I used some of those a lot and others only a little.

Some of the later detectors were also very good, but it was when I was using the modified Nautilus detectors that I was detecting the most and finding the most.   I lived in the Fort Lauderdale area at the time,  and between consulting jobs and university teaching, I was able to hit the beaches pretty hard.  I was doing 20 to 30 pieces of gold each month on average without going all out.   As I recall, I was at around 130 pieces of gold one year and had more months to go when I lost track of my records. 

I might comment on each metal detector some other time.

If the Radio Shack detector was a better metal detector, I would have started to metal detect more seriously a decade or two earlier.

---

MagicSeaWeed.com.

Looks like we'll have some nice surf Sunday night and Monday morning, but it looks like the wind won't be favorable.

The tides are more moderate now.

It isn't unusual to have a good storm in the fall.  We can still hope.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/28/18 Report - Metal Detectors I've Used Over The Years And My Impressions of Them.

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

 Today I'll give my history and progression with metal detecting, including my impression of the various detectors that I've used.  

The first metal detector I used was a Radio Shack metal detector that my grandmother bought a long time ago.  I would guess it was in the 1950s or something.  I can't remember how old I was, but she got it and we went out to her childhood home where not much more than the stone chimney was left standing.  I recall finding some relics - but only iron and bigger things.  As I recall, correctly or not, that metal detector wouldn't detect a coin.  Maybe we didn't know how to use it.  I'm very vague about all of that now.

Years passed and I moved to Florida and bought a White's metal detector out of a Sears Roebuck catalog.  I took it to Hollywood beach and found coins.  For some reason I returned it.  I thought, again correctly or incorrectly, that something was wrong with it, but I had found enough that I was hooked.

I think my next metal detector was a Fisher Aquanaut 1280.  I found a lot with that metal detector and eventually moved from targeting coins to targeting jewelry.  I found my first ring at Hollywood Beach in the wet sand with that detector.  My parents were visiting and I took them out to show them the metal detector and quickly found that ring.  They were amazed.

That was the metal detector that got me into shallow water detecting.  It was also the metal detector that I was using when I learned the down side of discrimination.  I turned down the discrimination and started finding more small gold rings.  Discrimination on that metal detector was set by using a single knob.  There was no notch or target ID.

My impressions of the 1280 are very favorable.  I found a lot with it.  It was very reliable.  I sold it years later for almost what I paid for it new.  It paid for itself in face value coin finds in the first year.

I did have trouble with one thing on it at first.  The arm rest holder was plastic.  I broke the plastic arm rest about three times in short order and then they replaced it with a metal one.

Around this time I tried a Garrett pulse induction metal detector.  I used it a few times and noticed how hot it was to iron.  I didn't find much gold with it and thought it wasn't working well.  After getting it looked at, they said there was nothing wrong with it, and I decided to sell it.   Now I think I just didn't understand pulse induction metal detectors back then.

I got a Tesoro Royal Sabre while I was still using the 1280.  It had some interesting new features.  One was notch discrimination.  Another was what they called surface blanking.

I used the Royal Sabre mostly as a backup and on junky dry sand sites.  It was not water proof and didn't work very well in wet sand.  It worked well for years, and they had what they advertised as a life-time guarantee, so it was repaired a couple of times under warranty.  However, as I've said before, the advertised Tesoro life-time warranty is not really a life-time warranty.   When they declare a detector obsolete, they no longer will repair it.

Somewhere around that I got a two-box metal detector.   It was a Fisher Gemini something or other.  I used it some, but not much.  The best thing it did for me was find my septic tank.

At some time I got a Tesoro Stingray as a back-up for water detecting.  They didn't have it grounded right and I sent it back to them about three times without being fixed.  They eventually sent me one that had a fix.  They said it was "Jack's detector."  It worked right, so I kept it, but the fix eventually came back to bite me.  After a few years, when I sent it for warranty repairs they said it had been modified so was out of warranty, even though they were the ones that modified it.   The Stingray that one that they originally sent me never did work right.

My impression of the Tesoro detectors is that when they were right they worked ok.  They were good on small gold and I liked the notch and other features, but I wouldn't buy one today considering the type of detecting I do, and the fact that they did not honor their advertised "life-time" warranty.

My Tesoro detectors were always more of a back-up or special situation detector for me anyhow.  My wife used the Royal Sabre occasionally.  It was light and had a fast response.

I basically transitioned from the 1280 to a modified Nautilus that was modified and put in a Nikolite case and sold by Steve Noga.  That was my favorite metal detector and I found a lot with it.  That was also the time when I did my most intense and productive metal detecting, mostly in South Florida.  That was sometime in the 1980s and 1990s.  I was hitting it heavy then and doing very well.

After I got my first modified Nautilus from Steve, I used it about two or three days and called him up and asked me if he'd give me a deal on a second one.  If anything went wrong with that one, I wanted to have another one ready as a back-up.  That was a great detector for what I was doing.  It nulled on iron, so you could tell that an iron object was there, but you didn't really get a signal from iron.  Really good and deep on small gold.

I found a small hollow gold bead at Turtle Trail one day that I could barely see in the course brown sand even after I threw it onto my coil.  I moved it around on the coil and the detector would respond, but I still had a hard time seeing it.

I don't know what happened to Steve, but Herb McDonald then made a very similar home-made detector that I used after that.  Very similar, but involved more tuning.  Herb is deceased.

After that I used Excaliburs and a Minelab Sovereign detectors.  They were decent.

I also tried a White's Pulse, but was never impressed by it and didn't use it much.  The plastic parts broke down a lot.  I don't think they were made to stand up to Florida heat and sun.

My most recent detectors are a Garrett Ace 250 and a Garrett ATX.  They are at opposite ends of the spectrum.  The Ace is a light little inexpensive detector with some discrimination and target ID.  For the price, very good.  The ATX is more expensive, but very good sensitivity.  It is not for most people.  It is heavy, detects deep, including on small iron, and takes a good while to master.  It took me a long time to learn to use it well.

---

The surf this weekend is down around two feet.  It will just be a foot or two higher next week.  Not much change.

Enjoy the Treasure Hunter's Cookout today.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/31/17 Report - One Very Strange Dug Coin. Hurricane Irene. The Most Popular TBR Metal Detector Brand is...

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

What is this dug coin?  Find out below.

I made a mistake the other day that I corrected.  I originally posted that the year the gold box was found was 2001.  It was actually 2003.  I went back and corrected that after Bruce B. brought my attention to the error. 

I make more than my share of mistakes.  But it isn't all bad.  I often learn from my mistakes, and sometimes what I learn is totally unrelated to the original mistake.

Just the other day I was hoping to run across a particular ring  to illustrate the rapid rate of silver corrosion.  I didn't run across the ring, but ran across some Jefferson nickels and noticed one that was very thin.  I thought I might be able to use it to illustrate how quickly things can corrode, so I chose another nickel for comparison and took the following photo.

Edge of Thin Nickel Shown Beside a Normal Nickel

I was too quick once again.  After looking at the thin qnickel a little more, I don't think it showed normal beach corrosion.  Here it is.

Very Thin Jefferson Nickel.

I've seen dug coins that were corroded this much and more, I just don't think this is normal beach corrosion.  If it is not from one of my experiments, I'd say it came from some highly acidic soil like that found among rotting mangrove leaves.

Remains of Date Found on Quarter.

You can see the date of the thin quarter at the upper right of the photo.  It is 1962.

But here comes the surprise.  After I looked at the comparison nickel I noticed that it is even more strange.  Here it is

Very Strange 1956 Nickel.

That big lump by Jefferson's chin looks to me like it has to be a mint error.  But that isn't the worst o it.  The photo at the top of this blog shows the reverse of the same 1956 Nickel.  Now that is a real mess of a coin.  There is only the faintest shape of Monticello.

After doing a little research, my opinion is that this nickel is a die cap strike error.  What do you think?

I know you might not be able to tell from a photo, but my opinion is that there is no way that the globs are added to the planchet after minting.

The JimsCoins web site (see link below) says, When a die cap error is occurring, the dies continue to strike more coins even though a coin is capped around one of the dies. If the coin is capped around the obv. die, the coins stuck with that die will appear blank or have varying degrees of mushyness on the obv. due to the obverse die being obstructed. If the cap stays on indefinitely, eventually it will wear through the planchet and the coins struck by that die will become less and less obstructed causing a "late-stage" capped die strike where the image is less distorted.

Here is the example that the web site shows.

Below is the link to Jim's error coin web site.  Seems very useful.

http://www.jimscoins.com/error_coin_examples.php

If there are anyone that can offer an informed opinion on the possible error coin, I'd like to hear your thoughts.

So what is my message?  1.  Research can lead you to many unexpected interesting ideas and facts.  2. It might be worth taking a good look at your old dug coins.  I don't know how I skipped over this one.  I probably just though it was a badly corroded coin before I looked at it a little better.  3. Even modern coins can be interesting.  4. Metal detecting is a great hobby that always presents something new for you to learn.

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The most recent blog poll has concluded and the results are in.  The brand of metal detector that is most used by the 106 people who responded to the blog poll is Minelab.  The question was, "What metal detector brand do you use most often these days."

As you can see from the above chart, 40% reported using Minelab, 26% Garrett, 16% Whites, 9% Fisher, 4% Ex Deus, and 1% Bounty Hunter, Teknetics, Tesoro, and Other.

I"m not surprised that Minelab is the leader.  That is what you see a lot on the beaches - mostly Excaliburs and CTX 3030s.  Garrett is a strong second, with Whites and Fisher following.  I've used all four of those brands at one time or another.  I also used custom made detectors as much.

My first serious detecting was a Whites, then I started doing a lot of water detecting after that with a Fisher 1280, then used some custom detectors made by Steve Noga and then Herb MacDonald for a lot of years.  I don't know what happened to Steve, but I know Herb is gone.

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Source: nhc.noaa.gov

Harvey is going away after doing a lot of damage down around Texas.  The one to watch now is Irma, which is already a hurricane and expected to be a major hurricane before long.

They don't usually get that strong that far out.  The times I visited St. Lucia, the natives always told me they never get hurricanes.  This might be different.

Hopefully that one will stir some sand but not do anybody a lot of harm.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

3/14/14 Report - Beach Conditions Downgrade, Disston Saws and Medallions and Fisher Dive Trip

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

Beach This Morning.

This is the same beach that I showed yesterday when there was a cut running along the same place.  The cut has disappeared in some spots and decreased about a foot in others.

When I got to the river I saw the waves coming in from the East and figured that was a bad sign.  I pretty much knew what to expect at the beach and was right.  The East wind filled in the cuts.  At high tide the waves went up over the berm a little and dumped a line of small shells on the flat beach.

That was quick.  I have to drop my Treasure Coast Beach Detecting Conditions Rating back to a 1 again already.

I could see that a sand bar that was about fifty yards out yesterday had moved in close to the front of the beach by this morning.

I got a report from Christopher P. who said he was at Jensen Beach this morning and there were some small cuts but just junk targets.   I always appreciate receiving beach reports.   I can't be everywhere.  Thanks Christopher!

I noticed a +1 by a post that I did the other day.  I didn't know what that meant so I looked into it.  It seems Google now provides a new way for readers to indicate when they appreciate content.  It is something like the Facebook "liked" feature.

I was glad to learn that someone appreciated what I wrote because I wasn't sure if people would like that particular post or not.  I found the feedback helpful and motivating.  It gives readers one way to help shape what they read by providing feedback to the writer.

The Google +1 button can be found at the top of the blog. Maybe you know more about it than I because I just learned this little bit.


Here is what Google says about the plus 1 feature.

+1 is how you signal your appreciation for anything that grabs your attention on Google+ or on your favorite websites. When you read a post that makes you want to cheer, +1 is your applause; when you watch a video that has you in stitches, +1 is your laughter; when you see a photo that perfectly captures that special moment, +1 is your 5-star review.


A lot of people collect old tools.  Saws are commonly collected, especially those nice old ones with the nice woodwork on the handles and the brass medallions.

Bill M. sent me a great web site this morning that will help you identify the age of various Disston saws and the medallions from them.

Sometimes you'll find the medallion without the rest of the tool.

After hurricane Andrew I found the bottom part of an old wood shovel on the beach.  The handle was broken but it had a wood square blade.  Unfortunately I wasn't bright enough to pick it up at the time.  I was too focused on other things.

Here is a link to a web site where you can see a shovel with a wood blade.

http://andrewbaseman.com/blog/?p=1544

It loads slow.

But what I wanted to talk about was the nice old Disston saws like these and the medallions which can provide good information about the age of the saw.  I think it was 1840 when the company began.

Disston Saws

The saws have a number on the blade that helps identify them.  One of these is a six and the other a 10.

Below are photos of a couple of the medallions that were on these particular saws.

Nice shape to the handle and nice carving.

Here is one medallion from one of the above saws.

It reads H. DISSTON & SONS   PHILADEPHIA.

A similar medallion on the other saw leaves out the word SONS.

Those are the type of diagnostic differences you will find listed in the web site.  Here is the link.

http://andrewbaseman.com/blog/?p=1544

Thanks much to Bill M. for the great link.

One of the medallions has an eagle and reads WARRANTED SUPERIOR.

If you have found any old Disston saw or one of the medallions you now a good new tool to help you identify the object and its age.

I think you'll find the web site both very interesting and informative.









The Fishers are offering dive packages to allow people to go dive with them on the Atocha or Margarita sites.  The cost is $3000.   You can keep finds up to a value of $3000, so you can end up getting your dive trip free.

On the Treasure Coast today the surf is predicted to be around three feet.  It will be decreasing the next few days until Tuesday when it will be down around one foot.

That means no improvement in conditions is expected.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

3/2/14 Report - February Finds, Chevy Bowtie, Fisher Finds and Look and Tremble Falls

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

Michael E., who hasn't been detecting but about a year but still did very well in February, especially  considering the poor beach conditions on the Treasure Coast.  Here are what he found.

Feb. Finds by Michael E.
Photo by Michael E.

Pandora 925 bracelet, only 5 rings for the month, 2 of which are children's 14k rings and 1 diamond chip in a 14k post, the necklace is in tact, 22.4g of 14k, found again in the wet sand but this time with the detector. 

Thanks for sharing Michael!

Michael also mentioned that for him, being relatively new to the game, my material on beach dynamics is confusing at times.

I understand that.  There are many factors involved.  I haven't even gotten in too many of them yet.  But I know it can be confusing and it takes me quite a while to try to write it in a way that is clear.  

Some of the more advanced long-time detectorists told me that they are interested in hearing it all and the more advanced the better.  So I'll try to add some from time to time, maybe repeating some of it in different ways to help make it clearer.  It takes a lot of time to try to make it clear and so some days when I'm in a hurry I don't even try.

Down in the Keys, the Fisher organization reports, The weather has never been better in February and the good work that Captain Papo and the crew of the Dare have been doing proves it. The dive crew reports finding glazed earthen ware, pieces of pottery and a fully intact olive jar neck. They have also been finding many encrusted objects including what appears to be a part of a dagger or sword.


I picked up a nice piece of melted titanium the other day.  It reminded me of how long ago the shuttle disasters were.  There are a lot of pieces still out there.  Just like cobs there are tons of them still to be found.  People sometimes think that it is all gone.  That happens form time to time and then more shows up.

Miscellaneous Relic Finds

Copper Chevy Center Hub Cover.

Here are a couple finds from the relicsphere.  The group on the right includes a mason jar cap, key hole cover, and steering wheel center ornament.  Those were eye-balled on a walk through a woods and provided good clues to an older site.

Notice the two Chevy bowties.  That is what the Chevy emblem is sometimes called.  It was first used in 1913.  I suspect the copper hub cover is older than the steering wheel ornament if that is what it is.

Let me know if you can tell me if that is what it is or not.

Also, I'm trying to discover any differences in the bowtie that might give a clue to the date.

The hub cover has block letters with a small underline.  I don't know if that is diagnostic at all.

Anyhow, junk like this can point you to detecting sites, so even though they might not be worth much of anything, they can still provide clues.

Any info on either of those two Chevy items would be appreciated.


If you are one of the many snowbirds visiting Florida or just like doing a little travel, you might want to drive by some other historic areas.

Look and Tremble Falls
Source: Link below.

Did you know that you can find Class II rapids in Florida?  Well, sometimes, depending upon the water level.

The surprising thing is that there was a time when a steamboat made its way over those rapids.  And at one time the Corps of Engineers made a deeper passage on one side but it wasn't economical and wasn't maintained.

Here is a link for more information.

http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/lookandtremble.html

Use your thinking caps detectorists.  What all happened here?  Think back to Precolonial days.
Portage, maybe?  And then up to present time.

And where would items be dropped and then end up?  Consider the landscape, cliffs, rocks, water flow, etc?

I'll bet if you spent enough time walking around there you would be able to see a few surface items.



The predicted surf for the Treasure Coast shows another bump out about a week.  I wish they would fix the model and quit predicted bigger surfs that don't show up.

At least the tides are nice and big now, but that won't help much except in a few specific spots.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

5/16/11 Report - Cannon, Lost Merchant Shipwreck & the Danger of Over-Simplification

One Treasure Coast Beach Yesterday at Low Tide.

More on that below along with today's photos.


The Mel Fisher organization is building a custom designed Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) capable to go after the treasure of the Lost Merchant off the coast of North Florida. They have just finished an electronic survey of 37 miles of ocean and will use the new ROV to recover the treasure once this wreck is located.


Kovels Komments reports A bronze Chinese cannon covered with designs and words and stored for over 80 years at the back of a storeroom went to auction with an appraisal of $10,000 to $15,000. It sold for $149,500. The papers with the item said the 800-pound cannon, made in 1695, was sent to the United States as a souvenir by an American soldier. U.S. forces took part in a "China Relief expedition" that went to China in 1900 to rescue U.S. citizens, Europeans, and others who were in danger because of the Boxer Rebellion.


I often get emails from people asking where to look for different types of things. Unfortunately the answer is not real simple. The answer appeared more simple to me at one time but has become increasingly complex. The more you learn about things, the more complex your models become.

One thing you might have learned from the survey on where cobs are found is that cobs have been found in every major zone on our beaches - from the water's edge to the back dunes. After a person finds their first cob, no matter where it was found, the tendency is to continue looking in that area. And then when a few more are found in that area, the tendency is to focus exclusively on that area. That creates a self-fulfilling prophecy, and it is a trap.

If you believe that cobs are found in one zone and you continue to focus on that zone, that is where you will find cobs in the future. The thing is, there will be cobs elsewhere that you will miss simply because you did not spend enough time looking in those other places.

Yes, there are some places that are generally better than others. I would have guessed that the survey would have showed a higher proportion of cobs coming from the cuts. The survey wasn't a scientific survey and the exact numbers are questionable. I can't personally verify where other detectorists have found their cobs, but I have personally verified that cobs are found in all of the mentioned beach zones. I've found cobs in all of those zones myself.

The main point that I am getting to is that your mental model of where cobs will appear on a beach should become more complex as your experience increases. While it is fine to believe that cobs are found in zone X, Y or Z when you are starting, as you gain more experience your model should expand to include more factors. Instead of saying something like cobs are found in zone X, your model should be something more like, on beach X, or on beaches of type X, under condition Y, cobs will be found in zone Z. In other words, take into account the particular beach or type of beach you are dealing with and the conditions that are current on that beach.

Lets say you are at one of the beaches where the cobs generally come from the back dunes. That is what happens on some beaches. If you believe that cobs are found only near the water below dips on the front beach, and if you only hunt, you would miss any cobs that were recently washed out of the back dunes. You would probably strike out because of your over-simplified model.

I walk the line in this blog trying to make things simple while at the same time trying to avoid over-simplifying. If you are relatively new to detecting or haven't yet found your first cob or first few cobs (or whatever you are targeting), simplification can be helpful, but it can also be a trap.

It is true that there are some zones and different types of areas that are generally better than others to detect. But there are also times when those same places aren't the place to be. That is why I highly recommend sampling. Sampling will help you quickly check out the areas that you most suspect and then move on to check out other areas when the first spots don't seem to be producing.

I continue to learn. I've certainly learned a few things lately. To do that I test my theories and revise them whenever experience dictates.

Having received a lot of email and being involved in a lot of discussions, I am more sure than ever that a lot of people are being limited by over-simplification. To give one example, I know of some people that have found many shipwreck spikes and many other types of items, but have not yet managed to find a single cob. On the other hand I know people who have found lots of cobs, but not a single spike. Why?
They hunt different areas. They've become focused on one type of area rather than another, and that is the reason they find so many of one type of object but none of the other. I've observed that those two different types of objects are most often found in different types of areas, and that is why some people find one rather than the other. It has to do with where and how they hunt. (I won't comment on the "how" in this post. Maybe some other time.)

I am an empiricist and use an experimental procedure. Data rules. I suppose that is partly due to the fact that much of my professional life was spent in an academic research setting. I am always trying to improve my models of how the beach works and how different types of objects move and are uncovered. There isn't much out there to read that will really help you on that other than some basics, and that can lead you down the track of over-simplification.


Treasure Coast Beach Forecast and Conditions.

Area Where Swells Were Breaking at High Tide This Morning.

I got out on the beach this morning. My timing was way off. It was high tide and although there were a few scallops and cuts, which surprised me, it was really hard working the low tide zone. The swells were crasing on the front beach pretty hard during high tide and creating a rolling shell pile on the beach side of the dip. There were targets in the rough water, but it was hard to get them. I wished that the tide would back off, but I didn't have time to wait it out.

If you look closely at this photo, you'll see some of the rocks and shells that were being churned up. You can see where the larger pieces were being exposed near the at the right side of the photo, just below center. I have a nice video of the churning action that was going on there but couldn't get the video to load to the post.

This is very close to the area shown above which shows low tide yesterday. I did manage to pick up a few things while working the rough water.

I'll give you a few tips on working rough water in an area like this some other time.

A Few Cut Scallops Found On the Beach This Morning.

This was a bit of a surprise. I suspect you'll find similar scallops and small cuts on some of the other beaches around the Treasure Coast.

There were definitely some interesting spots even though overall conditions remain poor.

I'd go out around low tide and work the recently churned area where rocks are accumulating. I picked a few nice sized fossils out of the churning water as they were flying up and down the slope. They can really smack your feet or shin bones.

There were also some metal targets being churned up with the other stuff.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net