1/6/19 Report - Battle Worn D-Day Flag Saved. Florida and France to Display La Trinite Artifacts. Cargo on Beaches.

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

THE BATTLE-WORN FLAG FROM THE USS CORRY (DD-463), LEAD DESTROYER AT UTAH BEACH ON D-DAY

This flag from D-Day is an item in a current Sotheby's auction.  The lot descriptions says, "RESCUED BY BRONZE-STAR RECIPIENT LT. PAUL GARAY AS SHE WAS SINKING, 6 JUNE 1944

Estimate

300,000 — 500,000

USD"

I can't think of a more moving piece of modern history.


The auction also includes a lot of other interesting and important items, including letters from David Crockett and Abraham Lincoln, old maps and atlases, etc.

Here is the link.

http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2019/fine-manuscripts-printed-americana-n10002/lot.2188.html

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France and Florida have agreed to work together to preserve and exhibit artifacts from the recently discovered wreck off Cape Canaveral of the La Trinité, the 16th-century French flagship that tried to protect the ill-fated colony of Fort Caroline.

The agreement emphasizes that one of its goals is to give the public a chance to eventually see some of the ship’s ancient cargo, which has been buried in the Atlantic Ocean since a history-altering hurricane more than 450 years ago.

That cargo includes at least one granite monument bearing the symbol of France’s coat of arms, the fleur-de-lis. It’s a remarkable find that appears similar to the monument, never discovered, that French captain Jean Ribault left at the mouth of the St. Johns River in 1562 to stake a claim to New France, a vast area of the Southeast coast...

Here is the link for more.

https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20181227/france-and-florida-agree-wreckage-of-doomed-16th-century-french-fleet-should-be-public-exhibit

Thanks to Brian B. for that link.

La Trinite was discovered by Global Marine Exploration in the shallow water off Cape Canaveral in 2016.

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The cargo ship MSC Zoe lost scores of shipping containers this week in the Wadden Sea off northern Europe during Storm Zeetje, which packed heavy winds and waves cresting over 30 feet high.

Photos from today (Jan. 3) and yesterday show containers from the Panamanian-registered ship floating at sea, while many others washed up on the shores of German and Dutch islands. Residents were spotted cleaning up debris including TV sets, furniture and clothing despite warnings that several missing containers were carrying powdered peroxide, which is flammable and can cause chemical burns...

And that link.

https://qz.com/1514692/msc-zoe-containers-wash-up-on-german-and-dutch-shores/

Thanks to Douglas for the link.

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There is a section where you can find academic studies on the 18th Century Material Resource Center web site.  I just found a picture of an item that may be something I have been trying to identify for a couple of years in one of the research papers.  You might want to really look around to see what you can find on that web site.  There is really a lot of good information there.

It is the first link on my Treasure Reference Link List

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It looks like the Treasure Coast will get a couple more days of very calm surf.  Take advantage.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/10/17 Report - Religious Metal Detector Finds and Easter Traditions. A Letter From 1564 Fort Caroline

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

Gold Metal Detector Find From The Beach Near The Nieves Wreck Site.

The figure shown above is about two inches high and was undoubtedly at one time attached to a cross.  It is truly old.  Both the method of manufacture and type of gold show that.  So does the style, wear and encrustation.  It is definitely centuries old.

It isn't a new find, and I posted it before but thought it was particularly appropriate for today's post.  

If you've been detecting the Treasure Coast very long or just reading this blog, you are aware of how many religious artifacts have been found on the shipwreck sites and beaches and how common religious symbols are on many finds.  You will find a cross prominently displayed on many treasure coins, and religious medallions are also common metal detector finds.  

The most important Christian season has begun.  You might think it would be Christmas by the way we celebrate today, but it is actually Easter. Yesterday, of course, was Palm Sunday. And Easter is next Sunday.

Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring equinox.  You might have noticed the bright moon lately.

Easter isn't a new celebration at all.  Maybe it has changed some over the centuries, but it has been celebrated for many centuries, including the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Even the Easter bunny and Easter eggs, which might seem to have no religious significance stem from ancient practises and meanings and still carry religious significance for some even if the same symbols carried different meanings at different times and places.  Ancient pagan beliefs and symbols related to fertility carry the meaning of redemption and rebirth for many today.

Spain is one place where Easter is celebrated with much fanfare.  I'm sure that the celebrations have changed over the centuries, but much has remained the same too.

In Spain Semana Santa (Holy Week) is the most important celebration.  

Here, the most important Catholic holiday is commemorated with a week full of color, art, religious fervor, and extravagant processions. The most spectacular events take place in Malaga and Seville, where the streets are taken over by flamboyant parades and intricate religious displays depicting biblical scenes.

Like everywhere in Spain, the festivities begin on Palm Sunday (Domingo de Ramos) and last until Easter Monday (Lunes de Pascua), with the most dramatic and passionate parades held on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday...

Although Easter celebrations in Malaga are of huge proportions, it’s the Seville Semana Santa that has crossed the boundaries becoming a world-famous event. During the Holy Week, the gorgeous Andalusian capital comes to life with thousands of pilgrims that gather here from all corners of the world to witness the city’s extravagant pasos.

See https://spainattractions.es/easter-spain/ for more.

Like many of our Christmas traditions, our Easter traditions were heavily influenced by German settlers.  That includes the Easter Bunny (Osterhase). According to the tradition, children would build brightly colored nests, often out of caps and bonnets, in secluded areas of their homes.  The “Oster Hase” would, if the children had been good, lay brightly colored eggs in the nest.  As the tradition spread, the nest has become the manufactured, modern Easter basket, and the placing of the nest in a secluded area has become the tradition of hiding baskets.

See https://www.thegenealogist.com/featuredarticles/2014/the-traditions-of-a-joyous-easter-137/.

The same things we are acknowledging, remembering and celebrating this year have been celebrated for centuries and centuries.  We have a lot in common with our ancestors and the early settlers and explorers.  It is hard to imagine the same things being celebrated hundreds of years ago, but as much as things have changed, some things remain the same.  At the core and root of it all is something human and something Divine that transcends space and time.

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Here is a letter written by a young French man from Fort Caroline in 1564.

http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00025123/00001/1x

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I didn't post yesterday because I've been researching something and lost my sources.  I'll get back to it when I find them again.

It seems a lot of the snowbirds have gone home.  The beaches haven't been as busy lately.

The surf will be around three to five feet this week.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/3/16 Report - Historic Florida Shipwreck Claimed by France. Your Attention and Action Needed. Antique Bottle Find.

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

100-Year-Old Cures Bottle Found This Morning.

I found this bottle in the water yesterday.  On one side it reads "Chattanooga Tenn," and the other side reads "Manufactured by F. M. Plank."

After a little research I found that this is a cure bottle, often listed as a "quack cure" bottle.

Here is an ad that I found from 1906.

The ad was found in the 1906 Proceedings of the Florida State Pharmaceutical Association.

The other Plank bottles that I've seen have the bust of a man embossed on the bottle.  This one, however, has a diamond-shaped depression, that I imagine once had a paper label.  I haven't yet found when this type of bottle was used.  The bottle with the embossed bust is always described as being from the late 1800s.

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Below is a link to an article that you need to read and leave your own comments on.  I recently said that it is impossible to separate politics from treasure hunting.  This illustrates that.

France has filed a legal claim to an ancient shipwreck discovered off Cape Canaveral, saying it was part of the French fleet that in 1565 went to the aid of that country’s doomed colony at Fort Caroline in Jacksonville.

That follows a claim by the private treasure salvage company that found the wreck, and seems likely to lead to a dispute in U.S. District Court in Orlando over ownership of the artifacts.

It would be a high-stakes battle: A state archaeology report says the wreck, if it is indeed connected to the French fleet, “would be of immense archaeological significance...”

The identity of the ship is in question.  Rather than being a French ship, it might actually be something else, perhaps a Spanish ship which was carrying a stone marker used by the French to mark land claimed in the New World.

The article says,  ...If the wreck is of a merchant vessel, Global Maritime Exploration, which had a state permit to look for wrecks, would be entitled to 80 percent of what is found. The state would get 20 percent.

If it is determined to be part the royal French fleet, however, France could be granted ownership of it.

A marine archaeologist quoted in the article would prefer that rights to the ship be awarded to France rather than the company that found it.  If that were to happen, none of the items would go into the Florida Collection to be maintained for the benefit of the citizens of Florida.  

Not surprisingly, the archaeologist is a globalist that opposes capitalist ventures and evidently also the long-standing arrangements worked out by the State of Florida to preserve Florida history for its citizens.

Not only should you read this article, but also comment and contact your representatives.

Here is the link to the article.

http://jacksonville.com/florida/2016-11-29/france-claims-rights-shipwreck-linked-lost-colony-fort-caroline

Thanks to Brian B. for alerting me to this story and sending the link.

Happy hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net