11/6/19 Report - Hoard Being Analyzed. Prehistoric Site Found by Drone. More on Carlos Half Reales Including Video. Higher Surf.

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

Part of Staffordshire Hoard

Source: TheGuardian.com  (See link below)

The Staffordshire Hoard is being analyzed by archaeologists.

… The archaeologists have even tentatively identified the Mercian king they believe may have once owned the booty, and can draw a tantalising link to the dynasty of the rival Anglo-Saxon ruler who was buried at Sutton Hoo, Britain’s most famous site of the period.

Dating from the period AD600-AD650, when the kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England were battling for prominence, the Staffordshire find is in essence a “war hoard”, says Fern, consisting of spectacular items the experts believe were captured in battle by armies from the kingdom of Mercia, at the expense of neighbouring Northumbria and East Anglia...

Here is the link if you want to learn more about that.

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/nov/01/staffordshire-hoard-archaeologists-academic-research-gold-ornaments

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Drone-mounted lasers have revealed details of the architecture of an ancient island settlement off Florida’s Gulf coast, researchers said in a new paper published on Monday...

Laser scanning reveals 'lost' ancient Mexican city 'had as many buildings as Manhattan'

Read more

Although archaeological objects were first spotted on the island in about 1990, and subsequent exploration of the area in 2010 revealed the presence of a settlement dating from 900 to 1200 CE, Lidar scanning revealed previously unknown architectural details...

Here is the link for the rest of the article.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/nov/04/drone-lasers-ancient-settlement-florida-lidar-archaeology

I found out it is Raleigh Island.

See https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/11/a-drone-helped-archaeologists-discover-a-lost-florida-island-settlement/

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I received an email from Glen S. pointing out a mistake I made in yesterday's post when I posted an image of the stylized Carlos monogram as it would appear on a Lima half reale.  As a result I went back and made corrections to yesterday's post.

Thanks Glen!

Yesterday I did not intend to get into the differences you will see on Carlos half reales produced by the mints of Lima, Mexico and Potosi. There are features that distinguish cobs, and specifically Carlos half reales, produced by the different mints. Although I was talking mostly about the monograms yesterday, both the obverse and reverse sides show features that distinguish between half reales produced by the three  mints.

While looking for stylized images of the Carlos monograms for each mint that I could use as illustraitons, I found an excellent YouTube video that shows how you can tell which of the mints produced a particular Carlos half reale.

One of the easiest ways to identify a Mexico minted half reale is from the Florenza cross.  On almost all half reales you can see at least one end of the cross, which is enough to tell you if it came from the Mexico mint or not.  It is the Mexico minted Carlos half reales that show what I described yesterday as a fishhook on the end of the C.

The shape of the castles and lions is one way to distinguish between the Lima and Postosi half reales, and the shape of the elipses is another.

Rather than trying to describe all of the distinguishing features in this post, here is a link to the YouTube video posted by CaptainMyCaptain.

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

Very nice video.  I usually prefer text to videos, but this video is concise.  No time wasted getting to the point.

You have easy access to a lot of really good information these days.  I wish I had that back a few decades ago.

By the way, two of the Carlos half reales I showed yesterday were found on John Brooks beach, where I found mostly cobs from the Mexico mint and many more Philip than Carlos half reales.  Without an exact count, I'd guess that I probably found four or five times as many Philip  than Carlos half reales at John Brooks.

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DJ sent me a copy of a letter from the town clerk of Indian River Shores which included the following items of interest.

• The Tracking Station Park and adjacent beach entrances have been closed and will remain closed for approximately two weeks as the Sector 5 segment of the beach renourishment project commences.


• Jungle Trail has been reopened following the shoreline stabilization project.

Thanks DJ.

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MagicSeaWeed is predicting a high surf for Saturday.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

The tides are still pretty flat.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/11/19 Report - Two Finds for ID. One From Treasure Shores and One From the Gulf. Your Help Needed.

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

Unidentified Underwater Find.
Find and photo by Glen S.

You could possibly help find a shipwreck if you can identify this find.  As you can see below, it is slightly less than one and a half feet long.

Here is an email I received from Glen s.

I have been searching for a shipwreck over here on the west coast of Florida that L.Frank Hudson gave a general location for in one of his books. Today I was metal detecting in the water offshore and found a strange iron item and some lead sheeting about a foot under the sand. Can anyone help me identify the item? Could this be part of the ship's rigging? I've attached pictures of the items. The iron piece weighs 26.6 pounds. 

Thanks.

Here are more pictures of the item and the small piece of lead sheeting.

Two More Views of the Object Found by Glen S.

Small Piece of Lead Sheeting Found With Other Object.
Find and photos by Glen S.

  Any and all thoughts and opinions on the possible use or identify of the item are appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

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Small Bronze Pot Found by Jerry S.
Photos by Jerry S.

Here is another find for ID.  Jerry P. found it last summer near the south end of Treasure Shores beach where salvage boats were working just offshore.

Here is a bit of what Jerry said.

If you hunt long enough you will have a jar, cigar box, shoe box or in my case a large rubbermaid tote full of mystery objects... 

...sometimes an object becomes a clue and remembering where you found it is key to finding something valuable. If you don’t know don't throw and remember where you found it. Here is a mystery item from my tote...

There are no markings on it, it’s darn heavy and it’s just under 3 inches around. 

Jerry thought it might be bronze.  And as he said, just under three inches around and heavy.

It looks like maybe a lid was once attached.

He had an idea what he thought it might be, but I want to get your opinions before telling you what Jerry or I think because I want YOUR opinions.

Again, all thoughts and opinions are appreciated.

Thanks in advance.


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It has been hot, but the water has been fine.  Now the surf is only one foot or less and that is predicted for the next week or so.

There are no new weather systems on the National Hurricane Center map.

Let me know what you think of both of the objects for ID today.

Happy hunting
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/2/17 Report - New Distrubance Forms In The Gulf. Using Patterns and Technologies for Finding Detecting Sites. Device You Will Want To Have.

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

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

It looks like the Gulf is starting to produce a lot of weather.  We now have a new disturbance in about the same area that Emily formed.  At this point it only has a small chance of becoming a cyclone in the next 48 hours, but that is the way Emily started too, and Emily formed very rapidly.  Emily is no longer a tropical storm and is headed out to sea.

There is another disturbance out in the Atlantic, but it is too early to be too concerned about that one.

Expect another week of one and two-foot surf.  The tides aren't big now.

AFTERNOON UPDATE:  Emily and both of the other disturbances have now disappeared.

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When I post links, they usually provide some type of clue or lesson.  That is definitely the case with the next article.  Here is a brief excerpt.


...So Stirn set out to develop a model to predict the location of more, similar villages.

He first determined all of the main traits that the newfound villages had in common — namely, that they were positioned on south-facing, sunny slopes near whitebark pine stands above 3,200 meters in elevation....

I often talk about patterns: weather patterns, beach dynamics, coin distributions, etc.  There are signs or clues to the location of treasures.  It is all about increasing the probability of success by understanding patterns.  

You might occasionally find something by wandering around randomly ( the blind hog occasionally picks up an acorn ), but you'll be much more successful if you recognize the signs or clues and patterns.  Treasure doesn't just fall out of the sky, it ends up where it is found as the result of human behavior and the laws of nature.  People are somewhat predictable, as is nature.  

Patterns can be complex, especially when it comes to treasure, and we seldom get the whole picture, but the more you understand the patterns, the better you will do.

In the article that I am referring to, several signs predicted the location of Native American villages that were previously unknown.  The newly located villages were located on south-facing slopes that were sunny, above 3200 meters of elevation near stands of whitebark pine.

There are signs or patterns that will help you located all kinds of things, such as metal detecting sites, shipwreck sites, coin holes, good jewelry beaches, etc.  I've talked about all of those things in the past.

The particular pattern that you will be looking for depends upon the kinds of sites you want to find and the types of treasures you are hunting.

The article was talking about Native American sites, but there are more general lessons that you can take from it.  Here is another excerpt.

Then, using Landsat satellite imagery, Stirn and his colleagues identified whitebark pine stands in the northern Winds that best fit their model’s description.

Ancient village sites were discovered in Wyoming after scientists predicted where the would be found based upon site characteristics...

They used Landsat satellite imagery to locate the village sites after they knew what to look for.  As I mentioned in a recent post, you can use webcam images to survey beaches, and you can use other internet tools such as Google Earth to locate good detecting sites.

When you make a find, observe where it was found.  Ask yourself why the item was there, how it ended up where it was found, and what are the clues or signs that might have led you to believe that it might be there.

Here is the link to the article I've been talking about.

http://westerndigs.org/thirteen-prehistoric-villages-discovered-in-wyoming-mountains-may-redraw-map-of-tribal-migrations/

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This is an inexpensive device that I've used for a lot of years.  It still works and is very handy.

It is a battery tester and works on batteries of various sizes.  If this one ever quit working I'd get another right away.

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Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

7/30/17 Report - $130 Million In Sunken Nazi Gold. Pirates And The 1715 Fleet. Tropical Activity In The Gulf.

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

Source: See FoxNews link below.

SS Minden, a German cargo ship scuttled in waters near Iceland during the early days of World War II, may contain a huge trove of Nazi gold.

The merchant vessel, which is 120 nautical miles south of Iceland, is in the international spotlight following the reported discovery of a chest containing up to four tons of Nazi gold on the wreck. The horde is valued at 100 million British pounds (approximately $130 million), according to news reports.

U.K. salvage company Advanced Marine Services (AMS) has reportedly requested permission from Icelandic authorities to cut a hole in the ship’s hull and remove the chest.

Here is the link.

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2017/07/27/sunken-wwii-ship-may-contain-130-million-nazi-gold.html

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I found a very good web site about pirates.  I'll give you a few short excerpts that relate to our area just to give you some idea of the kind of information you'll find on that site.

The pirate population of New Providence was swollen in 1715 by a shipwreck off the Florida coast. This wasn’t just an everyday shipwreck. The dozen or so ships that were driven aground by a hurricane made up the Spanish plate fleet. In the hold of just one of the flag ships were three million silver pieces-of-eight, gold bars and coins, pearls and jewellery. The second ship of the fleet was almost as heavily loaded, with another three million pieces-of-eight, and there were nine more ships with smaller quantities of treasure....

Pirates close in

Soon, of course, English officials sat up and paid attention. The first was the governor of Virginia, who wrote to his bosses in London that

The Spanish plate fleet, richly laden, consisting of eleven ships, are, except one, lately cast away in the Gulf of Florida to the southward of St. Augustine …I think it my duty to inform his Majesty of this accident which may be improved to the advantage of his Majesty's subjects by encouraging them to attempt the recovery of some of that immense wealth.

Archibald Hamilton, the governor of Jamaica, also took an interest in the wreck. In fact, he took a very close interest indeed. Towards the end of November, not long after divers had stopped work for the winter, he sent two ships to sea. According to Hamilton, the Eagle and the Bathsheba were on a pirate-hunting mission that would last six months. Since Jamaica was itself a den of pirates, and had grown rich on the buccaneering trade, this perhaps seems rather surprising. So too was Hamilton’s choice of captain: he picked one Henry Jennings to command the Bathsheeba.

Jennings was no stranger to piracy – or at least, to its more upright brother, privateering. Jennings had successfully attacked Spanish ships in the war that had recently ended. Possibly Hamilton believed that Jennings’ experience as a privateer would make him a very effective pirate hunter, just as poachers make the best gamekeepers. But it’s much more likely that the governor and the captain had something altogether different in mind. Certainly Jennings wasted no time. The Eagle, the Bathsheba and three sloops sailed straight to the salvage site with 300 men.

Mooring their ships off-shore, the pirates waited until nightfall, cleaning their pistols, and sharpening their cutlasses ready for the attack. Then, armed to the teeth, they rowed to the sandbank. The raiders pulled their boats up the beach, well beyond the reach of the pounding surf that hid the sound of their approach. Then they lay low until dawn. The following morning, the company regrouped and drew their weapons before marching across the sand to the Spanish camp. Finding himself surrounded and outnumbered five-to-one, the Spanish commanding officer stared down the barrel of Henry Jennings flintlock pistol, then quizzically asked “Is it war?”.

“No” said Jennings “We have come to fish for the wrecks.”

“There is nothing of yours here…” replied the officer “…the vessels belong to his Catholic Majesty the King of Spain, and I and my people are looking for the treasure.” ...

That is actually a fairly long excerpt, but a very small portion of what you'll find on the site.

Here is the link.

http://www.piratechart.com/pages_ages/golden_age.php

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On the Treasure Coast we still have a small surf.

There are now two disturbances: one in the Atlantic and one in the Gulf.

The one in the Atlantic is not expected to strengthen real soon.  The other, however, is close to the Florida Panhandle and has a twenty percent chance of becoming a cyclone in the next 48 hours.

Source: nhc.noaa.org

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net