10/25/19 Report - Avoiding Deterioration and Preserving the Value of Coins. Pre-Contact Images Found. Jamestown Graves. Storm Forming.

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

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

Can you believe it?  It looks like there might be another storm developing in the Gulf.

The surf will be up to around three to five feet today, and the tides will be high too.

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It is rare to dig up a coin that is in near perfect condition.  Most coins that you dig will have been in circulation for a while and buried in dirt or sand or worse.  That means that the coins value will already be reduced, but even though detectorists are seldom handling the most pristine of coins, it can still be helpful to be aware of the things that can harm coins and reduce their value.  I recently received an email from Joe D. in which he mentioned that coins he had stored in a cardboard folder were corroding.  Even if you purchase a near mint coin and keep it in a coin folder or something, there are many ways that a coin can be damaged and reduced in value.

Here are some things that can damage coins even if they are carefully stored.

Humidity.  That is a big problem for us in Florida.  Some companies market "air tight" holders, but they aren't guaranteed to be airtight.

Acids.  Coin collecting supplies made out of paper or cardboard can cause damage.  I just received an email from Joe D. telling how coins he stored in a cardboard folder had corroded.  Copper and silver coins are especially vulnerable to toning from household acids or even vapors emitted from cooking.

Chlorine.  "One of the main sources of this are flips made from plastic that contains PVC.  Additionally, vapors from a hot tub or pool can seep into the area where you store your coin collection."  You'd think that coin holders sold for the purpose would be safe, but not all of them are.

Air Pollution can also damage coins.

Improper Handling is one of the biggest causes of coin damage. Of course dropping or improperly cleaning coins will damage them, but acids and oils on your hands can also cause damage.  Gloves can be used.

Coins can also be damaged when sliding them into and out of coin holders.  Coin collectors use the term "flip rubbing."

Here is a link that will take you to an article that more fully describes the above sources of damage and how to store your coins safely.

https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/how-to-safely-store-your-coins-768295

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… Federal Reserve banks receive coins at face value because they are obligations of the United States Government. The Banks store the coins until they need to fill orders from the commercial banks in their district. The Federal Reserve banks fill these orders from their vault stocks of both new and circulated coins. Also, they fill the orders without regard to date or mint mark. Coin shipments leave the Federal Reserve banks by armored car, registered mail, or express.

If a commercial bank has excess coins on hand, they may return the coins to the Federal Reserve bank. It then sorts the coins for fitness. They return badly worn or bent coins to the United States Mint which melts them down and makes them into new coins. Also, the banks remove foreign and counterfeit coins from circulation. According to Federal Reserve sources, over 20 billion coins valued at well over $2 billion pass through their coin processing units each year..

Here is the link for more about the US Treasury

https://www.treasury.gov/about/education/Pages/distribution.aspx

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Archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) have found 11 pre-Hispanic images in a tunnel in Ecatepec, México state, that is part of a dike system that dates back to colonial days.

Among the images discovered on the sides of the 8.4-meter-long tunnel are petroglyphs and stucco relief panels, INAH said in a statement.

The tunnel is part of the four-kilometer-long 17th-century dike system known today as the Albarradón de Ecatepec.

A war shield, the head of a bird of prey and a “paper ornament” are among the images carved into the walls of the tunnels while a teocalli, or temple, is etched into the central stone of the arch entrance. The temple is dedicated to the rain god Tláloc, the INAH archaeologists concluded...

Here is that link.

https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/archaeologists-find-tunnel-with-pre-hispanic-images/

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Archaeologists are digging up 17th century graves at Jamestown.

https://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-nws-jamestown-grave-1019-20191022-qlypvf4xm5dedm4eptzt3hmcua-story.html\

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Send me your beach reports and photos.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/14/19 Report - Laser-Inscribed Diamonds. Spanish and Other Foreign Coins in US Colonies. Super Wolf Blood Moon.

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

Laser-Inscribed Diamond.
Source:SerendipityDiamonds.com.
More about that below.

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Have you ever wondered why a United States quarter-dollar is called “two-bits”? Or, a half-dollar “four-bits”? Do you know why we call our basic monetary unit “dollar” instead of something else?

Here is a nice article that will answer those questions.

https://coinweek.com/world-coins/history-of-coins-two-bits-four-bits-six-bits-eight/

And here is a brief excerpt from the same web site.

The English colonies of America were prohibited by royal law from coining, minting, or even so much as using coins. The colonists were supposed to ship any and all coins to Mother England in payment for manufactured goods. This, of course, precluded any foolhardy colonist from starting a mint. Besides, there is little silver or gold to be had in New England and eastern Canada to this day. So, the English Colonies decided to use paper money which served them well until they attempted to finance the USA Revolutionary War with it. By 1780, this form of currency became useless and worthless and the money called Continental Currency collapsed.

Immediately, part of the vacuum was filled by the milled Spanish-American silver issues based on the real system in denominations of 1/8R through eight-reales. The most widely circulated of these was the piece of eight, which, when supplies of smaller denomination coins dwindled were chopped or cut into smaller pieces to make change. Thus, one eighth of eight-reales became one bit, one quarter two-bits–the equivalent of our present day quarter-dollar. One-half is four-bits and three quarters are six-bits. Many believe these expressions to be slang, yet, history suggests they are perfectly good nomenclature...

After reading that web site you might want to follow that one up with these.

http://materialculture18t.wixsite.com/18thcmcrc/money--scales

https://historicjamestowne.org/selected-artifacts/english-coins-2/

Thanks to Dale J. for the coinweek link.

Having the 1715 Fleet wrecks offshore, Spanish colonial coins receive a lot of our attention, but English, Irish and Dutch coins were also used in colonial America.

I recommend both the MaterialCulture and HistoricJamesTowne web sites.

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Did you know...

Diamonds accompanied by GIA Diamond Dossiers® typically feature a micro-laser inscription applied to the edge of the diamond. The GIA report number appears microscopically engraved on the outer edge (girdle) of the diamond. This gives buyers a unique way of linking their GIA report to the physical diamond. Enter this number into GIA’s website and hey-presto – you have an electronic copy of your diamond grading report.

Where to find the girdle of a diamond

The girdle of your diamond runs around the outer edge between the upper crown facets and the lower pavilion facets. It is basically the thin outer edge, separating the upper part of the diamond from the lower section. The outer edge will appear as a polished, faceted or bruted (matt) surface on which the number will be microscopically lasered.

A GIA laser inscription gives the consumer greater confidence when purchasing a diamond. Retailers should use this as a further selling point since not all laboratories laser mark diamonds in this way. The inscription is permanently registered in GIA’s archive database.

The GIA inscription is invisible to the naked eye and difficult to see under 10x magnification to the untrained eye. Buyers who purchase without consultation are likely to be unaware of the presence of the inscription.

Here is that link.

https://www.serendipitydiamonds.com/blog/how-to-read-the-gia-laser-inscription-on-your-diamond/

Other wording can be inscribed on diamonds, however it would be very rare for those inscriptions to help identify rightful owners.  For one thing, the databases are kept confidential without a court order.

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A super wolf blood moon is going to appear in all its stunning splendor later this month, as a rare cosmic gesture to welcome in 2019.

People who live in the Americas, Europe, Africa and the central Pacific region could take a glimpse of this stunning image late on the evening of Jan. 20 and into the early morning hours of Jan. 21, according to National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

The eastern side of North America will have the best view, but the full lunar eclipse will be visible from coast to coast, and will last far longer than most eclipses, with a duration of roughly one hour and three minutes. Super blood wolf moons are highly uncommon: only 28 are expected to align this century... 

https://abcnews.go.com/US/super-blood-moon-eclipse-make-appearance-jan-21/story?id=60334755


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Both the tides and surf are small along the Treasure Coast now.  The surf is expected to increase Wednesday - maybe up to five feet.

Happy hunting
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

6/5/18 Report - Harrington Farthing Found. Secret Mission Behind Finding of Titanic. Story Emerges From Research.

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

As archaeologists at Jamestown Rediscovery continue to dig into the Historic Jamestowne church that has stood at the site of the James Fort since 1906, they’ve uncovered something they weren’t expecting.

An abandoned cellar lies underneath the holiest place in the church, and it may contain details about life within the first permanent English colony — but archaeologists will have to dig to the bottom of the cellar before they can get to the bottom of the mystery...

Here is that link for the rest of the article.

https://wydaily.com/local-news/2018/06/04/jamestown-unearthed-cellar-under-church-catches-experts-by-surprise/

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The 1985 discovery of the Titanic stemmed from a secret United States Navy investigation of two wrecked nuclear submarines, according to the oceanographer who found the infamous ocean liner.,,

Ballard met with the Navy in 1982 to request funding to develop the robotic submersible technology he needed to find the Titanic.,,

Ronald Thunman, then the deputy chief of naval operations for submarine warfare, told Ballard the military was interested in the technology—but for the purpose of investigating the wreckage of the U.S.S.Thresher and U.S.S. Scorpion...

"I was a little short with him," said Thunman, who retired as a vice admiral and now lives in Springfield, Illinois. He emphasized that the mission was to study the sunken warships.

Once Ballard had completed his mission—if time was left—Thunman said, Ballard could do what he wanted, but never gave him explicit permission to search for the Titanic.

Here is the link for the entire article.

https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/11/titanic-nuclear-submarine-scorpion-thresher-ballard/



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You can really get a good sense of history by researching your finds.  Instead of just throwing them in a pile, take the time to learn what you can about them.  The research can benefit you in more ways than one.

Three Vintage Coke Bottle Found On The Treasure Coast.

Below are the bottoms of the two bottles on the left.  As you can see they are Orlando bottles.

Orlando Coke Bottles.

One reader of this blog told me the ones with the lines between the city and state names (left) are from the eighties.    I didn't know that, but the other bottle of the three is from Starke, Florida.

I looked into it and found some good information on Starke and the bottling plant there.

Old Starke Florida Coca Cola Bottling Plant.
Source: See USFCam link with story below.

I was reminded of the time my cub scout pack visited the Coca Cola bottling plant in my home town.  I think I have a picture of that around somewhere.

Now we know exactly where the Starke bottle was filled at one point, but somehow it ended up on the Treasure Coast, where it was found.

While doing the research I found this PDF document telling how Starke developed from its earliest recorded history in 1857.

http://www.usfcam.usf.edu/CAM/exhibitions/1998_12_McCollum/supplemental_didactics/18.Story.pdf

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No change in beach conditions.  It was a little cooler this morning.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/29/16 Report - Humanoid Robotic Diver On Flagship of King Louis XIV. Mourning Jewelry. Jamestown Mystery Object Identified.

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

Looks like something out of a comic book.

The maiden voyage of a humanoid robotic diver has gone swimmingly, concluding with the successful recovery of an antique vase from La Lune, King Louis XIV’s flagship, which sank in the Mediterranean in 1664.

The mermaid-like robot, called OceanOne, consists of a five-foot torso, a head with stereoscopic vision and two fully articulated arms. The torso houses the robot’s batteries, computers and eight multi-directional thrusters...

Here are a couple links for more about that.

http://www.engineering.com/DesignerEdge/DesignerEdgeArticles/ArticleID/11957/Humanoid-Robotic-Diver-Recovers-Treasure-from-King-Louis-XIVs-Flagship.aspx

https://news.stanford.edu/2016/04/27/robotic-diver-recovers-treasures/

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Here is a great web site for learning more about the history of jewelry and mourning and much more. There is a great section on rings, and also a lot of information on symbolism seen in jewelry.  There is a lot to be learned from this site and recommend it for anyone interested in learning more about antique jewelry and how it changed during different times in history.

http://artofmourning.com

http://artofmourning.com/category/rings/

http://artofmourning.com/category/other/symbolism/

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I've been collecting information and have receive emails on the topic of silver rings from the 1715 Fleet.  The topic has been very stimulating and has led to a lot of interesting ideas.  I'll address the topic in the future from time to time.

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This was a mystery find at Jamestown.  It was found in a cellar.

This cellar, like other cellars in and around the fort, was filled in with trash by the settlers at the end of its useful life as a structure. In a relatively short period of time, the colonists would have filled it with all kinds of garbage and debris, which is why cellars like this one are so rich in artifacts and so interesting to archaeologists who study the material culture and consumption habits of a particular time period.


Below is what it must have looked like when it was new and complete.

This article has several things that I might comment on when I can give it the time.

I've seen old cellars and how they fill in.  The top layers have a lot of junk.  I know of one that on the top, besides vines and leaves and things like that, had bicycle and car parts.  As you get down you get to smaller and older things, some work down to the bottom because they are small and heavy, and some that are simply older.

Here is another paragraph from the article.

With the purpose of the object [the grill] no longer a mystery, one question remains: If baking grills like this were probably relatively common at the settlement, why have archaeologists found so few of them?

Sounds like a familiar question, doesn't it?  

Here is part of the answer from the same article.

In the rare event that the grill broke, the colonists may have chosen to repurpose the metal rather than discard the entire grill, which may also account for why this was such a rare find.

That is something we might fail to think of in this "disposable" culture.  Years ago things were not thrown away so quickly.  They were often repaired or the materials cannibalized and used for some other purpose.  There was no Walmart or Home Depot to supply whatever parts or objects were needed.

Here is the link.  It provides some good clues for the detectorist.

http://wydaily.com/2016/04/29/local-news-jamestown-unearthed-common-cooking-grill-a-rare-find-for-archaeologists/

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Saturday we'll have a very small  surf along with small tides.  I'm waiting for some good negative tides to hit one spot that I've been wanting to hunt for some time.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

9/2/15 Report - Nice 1715 Fleet One Escudo. Buried Nazi Gold Train Found. First ECC Photo. Jamestown Discoveries.

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

1715 Fleet One Escudo

Very nice one escudo from the 1715 Fleet.  This is referred to as a Type II in the Sewall Menzel book.

The date appears to be 1712, if I am reading it correctly.  Looks like it could be a 2 over 1.

The other side would have the cross potent.

The mint is Lima, and the assayer (M) would be Felix Cristobal Cano Melagejo.

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This is an Indiana Jones mega-treasure story.  It appears that an armored train full of Nazi treasure has been discovered in a buried tunnel.  If you read the different accounts of this story it is hard to tell how much is true and how much is myth and how much is cover-up.  The different stories just don't stick together entirely.

Here are a couple of links.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/02/nazi-gold-train-poland-to-bring-in-army-to-help-in-hunt


http://my.xfinity.com/video/treasure-hunters-claim-to-find-nazi-treasure-train/517077059784/Comcast/Today_in_Video?cid=hero_sf_TIV

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When the Jamestown Rediscovery Archaeological Project started, the hope was to find the site of the original 1607 James Fort, which had been written off for more than 200 years as lost to shoreline erosion.

Since then, the team has discovered the fort and more than a million artifacts in the ground...

This is an ongoing excavation.  They keep coming up with more every week it seems.  

http://wydaily.com/2015/08/28/local-news-jamestown-unearthed-recycled-breastplate-stoneware-found-in-probable-cellar/

CT Scan technology is being used to analyze artifacts to help identify the presumed important persons buried under the church.

http://news.cornell.edu/stories/2015/08/cornell-technology-identifies-artifacts-jamestown-graves

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I have been hearing from people who are going to get a detector and start detecting and people who want to know the laws.  That happens every time after a big discovery.  People get excited and people that have never detected before get interested.

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Yesterday I wrote about the Environmental Metal Detecting Movement and the proposed Environmental Clean-up Crews.

Here is the first picture from an independent volunteer of the ECC (Dan B.).

Removed By Dan B. From A Boat Launch Area.

Just an example of the type of work provided by the ECC.  Good work Dan!

For those of you thinking of going out and buying your first detector, you can find a lot more of these than gold coins.  Just a reality check.

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Fred is a tropical storm and won't affect us.  It will dissipate in the middle of the Atlantic.


The Treasure Coast will only have something like a one foot surf through the weekend.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/2/15 Report - Treasure Map and Skeletal Hand Found In Box. An Old Pirate Cemetery. A Lot Of Discoveries Including Possible Reliquary At Jamestown.

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

Old Box Containing Hand, Coins, Photo and Map.
Source: http://fox13now.com/2015/04/29/man-discovers-coins-treasure-map-and-skeletal-hand-in-attic/

I just ran across this story.  A Florida man's sister found this old box containing what appears to be a human hand and some Maravedis and a map in an attic that was being cleaned out.

I don't know how all this proved out, but interesting story anyhow.

Here is the link.

http://fox13now.com/2015/04/29/man-discovers-coins-treasure-map-and-skeletal-hand-in-attic/

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Here is another interesting story.  I should have found these on Halloween.

Source: see link below.

Ile Sainte-Marie, an island off Madagascar's remote east coast has what the article describes as the world's  only pirate cemetery.

...In the 17th and 18th centuries up to 1,000 pirates reportedly called the rocky island home, including widely-feared brigands William Kidd and Thomas Tew. Thanks to its safe and secluded bays and location on the trade routes frequented by treasure-laden ships returning home from the East Indies, Sainte-Marie (known locally as Nosy Boraha or St. Mary's Island in English) afforded the perfect spot for shifty sailors looking for booty and a friendly place to live with like-minded looters...

Source: see link below.

Here is the link for the rest of the article and more photos.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kip-patrick/worlds-only-pirate-cemete_b_2754126.html

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...Jamestown Rediscovery archaeologists may have been busy identifying the four founders of the Jamestown colony who were unearthed in gravesites under the church for the past 20 months, but that did not stop them from continuing to dig elsewhere....


Since then, the team has discovered the fort and more than a million artifacts in the ground...
In the last month, the cellar has produced several noteworthy artifacts, including gun parts and rare coins...

The coins are what is known as Irish pennies. The English minted them in 1601 and 1602 and tried to introduce them as currency in Ireland, however the Irish rejected the coins and they quickly fell into disuse...


Here is the link for the rest of that story.

http://wydaily.com/2015/07/31/local-news-jamestown-unearthed-archaeologists-find-gun-parts-rare-coins-in-cellar-pit/

Here is a paragraph from another article on the Jamestown project.

...One of the four was Capt. Gabriel Archer, a lawyer and scribe. What intrigues researchers is that his grave contained a small hexagonal box etched with an “M.” The salt-shaker-sized box holds seven fragments of bone and parts of a small lead vial that may have held holy water, blessed oil or the blood of a saint. The bone fragments, about the length of a toothpick, appear to be human, said Kari Bruwelheide, a forensic anthropologist at the Smithsonian...

http://www.aleteia.org/en/religion/article/jamestown-excavation-unearths-four-bodies-and-a-possible-catholic-reliquary-5788277718122496

Reliquary?
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There you have three very interesting stories to check out.  I got a late start today and that will be about it for today.

I know that the local guys have been putting in some good work along the Treasure Coast and you'll have to keep watching for the latest and greatest news.  As you saw last week, you never know when something amazing will pop up.

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The tropical disturbance that was out there in the Atlantic has disappeared.  Expect something like a two foot surf on the Treasure Coast most of this week.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

5/29/12 Report - Jamestown Rediscovery Project


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


Olive Jar From the Jamestown Rediscovery Web Site



There was a good program on CSPAN on Memorial Day about the archaeology of Jamestown.  As you might know, for a long time it was thought that the original fort had been washed into the river as the result of erosion.  Later the actual fort was located and excavated.  As it turns out, only a small part of the fort had actually disappeared into the river.



Here is a map of the fort.

http://apva.org/rediscovery/page.php?page_id=18



You might be wondering what that has to do with the Treasure Coast.  You can learn a lot from other locations that can be applied locally.  The Jamestown colony used products from many countries, such as the Spanish olive jar shown here.

You'll find a lot of good archaeological resources on the Jamestown Rediscovery web site.  This link will take you to the page on Spanish olive jars, but the web site presents many other types of pottery discovered  at Jamestown as well as many other types of artifacts. 

http://apva.org/rediscovery/page.php?page_id=340

I'm very much interested in old shipwreck pottery.  You can sometimes find old shipwreck pot shards on the Treasure Coast beaches.  I'd like to be able to better identify those shards.   Pot shards can provide good clues to nearby shipwrecks.  Look for shards especially when large shells are washing up onto the beach.

As I watched the CSPAn TV program I saw a number of things that I found both thought-provoking and applicable to hunting on the Treasure Coast or almost anywhere for that matter.

One of the archaeologists on the program, for example, used the term "ownerless objects" to describe objects once owned and used by deceased members of the colony. I seriously doubt that any useable object would remain ownerless very long after the passing of an individual at Jamestown.  It seems to me that any usable object would quickly be adopted and put to use by someone.

The term also made me think of how objects found after resting for hundreds of years under the sea could still be thought to be the property of someone or some governmental agency.  This archaeologist's view of "ownerless objects" seems to sharply contrast with recent maritime rulings.   And if the courts rule, as they did in the recent Spain versus Odyssey Marine case, extending claims of ownership over hundreds of years, wouldn't similar logic put most archaeological artifacts at risk of being claimed by countries or other organizations or individuals?  To me, it seems it would.

Another thing that I thought was interesting is that they found a Roman oil lamp from the first century associated with the pre-1650 Jamestown settlement.  As I always say,  just because an object is old doesn't mean it was lost a long time ago.   People sometimes carry old things with them, as it appears one Jamestown settler did. 

I'm sure that many of you have found old objects on Florida beaches that appear to be out of place. In the past I've shown objects in this blog that were recently found on Florida beaches that are centuries old and from distant locations that were probably lost in recent days or years.. 

I once showed a gold ring holding a mounted 2 escudo that was evidently found by a treasure salvor, then mounted and sold, and lost again.  Actually it appeared that that particular coin had been lost at sea in one shipwreck before being recovered and shipped again in 1715 and then lost again before being salvaged, sold and lost once more.

People carry objects that were produced and traded through distant locations.  That is certainly true today, and it was true back in the 17th Century.  The Jamestown Rediscovered web site shows pottery and other artifacts from the Jamestown colony that were produced in many different countries.  One thing that surprised me is how many of the objects found at Jamestown came from different countries.  I would have expected a greater proportion of locally produced objects.

Dr. Kelso commented on the topic of cremation during the program..  He hoped that it wouldn't become the trend because cremation would not allow future archaeologists to study skeletal remains.  I made some comments on respecting the remains of deceased individuals the other day and personally see his views as potentially insensitive and disrespectful of individuals, religions and cultures.  Archaeology uber alles. 

I do think you'll find many interesting things on the Jamestown Rediscovery web site.  Take a look.  Browse around the various sections. 


Treasure Coast Beach Conditions and Forecast.

The wind is out of the southwest this morning.  Seas are running two or three feet.  The beaches look like mid-summer beaches.  Very sandy.

The seas will stay about the same for the next  couple of days.  Wednesday the wind will shift a little more to the west.

Low tide is around nine o'clock.

Happy hunting.
TreasureGuide@comcast.net