3/10/15 Report - Mystery Object Might Be Inscription From Crucifix. 233 Coins Detected In One Spot.

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



Item Found By Todd G.

I didn't know what I was going to post today.  I had a bunch of random thoughts, but nothing was coming together.  One topic was partially developed in my mind but it wasn't ready for posting.  I'll put that off to some other time. 

I received an email from Todd G.  Here is what he said.

 

I have been following your blog for several years and was on my annual trip to Florida a little over a week ago when I found this small metal bar where beach restoration is going on near Pepper Park beach, just north of Turtle Trail.  I took it to a coin dealer who said he has seen them before, but he only handled US coins and had no real knowledge of what it was.  Is this just a random item someone may have lost more recently, or could it have been from a shipwreck?  It was laying at the bottom of a 5 foot cut, near the wall of the cut, where a bulldozer had gone though and moved sand to create the cut.  It has not been cleaned other than with a brush and clear water.  It is heavy for its size and a magnet will not stick to it.  I found it with a new XP metal detector and am not familiar with the meaning of the numbers on that machine, and will have to check it out with my Minelab to see what kind of metal that unit believes it to be.

An acid test kit is a good idea for everyone, but you probably wouldn't have it along when you travel.  You can always stop into a pawn shop.  They'll usually test for gold and silver.   If they use the old acid test method, you might not want them to do a rubbing, but most use test pens these days.

Concerning the letters, I'm not certain but it sure looks like INRI.   That isn't a numismatic term or designation, it is religious.  Many depictions of the Crucifix will have those letters on a plaque above the head of Jesus.

 

 The Bible, John (19:19-20), says, "Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, 'Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.' Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek." 

Latin for "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews" is "Iesvs Nazarenvs Rex Iudaeorvm" and the acronym for this title is INRI. Latin uses the letter "I" instead of the English "J", and "V" instead of "U" (i.e., Jesus Nazarenus Rex Judaeorum). Translated to English that would stand for "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews."

That is a very appropriate find for the time of the year.  Good Friday and Easter are not far away.

I'm not absolutely sure those are the letters, but it sure looks like it.   And I can't say how old it might be.   Did it

break off of a Crucifix?  I don't know.  It doesn't have the characteristic dark color of old silver.

What do you all think?  Let me know. 

 

I did a post a few weeks ago on a variety of old items that were found in renourishment sand.

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233 of Coins Found Here By Joe D.

I received the following email from Joe D.

Started off the week with a bang! Had another search "First" for me; most coin's found in one spot!!

This morning, I tried another one of my "drive-by's"! A large empty lot near the city where old homes and buildings were torn down several years ago! I gravitated toward the large trees first, as I usually do at empty lots and parks due to the shade and potential finds they provide! Under the third tree I went under, there was a small round clearing under a lower part of the canopy about six foot across! It looked to me like a "camping" area for a homeless person, but did not have a lot of trash nearby as is typical in my area! (See pictures) When I swung my coil through the area, I got a lot of confusing chatter like aluminum coleslaw and many other "good" sounds! Upon bending down, I could see several coins on the surface! Using my pinpointer, I recovered these and found others partially buried and continued to expand my search area! Eventually the area spread to about 15 foot across! I had set my detector down and was using just the pinpointer for about 40 minutes! I finally resumed with my detector after the signals became more scattered and buried! And the total; (Drum roll please!!) 233 COINS!! $15.11 total! cents thru quarters, dated from 1943 to 2013! Most were newer ( only one wheat😢) but many were from 60's, 70's and 80's! Found from the surface, to about two inches deep! Very little trash among  coins other than a handful of foil gum wrappers and a few aluminum can pieces!

Sorry if this was a little long-winded, but had a lot to explain! Also, it was interesting to note the difference in the corrosion amount among pennies of different decades! But I will leave that for another entry!

That is one big spill!  Reminded me of a time when I found bunches of quarters on the surface the day after a carnival pulled out.   It was where a ticket booth was and it looked like rolls of fresh quarters broke and were left.

This spill appears to have been made over a long period of time though.  It could have been a gathering site for some type of penny pitch game or something, or maybe Voodoo or Santeria.  I've found some of those.  One time a circle of pennies was found around a dead bird.

What do you all think caused such a concentration of coins?  Let me know.

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On the Treasure Coast it looks like we're stuck with a small surf and southerly winds for a while.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@Comcast.net

4/29/14 Report - Gold Religious Medallion, Early Gulf Coast Settlement, and Genealogical Research

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

Gold Religious Medallion Find

This medallion is larger than most and is intricate.  You can see the remains of a black encrustation that has been partly removed. 



When I first posted yesterday's post there were a lot of problems with it.  Fortunately I went back later and fixed some of the problems.

One big thing was that I originally left out of the post was a link to a great article on the earliest European Gulf Coast settlement.  I put it in later, but in case you missed it, here it is.

http://archeologyink.com/LaRuaBluff.pdf

Below is an excerpt from that article.

Fig. 16: During the 1940s several young boys were roaming along the shoreline
of a peninsula jutting into Pensacola Bay . They had learned how to find
artifacts. The railroad crews would come down the line on occasion and dig
out the banks to protect the tracks. When it rained the kids would scour the
exposed banks for artifacts. On one day, they found a coin which dated to the
time of the Tristan de Luna colony. One the kids, Harry Bonifay, found it.
The coin and the area are figured in the next few pages. Sixty something
years later marine archeologists found two shipwrecks of the period just
offshore from the same bayshore.

It says the kids checked newly disturbed soil.  I've recommended checking any disturbed soil many times in this blog.  

The kids also knew to check after rain.  That is another strategy that I've mentioned before.  Those are two good reminders.

Curren, as contrasted with the quotes I gave a couple of days ago from the shipwreck articles reveals a much more constructive style and approach.  He gives even children recognition for their finds and treats the public as a part of the process.  That is exactly the approach that will promote and advance the field of study.

Below is another good tip found in the same article

Fig. 18: ...  The coin was found in a dredge spoil pile near the mouth of Bayou

Texar.

Most often you'll find junk, such as mangled aluminum cans in dredged material, however there are times when more interesting things are found in dredged material.  There have been times when interesting old materials have been found in dredged material in Southeast Florida and the Treasure Coast. 

Thanks to Caleb Curren, author of archaeologink.com and that particular article. 


I would encourage you once again to do some genealogical research.  I've learned a lot of history through research into my own ancestors.   One line goes back to the Pilgrims at Plymouth Colony in the 1640s.  Of course that was after the Mayflower.  One thing I found particularly interesting is that John Greenleaf Whittier actually wrote a ballad about one of my ancestors.  She was said to be the first white woman sold into slavery in America.  Her crime was not exactly, but basically being too friendly to the Quakers.  The sea captains refused to take to Virginia or Barbados to be sold though.  It might have had something to do with the fact that her father was a boat carpenter.  She did spend time in leg stocks.  Anyhow, the ballad is Cassandra, which is actually her mother's name.

Along another ancestral line was a Ranger in the Revolutionary War that fought Indians in the Ohio Valley.  He was captured, escaped, swam the river, etc. etc.  It was a violet time on both sides, and both sides actually collected scalps.  With all the political correctness these days, I was surprised to learn how violent and brutal it actually was. 

It can be really interesting when you put enough time into the research to locate ancestors which were written about in detail like that. 

Those are only two of the things that I found most interesting.  I was lucky to be able to locate so much material.  I'm sure you can find some interesting things about your ancestry too.  The most interesting thing would be to go to some of those areas and do a detector search where your ancestors lived.  It really makes the history come alive.


On the Treasure Coast the wind picked up around noon and white caps formed on the river. 

We are still having high high tides, but the surf is still small.

A 3 - 5 foot surf is predicted for Wednesday.  That is a little increase.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net