2/23/20 Report - Treasure Coin Finds and A Couple Other Recent Finds.

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

Two Silver Reales Found Yesterday by Josh D.

As I said yesterday, a lot of very good finds were made Saturday.  The find photos are starting to come in.  I'll post a couple find photos myself. 

Not only did the most highly-experience local metal detection experts make finds, but some people made their very first shipwreck treasure finds.  Josh D. was one of those.

Josh found the two cobs shown above.   Congratulations Josh!  Many more to come.

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Brian F. is a nugget hunter but for the past eight years has made visits to the Treasure Coast.  It looks like he possibly made his first 1715 Fleet find yesterday.  He found the following tack along with some copper bits at Ambersands.

Tack Found by Brian F. Yesterday at Ambersands.

You know a nugget hunter is going to pick up smalls.

Way to go Brian.

Some of my favorite shipwreck finds are gold nuggets found on shipwreck beaches.  I showed one or two of those in the past.

I've had some additional material to post on the subject of tacks and will do that sometime in the future.

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First finds are special and I like to celebrate them.  You can probably remember yours.  Making a first find can answer a lot of questions and give a boost to your confidence.  When making a certain type of find becomes commonplace, then you set new goals.

My first Treasure Coast cobs (I found cobs elsewhere before I found my first on the Treasure Coast) were found at John Brooks.  I made a number of failed trips before having any success, so it was memorable.

Yesterday a good number of reales were found, including everything up to and including eight-reales.   Artifacts were also found, including musket balls and other items.

Overall it has been a good winter for finding beach treasures this year.   November, December, January and February have all produced 1715 Fleet beach finds.

Below is a find from yesterday.  After partial cleaning, it appears to be a broken medallion.  The stub where the bail broke off is apparent.

There appears to be some writing or something, but the item is too corroded to make out what is on it.  I can't make out any of the design, but if you think you see something, let me know.

Broken Silver Medallion.

Below is a find I'm not at all sure about, and would like opinions.  It seems fragile so I didn't want to do a rubbing to test the metal.  Looks silver to me, but I'm not totally sure.

Mystery Find.

Mystery Item with Dime for Size.

The copperish color comes from light reflection.  In person it looks more silver.

Same Mystery Object on Edge.

The ends fit flat on a flat object, while the middle appears intentionally bowed.  I just don't know about this one.

Let me know if you have any ideas about what it is.

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Below is John Brooks looking towards Frederick Douglass beach.   Nice smooth beach front near low tide.

South of John Brooks Near Low Tide Today.

John Brooks Looking North.

There is a sand bar in front of the beach and no cuts.

Detectorist Today at John Brooks.

There were three detectorists at John Brooks around low tide today.  Everybody was up north it seems.

There were very few targets there.

The surf was down to 4 - 7 feet today and will continue to gradually decrease over the next few days.

I'll have more find photos for you as they come in.

I've seen photos of a lot of reales that were found in the past couple of days.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/13/20 Report - Beach Conditions Deteriorating On Some Beaches. Photos of Finds.

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

John Brooks Beach Near Low Tide Saturday.

The first and main thing I want to say today is that the beach conditions of the South Hutchinson Island beaches that I checked are deteriorating.  The surf is decreasing and the beaches are building.  I suspect the same thing is happening at the other beaches, especially any of those that were freshly cut on Friday.  I'm therefore dropping my beach conditions rating back to a 1.

This is the third time that the stretch from the condos to John Brooks has had five or six foot cuts in just a few weeks.  Frederick Douglass and the beaches immediately to the south were not cut nearly as much in that time period.

The two following photos show the sand that extends out in front of the beach.  That is where the sand from the cut ended up.

John Brooks Beach Sunday.

John Brooks Beach Sunday Near Low Tide.

You can see the sand that extends out in front of Frederick Douglass beach below.

Frederick Douglass Beach Sunday Near Low Tide.

Frederick Douglass Beach Sunday.

You can see a bit of a bar in front of Fort Pierce South Jetty beach now too.

Fort Pierce South Jetty Beach Sunday.

Fort Pierce South Jetty Beach Sunday.

All three of those beaches have a pile of sand in front of the beach.

I think Fort Pierce South Jetty beach is now back farther than it was the last time they renourished it.  Expect that beach to be renourished again before long.  They just keep pumping the money onto that one.

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Terry Shannon wrote of a good day he had back around the beginning of the year and sent some photos of his finds.

Finds by Terry S.

Here is what Terry said.

… I found a modern 14 k ring, a bunch of coins all greenies, sinkers and then what I believe is ship wreck stuff pictured above. A small musket ball, a latch hook, a large bronze square nail that they converted to a rivet and some smaller old square nails. What I think is interesting is the silver ring.  This is the silver band when I found it and after cleaning.

Silver Ring Find Before and After Cleaning.

Find and photo by Terry S.

The ring cleaned up well and looks nice but it had to be lost a long time to have eaten up to this extent, the inside of the ring is as rough as the outside and it was very thin. I sent a picture to an expert and asked if it could be a ship wreck ring. He said definitely modern. My point is that it is often hard to determine what you have at times. 

Thanks for sharing Terry.

Terry also sent a photo of a half reale, which I plan to show as soon as I get around to it.   I also have some interesting recent finds from other people to show, but I'm getting tired now and will have to pick that up some other time.

For now,
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/28/19 Report - Beach Changes a Little Again. 25 Big Treasures. Mayan Palace.

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

John Brooks Beach Friday Near Low Tide.

A few of the cusps have returned to John Brooks beach.  A quick check revealed that the front beach was fairly firm - more than I expected.

John Brooks Beach Friday Near Low Tide.

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Here is an article that lists 25 of the biggest treasures and treasure finds.  Several were found by lucky detectorists.

https://www.thetravel.com/25-real-life-treasure-hunts-that-turned-up-millions-in-loot/amp/

Thanks to William K. for that link.

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Archaeologists in Mexico have uncovered the remains of a vast Mayan palace over 1,000 years old in an ancient city about 100 miles west of the tourist hotspot of Cancún.

The building in Kulubá is 55 metres long, 15 metres wide and six metres high, and appears to have been made up of six rooms, said Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History.

It is part of a larger complex that also includes two residential rooms, an altar and a large round oven. Archaeologists have also uncovered remains from a burial site, and hope forensic analysis of the bones could provide more clues about Kulubá’s Mayan inhabitants...

Here is that link.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/27/archaeologists-discover-remains-of-vast-mayan-palace

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I had another topic for today, but just couldn't get it together.  Maybe some other day.

There are plenty of good treasures to look at in the TheTravel.com link above.

We are still having some high tides and a four to six foot surf.   The surf will be decreasing daily for the next several days.

Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

12/1/19 Report - Beach Conditions Today: John Brooks Beach Scalloped. Ring Find. Smaller Bottle Finds.

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

John Brooks Near Low Tide Sunday Afternoon.

I visited the beach this afternoon.  I just wanted to see what was going on, but got in about a half hour of metal detecting.

As you can see above, there wasn't much erosion at John Brooks.  There was a little scalloping.

John Brooks Beach Sunday Afternoon.

You can see in the photo above that the scalloping was not a lot, but there were some interesting features.

John Brooks Beach Sunday Afternoon.

The waves were breaking on the sand right in front of the beach.  The west wind was blowing the tops of these waves.

Fort Pierce South Jetty Beach Sunday Afternoon.

The sand has been disappearing from Fort Pierce South Jetty beach.  I'll bet that there will be a renourishment program before long.

As I said, I did a little detecting, about a half hour, and picked up about fifteen modern coins and the following ring.

Found Sunday Afternoon.

I've been on the ring trail lately, but unfortunately most are junky.



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Three Small Found Ink Bottles.

I showed several found ink bottles before, but they were all of a larger size than these.  These ones are 1 ounce and 3/4 ounce ink bottles.

The one on the left above is a cut glass Sanford's ink bottle.

Sanford's Ink Bottle 

The center bottle is a Carter's ink bottle.

Carter's Ink Bottle.  One Oz. 

The Carter's bottle shows the Hazel Atlas symbol.  My father packed bottles in a Hazel Atlas plant in the early 1940s, so I wonder if he possibly packed that bottle.



The cork top ink bottle on the right of the top photo is a Higgins Drawing Ink bottle.

Higgins Ink Bottle.

I assume it is the oldest of the three, but haven't yet researched the dates yet.


I just added these to my TGBottleBarn web site.   http://tgbottlebarn.blogspot.com/

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The high tides are smaller than they were in the recent past, and after today the surf will be decreasing.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

2/11/19 Report - South Hutchinson Island Beach Conditions. A Few Finds.

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

A Few Junk Finds From Sunday.

The finds above include two pieces of copper, one completely encrusted on one side, a small lead buck shot, and a small rounded button.  The button needs some cleaning.

John Brooks Beach Monday Around 1 PM.

Since the last time I was there, John Brooks beach filled in more, and there is more seaweed.

Another View of John Brooks Monday Afternoon.

The cliff face is not as high as it was Saturday.

Frederick Douglas Beach Monday.

Frederick Douglas is deteriorating too.  It wasn't as good as John Brooks to begin with.

What I wanted to show with this photo is the buried seaweed on the front beach.  You can just see the top of it sticking out of the sand.

Fort Pierce South Jetty Monday Afternoon.

The cliff was sharp and high, however the sand in front of the cliff was pretty mushy.  A quick check revealed a smattering of modern coins and very little junk.

Overall, the South Hutchinson Island beaches are very impressive right now.

I don't know about Vero today.

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You might remember the gold Pelican of Piety artifact and the article Laura Strolia wrote about that.

Here is another article about the pelican icon.

http://thecatholicspirit.com/faith/focus-on-faith/faith-fundamentals/why-the-pelican-with-chicks-is-a-symbol-of-the-eucharist/

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Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

12/7/18 Report - Local Beaches. Old Gold Coin Found. Hundreds of Cannon Balls Found. Bigger Surf Coming.

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

John Brooks Beach Thursday Afternoon.

I took a look at a couple beaches yesterday just to see what was going on.  Above you see John Brooks beach.  It looks very much like a summer day.  There were fishermen and snow birds enjoying the nice weather.

There were very few cuts.  The tides have been high lately and you could see that the water had been high on the beach.  The slope was gradual and the berm was pretty far back.

John Brooks Beach Thursday Afternoon

Looking South.

There were only a few very small cuts - less than a foot high.

The slopes were soft.

Frederick Douglass beach didn't look any better.

Frederick Douglass Beach Thursday Afternoon.

As predicted the surf was small, and the water hitting the beach straight on.

Fort Pierce South Jetty Park was no better.

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Archaeologists, doing a protective excavation in Bela Krajina without any major expectations, were most surprised when they hit an extremely rare find - a bronze belt bearing a golden coin from the 3rd century BC...

The find is even more valuable because coins usually turn up in searches with metal detectors or in searches in riverbeds, while this one provides archaeologists with much more data.

It was found in "a closed grave, it's position on the belt is clear, and even more, some organic material has been preserved on the belt", potentially making it possible to carbon date the find...

Here is the link.

https://english.sta.si/2582339/archaeologists-hit-mother-lode-in-bela-krajina

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Archaeologists digging in Stockholm's Slussen area have stumbled on a unique find that has left them scratching their heads: hundreds of cannonballs from the 17th century. But who left them there and why?

A proposal to redevelop Stockholm's Slussen junction was approved in 2013, and since then archaeologists have been excavating the area as the construction work continues. It is the largest such excavation in Sweden and tells the story of a time when the area was the hub of Stockholm's iron trade...

Here is that link.

https://www.thelocal.se/20181204/hundreds-of-17th-century-cannonballs-unearthed-in-stockholm

What is your theory for the large group of cannon balls?

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It looks like we'll get a bigger surf by next Thursday.  Another front will be coming through, with north winds maybe Tuesday and Wednesday.,

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

Sure would like to see a sustained nor'easter.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

11/24/18 Report - What's Going On At the Beach.

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

John Brooks Saturday Morning.

Yesterday I showed this same view.  Since then the surf came up over the berm and smoothed out the cuts.  We've had some really high tides lately, and today the wind was from the west.

The waves were rather impressive.  They were crashing right in front of the beach.

Surf At John Brooks This Morning.

There were a lot of surfers down at Blind Beach where the swells were building farther out.

Frederick Douglass Beach Saturday Morning.

Frederick Douglass Beach was smoother today too.

Lady Detecting the Seaweed Line At Frederick Douglass This Morning.

You can see where the water was.

Setting Up For a Beach Wedding At Frederick Douglass Saturday Morning.

Besides the wedding setup, you can see the horses coming in.  A lot people were out enjoying the beautiful weather on a holiday weekend.

Riders Returning at Frederick Douglass

Down at Blind Creek there were a lot of people, including surfers, but no erosion.  I did notice one of the old dead trees was moved by the water.

Fort Pierce South Jetty Beach Saturday Morning.

Notice the water behind the new sand to the north in this photo.

Now I'll show you Fort Pierce South Jetty as it looked yesterday. 

Fort Pierce South Jetty Beach Friday Morning.

What a difference a day makes.  The cuts are now gone and a lot of new sand has filled in.  That is a good comparison.

I haven't been farther north, so don't know what is going on in the Vero or Sebastian area.  Maybe someone will let us know.

If you can find a place where the water was up in the natural dunes, it might be good to check it out.  I saw one place where that happened, but it was really minimal.

The west winds will be continuing until Tuesday, and the surf will be decreasing over the next few days.  The tides are still nice and high though.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net