6/22/18 Report - Mexico Minted Half Reales. Atocha on TV. Digging Woodstock.

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

Philip V Mexico Half Reale Beach Find.

Yesterday I was talking about a December 1, 1990 beach hunt at John Brooks, and I showed two cobs from that hunt.  Here are another found during the same hunt.

Mexico Half Reale Beach Find.

The one above looks like it might be a different type of Phillip monogram. 

And below is another.

Mexico Minted Half Reale Beach Find.

This one shows the left side of the P and the mint mark M.

Mexico Minted Half Reale Beach Find.

This one shows a good part of the cross and a castle in the upper left quadrant.

In the past few days I showed finds from two December hunts, one in 1989 and one in 1990, and the results were very similar.  Five half reales were found in one hunt, and four in the other.  Besides all being half reales, all were minted in Mexico.  I think all except one or two comes from the reign of Philip V.

The 1989 hunt I remember in great detail.  The 1990 hunt, I don't remember at all.  It was fortunate  that I labeled the finds and when and where they were found for the second hunt, otherwise I would have had no idea.

None of these cobs were cleaned and they look pretty much as they did when they were found nearly 30 years ago.  You probably noticed that some still had bits of shell attached.  I wish I had labeled the artifacts too.

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Maybe you saw National Geographic drain the ocean over the Atocha on the 18th.  If you missed it, here is the schedule for other airings.
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I noticed a coin I got in change the other day and it still had bits of shell attached to it, like many of the cobs I show.  It was obviously on the beach at one point.  I've often wondered how many millions of coins are returned to circulation by detectorist.  I have no idea, but you see obvious examples of cleaned coins in circulation all the time.  We save a lot of money for the U. S. by returning coins that would otherwise have to be replaced.

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Can you believe Woodstock is now an archaeological site?

Archaeologists scouring the grassy hillside famously trampled during the 1969 Woodstock music festival carefully sifted through the dirt from a time of peace, love, protest and good vibes.

Perhaps they would find an old peace symbol? Or a strand of hippie beads? Or Jimi Hendrix's guitar pick?

The five-day excavation did reveal some non-mind blowing artifacts: parts of old aluminum can pull tabs, bits of broken bottle glass. But the main mission of Binghamton University's Public Archaeology Facility was to help map out more exactly where The Who, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Janis Joplin and Joe Cocker wowed the crowds 49 years ago...

Here is the link for more about that.

https://phys.org/news/2018-06-archaeologists-scour-woodstock-concert-field.html

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Happy hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

6/19/18 Report - Philip V Half Reale Monogram. Mystery Item. Artifact Web Site. Undersea Cables.

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

Illustration of  a Royal Half Reale Showing the Full Philip V Monogram

In the past three posts I showed half reales carrying the Philip V monogram and a couple with very incomplete Carlos II monograms.

You usually don't see an entire monogram on a half reale and especially not a weathered half reale found on the beach, but if you know what they look like, you can spot pieces of the monogram on many cobs.

The three Philip V reales that I showed in the last three posts each showed a different piece of the monogram.  The mint mark and partial date on the first gave a good idea of what the monogram would look like.

Below are parts of two separate cobs.  The top one (the one I just referred to) shows the left side of the Philip V monogram on a Mexico minted half reale, while the second shows much of the bottom of the monogram.  Using the common parts, the two images can be combined or overlapped to show much of the monogram.  They can be oriented by using the dot and the angle joining the P (in red).

The third Philip V reale (below) that I showed yesterday shows much of what the second reales shows plus the top of the S.

All three of these were minted in Mexico, and all three are Philip V half reales with very similar monograms, and all three were found on the same beach on the same day.

None of these ones show the crown. 

I was very happy to see that I labeled each of these so I knew when and where they were found.  Not all of my finds were so well labeled.

Some other time I'll look at the Carlos II monogram and some of the finds from other days.

As the results of one of my blog polls showed, if you find one, the chances are good that you'll find more than one during a hunt.

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I just received the following email concerning the recent mystery object. Mark said, I believe  the glass item with the cone, is a fancy inkwell. The pen would rest in the hole,  cone side up and any excess ink would run back into the container. There was probably a cork in the non cone side hole. These could actually be flipped over, cork side up without spilling ink "cone down". Try it with water.

I collected and dug bottles here in North Palm Beach county back in the late 60's and 70's

Thanks Mark.  I have seen old ink wells that look much like the mystery item from the outside.  I'm still puzzled by it though.  You might be right.

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Brian B. sent the following email and link.

I was reading up on some old musket balls I found in the palmettos -trying to get an idea on the dating and saw a bottle section on this site, Thought I'd send it your way....THanks Brian 

http://sgtriker.com/bullets.htm 

It has a lot of good information on a wide variety of types of artifacts.  Worth checking out.

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Here is an interesting article on undersea cables.

http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/392577-spotlight-falls-on-russian-threat-to-undersea-cables

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Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

6/16/18 Report - A Closer Look At Some Old Treasure Coast Cobs. Tobacco Use Started Much Earlier Than Previously Thought in North America.

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

Philip V Half Reale Showing Mint Mark and Partial Date.

Since I have my close-up photo system working well I decided to go back and photograph finds that I was never able to photograph so well.

While using the system I get a better look at old finds and document them in the process.

Above is a half reale that I found on a very cold day in December of 1989.  I told that story before. It was freezing.  I actually hit ice on a bridge on 95 north.  I was going to my parents for Christmas and was traveling from Fort Lauderdale to Palm Coast and stopped for a short hunt at John Brooks.  The short hunt turned up several cobs including the one shown above.  You can clearly see the OMJ, and the 17 and part of the next 1 in the date.

You don't often get that much of the mint mark and date on a half reale, especially if it is a beach find.

Below is the reverse of the same cob.

Reverse of 171? half reale shown above.

Below is one more half reale found on the same hunt.

Half Reale Found at John Brooks in 1989.

You can see bits of the monogram in the photo above.  It is another Philip V cob.

There are traces of rust on both of these.  More on the second one.  I didn't really see it as well before.  Also you can see bits of shell attached.

Neither of these have been cleaned and remain pretty much as found.

Now that I have good pictures of the original found condition, I might clean them a little.

Reverse of Same Philip V Half Reale.

I'm sure the cross will show better if I play with the lighting.  Nonetheless, you can tell it is the type of cross found on cobs minted in Mexico.

There is more sand sticking to this side.  I'd say some of it got cleaned off as the cob was washed around in the surf before being deposited on the beach.

As I've said before, cobs found on the beach are often way under their original weight.

I'm glad I had these labeled with the date and place of the find.  Always a good idea.

I'll have more cob photos in the near future.

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A study into the use of tobacco has yielded some interesting findings including dating the practice to around 4,000 years ago – about 1,500 years older than previously thought.  The study, “Evidence of Tobacco from a Late Archaic Smoking Tube Recovered from the Flint River site in southeastern North America”, has been undertaken by various researchers and was led by Dr. Stephen B. Carmody , Troy University (Ala.) assistant professor of anthropology.

“For the past eight or nine years, I have been exploring pipe use, pipe-smoked plants, and the use of tobacco here in the eastern woodlands of North America,” said Dr. Carmody.  “We have made several interesting finds.  Until recently, the earliest evidence for the use of tobacco was discovered in a pipe that was approximately 2,500 years old, dating to what we refer to as the Early Woodland Period.”

Here is the link for more of that article.

https://theonefeather.com/2018/06/study-finds-older-use-of-tobacco-than-previously-thought/

Happy hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/1/18 Report - One of The Queens Jewels That Didn't Go Down With The 1715 Fleet. Happy Easter. No April Fools.

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

Farnese Blue Diamond.
Source: Sothebys.com link below.

This is said to be one of the Queen's Jewels that did not end up sunk along the Treasure Coast.

One of the foremost historic diamonds –  The Farnese Blue – will appear on the market for the first time in history this spring, after having remained in the same family for over three centuries. The 6.16-carat pear shaped blue diamond will be offered in Sotheby’s sale of Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels (15 May, Geneva) with an estimate of CHF 3.5 - 5 million (US$ 3,690,000 - 5,270,000).
Given to Elisabeth Farnese, Queen of Spain (1692-1766), the legendary diamond has subsequently passed down through four of the most important royal families in Europe: Spain, France, Italy and Austria.

Witness to 300 years of European history, from the aftermath of the Spanish Succession War to the fall of the Habsburg Empire, the diamond has travelled across the continent for centuries. And all this time, it was kept secretly in a royal casket. Excepting close relatives, and of course the family jewellers, no one knew of its existence.

Source: http://www.sothebys.com/de/news-video/blogs/all-blogs/all-that-glitters/2018/03/the-farnese-blue.html

One book about Isabella was written by Edward Armstrong in 1892. The title of the book is Termagant of Spain. Termagant is defined as a harsh-tempered or over-bearing woman. That is NOT how Isabella was advertised to Philip, who married her by proxy after Queen Maria Luisa passed away.

Here is the link to Armstrong's book. It provides a lot of history - mostly after 1715.

https://archive.org/details/elisabethfarnes00armsgoog


Lost Histories, a book by Joel Levy written in 2006, says the following.

And here is more of the history of the Blue Farnese as described by Sothebys.

The stone was given to Elisabeth Farnese, Queen of Spain (1692-1766) and descendant of Pope Paul III, following her wedding to King Philip V of Spain, grandson of Louis XIV, King of France.

The wedding was celebrated in Parma, Italy in 1714, after the War of the Spanish Succession, which had depleted the country’s finances. To be able to offer a suitable dowry for the new queen, the Spanish government sent word to its colonies, demanding they send wedding presents to Madrid.

Then, in August 1715, the Golden Fleet sailed from Cuba: 12 ships carrying a fortune in gold bullion and emeralds. But after only 10 days of sailing, a hurricane destroyed most of the fleet in the gulf of Florida. Only one ship survived.

The emeralds were thought to be lost in one of the sunken ships, but one diamond made its way to Spain: a pear-shaped blue diamond, gifted to the new Spanish queen by the governor of the Philippine Islands.

For the next 300 hundred years, as Elisabeth and Philip of Spain’s descendants married, the stone was passed down through four of the most important royal families in Europe: Spain, France, Italy and Austria.

Elisabeth Farnese passed it to her favorite son, Philip (1720-1765), Duke of Parma and founder of the House of Bourbon-Parma. When he died, his son Ferdinand inherited the jewel, which then passed to his son, Louis I, made King of Etruria, during Napoleon’s invasion of Italy, followed by his grandson, Charles II, who become Duke of Lucca, following the Congress of Vienna in 1815.

Charles II had a tie-pin setting created for the stone. He abdicated in 1849 and the title of Duke of Parma passed to his son, Charles III, who was assassinated just five years later. The Farnese Blue then was inherited by Charles II’s grandson, Robert I (1848-1907), the last ruling Duke of Parma.

Robert I sought refuge in Austria after the unification of Italy. During his exile, the diamond was mounted on a diadem that had belonged to his mother, Louise Marie Thérèse of Artois. She had inherited the jewel from her aunt and adoptive mother, Marie-Thérèse de France, the first child of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette and their only child to survive the French Revolution. It is believed that the diamonds that adorn the diadem belonged to Marie-Antoinette herself.

After the death of Robert I in 1907, his son Elias of Bourbon, Duke of Parma, inherited both the diadem and the Farnese Blue.

These jewels even have a written record of their journey, thanks to a detailed inventory of the family jewelry compiled by Maria Anna von Habsburg (1882-1940), Archduchess of Austria.

The Farnese Blue has been kept a secret by the family and family jewelers over the centuries and hidden in a royal casket.

That is what they say.  I have a feeling that it might not be exactly true in all details, but there is a lot of history there anyhow.

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Antique Easter Card From About 1906.

Happy Easter.
TreasureGuide@comcastnet

10/10/15 Report - Queen's Jewels And The 1715 Plate Fleet. Queen Isabella. Las Arras.

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

You've heard of the Queen's Jewels I'm sure, but have you heard of Isabella Farnese?  Sometimes she is referred to as Elizabeth, which is an anglicized version of Isabella.  Isabella married Philip V and became the real mover behind the throne.

One book about Isabella was written by Edward Armstrong in 1892.  The title of the book is Termagant of Spain.  Termagant is defined as a harsh-tempered or over-bearing woman.  That is NOT how Isabella was advertised to Philip, who married her by proxy after Queen Maria Luisa passed away.

Here is the link to Armstrong's book. It provides a lot of history - mostly after 1715.

https://archive.org/details/elisabethfarnes00armsgoog

Here is what Wikipedia says about the marriage of Isabella to Philip V.

Shortly after the death of Queen Maria Luisa in 1714, the King decided to marry again. His second wife was Elisabeth of Parma, daughter of Odoardo Farnese, hereditary Prince of Parma, and Dorothea Sophie of the Palatinate.  At the age of twenty-one, on 24 December 1714, she was married by proxy in Parma.  The marriage was arranged by Cardinal Alberoni with the concurrence of the Princesse des Ursins, the Camarera Mayor ("chief of the household") of the king of Spain.

Lost Histories, a book by Joel Levy written in 2006, says the following.

Did you catch that?  She was married on Dec. 24,  1714, but refused to consummate the marriage until she received her dowry, which was being sent in eight chests on the Capitana.

I was thinking about the nine eight-escudo royals that were found this summer, and I wondered about their purpose and why so many were found together.  Then I learned about the Spanish marriage tradition of las arras.

Here is what wikipedia says about that.

Las arras, or Las arras matrimoniales (English: arrhae, wedding tokens, or unity coins^[1]) are wedding paraphernalia used in Christian wedding ceremonies in Spain, Latin American countries, and the Philippines. The tradition is also followed, with varying names and customs, in countries and communities bearing degrees of Hispanic influence.^[2] Traditionally, in Spain and Latin America, it is made up of thirteen gold coins^[1][3] presented in an ornate box or chest; in the Philippines, it is in an ornate basket or pouch.^[1][3] After being blessed by a priest, they are given or presented by the groom to the bride.  (Links in this paragraph are not active.)

Marriage Customes of the World: An Encyclopedia of Dating Customs and Wedding Traditions, by George Monger, 2013, says the following.

If the nine royals were part of las arras, then there should be four more of them.  Or maybe those royals had nothing to do with Isabella Farnese at all.

Fine gold coins were also sometimes given as earnest money in business relationships too.

It is nothing more than wild speculation without any convincing evidence to support it, but I can't think of any better reason for so many remarkable royals being together than a queen's dowry. I'm sure that Isabella would have demanded and received only the very finest.

If her dowry went down with the 1715 Fleet, was it salvaged and returned to her, or was there a substitute.  There is a lot more research to do, but I feel pretty sure that Isabella received an impressive dowry of some sort before consummating the marriage.

I haven't come to any conclusions but learned a lot in the process.  Maybe I'll find out more about Isabella's dowry and what happened to it.

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The surf is down some now and will be decreasing for the next few days, down to around one foot by Wednesday.  Then the prediction is for it to increase again.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net