The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast. Copyright 2001

Saturday, April 18, 2020

4/18/20 - Mystery Find. Diggin Dog. All-Time Engaging Posts From Blog History.

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

Small Heart Pendant Find.

I got around to look at some old finds again. Some I never figured out. Here is one of those. It is a small heart pendant photographed on top of a US quarter.

Both sides have a metal mesh that is puffed out some and the frame appears to be made of two halves that were once shut at the tip. Below gives a side view (left) and shows a closeup of the tip. It looks to me like the tip was at one time soldered shut.

You can see how the mesh sides puff out so there would be room for something to be enclosed inside. The tip looks like it was connected. There are no hinges, but I sprang it open to see if I could see if anything was in it. I didn't see anything.

I'm wondering what you think. Was it made to contain something? If so, what might it be?

I would like to hear what you think. Any and all ideas appreciated.

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People are not the only ones making finds. Susan E. sent a photo of a wheatie recently unearthed in her yard by the dog. He often unearths shards and things, but this time he got a coin.

Find Made by Diggin Dog.

Photo by Susan E.

I usually check anywhere animals have dug, including mounds created by gopher tortoise.

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South Carolina will announce the opening of public beaches and stores next week. Social distancing, will still be enforced on the beaches.

Jacksonville's governor seemed to be happy with the results of his beach opening, even though there were those who protested.

Of course, as with anything these days, some people don't like it.

No one would dare repeat Roosevelt's quote, "We have nothing to fear but fear itself," these days.

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Do you know what topic addressed in this blog resulted in the most active and positive response? I received literally hundreds of emails in response to a post about a State of Florida bill that was thought to threaten beach access. I received tons of emails about that. There was almost unanimous consent among the detecting community and people were eager to add their names to a petition to prevent beach access being restricted.

Do you remember when a federal judge ordered Odyssey Marine to turn over $500 million worth of Spanish coins salvaged from a wreck to the Spanish government?

If not see https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-spain-shipwreck-idUSLNE81J01C20120220

Did you ever read about the battles between the Fishers and the government and between the State of Florida and the Federal government to determine who owns certain wrecks?

See https://people.com/archive/mel-fisher-finds-millions-under-the-sea-and-the-courts-now-say-its-all-his-vol-9-no-19/

Do you remember when St. Lucie decided to prohibit metal detecting in their parks? That also resulted in a petition and numerous emails.

How about the topic of beach renourishment? That has been a popular topic in this blog.

The rift between treasure hunters and archaeology has been a common topic. I believe it has been an important topic that has seen some improvement in recent years.

Or who owns the salvage rights, and how are finds distributed with the State of Florida.?

Or maybe you were detecting or swimming in front of a big resort or beach club and were told you couldn't do that. I've addressed that topic too.

People wonder when the storms come, why beach accesses are closed without any apparently justifiable reason.

Our tax dollars are continually dumped onto the beaches in the form of sand that won't last. We've discussed that.

I could go on, but my point is simple and undeniable: you can't separate politics from metal detecting or treasure hunting. The are intertwined. Metal detecting and treasure hunting could be banned. It has already been panned in some places, and there are those, such as some archaeologists, who would like to see it banned. And it could be if you aren't interested, informed, active and involved.

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I understand DeSantis has give municipalities the right to open additional beaches. I would expect additional beaches to open soon, but we'll see.

They really did build that wall. It is a wall of gates, barricades, and yellow tape that walls off hundreds of miles of beaches.

The surf is only around 3 or 4 feet now.

Happy Trails to You.
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

Monday, October 21, 2019

10/21/19 Report - How Things Have Changed. Magnet Fishing Kit. Most Read Posts of All Time.

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

How things have changed! The picture on the left shows three siblings born over a hundred years ago - about 1905. The second photo was taken about 1953 - almost 50 years later. The first shows the grandfather and the second shows the grandson and friends. All of the people in the photo on the left have passed away. All of the people in the second photo are still alive but now in their seventies.

Metal detectorists generally like to find old things. It is commonly said that when they dig up something old, it is like touching a piece of the past.

When you dig up an old coin, the past might not seem that different from the present, but when you dig up other items, it might be very apparent how much things have changed. You have to remember how much life has changed.

The people shown on the left grew up without electric lights, telephones or TVs in their home. Penicillin wasn't discovered until 1928. They had outhouses. They grew up on farms, milked cows with their hands, fed the chickens by hand with corn they raised on their own farms and butchered their own meet from the animals they raised. They went to town to get supplies once a week. They were born at home, and the funerals were held in their own home.

One of the things that impresses me most is how each person takes such a unique path in life. Each person starts out with a different physical constitution, different personality traits, and makes different decisions, encounters different opportunities and challenges. I know the people shown above and how their life started out and in the case of the first photo, how it ended up.

The little girl on the left was the most cheerful, giggly person in the family through her entire life. She always laughed and brought laughter to the family. Her husband (not shown in the photo) was almost the opposite), always working day to night only stopping to eat and sleep. She spent a lot of time growing food in the garden, canning food, and preparing meals.

The group on the left were the World War I generation, and the second group the Viet Nam War generation. It is a sorry fact that we can pretty much describe generations by the wars.

I can tell you a bit about each person in those pictures, but you don't want me to do that. If you look closely at the face of each person in those photos I think you'll get a sense of the individuality of each person.

When I look at those photos, I see the promise, the hope and the potential and possibilities of each of those young lives, even at a point when not one of them knows or really cares much about what the future will bring or what path their life will take. And each life is so very unique. Each person lives their own life. No two of them, even though they came from the same locale, had the same experiences. Each one encountered unique situations, challenges and opportunities, and responded to them in their own way. Each person has their own unique story. Despite the many generations each generation is unique and each person in that time and culture is unique. There will never be another you. Nobody else will have the same set of experiences. No one else will live your story. Nobody will know that story and what drove your decisions and feelings like you.

Despite the uniqueness of each person, people share a lot in common despite the different times and places. As a child you started out very much the same, with the same innocence, hope and promise of life - not knowing what lies ahead or how it will all turn out.

In your later years there are many personal stories that you be familiar with from beginning to end. You can look back over long years and see how people started out and also how many ended.

While the human spirit remains basically the same across different times and place, things change. You can see that in the photos. But that is only window dressing. The objects change, but no matter what generation or millennium you are born into, there is that same precious human spirit that encounters challenges and opportunities and successes and failures.

I'm not talking about metal detectors today, or a particular item that was found, but I am talking about the context of it all. Metal detecting is a part of your story, maybe a large part or small part. And the finds you make were once a part of someone else's story, also either big or small.

I don't think people often take time to consider how different things are now compared to a generation or two ago, let alone a century or two ago. Not only is it difficult for us to imagine, it might be nearly impossible to how it was different. The time we live in colors how we look at things from other times and places.

Things have changed, but not so much the people. The objects and surroundings have changed, but on the inside, I think people are still very much the same. No matter what the time or place, people have hopes and dreams, fears and anxieties, highs and lows, and commit brave acts of courage and kindness, and sin. The basic human condition and spirit is still the same.

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People often read old posts in this blog. I've noticed that the post I did on magnet fishing gets a lot of readers. People seem to be interested in that.

I noticed that Kellycodetectors.com is selling magnet fishing equipment. Here is one example from their online catalog.

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The more I see of reality TV, the more I'm sure it shouldn't be called that. Too much of it is staged or faked. In many cases, especially with some of the "treasure" shows, there is outright deception. There is one that aired recently that showed some magnet fishing. That segment was definitely fake. If you watch it closely, you'll catch the deception.

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Here is the list of the top nine most read posts in the history of this blog. Of course older posts continue to accumulate readers and have an advantage.

11/20 Report - 16th Century Gold Pendant Found by ...

Nov 20, 2010