6/16/20 Report - Our Ships on the Bottom of the Ocean. Gold Cross Find. Metal Detector Signals.

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

Gold Cross Laying on Sand

Find and photo by Alberto S.

The small gold cross (14KT written on the clasp) was laying on top of the (dry) sand and before picking it up I moved the coil of my CTX 3030 over it to listen to the FeCo tones and the values reported since this is my first gold cross I wanted to get an idea but, the tones and numbers kept jumping around not sure why, maybe the way it was laying on the sand, the shape of a cross and size or something else. The ctx 3030 is working fine as I double checked with a couple of coins I had found and later with an air test of the cross which gave me a solid sound and reading when moving in a horizontal position or flat over the coil, in a vertical position; silence. Beach conditions were not good at all but I needed the exercise so I am glad I went metal detecting today. Oh, and my metal detecting mistake #345 I started to walk away from the spot where the cross had been found before I went like wait, where is the chain? I retraced my steps and tried for a while but no luck. :(

Have a great evening,

Alberto S 

One good thing about all the rain we've been getting lately is the items that are uncovered by the rain.  Wind will uncover things too. 

Good idea to look for the chain.

A metal detector signal will be different for odd shaped objects and round objects.  On round objects the signal will be pretty much the same when you swing at one direction and then again at 90 degrees.  Very irregular shaped objects like the odd silver earring I showed the other day will give what I might describe as a jittery signal.  I meant to mention that at the time, but forgot.  You can usually tell the difference between a round object, a nail-shaped object and a fish hook, for example, from the audio signal alone.  Objects that aren't round, in addition to having a different audio signal when swept from different directions, will also tend to give inconsistent numbers as you hit them from different directions.

You can test that at home with various types and shapes of objects.  With practice you can learn to tell much about the shape of the object from the audio signal.

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I found an interesting paper on early Portuguese shipwrecks.  The title, Our Ships at the Bottom Ocean, immediately made me suspicious.  The title seems to suggest a group of people, including the author as chief among them, that owns the ships at the bottom of the ocean.  I thought I remembered some of the author's previous wacko statements, and the paper confirmed my suspicions.  The author seems to rank anyone and everyone that has touched a shipwreck or anything that has came off one other than he and his group, as a part of an international network of thieves.  Nonetheless, the paper does present some good information that you might enjoy reading.  It is mostly about early Portuguese shipwrecks.

Here is one paragraph to give you the idea.

There is much more like that.

Here is the link.

https://www.academia.edu/13927040/Our_Ships_at_the_Bottom_of_the_Ocean?email_work_card=title

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I felt like saying thank you to all the good police and found this Egard Watch commercial that does it for me.  Click here to view it.

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I had a lot of trouble with yesterday's post.  First I wrote a long original essay and lost it, then the post wasn't displaying correctly, so I finally took it down.

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Source: National Hurricane Center.

There is a weather system just north of Jacksonville that has a 10% of becoming a tropical storm in the next couple of days.

Our wind changed yesterday.  We only have about a two foot surf and small tides with a primary swell from the east but a secondary wind swell from the ENE.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

6/3/20 Report - Edge of Empire Symposium Topics. Mistakes I've Made and Learned From. Tropical Storm Cristobal.

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

Tropical Strorm Cristobal

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

Tropical Storm Cristobal looks to be  headed towards Louisiana.

Source: Ventusky.com

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I've been finding a lot of good information online.  Below is a link that will take you to articles on the following twelve topics.  You can read any and all of them online.

1. A group for the study of iberian seafaring – Filipe Vieira de Castro  7
2. The iberian caravel: tracing the development of a ship of discovery –  George R. Schwarz  23
3. Exploration and empire: iconographic evidence of iberian ships  of Discovery – Katie Custer  43
4. The nau of the Livro náutico: the textual excavation of a portuguese  indiaman – Alex Hazlett  63
5. The spanish navy and the ordenanzas of 1607, 1613, and 1618 –  Blanca Rodriguez Mendoza   79
6. Diego García de palacio and the instrucción náutica of 1587 –  Erika Laanela  153 7. Rigging an early 17th – century portuguese indiaman – Filipe  Vieira de Castro, Nuno Fonseca and Tiago Santos  177
8. Santo António de Tanná: story, excavation, and reconstruction –  Tiago Miguel Fraga  201
9. Spanish shipbuilding in the eighteenth century: the album  of the Marques De La Victoria – J. Bradshaw Coombes  215
10. Ship timber: forests and ships in the iberian peninsula during  the age of discovery – Pearce Paul Creasman  235
11. Nautical astrolabes – Gustavo Garcia  249
12. Design of a computer-based frame to store, manage, and divulge  information from underwater archaeological excavations: the pepper  wreck case – Carlos Monroy and Richard Furuta 275

Here is the link.

https://www.academia.edu/2026686/Edge_of_Empire._Proceedings_of_the_Symposium_held_at_the_2006_Society_for_Historical_Archaeology_Annual_Meeting_Sacramento_California?email_work_card=title

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I was thinking of some of the mistakes I've made over the years and came up with a quick list of ten.  These are mistakes I regretted enough that I kept them in mind over the years and have avoided repeating them too many times.  Some are very simply yet costly.   The one I'll mention today is very simple, yet it is something I never want to repeat.

It occurred around thirty years ago.   I parked at a state park, and walked probably a good mile or so to get to a shallow water area in front of a high-end resort that I liked to detect.  The people gathered in a small area with a sandy bottom.   I guess the surrounding sea grass kept them from spreading out more, so that helped me.   It was a small exclusive resort so there wasn't a lot of people, and there weren't many coins or good items, for that matter, but I could usually pick up one good find.  It was  not easy to get too, but there was one fellow who worked at the resort who also regularly detected the area.  He was closely watching me and what I was doing when I dug up a gold chain in the very shallow water right in front of him.  I saw him react with disgust upon seeing the flash of gold in the sunlight when I lifted my scoop out of the water.  It was a very delicate 14K Italian chain with a small Jesus charm.  Very pretty.

Anyhow I stuffed the chain in my shirt pocket and started my long walk back to the car.  When I got to the car I noticed the chain was missing from my pocket.  Additional inspection revealed a small hole in the corner of my pocket.  I had to walk back most of that mile or so before refinding the chain partly exposed in the wet sand.  I learned that it only takes a very small hole for a thin gold chain to escape.  I also learned to check my pockets before putting any good finds in them.

There was also the time my wife thought she found a very good spot and was picking up a lot of coins.  She discovered she was picking up some of the same coins because they were falling through a hole in the leather marble pouch she was using.  We both had a laugh over that one.  At least it was just coins and she didn't have to walk a mile to find her losses.

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Soaring and Mourning.

What a day of contrasts!  Saturday we saw the human spirit soar towards the stars and fall to the depths of hate and despair.  When the human spirit is free, it soars to the heavens, but when wounded, it burns cities.  The riots of this weekend reminded me very much of the Viet Nam war era protests  and riots when I was a psychology professor 50 years ago.  The only thing that surprised me this time, is that it didn't happen sooner.  The pressure was building before the George Floyd killing lit the fuse.

As Viktor Frankl, Holocaust survivor and psychiatrist, wrote: man's primary drive is not pleasure; it is the discovery and pursuit of meaning.  The life of the spirit must be maintained along with that of the  body.  When the God-given rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are taken away, you can expect an explosion.   

I am not justifying or excusing illegal or destructive behavior - just taking a look at one psychological factor that contributed to the explosiveness of the situation and at the same time holds the solution.

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The bush burned and was not consumed.
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

2/28/16 Report - More On Ship Artillery Including Swivel Guns and Others.

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

Source: http://www.americanrevolution.org/artillery.php

I am far from arriving at a conclusion about the item shown yesterday, but in the process of doing a little research have found a lot of interesting information that I want to post.

The item I showed yesterday seems from the photos to me to be close to the size of a swivel gun. Swivel guns were varied in size and shape, but you can see one example above.


The swivel gun was a small cannon named for it's mechanism of attachment. It was about the only 18th century gun that was not a "crew-served" weapon, although it's effectiveness was multiplied when manned by more than the gunner. Once mounted, almost always on a fixed base (as the block of wood shown) it may be pointed quickly to any quarter. But the swivel mechanism cannot stand heavy recoil, so the size, and hence effectiveness, of a swivel gun is severely limited.

Cannon calibers became relatively standardized during the 1600s based on the weight of the ball projectile used in the gun. The smallest standard cannon was the two-pounder, and the largest was the fifty-pounder.

That text and image is from http://www.americanrevolution.org/artillery.php, which is a very nice web site with good information about Revolutionary War artillery.

Another web site (link found below) says,  Clearly the 24lb and 16lb guns were prevalent at the time.( Note that due to a lack of internal gun foundries, most Spanish cannons were produced either in Italy or the Spanish Netherlands. But much of the shot was forged in Spain. 

The smallest caliber cannons were not mounted on wooden carriages but on the railings of the ship. These were principally guns of 5lbs or less, and their principal purpose was not to damage an enemy ship, but to repel boarders. As such they often did not carry an iron ball as shot, but sharp fragments of sharded metal which formed a deadly curtain of shrapnel when fired.
Here is the link to the web site providing that information.

http://landoflegendslv.com/01library/05research/02top/20ship/SpanishGalleons/Galleons01.html

The shot manufactured in Spain was of poor quality and frequently cracked.

I don't know much about artillery, but from what I've seen so far, I'm starting to wonder if the gun shown yesterday might be a swivel gun.  That seems to me to be closer to its size, even though the exact size is difficult to judge because of advanced state of corrosion.

Click here to see a large variety of swivel gun images.  I have seen a few examples that seem to me to match the approximate size of the one shown in yesterday's post.

It also appears to me from yesterday's photos that the breech could have been squared off some.  As you might have seen some swivel guns had a square or rectangular breech, particularly those that were breech loaded.  That opening in the breech might have also contributed to the way the item corroded.

Illustration from Peterson's Encyclopedia of Markings and Decorations on Artillery, Vol. 1. 

Click here to go directly to vol. 1 of Peterson's work. (It is a pdf file so might take a while to load.) It also also includes an excellent reference list.

In the photos of the find, I see no evidence of reinforcing rings, which seems to me to support the idea of it being a swivel gun.  It is possible that they are just worn away.

I also see no evidence of side trunnions, which also seems to me to be consistent with the idea of a swivel gun.

Like I said, I'm don't know much about artillery, and all I am doing at this point is wondering about possibilities.  I hope others will add their thoughts.  If you can tell me I'm completely wrong, please do so.

I really like these kinds of research projects because even if you don't come up with the correct answer right away, you always learn a lot in the process.  I enjoyed looking into the subject, and learned a lot myself.

For me leaning what you found can be as much fun as making the find.  It definitely adds a lot.

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On the Treasure Coast it is simply a beautiful day.  The surf is smooth.  Great day to be on the beach or in the water.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

11/19 Report - Copper Sheathing and Magnets

Picture of Copper Sheathing on Ships Bow.

A couple of days ago I posted a photo of a copper sheet found on the Treasure Coast. Mike T. sent a very informative email including a lot of good information on the use of copper sheathing including this picture.

One other thing that he mentioned is if you find copper sheathing make sure to clean and inspect the corners which is where you might find the mark of the manufacturer, patent information, etc.

I might include more of Mike's more detailed information in future posts.

David S. helped me to figure out the identity of the mystery disk that I showed a few days ago. He says, "The edge of the disk shown in the photo you posted looks to have the marks left by an oxyacetylene cutting torch on steel plate. Is it ferrous and does it respond to a magnet? If yes, then it may be a disk cut out of a piece of plate steel by a cutting torch."

David S. got it. I appreciate the expertise and help. One of the things I like about doing this blog is how much I learn.

That brings up another good subject. When you talk about treasure hunting tools, two that come immediately to mind are a metal detector and scoop or other digging tool. There are other tools that often come in handy though. One that I'll discuss now is a good magnet.

To test the disk, I used a magnet, and it stuck.

Photo of a Good Magnet.

You can use a magnet to help determine the type of metal you found.

I often use the magnet shown in this photo to test conglomerates. Some conglomerates will stick to the magnet, indicating iron contents. Heavily encrusted objects with dissolved iron in them may exhibit a light attraction to the magnet that you can feel even if the magnet won't pick up the object.

The photo below shows an encrusted object sticking to the magnet.

Don't forget that if there is a ferrous object inside, there could also be other types of objects inside the conglomerate such as coins or other things.

A good magnet can also be used with a cord or pole to retrieve iron artifacts from wells or other hard to reach places.

Overall, I think you might find a good magnet worth the investment.


Encrusted Object Sticking to a Magnet.

Caution: do not put your magnet close to magnetic computer storage media.


On another subject, laser scanners are being used to create 3-D images of caves. You can see how useful that might be.

This link provides some good examples.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/nottingham/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_9172000/9172619.stm

Forecast and Conditions.

Seas are around 4.5 feet today with northeast winds and a high tide around noon. It is looking more promising than you would think with less than five foot seas. The wind is about right and the high tides are pretty high.

While I only would rate the beaches as poor right now, with tomorrow's increasing seas and everything else, that could possibly change.

I know last weekend didn't turn out as good as hoped, but there were still some interesting pieces found, although no cobs that I know of.

Thanks to all of you who have sent emails and information lately. It helps a lot.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net