7/8/19 Report - Another Old Button for ID. Prisoner of War Camps in Florida During WWII. Megalodon Tooth Find. Viking Boat Burials.

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

Unidentified Button Find.

As you can see, this button has a crown on the front and the back is too corroded to show much of anything.

I haven't done the research on it yet, and would appreciate any help.

I had a cup with old button finds that had accumulated over the years.  Unfortunately I didn't label them, so I don't know when or where they were found.

The button I posted yesterday has the words "EXTRA FEIN" on the back.  In German that means extra fine. I thought it might have been produced in Germany for another country because I didn't think it was very likely that I would have found a German button, but I guess it is possible.  Susan E. thought it might be a WW II German button but hadn't found the exact one yet.

I started wondering where I might have found a German WW II button.  The first thing I thought of was the German spies that came ashore during WW II, but it seems extremely unlikely that would be the source.  It seems more likely to me that someone just lost a souvenir or something.

Then I remembered that I used to do a lot of metal detecting down south in an area where there was a WW II prisoner of war camp.  I found some lists of Florida WW II prisoner of war camps, and there were a few, but they didn't list any in the area that I was thinking of, so I started wondering if I remembered that correctly.  Finally I found that I was right about that.

Since the 1920's, the Detroit-based Miami Beach Heights Corporation (headed by industrialists Robert C. Graham, Walter O. Briggs, and C.T. Fisher) owned 245 acres of undeveloped, partially swampy land that stretched from the bay to the Atlantic. Mr. Graham assumed the duties as the developer for Bal Harbour. In the 1930's, city planners Harland Bartholomew & Associates were called in to design the Village. The company made several plans and they were submitted for review to Miami Beach Heights. In 1940, World War II began and the plans were put on hold. As a goodwill gesture to the government, Robert C. Graham rented the land to the United States Air Corps for $1 per year. The Air Corps used this land to train their soldiers and established a Prisoner of War camp. The ocean front area was used as a rifle range and the barracks were set up on the west side of Collins Avenue. The camp for prisoners was located where the Bal Harbour Shops are presently... 

(Source: https://activerain.com/blogsview/484718/the-history-of-bal-harbour--florida----paradise-found----miami--fl-33154)

I used to spend a lot of time hunting in that area.  If the button I posted yesterday is a German WWII button, there is a very good chance that is where I found it.

While doing the research I learned a lot.  Did you know, there were over 425,000 prisoners of war in the United States during WW II?

I found a few Florida POW camps listed on Wikipedia.  The Bal Harbour camp was not in that list or other lists that I saw.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_War_II_prisoner-of-war_camps_in_the_United_States

Once again I'll remind you to keep good records of your finds.

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A middle school girl stumbled upon a buried treasure while spending her spring break on a beach in North Carolina.

Avery Fauth and her family love to scour the sand for shark teeth whenever they’re on a beach. But Fauth attributes her recent prehistoric find — a megalodon shark tooth — on North Topsail Beach to luck...

Here is the link.

https://nypost.com/2019/04/19/girl-finds-megalodon-shark-tooth-buried-in-sand-at-beach/?utm_source=zergnet.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=zergnet_4028701

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Source: click2houston.com.

See link below.

Two Viking burial boats are being uncovered in Sweden.


In this sort of burial, the person was placed along with his or her riches in a boat that was then put into the ground.

The archaeologists also found a sword, an ornate comb, a spear and part of a shield in the intact boat.

The identity of the man remains unknown.

The other of the two boats did not hold up as well.  It was probably damaged during work on the land in the 16th century....

It's been 50 years since the last burial ship was found in Sweden...


Here is the link.


https://www.click2houston.com/lifestyle/2-rare-viking-burial-boats-uncovered-in-sweden


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Expect continued small surf on the Treasure Coast for at least another week or so.

Let me know if you find any information on the buttons I posed yesterday and today.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

2/22/18 Report - Little Known Danger and Secret Technique for Working Crowded Swimming Areas. Mystery Solved.

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

Identified!

Ding! Ding! Ding!  Yesterday's mystery item was identified by Mitch King.  He said,

Its Plate money from Sweden. Fredrick the 1st 1720 to 1751.

You can see other similar examples by using the following link.

http://www.swedishcoppers.com/PlateMoney.html

Thanks Mitch!

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I'm going to add to what I said the other day by giving some other examples of items found and returned and also a technique that I developed and refined over the years for working in crowded swimming areas. 

In my previous post on that subject, I mentioned things like keys and eye-glasses.  Today I'll give some jewelry examples.

It is always easier when you see someone looking for something just after they lost it.  They probably have a good idea of where the item was lost.

Class rings are common jewelry finds.  On one occasion I was hunting in the shallow water at a South Florida swimming beach and two young girls approached me.  One said she lost her sister's class ring, and she wasn't supposed to have it.  It didn't take me too long to find it.  The younger sister sure was happy.

On another occasion when I was shallow water hunting, I came to an area where kids were obviously trying to find something.  One of them said somebody lost their class ring and offered them $20 if they found it.  It didn't take me long to find that one either.  No mention was made of the reward.  None was offered.

The same thing happened at another location in more shallow water.  Kids were diving and making a lot of commotion looking for something.  In this case it was a gold emerald ring that  a young lady lost.  There are times when you have to get people to clear out so you can detect an area properly.  I got the kids to move back and out of the way so I could use my detector without them getting in the way.  Again I found the ring pretty quickly.  This was one time when I received a reward.  That was very unusual in my experience.  There were plenty of times when I didn't even receive a thank you, which amazed me.  But on this occasion, after I presented the ring to the young lady, she ran up to where her blanket was, and then back down, she stuck a twenty into my shirt pocket.  She just as quickly ran off again, so that was one reward I kept.

It is always a good idea to clear people out of the search area and explain that you need room to conduct a proper search.  You want to be able to swing your coil without anyone in the way, but there is another good reason to make everybody get back. Mark out boundaries and ask people to stay outside those boundaries while you hunt.

You also want to recover the item and inspect it before anyone else sees it.  I have on multiple occasions had people attempt to claim a ring that did not belong to them, and it is not uncommon to find something other than the specific item you are looking for.   That is why you must have a good description of the item before you hunt, and why you should inspect the item for identifying information before you return it.

When I was in the water and dug an item while people were close by, I had a method of keeping the find hidden until I had a chance to take a look at it.  Immediately after getting the scoop up out of the sand but while the scoop was still under water, I vigorously shook the scoop.  That created a cloud of sand that made it impossible to see the object in the scoop.  I would then quickly stick my hand in the scoop and by feel remove it.  Of course you can quickly tell by feel if it is a ring or coin.  With the item still in your closed hand, quickly slip the item in your pocket, turn your back and distance yourself from onlookers.  When you get a chance, take a look at it, but not before you are sure no one else sees it.  It is important to get the item returned to the just owner instead of some crook.

One time when I was not yet so experienced, I was hunting in shallow water and was being followed by some kids who saw me dig what turned out to be a couple of big tokens.  They yelled at the top of their lungs so everyone on the beach heard, "He found some kind of big coins."

I actually liked nice kids being interested and would show them what I was doing and would even let them participate to some extent, but there are also obnoxious unrestrained kids that can be a problem.  You have to judge the situation.

Those are just a few examples.  I could give many more, such as the young man who did a handstand in shallow water and lost his gold chain, which was quickly detected and returned, but I wanted to give some tips.

Always be aware of your surroundings and who is around you.  The only thing I don't like about using a snorkel when hunting in shallow water is not being as aware of what is going on around me.

I've heard of some detectorists being harrassed onlookers, but that wasn't been much of a problem for me.  I avoided people to a large extent, often hunting when there weren't many people around.  I also had a stainless steel scoop that looked like it was capable of making melon balls of human flesh.

Of course there were also times when I failed to find items that were reported lost.  A New York fireman told me where he lost his NYFD ring.   He was going back to New York and gave me his address.  I looked for it several times, but never found it.

I should also mention that there are finds that the owner might not want to acknowledge for one reason or another.  One New York Yankees World Series ring was found on the Treasure Coast.  The name was in the ring.  When the player's phone number was called, the wife answered and asked where the ring was found.  When told, she said she thought to fellow lied to her and went to St. Lucie to see his girlfriend.  There are times when the owner doesn't want to acknowledge or claim an item.

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The weather is beautiful and there are lots of snow birds on the Treasure Coast beaches.

The surf continues to run in the two to four foot range.  The tides are moderate and the wind is east/southeast.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net