6/8/17 Report - Various Finds in One Treasure Coast Beach Hole. Diver Finds WW II Trumpet With a Story. Old Woodworking Tools Book.

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

Iron, Glass, Copper and Pottery
Fins and photo by Darrel S.

In May Darrel found this variety of object of widely different dates and composition all in the same hole.  Here is what Darrel said.

I found all these objects in the SAME HOLE!

The button, I think is part of the smaller brass or copper object. I think it is a snap off pair of pants that broke. The glass could be from bottom of gin or mallot bottle. The iron objects are from small spikes.

Imagine digging all of that from one hit! I was shocked when I saw the glass, but the shard baffled me until I turned it over and the button was attached to it. At first, I thought a maravedis coin, but after removing, could see a button. Later inspection leads me to think the button is part of the rivet or snap and somehow found it attached to middle period pottery 300 years later!

Same objects.
Photo by Darrel S.

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Trumpet Recovered From Sunken WW II Ship.
Souce: See Washington Post link below.

Navy conservator Shanna Daniel carefully cleans a smashed trumpet that was retrieved by a diver from the wreck of the USS Houston, which was sunk in battle by the Japanese in 1942 during World War II. Navy experts believe the owner's DNA might be preserved inside the instrument. (Michael Ruane/The Washington Post)...

The trumpet arrived at the lab 2 1/2 years ago, handed over by an Australian diver who found it in the wreck of the USS Houston, a World War II cruiser, off the coast of Java in Southeast Asia.

The Houston, which had been President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s favorite vessel, was the elegant flagship of the Navy’s Asiatic fleet when it was sunk in a fierce battle with the Japanese three months after the attack on Pearl Harbor...


https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/a-broken-trumpet-from-a-sunken-warship-holds-its-secrets-from-wwii/2016/02/02/f5972f38-bfa0-11e5-9443-7074c3645405_story.html?utm_term=.b61b44933a45

That is one very nice artifact with a cool story, and it was great that the Australian diver turned it in.

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As I said before I don't generally post YouTube videos.  I posted one, and then I received so many that I can't keep up with them, so I'm just saying that I'm not going to be posting links to YouTube videos.  I'm going to keep doing this blog as I've done it in the past.  There are some videos that are worth posting and that I'd like to post, but it opens up a whole new can of worms and would change what I do.  Thanks for all who have submitted YouTube links anyhow.

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I get a lot of mystery items.  It always helps to be familiar with a large variety of items, so that you have a better chance of  identifying odd finds.

Here is a neat free ebook that might be of some help.  It is Woodworking Tools 1600-1900 by Peter C. Welsh.

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/27238/27238-h/27238-h.htm

Lots of pictures.

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I'd like to hear from anyone who has posted a link to this blog or mentioned it elsewhere on the web.

As you might know, I don't do any advertising or promoting of my own.  From the beginning of this blog people told me that I should monetize it.  I know that is true, but I haven't made any attempt to do that.  I'm just happy to help anyone who wants to read it, and I can see from the stats that there are a lot of those.  I also watch for Google Pluses.  Thanks.

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More rain.  Rain continues to uncover items along the beaches.  We have a sustained weather pattern. Too bad it isn't a pattern of strong northeast winds.

The surf is going to increase a little.  Expect a two to three foot surf Friday and Saturday.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/21/16 Report - Metal Detecting Technique. A New Series of Posts Introduced.

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

I will be doing a post or a series of post on Treasure Coast finds and major trends and conclusions.  I don't know yet how many posts it will involve, but probably more than one.  I might even get started on that today.

I just received a post from SuperRick who besides visiting the Treasure Coast every once in a while does a lot of hunting for gold nuggets and meteorites out west.  Here is an email I just got from Rick.

I don't know if you remember it or not but I sold the same detector that you use because it would not read meteorites but was great for gold and deep targets! I bought it when it first hit the market and tried everything I could think of to get it to read common meteorites and it just wouldn't do it and weighing in at 6 1/2 pounds didn't help out here in the desert! 

The one thing that most guys miss is you have to spend time with any detector that you use. What should be a love affair turns out to be a nightmare for some guys because they don't understand their machine or don't know the proper way to detect with any metal detector!
Their swing is always way off of the ground and when they are coming to the end of it the detector swings up into the air even higher! So far I had two bad experiences with two different detectors that I bought for meteorites. The first one the factor took it back after I worked with them for a few months. I sent them videos of how we were setting it up and it wouldn't even read gold nuggets doing air test with the way they were telling me to set it up!
I want to thank you once again for all that you do with your Blog, your the best out there when it comes to the Fla. beaches and the history of the shipwrecks!
I hope that you have happy holidays and good health in the next new year!


Rick

Thanks Rick!  You mention a lot of very important points. 

I'm going to expand on a couple of things Rick referred to.

First, different detectors are good for different things.  A detector that might be great for one type of hunting, might be an absolute waste for another.  Rick mentions one detector that he found to be very good for certain types of targets but poor for meteorites.  Florida guys don't think much about hunting meteorites.  Florida is just not the place to do that.  

Second, it can take a lot of time to master a metal detector - some more than others.  In the past I've spent a lot of time talking about experimenting and testing with whatever detector you are going to use.

Third, I often see some very poor technique being used on the beaches.  I usually assume that the user is a beginner, but I saw one fellow recently that I don't think was a beginner.  I almost said something, but decided I wouldn't.   It was not cheap "beginner's" detector either.   It was a high end metal detector, but it was being used in a way that would make it impossible to detect a lot of good targets.  I thought maybe the fellow was backing the coil off for some specific reason.  If you don't want to detect small or normal size targets or something, you can lift your coil off the ground higher than normal.  The fellow had the coil nearly a foot off the ground, and like Rick said, was lifting it even higher at the end of the swing.

You can miss a lot of targets at the end of a swing by lifting the coil or changing direction too quickly.  Jerking the coil at the end of the swing can cause false signals, which can mask real signals.  The same goes for lifting the coil at the end of the swing. 

You may or may not realize how high your coil is from the ground, but it is worth checking to make sure that it is near the ground.  There were some people years back that used to "scrub."  Scrubbing refers to actually having your coil in contact with the ground.  I haven't seen anyone doing that for a long time. You can't do it with all detectors anyhow, and you might need a coil cover.

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Yesterday when I was talking about detectors that years ago showed target images, I was not talking about some of the more recent detectors like the CTX 3030.

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I'll introduce what might become a series of posts today.  The series, if that is what it actually turns out to be, will be called Treasure Coast Finds: Major Trends and Conclusions.

The series will be about old treasure finds going back to the mid 1900s up to today.  While thinking about the history of treasure hunting on the Treasure Coast, I realized that there are some definite trends over the past several decades and some general conclusions that can be reached.  At least it appears that way to me.  Maybe you will not agree with everything.  In that case feel free to let me know.

I'll consider discoveries made from the post - World War II era up to the present.  After the war there were a bunch of developments that came together to facilitate treasure hunting on the Treasure Coast.

There were young, healthy skilled, adventurous trained men coming out of the war ready to begin new lives.  Some were trained right here along the Treasure Coast.

Technologies developed during the war were also helpful.  Magnetometers and mine detectors developed for the military were used to find treasure on the Treasure Coast.   SCUBA technology was developed around that time too.

The products of military research and development often have peacetime applications.   A couple of days ago I referred to the development of "swarm" drone technology being used by the military, and as you know, underwater remote control devices are being used for deep sea treasure hunting.  Military research and technology is often on the leading edge.  That is why I referred to it in a post the other day.  

WW II technology will not be my topic for the proposed series, but the series will consdier the post - WW II era.  I think I might get started on that tomorrow or sometime soon.

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Still eagerly awaiting the predicted increase in surf this weekend.  We had some nice low tides lately.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/11/16 Report - More 1715 Fleeet Finds Including Mystery Item. Exploration of Coronado Expedition Site.

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

Mystery Object Found By Bob C. With Other Shipwreck Artifacts.

Another View of the Same Mystery Object.

This is a really odd one.  See if you can come up with some ideas about what it might be.

Buttons Found by Bob C.

The one on the right is the one I showed yesterday.

Lid also found by Bob C. 

These items were all found years ago.   Bob has decided to clean some of these things.  We might be able to see more then.

Thanks for the submissions Darrel.

I have some tentative ideas on the top one that I won't share just yet.  I want to see what you think.

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I found a great article originally written by Nugent Brasher for the New Mexico Historical Review. The title is Francisco Vazquez de Coronado Expedition in Tierra Doblada.  It includes a report on the artifacts of the Minnie Bell Site, which is in New Mexico.

One reason I show you things like the artifacts discussed in this article, is to help you identify the things that you might find.  It helps me.

Here is a table listing the types of artifacts found at the proposed Coronado Expedition sites.  I'll show you some similar examples from the Treasure Coast in the near future.

Here is one example of the many pictures of artifacts.

A Very Few of The Artifacts
Shown on the Chichilticale.com Web Site.

The artifacts found at this archaeological site ran from pre-Colombian to modern times.

Some of these were found by metal detecting.

I encourage you to take a look at this web site.  I think you'll like it as much as I did.

Here is the link.

http://www.chichilticale.com/tierra.htm

I'll discuss some of their finds more in the future, especially those that relate to some Treasure Coast finds.

http://stablemanagement.com/article/spanish-treasures-arizona-cruce-colonial-spanish-horses-25107

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When you send photos of items, it is a good idea if you can also tell the size, metallic composition, as well as you can make it out, and associated items, especially if you are asking for an ID, and as much as might be relevant concerning where and when the item was found.  Any of that might make a big difference.

It is not as easy to identify an item from a picture, so other information can be very helpful.

One other thing that I'd like you to include is if you want me to mention full names.  If I have any doubt about that I will usually only give the first name and last initial.

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Let me know what you think of the strange item at the top of the blog.

There are no tropical systems and a the surf will remain calm for at least a few days.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/10/16 Report - More January Treasure Coast Finds. Importance of Adjusting Your Detector Stem. Salvage of CSS Georgia.

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

Steve L. said, I love reading your posts and check for new ones daily.  I am new to detecting as of June 2015 but was lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time early December...  I wanted to share my finds with you, six lead balls a full small nail and part of a larger one.  Thanks for all your help and I look forward to more finds in the future.    

Finds and photo by Stever L.

Thanks for sharing Steve.  Nice finds!  You did well to find shipwreck items on the beach so soon after beginning detecting.

There were reports of many musket balls, shot and other lead items being found.

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This might seem like a small thing but it can make a big difference.  Adjust the length of your detector stem very carefully.  A lot of new detectorists have the stem too short and as a result their coil is too high off the ground.  An inch or two can make a big difference.  Someone emailed me about this not too long ago.

Also, if your stem is too you very well might tend to lean forward as you try to keep your coil close to the ground.  When you do that you'll get tired much more quickly.

Make the necessary adjustments so that you can maintain good posture and keep the coil as close to the ground as possible.

More frequent adjustments might be necessary when you are working uneven ground or working on a slope.

Take a minute to check your stem length.  You might be surprised how much of a difference it might make.

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Here is an excerpt from a story about the salvage of the CSS Georgia, a confederate gunship.

...More than half of the haul retrieved during the $14 million government project, however, was of a much more mundane nature: nuts, bolts, washers, bent iron rails and other material that did not shed any new light on the lives of sailors serving aboard the vessel.

Altogether, 16,697 artifacts weighing a total of 135 tons were returned to a watery grave at the bottom of the Savannah River, said Jim Jobling, project manager for the Conservation Research Laboratory at Texas A&M University, which is tasked with cataloging, cleaning and preserving artifacts from the Civil War shipwreck.

"Anything I considered to be unique, I would say, 'I want this, I want this,'" Jobling said. "I picked through everything. No unique stuff went back in the river."...

I found this article both interesting and telling.

Here is the link for the rest of the article.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/half-artifacts-confederate-gunship-returned-river-36047145

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Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net