7/2/18 Report - Cleaning the Roughest of Coins: Acid and Electrolysis Comparison. Easy to Build Electrolysis Tank.

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

1935 Buffalo Nickle

I noticed a couple of old coin finds that were heavily encrusted.  They were the size of nickles, but that is about all I could tell from the green crust, attached sand etc.  I decided to see what they were.  

I couldn't find my electrolysis equipment so I started cleaning the first coin (below) with acid.  Then I decided to throw together an electrolysis tank, which I used on the other coin. 

1935 Buffalo Nickle.

They say never clean coins, but when they are badly damaged and you know the surface will never be good, there is no harm in it.  That was the situation in this case.

The key to using either acid or electrolysis is to watch it carefully and not over do it.  You can easily remove too much material.  In this case I just wanted to see what the coins were.

I remember that the first coin I ever used electrolysis was on a Buffalo nickle and I did over do it.  I learned to watch the process carefully as it proceeds so you can stop before it goes too far.

I couldn't find the electrolysis equipment that I've used the last thirty or forty years, so I quickly grabbed what I had and made a new kit.  Here is what I used.

AC Adaptor From An Old Book Light.

I found the AC adaptor you see in the photo above, cut the cord and stripped the wires and attached alligator clips.  Got an old ice cream container, filled it with water and mixed in a spoon full of salt.  One clip was attached to a bolt and the other to the coin.  I taped the wires to the container so the items were in the water, but not the alligator clips.  Then just plug it in and check every once in a while to see how it is going.

You can see it better in person than in the photo, but the date "1935" appeared on the coin.  Also notice the clear high relief of "FIVE CENTS." The coin was evidently lost while in nice new condition, but the years in the ocean took its toll.  You can see there is still encrustation on the coin, which could easily be removed if desired.  And there is a big glob of rust under his tail.

It only took a couple hours, which I was very pleased with.   This adaptor is only 500 mAmp, which I thought might be slow, but it worked fine.

The coin that I cleaned with acid turned out to be a 1944 silver war nickle (below).

1944 Silver War Nickle.

I've given directions for cleaning coins with acid before, so I won't repeat all of that.  I use the smallest container and as little acid/water as will do the job - just enough to immerse the coin.  A plastic cap, such as a cap from a spray paint can will do.

Reverse of Acid Cleaned Silver War Nickle.

 Notice that there is still corrosion that could be removed.  Also note the P mint mark above Monticello.

It wouldn't take long to clean this one up a little better.

When I started, I didn't intend to do a comparison, and I should have taken photos of the coins before they were cleaned, but what I found out is that the the acid and electrolysis treatments were both similarly effective in about the same amount of time.

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Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a treasure diver?  Not many people have done that.  I'm not talking about an occasional recreational dive, but committing to an entire season of full time work on a treasure boat, putting everything else aside for the long shot chance of making the big discovery that most people only dream of.  I'm going to be able to tell you what that is like.

Most of us metal detect recreationally.  We metal detect when we feel like it.  We walk out on the beach and hope to find something, but we don't take the risk of committing a full season to the quest.  You never know if it will be a good season or a poor one.  It is a real gamble.

I'm going to be able to tell you how one fellow not only became a treasure diver, but also became a part of one of the biggest and most historic treasure finds of all time - the 2015 1715 Fleet 300-Year Anniversary find worth 4.5 million dollars.

I plan to do that in the near future in one form or another.

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Also, for another time, I have a summary of the courts ruling on what is thought to be the Trinite shipwreck near Cape Canaveral.

For now,
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

2/2/15 Report - Finding More With Your Detector: Balancing Noise & Sensitivity. Important Caution For Cleaning With Acid.

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

That was an exciting Super Bowl!  The winner of the whole thing was determined by a few inches.  First there was that pass that was caught after the guy laying on his back bobbled the ball and finally caught it.  Then it looked like the Seahawks would definitely score and win.  But then there was the decision to pass instead of run it in and the interception right at the goal line that won it for the Patriots.  That could have gone the other way very easily.  Just a matter of inches.

I'm temped to get into how a silly game of ball played on a chalk marked field has been elevated to one of the biggest events in the world, but I'll try to avoid that.  What I will talk about is winning and losing and how small things can make a big difference.

Have you ever wondered if you just missed that dream find by an inch, or maybe less?  Maybe you just missed it with your coil by a fraction of an inch.  Or it was just an inch too deep.  Or worse yet, you heard that faint signal but thought it was nothing good and passed it by.  It can happen.

Small things can make a big difference.  Through much experimentation I've been proving to myself how a small turn of a knob or small difference in a setting can make a big and critical difference.

Many detectorists think that a detector's response should be binary and they try to get their detector to repspond that way. (What I mean by binary is a something in which there are only two states, for example Yes/No or On/Off.)  They want to hear a good unmistakable signal if there is a good target no signal or noise at all if there is no target.  That would be the ideal, but things are seldom that simple. The world is noisy and information most often is transmitted in a background or context of noise. 

Noise is not always noise though.  Sometimes it is actually information that is not perceived, interpreted or appreciated.

One day I was using an Excalibur in the wet sand and in and out of shallow moving water, and there was another fellow up the beach a ways also using an Excalibur.  The other fellow was up away from the wet sand.  When I was putting my detector in the car after leaving the beach, the fellow came up  wanted to see what settings I was using.  He saw me detecting in the wet sand and moving water and didn't know how to do that without getting a lot of false signals.

The main difference was that he was working in discrimination mode while I was using pinpoint mode.  He was getting a lot of what we call "falsing."   I wasn't getting falsing - at least none that was bothering me.   I'm not saying that I wasn't hearing salt mineralization and other things.  I was.  But I knew what it was, and I could still hear the good signals caused by actual targets.  I can often tell the difference. 

I'm not just talking about the Excalibur here.  That is just one of many examples.  Many other detectors act very similarly.   You get something very similar, for example, between the motion and non-motion modes when using an ATX.  Yes you can ground balance etc. in motion mode, but in non-motion mode you hear more, both what you might consider noise and good targets.  That is not for beginners, but when you are ready, you might want to try learning to really use non-motion mode.

My primary message today is that if you try to get your detector operating in a binary state, giving only good signals and eliminating all noise, you're bound to loose some good targets along with the noise.  Don't be afraid of noise.  Learn to identify the sources of noise.  And, of course, learn the difference between real noise and good but marginal signals.

There are many techniques that people use to eliminate noise.  They include ground balancing, reducing sensitivity, discrimination, etc, but remember that not all noise needs to be eliminated, especially when you learn to identify the differences and what your detector is trying to tell you.

Many people do not think their detector works well in black sand.  They think they can't detect in black sand and avoid it.   Methods such as ground balancing or discriminating black sand can work o some extent but can also dramatically reduce detection of good targets.

For me, the objective is not to eliminate all noise, the objective is to hear more good signals that indicate a good target.  Yes noise will hide good signals, but many methods of reducing noise will eliminate good signals too.  My approach is to try to reduce the noise to signal ratio, but only so much.  There is a fine line between reducing noise and working with noise.  In my opinion, many people make the mistake of trying to eliminate too much noise rather than learning what the noise might be saying and learning how different sources of noise sound different. 

To some extent it is a personal matter.  Different people like to do things differently.  I'm not saying one way is right and the others wrong, but for me I prefer to work with noise rather than eliminate it along with many good signals.

That is all I'll say about that today.  Maybe I'll get more specific some other day.

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I mentioned Bill P's method of cleaning silver coins the other day.  Since I lost the original post on that, I gave you a link to a similar procedure.  Thanks to Bill's original instructions, I often use his method rather many of the other common methods.

Bill was kind enough to write in with an important reminder for using Muriatic acid.  Here it is

The method you just blogged is accurate. The most important thing to remember when diluting ANY acid is: ALWAYS ADD ACID to the water or diluting agent NEVER add the water or diluting agent to the acid. A violent reaction could occur splashing acid everywhere. Remember it this way: AAA (always add acid). Hope this helps. -Bill P.

Thanks much Bill for our continued help!

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On the Treasure Coast today I'm seeing a stiff South wind and small surf.  That is supposed to change later this week.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@Comcast.net

5/15/12 Report - Testing Metals, Drift Card & Petition

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


Tom Guidus of Wreckovery Salvage forwarded the following to me.

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From professional salvor Pat Clyne.


The “Mother” of all Battles:

We thought it would be appropriate to form this group today, May 13th, to express a dire urgency to ALL people, especially those living on our coastlines and those who visit, that your rights to our ocean’s waterways are being threatened by a startling number of bureaucrats and legislators in Washington who are planning a strategic ‘coup’ to take away individual State’s rights by federalizing our country’s coastlines and banning certain activities that we as a people have enjoyed since becoming a free nation.
...

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) is feverishly trying to pass legislation to form and extend Marine Sanctuaries on our East Coast before the Nov. elections. Although many may believe that this is a protective move to save our oceans resources (which is precisely how they present it and what they want you to believe), it is nothing more then a “Taking” of our rights to continue to practice our freedoms to enjoy and work in our professions.

Ask any fisherman, wreck diver, private salvor, or boating enthusiast living in a Marine Sanctuary and they will tell you how their rights to pursue their chosen endeavor has been either harshly restricted or totally banned once these Sanctuary’s are in place.

They MUST be STOPPED! And the only way that can happen is for us, the people of this country, who have been given this responsibility, to tell our government officials WE want to STOP this NOW! If we don’t do it NOBODY else will.

In the coming days and weeks we will be posting more information on this latest government intrusion on our private lives and ask you to participate in this “Coastline Coalition” of like minded individuals who want to see our present freedoms on the sea remain intact.   Thank You.

Sign the petition:

http://www.change.org/petitions/noaa-and-the-us-senate-stop-the-abuse-of-noaa-and-the-monitor-national-marine-sanctuary-mnms?utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition&utm_term=friend_inviter_modal

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Here is a story about a boy that found a plastic drift card.  Drift cards are used to track the flow of ocean currents.

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/11/11632530-88000-mile-journey-plastic-card-makes-landfall-in-alaska-after-33-year-sea-voyage?lite



Someone asked me about testing metals. For precious metals, I use an acid testing kit. There are also pens for testing precious metals, but I've only used the acid kits.  The acid test kits can be purchased on Amazon.com, eBay and jewelry supply retailers.

For other metals, there are other tests. A simple magnet is an easy way to identify ferrous metals.

I've posted information about testing titanium in this blog before. Use the bog search box and you'll find that post.

Here is a link to one post on acid testing.

http://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/search?q=acid+test+kit

This blog contains a lot of information. I don't think enough people use the search box or the archives. 

Here is one example of a basic gold test kit sold on Amazon.com.

http://www.amazon.com/Gold-Acid-Test-Testing-Stone/dp/B000OVPEF6

You can also get kits with acid for testing silver and platinum in addition to different purities of gold. . I'd recommend that you get both of those too.


Treasure Coast Beach Detecting Conditions.

Yesterday morning at low tide I found one interesting beach.  There were actually some cuts, some scallops, and a firm flat front beach.  Also you could see where recent high tides had deposited shells and other light materials behind the berm.

Seas will run about three feet.   The wind has been from the southeast a lot lately.  That normally builds beaches.  Wednesday it will shift around a bit, part of the time coming for the west.

I would rate beach conditions as being a 1 on my rating scale.  Some beaches are a touch better than others.  Still the probability of finding a cob or treasure coin right now is low.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net