1/2/20 Report - Gold Coins Found in A Broken Piggy Bank. Mystery Ring. Passing It On

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

Source: TimesofIsrael link below.

A hoard of seven ancient gold coins was found hidden inside a small clay juglet during a dig in the area of Yavne, in the central region of the country, the Israel Antiquities Authority said Sunday.

The coins date back to the Earlier Islamic period of the seventh-ninth centuries CE. They were found last week at the entrance to a kiln at the site.

“This may be a potter’s personal savings,” the IAA said in a statement. The jug, which was partially broken, “may have been a piggy bank,” it said...

Here is that link.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/ancient-piggy-bank-of-gold-coins-uncovered-in-yavne-dig/

 

Jerry P. sent this link to the same story.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-7840507/Hoard-1-200-year-old-Arabian-Nights-gold-coins-discovered-Israel.html

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Iowa Steve sent the following message and photo.


Got a nice 1917 Walking Liberty half dollar last Sunday in a soybean field
where there used to be a train station. Silver ring last Friday in another
bean field where there used to be a one room schoolhouse. Attached is the
picture of the ring which has some strange writing on it that I can't
figure out. Any idea what language it is?

Ring Found by Iowa Steve.

Photo by Steve.

Can anyone tell the language or significance of the marks on this ring?   Let me know.  It would be interesting to find out something about whoever might have been in the field.

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A few relatives were visiting with my wife's family on Christmas Eve.   One of the young children was excited with a coin from Aruba that he found in change.  That was the sign I had been waiting for.  I didn't say anything yet, even though I knew what I would do.

I've asked in this blog for ideas about what to do with the miscellaneous foreign coins before.  I received a few ideas, but so far had just kept the coins in waiting.  Now I knew where at least some of them would go.

I'll select a few to send to the boy that showed interest.  We'll see how it goes from there.  Time will tell.

I was surprised that my wife, who has never shown any interest in those foreign coins, started looking at them and got interested too.  I'm sure she was looking at them with a view of sending them to her young relative, but she was amazed by how many different countries there were.  She occasionally asked questions, like which country minted a particular coin, and about the denominations etc., and she was even making a list.  While answering her questions, I realized how much I had learned from those coins.   I had never really thought much about that before.

People miss opportunities simply because they do not share their enthusiasm and interests.  This little boy will be receiving an unexpected gift simply because he openly shared his excitement.  

The Bible tells us to offer hospitality to strangers because we might "entertain angels unaware."  The Anglicized Aramaic word "malachi" refers to messengers, both human and supernatural, as does the Greek word "angelous" of the Septuagint and New Testament.

Art McKee was known for his generosity and willingness to take time to give personalized tours of his museum.  He told about how one day a car of tourists stopped in the museum parking lot when the museum was closed.  Art happened to be there, and asked the visitors if they knew what this (referring to the museum) was.  The driver of the car, not knowing who Art was or what offer was about to be made, gave a quick unfriendly answer.  Art turned and walked away, and the visitors missed an opportunity to receive a personalized tour of Art's museum.  If they had only been a little more open and friendly, they would have received the gift.  Many a helping hand or offer of assistance is unwittingly turned away by a cold or unfriendly shoulder.

It goes both ways.  You can unwittingly miss an opportunity to receive by being unreceptive, and you can miss an opportunity to be a blessing.

The past few days I've described how people have generously helped others with objects or information.  It has been said that we do not own the treasures we find, we are only care-takers.   

I believe that an escudo I found was probably lost and found three times.  It was lost, salvaged, put on another ship that sank, salvaged again many years later, sold by one of the treasure companies and lost and found again.  

All of the items being salvaged from the shipwrecks today were lost at least once, and a few of them will be sold and lost again.  We don't know how many times a particular item might be lost and found.

When you get older you might think more about what to do with things you can' keep forever.   Some of those items will be passed down through the generations.  Maybe you shouldn't wait.  When you find the right owner, it might be time to do something about it.

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The tides are small now on the Treasure Coast, as is the surf.  That should open up some opportunities.

Happy Hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

12/31/19 Report - Valuable Roman Coin and Unknown Coin Find. Jupiter Beach. Passing It On.

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

Left: Very rare and valuable Roman coin found by detectorist in England.  

Right: Similar coin recently found by Sharon and submitted for ID shown in yesterday's post.

Looks like we have an interesting story.  Yesterday I posted a photo of a coin (right above) found by Sharon and submitted for ID.  On the left above is a Roman coin that sold for over half a million dollars.  

Of course there are apparent differences as well as similarities.  One seems to be gold and the other not.  The portrait seems to be of a different person and the wording is different.  Still there seems to be enough similarity, most notably in the head wear, which suggests to me that Sharon's find could be Roman.  Whether it is genuine or a reproduction or copy has not yet been determined.

Here is a bit of the story of the valuable Roman coin shown on the left.

A rare 1700-year-old coin depicting Roman ruler Allectus found by an amateur metal detectorist in a field in Kent, England, has been sold for a staggering price in the UK. The gold coin is very rare, and this set off a bidding war that smashed the auctioneer's estimate for the piece and set new records, finally being sold for £552,000 (US$700,000). It is the most money ever paid for a coin depicting Allectus and the most valuable Roman coin minted in Britain to have been sold at auction. 

The exact location of the find has not been stated, but it was near Dover, in the English County of Kent. 

Dix Noonan Web announced that the find was made by a 30-year-old amateur metal detectorist, who has followed the pursuit for seven years, while he was searching some tilled farmland with his brother... 

You can find out more about that coin by using the following link, which was submitted by William K.

https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/roman-coin-allectus-0012118

Thanks much William.

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Jupiter Inlet Beach

Photo by Joe. D.

I received the photo above and the following photo along with the following message from Joe D. yesterday.

Hello,

   I was out before the sun for low tide at the inlet! Sorry to say that the constant march of bulldozers and sand has already affected the inlet beach! Very few targets now!  They are past the condos heading north to the inlet beach, and the sand is washing ahead of them!

   Carlin Park now has a 100 yards of beachfront, and the rocks are buried under about 15 feet of sand! The only eroded beach left, is basically the Reef Club south now!

  It would be cheaper to build new buildings west of the beach, than to keep throwing money away on beach sand! If i had a nickel for every dollar they spent on sand, I'd be rich!⛱💰 

Joe D.

Jupiter.

Photo by Joe D.

Thanks Joe.

Lots of shells for the shell hunter there.

Nothing more appropriate to the New Year than the moving sands of time.

It has been said that we don't own treasure.  We are only the caretakers for a while.

That fits right in with my New Years theme and the following message I received from DB.

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I recently volunteered at a Christmas present giveaway and created a chest full of sand for the kids to dig in. I slowly filled it with every treasure I come across in my treks.

My family and I provided plastic baggies and answers to children of all ages.  I had my detector there and gave a few special kids some stories and info about hunting.  I even had a handful of children more interested in burying the treasures to replenish the box for the 125 children that came through. 

We gave over 1000 shark teeth away including some very large megs. Marbles, metal detecting finds, pottery, shells, coins, seaglass. You name it and it was in there. It was over 10 years of collecting but was my overflow. 

I cant explain how rewarding it was and hope I can store up enough to do it again someday. I know that those items sit proudly in many hiding spots. Hidden in a satchel or tucked away in a box. Only to be the seed of excitement created by the thrill of the hunt to hopefully someday bring the same joy over and over again. 

For some, it was something they had already done and found more interesting now, but others, it was just beginning.  

The best gift I could ever give on Christmas. The ability to find treasure in many things.  '

DB.



Thanks DB. Very good idea. Its good for the hobby and the children that I am sure enjoyed the experience and benefited from it.

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Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

It looks like we'll be starting 2020 off with a week of small surf on the Treasure Coast.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

Here we are about to step into a new decade.  It seems like yesterday that we were preparing for the a new millenia.  There were apocalyptic fears that every computer in the world would crash because of some glitch having to do with the computer's inability to handle a year that didn't start with 19.   Businesses wasted tons of employee time and money on preparing for some feared disaster.  Well, not much happened.   The world went on with barely a hiccup.

I just had a funny thought.  I find all kinds of junk that I end up using in one way or another.  I just enjoy using the junk I find rather than buying stuff.   I decided to list some of the useful junk I've found.

1.  Boots.  I've found boots that fit and that I used.  One pair were attached to ruined waders.  I just cut the boots off.   I got some good use out of them.  I also found fireman's boots in the Indian River that came in handy.  They have steel toes and steel plates under the soles.

2.  Reflectors.  I just found nine orange reflectors on a metal plate.  They were probably used at the end of a dead end or something like that.  I mounted them on some posts along the driveway.

3.  Wire.  I like finding old wire and have a variety of gauges.  I use it all the time.  One recent use was to make outdoor Christmas decoration hangers.  I used some to make hangers for Orchids.

4.  Old bottles.  Used as décor on a window ledge or book shelf.

5.  Tools.   Pliers, Wire Cutters, etc.  Some are badly corroded and useless, but some are in good condition.

6.  Wood and boards.  Used to make various things.

7.  PVC pipe.  Used to make a variety of things. including an outdoor Christmas tree and indoor Christmas tree stand.

8.  Coconuts.   The shells can be cut and used as planters.  I used one to make a Jack-O-Lantern for Halloween.

Those are just some off the top of my head.

12/30/19 Report - Mystery Coin for ID. Mayan Ruins Explored. Trash to Treasure.

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

Object On Right Found on Beach

Find and photo by Sharon

Sharon found the coin on the right in the photo above and is wondering if someone can identify it.  Looks like it might be an ancient Greek coin to me, but I haven't done any research.  A lot of these kinds of coins are used in modern jewelry - some being reproductions.  Let me know your thoughts on the identify of this coin.   All thoughts and opinions welcome.

Back of Same Coin Found by Sharon.

I suspect that with a little research someone will be able to come up with an exact identity for this find.

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DJ sent me the following link to a very interesting article by Zelia Nuttall published in the 1910 American Anthropologist about the archaeological exploration of the Mayan ruins found on the Isle of Sacrificios.  Good reading.

Here is the link.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/659954?seq=50&socuuid=3cb098d2-9e2f-482c-a6da-80ad83963c48&socplat=email#metadata_info_tab_contents

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Red Green Of the Red Green TV Show

Source: RedGreen.com

Red Green, the redneck comedian, philosopher and raconteur, always says,  "If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy."   I can relate that to metal detecting.  If what you find isn't pretty, it still might come in handy.

I'm always happy to find something useful on a beach, and a surprising number of things are.  Wire can often be found, for example, and even though it isn't exactly what you are looking for, I've found that it almost always comes in handy.  I use my found wire for a lot of things, including hangers for outdoor Christmas decorations.

Old coconuts, as one of many possible examples, can be useful - even if the milk and meat is no good.  Here are some things I made out of old coconuts that I picked up at the beach.

Orchid Hanger Made Out of Found Coconut Shell and Wire.

To create an orchid hanger, all I had to did was cut the top off the shell, use a drill to cut a little design in the shell, then drill a couple holes near the top to attach a hanger made out of found wire.   Insert a little coconut shell fibre and an orchid, and that is all there is to it.

Here is one way to make a planter out of a found coconut shell.

Coconut Shell Planter.

Cut the top off.  Cut a smaller bit off the bottom, and use a section of the top for the stand.  Then just add soil and a plant.

I know those kinds of things aren't what you'd like to find, but there is a lot of treasure in the trash you see, and I like finding the value in things that aren't so pretty.  I'd rather convert junk than than waste my money buying stuff.  It's living green too.

A little creativity can turn your less handsome finds into something handy.

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Yesterday I posted a review of 2019, including the most read posts, which were mostly about the storms and finds of the year.   I gave links to the most popular posts so you can go back and check out the big topics and finds of the year.  You might want to take a look at the year in review if you have not already.

It looks like the Treasure Coast surf is now down around two or three feet and will remain low for several days.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/17/19 Report - Two Hoards. Columbus Landing. 17th Century St. Augustine Shrine.

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

Ancient Coin Cache Found.
Photo by Denis Glicksman

A HOARD OF EXCEPTIONAL COINS FROM THE END OF THE XVTH CENTURY DISCOVERED IN DIJON

During an archaeological diagnostic in the center of Dijon, near the old abbey of Saint-Bénigne, an Inrap team has brought to light a coin hoard of about thirty gold and silver pieces from the second half of the XVth century, coming from Italy and the Holy Roman Empire states. This hoard, of great numismatic interest, bears the likeness of a catalog of portraits of all the great princes from the end of the Middle Ages.

Here is that link.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AncientCoins/comments/bv4cbz/the_archaeologists_of_dijon_france_have_just/

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Depiction of Christopher Columbus Landing.

Source: SpiritDailyBlog.  See link below.

Columbus day, which has traditionally been celebrated in the United States and other countries on-Oct. 12, in today's super-divisive hyper-political world, instead of a day of pride has become an opportunity to hold up and celebrate the uniquely egregious sins of Caucasian Christians.

For Christopher Columbus was not only a devout Catholic, but — like other explorers who would follow in his wake — a missionary. He considered the evangelization of the New World his primary goal...

Here is a link to an article about the religious feelings and motives of Christopher Columbus.
https://spiritdailyblog.com/commentary/hidden-history-columbus-amazing-catholicism

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St. Augustine, Fla., Oct 15, 2019 / 03:01 am (DNA)..- Bishop Felipe Estévez of St. Augustine announced Friday that the Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche has been elevated as a National Shrine by the US bishops' conference.

The Shrine is located at the Nombre de Dios mission in St. Augustine, founded in 1587. According to the Diocese of St. Augustine, it is America's oldest Marian shrine... 

Here is that link.


https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/historic-marian-shrine-in-florida-elevated-to-national-shrine-54052

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Found Contents of a Bronze Age "Tool Kit."

Bronze Age Europe was a violent place. But only recently have scientists uncovered the scope of the violence, at a 3000-year-old site in northern Germany where thousands of well-armed young men fought with sophisticated weapons in in what appears to be an epic battle. Now, a bagful of bronze artifacts and tools found at the bottom of the river in the middle of the battlefield suggests some of these warriors traveled from hundreds of kilometers away to fight. That suggests northern European societies were organized on such a large scale that leaders could call warriors to distant battlefields, long before modern communication systems and roads.

Here is the link for more about that.

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/10/3000-year-old-toolkit-suggests-skilled-warriors-crossed-europe-fight-epic-battle

Thanks to Douglas for that link.

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Source: National Hurricane Center.

As you can see from the map, there is a system in the Gulf that is expected to become a cyclone in the next forty-eight hours.

If that one affects us at all, it won't be before several days.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

7/28/19 Report - 200 Pounds of Found Ancient Coins. Space Debris. Finger Rings From Spanish Colonial Sites: Some Generalities.

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

Source: See Vietnamplus link below.

Over two-hundred pounds of ancient coins (some shown above) were found and confiscated by police.  They date back to 118 BC, but also included coins made between 621 and 1233.

Here is the link.

https://en.vietnamplus.vn/over-100kg-of-ancient-coins-discovered-in-yen-bai/156763.vnp

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Jim F. found the above item and sent the following email.

Hi TG.

Was out detecting the beach up here in Cocoa a few days ago and got a whopping coin signal on the beach. Came up a 12-45, 12-47 on my Minelab E-Trac and was a good repeatable target...the kind you always dig no matter what. I was surprised when what came up was a very light piece of metal about 3-inches square, with some flush aerospace-type rivets installed along one side and melted carbon fiber on the back. A rather jagged piece of what I think is a piece of Aluminum-Lithium aeroshell from a Space-X Falcon 9 spacecraft. The ship was aborted in 2015 at 200,000 feet running a bit over Mach 2. Hundreds of thousands of pieces were blown to the four winds almost directly over Cape Canaveral. I've found bent and twisted fragments of Berylium Copper (used in rocket engine plumbing and cooling) when the tide is right. Not long ago the beach was "re-nourished" with tons of offshore sand, and I think this may have come from deeper waters. Never know what you are going to find at the beach. I think a lot of people would have thrown this away, not knowing what it really is.Like you always say, don't toss something away until you are really sure what it is! I found the clad nickle used for scale purposed not far from it...convenient.

Cheers!

Thanks Jim.  Nice find!

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Earlier this year I mentioned the Orlando KellyCo store closing.  I just got a KellyCo brochure in the mail.  It seems they are now located in Knoxville TN.

You can find them online.

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I've mentioned this before, but I often receive photos of old silver rings and people wonder if they might be from a shipwreck.  As I've said more than once, one of the very top long-time treasure salvage guys said that a silver rings have not been found on 1715 Fleet wreck sites.  Gold rings are not unusual from the same wrecks, as you undoubtedly know.

Silver rings have been found in good numbers on 18th century Spanish colonial archaeological sites though.  The lack of silver rings on the wrecks seems very strange to me.  Why would silver rings be fairly common from 18th century Spanish colonial sites, but not found on the 1715 Fleet wrecks?  I have a few theories, but get into my theories now.

I was looking at Kathleen Deagan's book, Artifacts of the Spanish Colonial Colonies of Florida and the Caribbean, 1500 - 1800, Volume 2, and wanted to post some interesting statements about jewelry from Spanish colonial archaeological sites.  Here it is.

Apart from glass beads, finger rings are the most frequently reported jewelry items on Spanish Colonial sites.  Simple bands of glass, jet, or metal (anillos) and rings with settings (sortijas) are present throughout the colonial period.  Precious finger rings of the sixteenth century were carefully sculpted and enameled, with high, decorated box mounts (Bury, 1984:7): however, this was not the case with the early finger rings from archaeological sites, which tend to be quite humble in both design and material.


You might recall that yesterday I mentioned finding a gold enameled ring on a Treasure Coast beach. At the time I didn't think of it possibly being Spanish colonial and didn't pay much attention to it.

Deagan also mentions that the earlier rings from Spanish colonial sites were humble in both design and material.  Here is a sample of some of those shown in the Deagan book.

Source: Deagan book cited above.

That isn't the best picture, but I think you can tell that they are rings are not really very different from many inexpensive rings that you might find from later centuries.   If you would find one on a beach, you might not think much of it.  There is very little to suggest that those rings are centuries old.

Here is one of many that I could have selected that isn't very different from those shown above.  In fact it is similar to the one on the extreme right in the photo above.  (I know you can't see that photo very well.  Sorry about that.)

Silver Turquoise Ring.

The turquoise is discolored (I mentioned something about how that can happen yesterday.).  In this case the discoloration is due partly to patina.

But this ring provides some good information if you look inside.  You can clearly read the "STERLING" mark.

At first glance I would take this ring as possibly being from the 1970s, but it is really not very different in appearance from rings made centuries ago.

I might be able to make out the other mark if I do some cleaning.

Sterling Mark on Ring Shown Above.

On the other hand, the very corroded silver band shown below shows no markings at all.  That could be due to the corrosion, but maybe it never had any markings.

Corroded Silver Ring With No Identifiable Marks Found on Treasure Coast.

I'll have more examples related to this topic in the future.

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Source: nhc.noaa.gov

We now have one system with a 10% chance of becoming a cyclone in the next 48 hours.

The surf is still running one to two feet on the Treasure Coast.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net