2/14/14 Report - Gold and Fresh Water Pearl Bracelet Valentine's Day Find, Dare Out To Margarita & Metals Prices

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

14K Gold and Natural Pearl Bracelet

Its a good day to find something nice for the wife.  And sometimes it happens just right.

Here is a part of a nice gold and fresh water pearl bracelet that popped up just in time.

Notice the pearls are about .75 centimeters long.

I didn't know if it was gold at first.  I put it under my Celestron and could see the 14K mark.  It is small.  There was no way I could have read it without magnification.


It is a beautiful afternoon on the Treasure Coast.  I found an web site that says there was snow on the ground of 49 of the 50 states today.  Hawaii has snow on the volcano peaks, in case you were wondering about that.  Florida is the only state without snow.

Here is the link.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2014/02/13/snow-cover-usa/5454645/

And Key West has been having nice calm treasure hunting weather so the Dare is heading out to dive the Margarita site just west of the primary scatter.

Tiny 14K Mark on the Pearl Bracelet.

I might take a break from my Reading Beaches 101 series for a couple of reasons.  One reason is that it is getting long and I don't know if people are interested in all of that.  Also it is developing in my head so quickly that I can't keep up with it and I need to take a break to organize it better.  A third reason is that I realized that I am starting to go way beyond the 101 level.

The spot price of gold this morning hit $1320 before ten o'clock this morning.  It is on a run.

Silver is up this morning more than gold on a percentage basis.

This little bracelet is the kind of thing that is not easy to detect because the amount of metal is so small.  And individual links or beads, even if in a chain, are much harder to detect than a single lump of similar mass.

A lot of the time a chain is found because of a medallion or something on it.  I believe a lot of detectorists would miss most gold chains if they don't have a medallion or something larger on them than the links.

Even a small gold band will be hard to detect if it is broken.  The same band is easier to detect when it is not broken.

If you've never done it, try some experiments like that.  You might be surprised how hard it is to detect gold chains and broken bands.

The pearl bracelet is the kind of thing that can often be found in the swash.  It would go with the more easily moved and lighter thinner materials even though part (a small part) of it is gold.

The pearls are similar to small shells.  Being hooked together though, the item would move differently than individual pearls.

It is a really nice looking little bracelet.  Looks like new.  Doesn't look like it has been tumbled.

I guess I am back to Reading Beaches 101 material again.  I didn't mean to do that, but it is important stuff and determines where things will be found.

A lot of people miss watches too.  Watches often are found in areas with lighter materials.  Watches can have air trapped under the face or in the watdh and that will make them ride higher in water.  They can also be composed of a variety of materials causing detector signals that some might pass over.

The surf is only about one foot on the Treasure Coast today.  The afternoon is beautiful.

It is the type of day where you can go out and watch how things move at the edge of the water.  Not much will move, but you can see enough to learn a few things.

I might take a break from the Reading Beaches series for a day or so.

Happy Valentine's Day,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

9/13/13 Report - Now Two Hurricanes But No Immediate Threats and Collectibles Receiving Most Interest

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

National Hurricane Center Map Last Night

Today's Map.

We now have two hurricanes and one tropical depression,  Last night there was another weather system (in yellow on top map) that had a ten percent chance of becoming a cyclone.  Evidently it faded away for the time being.

There is a lot of action in the tropics now.  Things are rapidly changing.  Systems are forming and sometimes disappearing just as fast.

Gabrielle is too far north to affect us, and Humberto appears to be headed north too.


Fred D. said the tapir jaw that I posted yesterday was indeed found by him.  That is what I thought.  He offered to provide photos of other fossils when I need to show them.


 The Kovels.com Top 20 list indicates the current interests of collectors who visit the website. During August 2013 antiques enthusiasts were busy researching:

1. Occupied Japan
2. Fenton
3. Coca-Cola
4. Stoves
5. Bottle
6. Capo-Di-Monte
7. Bavaria
8. McCoy
9. Belleek
10. Milk Glass
11. Hull
12. Dresden
13. Carnival Glass
14. Nippon
15. Red Wing
16. Wedgwood
17. Cash Registers
18. Copeland Spode
19. CT-Germany
20. Lamps

I've found a few of those over the years.  You probably have too.

Occupied Japan items are often clearly marked.  I believe I've posted pictures of one small ceramic doll that was marked occupied Japan.

Coke collectibles include key chains, pins, etc., which you might have found with a metal detector.

I've found a few pieces of carnival glass in the past.  They sell easily.

I also think I once showed a Wedgewood tea pot that was found.

Anyhow, watch out for all kinds of things.

Some guys who are very good at finding things are not so good at selling them.  If you are somebody who sells finds, you should know that if you are good at selling you can often get two or three times as much out of your finds.

One key to selling well is to know the market.  Running out and selling everything and anything to a pawn shop will not get you the top price.  They'll give you as little as they can.  People often sell perfectly good jewelry for scrap value.  In my opinion that is a big mistake.  The pawn shop is going to mark it up and try to sell it for a lot more than you sold it to them.  If you make the effort you can sell often get that retail price yourself, especially with ebay and other web sites like that.

You should learn to evaluate your items.  I try to help you with that in some of my posts, such as the recent posts on diamonds.

You won't be able to evaluate everything yourself, so get to know some experts and find some web sites and resources that will help you get a good estimate of an item's value.

One good way to get a good idea of what an item might be worth is to look up similar items on sites like eBay and see what they are selling for.   I'm not talking about the asking price.  Many items do not sell because they are over priced.  See what similar items are actually selling for.

If you learn about the market for collectibles and research your items you can make a lot more from the items that you choose to sell.

If you don't know about a lot of different types of items and their market, you can actually throw away some very valuable things without ever realizing that they could be valuable.

All the time there are stories about valuables being found in a dumpster or sold for a few cents.  Don't throw away or cheaply sell perfectly good items.  The fun of selling items well is putting them in the hands of people who will appreciate and cherish them.  That is one reason why you should try to find the best buyer for your items.


 Michael H. told me of a new metal detector TV show on the Travel Channel.   I think it airs on Wednesdays if you want to watch for it.


There is a new portable tool that can tell you the source of lithic items like points.  Previously that had to be done in the lab.  Technology moves on.


On that topic, we are well on our way to a cashless society.   Disney now gives guests a bracelet to wear that carries the guest's account information and acts as their park admission ticket, room key and charge card.  You touch the bracelet to the reader at the gate, for example, or the reader on the hotel door.   You can also use it to charge items to your account when purchasing things.  Even before this they could tell you what time you entered which park and on what date.   I won't be surprised if all money is digital before long.  As far as security, your bracelet is linked to your finger print so nobody can use your bracelet.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

7/22/11 Report - Silver, Gold, Patinas, Tumbaga & More

Intricate Silver Bracelet Found.

Yesterday morning I was working the front beach where some new material had washed up over the past couple of days. I found some old almost completely dissolved spikes, crunched up copper sheeting and stuff and this silver bracelet.

I haven't found any markings on it at all, but maybe I'll be able to see some markings if it is cleaned. I don't know if I want to do that.

Viewed with a high powered loop, the sand encrustation really sparkles. It is unusual. I've seen a lot of black encrusted silver, but this really different under the loop.

I like all kinds of patinas and crusts. Sometimes I hate to remove them - and don't.

A patina can tell you a lot. Different patinas come from different environments.

When an item is under the sand or in the ocean, what it is next too can determine how it corrodes or what happens to it.

Bill P. reminded me yesterday that even gold can take on some coloration if it lays next to or on a cannon or anchor or something like that.

I've told before how even gold items can corrode. It isn't really the gold, but the alloys in the gold that corrode. You will often see green around where a gold ring has been soldered for example.

Much of the gold found by the Spaniards in South America was mined with some copper content. Copper gives color to gold and if there is a good bit, can make the gold more rigid.

Tumbaga refers to a copper, gold, and silver alloy that was often used by the South American groups to make religious items.

You might want to read more about that here.

http://www.answers.com/topic/tumbaga-1



The Mel Fisher organization says that the Dare is now on the Lost Merchant site and are checking out some hits.


You can still register to bid in the current Sedwick Online auction by using the following link.

http://www.sedwickcoins.com/internetonlyauction1/catalog.htm

This is the final week of the auction.


It might be a good time to check your scoop. Take a good look at the front edge. Any bends can make digging much more difficult. If you can't hammer the edge back into shape, you might consider getting a new scoop. Check to see how much the damaged edge affects digging.

If you dig in loose sand, you probably won't damage your scoop, but if you are digging in packed shells, rocks, or hard clay or anything like that, a bent scoop will cause a lot of additional effort.


I added an additional web site to my Tide and Surf Projections section. It gives access to the live web cams for Florida, including quite a number on the Treasure Coast.



Treasure Coast Beach forecast and Conditions.

As Bret and Cindy mover further away from us, a new tropical wave has formed about 500 miles east of the Windward Islands. This wave has about a 20% chance of developing into a cyclone in the next 48 hours.

The wind is from the south again and the seas very calm. You can expect 1.5 foot seas for the next week or so with little exception. That, of course, means very little change in conditions.

Maybe that low pressure area will develop and send us some waves before long.


Happy hunting,
TreaureGuide@comcast.net