5/21/19 Report - Buried Treasure, Pirate and Otherwise. Bernard Romans and Bleach Yard. Lost Payroll.

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

Source: Trial of the Twelve Spanish Pirates of the Schooner Panda, a Guinea Slaver (link below).

Yes Virginia, pirates did bury coins on the beach - at least that is what the book shows.  The book I'm talking about is Trial of the Twelve Spanish Pirates of the Schooner Panda, published by Lemuel Gulliver in Boston in 1834. You can read a free preview online by using the following link.

https://books.google.com/books?id=IQQWAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

In case you didn't recognize the "Yes Virginia" part, in 1897 a young girl wrote a letter to a newspaper asking if there is a Santa Clause, and that led to a very famous editorial response that included the much repeated, "Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus."

You will find the testimony describing the burying of treasure as illustrated above on page 16 of the ebook.  Testimony concerning distribution of the treasure along with other interesting events is also included. It is not easy to follow the testimony, but if you manage, I think you'll find it entertaining.

Here is a link if you want to read a very brief summary of the criminal acts leading to the trial of Don Pedro Gilbert and the other pirates of the Panda. The robbery and destruction of the Brig Mexican occurred off Stuart, Florida.  The web site presents a variety of additional information on pirates.

http://self.gutenberg.org/articles/eng/Pedro_Gilbert?View=embedded's,%20newfoundland%20and%20labrador

If Lemuel Gulliver rings a bell, it is also the name of the fictional character and narrator in Gulliver's Travels, which was written about a century earlier.  For a minute it made me wonder if the author's name on the pirate's trial book might be a pseudonym, but the same Lemuel also published a book on another trial that took place in Boston in 1834 as well as a number of other non-fiction titles, some being almanacs.

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Yesterday I referred to a Frank Hudson book entitled Lost Treasure's of Florida's East Coast and mentioned Hudson's poor reputation for accuracy.  I happened to find that book  (which turned out to be surprisingly easy) and inside found the following map of what is labeled as the St. Lucie Inlet area.  After opening the book and briefly scanning it, I was less than impressed by the contents.  Nonetheless, here is the map of what is presented as the St. Lucie Inlet, the same general area that I discussed yesterday.

Illustration Found in Frank Hudson's book,

Lost Treasures of Florida's East Coast.

I'm really not confident of much of anything shown on the map, but would not find it surprising if treasures were buried around the St. Lucie Inlet (which was located at a different locations at different times) or any other Florida East Coast inlet, for that matter.

Treasures 1 through 5 are described as (1) gold bars, (2) iron bound chest, (3) buried cannons, (4) iron bound chest, and (5) iron bound chest.

Number 6 is the most interesting as a possible lead.  Hudson says, in 1834 an army paymaster was moving $8000 in a dugout canoe up the river when it was lost in the river.  Hudson additionally wrote that if you send him a stamped envelope seeking additional details, his source, who did not want to named in the book, would provide additional details.

While I doubt the accuracy of much in that book, it could nevertheless lead to some real facts if anyone is moved to do some research.  I often start looking into one thing and find something else that was totally unexpected.

The Hudson book on buried treasures of the Florida East Coast was published in 1983.  

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Yesterday I also mentioned the "Bleach Yards" down by Gilbert's Bar and couldn't remember the map where I originally saw it.  Ron J. came to the rescue and pointed to my 9/6/15 report that discusses  Bernard Romans and provides a link to the Romans book, which contains the map.  Below is the link to that post.

https://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2015/09/9615-report-bernard-romans-and-1715.html

You might enjoy looking at both the post and book.

Thanks Ron!

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I have a lot more to talk about, but that is about it for today.

The surf is still one to two feet but Thursday will start increasing, reaching three to four feet on Friday.

We are still getting some nice low tides.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

5/20/19 Report - Treasure Lore of the Jensen and Sewall's Point Areas. Pirate Don Pedro Gilbert. Bottle Finds.

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

Source: Trial of the Twelve Spanish Pirates of the Schooner Panda, a Guinea Slaver

The Jensen and Sewall's Point area has been very much neglected in treasure lore.  There are many scattered rumors as well as finds and documented history, but the area hasn't received near the attention that has been focused on some other areas.  I'm amazed that one of Frank Hudson's books that lists 133 Florida treasure shipwrecks completely skips the area between Jupiter and Fort Pierce, for example.   It definitely deserves more attention than it receives.

A couple days ago I posted a photo of a cannon ball that was found in the Jensen area.  SW sent me the following email in response.

I am not surprised at the cannonball. I know of a small hand cannon found in a yard on Sailfish Point. There was mention by a mid 19 Century survey team of ruins in the Jenson area. I know the location but have never been granted permission to hunt. I believe it was a pirate hideout. It is also known ships used the river to bleach their sails. I have not been out for over a year due to a job change, less free time. I read the blog daily. Like you say there are many forms of treasure hunting. I still treasure hunt, just a different kind. I also have enough items to research probably the rest of my life. I have several fantastic sites I know of, some with maps. Just can't get permission to hunt. Maybe someday I will do a book, I tried a blog just do not have the dedication it takes. Best hunting to all. SW.

In this blog I've posted about Pirate Don Pedro Gilbert, who gave his name to Gilbert's Bar. If you want to research it, you should know that his name is sometimes spelled differently. In my 1/13/13 post, I gave a link to a free ebook about his trial (See photo above.)

I also remember once posting about a kid in a canoe finding a musket barrel at Indian Riverside Park, but I can't seem to find that post now.  If you can find it, please let me know.

On an old map there is an area on the river near Gilbert's Bar that is marked something like Bleech Yarde.  That is probably the same one that SW referred to.  I can't find the map right now either.

There is a TV show that I've seen a few times that shows Brent and Jonah and another fellow or two magging for a wreck off Jensen Beach.  At the end there was a find.  If I remember that one correctly, it was a sword hilt.

I'm having brain overload, I guess.

Then there are the middens at Mount Elizabeth and Mount Pisgah, and the remnants of a coquina building thought to be a pirate hangout.

But there is much more than that.  There was a novel written by a local author who conducted a lot of research and had maps and documentation of tunnels and gold at Sewall's Point.

There is also the story about a motel worker and maintenance man at an old motel that no longer exists that was located just north of the current Jensen Beach park who found a box or barrel of gold after a storm.

All that said, it is a very historic area with a lot of treasure lore.

Here is a little of the history of Sewall's Point.

http://sewallspoint.org/community/history/

 I just recalled another book by Frank Hudson that does place several found and buried treasures around that area the St. Lucie Inlet area.  The title is something like Buried Treasures of Florida's East Coast.

You can't put much faith in Frank Hudson, even though I mentioned him a couple times today.  His reputation for accuracy is not great.   I first mentioned him to illustrate how that area of the Treasure Coast hadn't received a lot of attention.

That isn't everything, of course.   I just listed the first things that I thought of.

Long ago I put together my own list derived from numerous sources.  

I  just found the printouts, but am not going to go through all of that now.

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Yesterday I posted some pictures of three Waterman's ink bottles that I found.  Here is another older one.  It is a two oz. bottle for no. 6 ink.

Waterman's Ink Bottle

Two Views.

Since I don't get many chances to metal detect anymore, I do some eye-balling when I get the urge to go hunting.  Last night I found two embossed Coca Cola bottles, which is what I was hoping to find, however they weren't as old or as valuable as what I hoped to find.

One was a Fort Pierce and the other was from Avon Park, which I think is a new one for me.

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Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/29/18 Report - Gilded Royal. Silver Bar. Meteorite Gun. Buried Treasure Imaged by Radar.

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

Gilded 8-Reales.
Source: Current Sedwick Auction ( See link below.).

Here what is described as a Royal.  It is a Potosi 8-reales, but what I found interesting in the lot description is the "faint glint of gold color from old gilding."  See the entire lot description below.

If you found it while the gilding was still full, you would be faced with a silver reale that looked like gold.  I know how that can be confusing because I once found a fake treasure coin that looked gold but had the design of a reale.  I knew very little about cobs at that point, and it was confusing.

The interesting thing about it to me is the question of when and why it was gilded.  Sedwick's once said that it is unlikely that Royal's were made for royalty because there were too many made and many of them never left the New World.  It was not unusual for Royals to be holed and gilded.

This one has something else that caught my attention.  The assayer mark looks very much like a bulls-eye.  I've pointed out that little symbol on Potosi cobs before.

Here is the Sedwick auction lot description.

Potosi, Bolivia, cob 8 reales Royal, 1650O, NGC XF details / holed. S-P35; KM-R19b; CT-400. 28.20 grams. Die match with Lazaro #111 (R3), with choice and 100% full details on both sides enhanced by contrasting toning but inevitably holed (left of crown / right of cross), faint glint of gold color from old gilding. NGC #4690085-001.

And here is the link.

https://auction.sedwickcoins.com/Potosi-Bolivia-cob-8-reales-Royal-1650O-NGC-XF-details-holed_i29836099

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Among the higher bids in the auction so far are the bids for two big silver bars.  Both have current bids of $29,000.

Silver Bar Listed in Current Sedwick Auction.
Source: See link below.

Here is one of the two similar bars.

And here is the lot description for the one shown above.

Large silver bar #510 from Potosi, 74 lb 3.5 oz troy, Class Factor 0.9, with markings of mine/date Po1621, manifest IIIIUCCCCXCI (4491) and fineness IIUCCCLXXX (2380/2400) followed by cartouche of assayer Mexia, plus various owner/shipper marks and tax stamps, from the Atocha (1622). 13-1/2" x 5-1/2" x 3". Very well-marked and well-preserved specimen of slightly less than average size, with bold manifest and owner/shipper monograms (C. Sanchez and P. Morera), clear but weaker marks of fineness, assayer, tax stamps, date (to left of manifest number) and silvermaster (V), prominent double-scoop "bite" in center. The assigned Class Factor indicates that the Fisher organization must have missed the date on this piece, which should merit a 1.0 Class Factor. From the Atocha (1622), with Fisher photo-certificate.

Here is the link.
https://auction.sedwickcoins.com/Large-silver-bar-510-from-Potosi-74-lb-3-5-oz-troy-Class-Factor-0-9-with-markings-of-mine-date-P_i29835491

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Here is a nice but older article about using radar to get images of buried objects.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn3923-satellites-hunt-for-buried-treasure/

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How about a $4.5 million gun made out of a 4.5 billion year-old meteorite?

That would be a nice and rare collectible.

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2018/04/26/holy-grail-guns-made-company-sells-4-5m-pistols-made-from-4-5-billion-year-old-meteorite.html

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Tell me about your day at the Treasure Hunters Cookout.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/12/17 - Y2K Treasure Recovered in Back Yard. Very Old Chisel. Old Metal Detecting Records. Artifact ID Guide.

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

2000 Year Old Chisel
Source: Haaretz.com web site (link below)

Archaeologists Find 2,000-year Old Chisel Used to Build the Western Wall

The metal tool was discovered at the bottom of the wall, which hadn't been build by Herod at all, other evidence shows...

Here is the link for more about that.

https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/archaeology/.premium-1.586670

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I can't believe it.  I just ran across what has to be some of my first metal detecting records.  It seems like it would have been from the first days or weeks that I had a serious metal detector.

My records include the detecting site, date (day, month), total face value of coins found up to that time, number of each type of coin found on each hunt broken down by the decade of the coin and a few additional notes.

Old Coin Shooting Records.

At that point, I would call myself a coin shooter.  ( I don't anymore.)  That is mostly what I was finding and recording in considerable detail.

On 9/26, near the beginning of the entries I had $7.53 total face value of coin finds, and on the back of the page the last row shows that by 1/3 I had found a total of 2653 coins with a total face value of $197.48.  including 432 quarters, 622 dimes, 300 nickles and 1299 pennies.  Dollar coins and halves were not included in the total value (don't know why except possibly their relative rarity).  Foreign coins were noted by not counted.  I see some Susan Anthony dollar finds, for example. The math seems to be off by less than a dollar.

As I said, I recorded the number of coins from each decade for each denomination.  Most of the hunts resulted in coins from the 60s, 70s, and 80s.  As I scan the records, I see that the first time I got many coins from the 20s, 30s and 40s was when I made a trip to Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Old Coin Shooting Records.

Well, that looks like it was my very earliest detecting.  I was surprised to see that I kept so much data when I started and can see from the records that I improved steadily and fairly quickly.  It wasn't long after that when I started targeting jewelry and quit keeping records on common coin finds, and then I only recorded jewelry finds.

I vaguely remember counting and recording finds, but I didn't remember keeping so much detail.

This goes along with very well with my 12/4 post on focus, goals, feedback loops and analysis.

Keeping good records helps you to know which sites are producing, what they produce and when they produce.  Consistent record keeping provides feedback that helps more than you might expect.  If you are trying to keep your weight or blood pressure down, for example, just monitoring those levels on a regular basis might help.

You might also want to take notice of things such as when you start to get older coins at a particular site.  That can be an important clue.

The data will also bring up important questions.  If you are seeing a decrease in finds, it will cause you to ask yourself why and what is going on.

Besides all of that, old records bring back memories.  I just wish I would have included the year along with the day and month.  When I made those records I never would have guessed that I would be looking them once again after thirty or forty years.

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I got this interesting note from Stephen L.

Hi,

Thanks so much for your daily posts, very well done.  I bought a detector a while ago to find some treasure that I buried in my back yard before Y2K.  I am embarrassed to say that I could not find it when recently tried, after a grid of about 15 test holes with a post hole digger, but after I bought my detector, found it within 30 seconds.  Since then I have only used my detector on private property with permission, relatives and such...

Thanks for writing Stephen.

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Iron Tools From 1770 - 1813
Source: An Identification Guide to Recovered Colonial and Revolutionary War Artifacts.

I've been talking a lot about pointed iron tool finds from the Treasure Coast.  One good source that might help with the identification of such artifacts is the identification guide by Timothy J. McGuire.  The picture above show shows an awl in the middle along with some files and a chisel (right) found at the site of the battle of Brownstown Creek in Wayne County Michigan.  Good resource.

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Small surf on the Treasure Coast today.  Not much change expected for a week or two.

9/22/14 Report - Gold Coin Found Nearly 3000 Years Old. Identifying Treasure Traps. Greatest U.S. Buried Treasure Ever Found. Joy of Problem-Solving.

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




Very Old Gold Coin Found by Diver.
Source: See link.

A diver saw a flash of a gold coin on the bottom while diving in shallow water.  The flash came from this coin, thought to be nearly 3000 years old.  It weighs only .63 grams.

Here is the link.

http://sofiaglobe.com/2014/09/09/diver-finds-2750-year-old-gold-coin-in-bulgaria/


Keep your eyes open.




Always be on he lookout for treasure traps too.  They can be found in a lot of different kinds of places and can collect items over long periods of time.   Not only can they collect items, but they often protect items from being found by other detectorists.

Lets start with sidewalks and roadways.   If there is a concrete walk leading up to your house, go out and drop a coin on the walk and see where it goes.   If it rolls, it might end up in the crack beside the walk.   Not only will things collect in the crack beside the walk, but they will likely not be found there.  For one thing, there is a good chance they will stand on end, and that makes it difficult to detect.   If the walk or driveway is concrete, it will likely have iron rebar in it that will keep many detectorists from detecting close to it.  So even if the site has been heavily detected, there is still a good chance that anything lost right beside the walk or driveway will still be there.

Some detectors can be operated closer to things like that than others.   With experience you can learn to detect around traps like that, getting at least some of those items.  Play around with your detector settings.   Also the sweep angle.  Maybe switch to a small coil. 

It could be an area where you can't use a detector very well but where you can dig and use a sifter.  Think of alternative methods for getting items out of spots that are difficult to detect.  

The key is to keep thinking about where there might be traps that will collect items and how you can detect or retrieve them.   A lot of detectorists will simply miss some of the best areas simply because an area is not well suited to their hunting style or techniques.

Tree roots can also trap items.   Not only can they trap items, but they will also protect items from other detectorists.  Some detectorists won't detect closely around obstacles or will give up digging when they hit a stubborn root.

Rocks can trap things too.  I've found gold rings under rocks on the beach. 

The currents will speed around rocks that are too big to be moved by the water, and that will move the sand and items will slip into the deepening depression.

I do not intend to give you an exhaustive list here, just a few examples to get you thinking.  I won't spoil all the fun of problem-solving for you, but as you scan a site always be alert to possible treasure traps and think about where things might be protected from other detectorists.

On a beach and in the water there various types of natural and man-made traps.

When I take a vacation or visit a new location, it seems that alarms are always going off in my head as I notice treasure traps and begin to drool over how much treasure has probably accumulated, and then my mind switches to thinking of different techniques for getting it out.  A whole lot of the fun for me is in the problem-solving process.


Coins from the famed Saddle Ridge Hoard, said to be the greatest buried treasure ever found in the United States, will be on display Oct. 9 - 11 at the PNG show in New York.  The display will include 50 of the found coins along with the rusty containers. 

One of the coins on display will be the finest known surviving example of a 1866-S Double Eagle without the motto.

Here is the link for more information on that.

http://www.coinweek.com/coin-clubs/saddle-ridge-coins-cans-coming-png-new-york-show/


There are no storms brewing in the Atlantic or Gulf.

The surf along the Treasure Coast today will be around one foot.  It won't be much bigger than that for a week or two. 

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@Comcast.net

4/8/12 Report - Happy Easter - Beach Conditions Upgrade

I didn't plan to post today, but I do have an upgrade worth mentioning. It probably won't last long, so I thought I better get it posted.

I'm upgrading my Treasure Coast Beach Detecting Conditions Rating from a 1(poor) to a 2.

Many parts of the beach have not eroded at all, but there are a few spots such as the one shown below that have eroded some.

Unfortunately there isn't a lot of erosion.

The beach shown in the photo had two to three foot cuts, but a lot of the area in front of the cuts was mushy. The sharpest cuts on this beach weren't caught in this photo.



One Treasure Coast Beach Saturday Showing Up To Three Foot Cuts.

I do believe that in those few areas where the water hit the beach just right a cob or two might be found.

You'll probably have to scout around to find the few better spots.

The water did get pretty high on the beach at high tide.

I'd call this a minimal 2 rating.


I do have some good historical materials for you, but won't post them until later.


Happy Easter.
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/5/12 Report - Possible Beacch Conditions Improvement Coming Soon & More

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

Recently Found Pot Shard.

Seems like a good time to remind you that when conditions are poor for one thing, they'll be good for finding something else.

The southeast winds have been piling shells up on some beaches. When that happens, cob hunting is generally poor, but lighter materials such as pot shards can be found then.

Here is one shard that was found by one of this blog's readers at one beach where shells have been piling up recently.


I saw a couple programs of the American Digger last night. If you don't already know, the main character (detectorist) is former wrestler Rick Savage. I didn't care for the way the show was done. Too much put-on drama for me. But what do you expect from a pro wrestler?

If you are not a relic hunter or specialized collector you probably would not have known that many of the items they were finding would bring such high price - hundreds of dollars for antique saws, augers, wrenches, and rusty things that some people might have just thrown away. That to me was probably the most worthwhile part of the program.

It always helps to have a broad familiarity with a variety of types of hunting and variety of types of finds. I bet most people have discarded something that was actually worth some good money. They just didn't realize it at the time.

The show might give some people the idea of going out and buying a detector only to find that it isn't actually all that easy.


Kovels Komments says, A copper fountain in San Francisco by Claire Falkenstein (1908-1997) has been stolen and probably sold for scrap value. Falkenstein was an artist who made large metal architectural pieces, including the doors of a museum in Venice, Italy, as well as unique metal jewelry. Her fame and the prices of her works are both increasing. Thefts of outdoor art are becoming a major problem.

The price of scrap metals is good these days. I wouldn't scrap expensive pieces of art, but don't pass up junk that has scrap value.



Sometimes when I post something on a topic, I happen to run into other things on the same topic. I was talking about fake cobs the other day and happened to run across this article on a fake 1799 8-reale. Unfortunately the quality of the counterfeit is pretty darn good. Too good, in fact.

The article is by Michael Fahey and published in the Expert Advice section of Coin World.

Here is one quote from the article.

Fake silver dollar-sized coins have become a specialty of the counterfeiters operating in Asia. U.S. Trade dollars, Bust dollars and Seated dollars have been targeted, as well as Spanish Colonial 8-real coins, European talers, Japanese yen and Trade dollars, and a huge variety of Chinese dollar coins.

If you have a technical interest in counterfeit coins, you'll want to read this article.

http://www.coinworld.com/articles/fake-1799-mo-fm-8-real-coin/


Treasure Coast Beach Conditions and Forecast.

Beach detecting conditions remain poor for the time being.

The wind will be out of the west tomorrow and the seas down to around one foot. That should make the water inviting. Too bad there is so much sand in the shallow water.

But the good news is Saturday. The wind will switch around and be coming out of the northeast. Seas are predicted to be up to seven feet or so. If it actually happens that way, there will be a good chance of seeing some cuts. Too bad there is so much sand that needs to be moved.

It might take more than one day to improve conditions very much.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

3/9/12 Report - Info on Religious Medallion, Detecting Self-Test & Blockade Runners

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

A Treasure Coast Beach This Morning.

After two days of southeast winds, this isn't surprising. A lot of seaweed was washing up on our beaches.

Sea weed is a bad sign that indicates that a beach is filling.

The cut beach that i showed a day or two ago deteriorated. It still had some cliffs, but also had sea weed and had filled in. The beach in front of what remained of the cut was now mushy where it was firm before. All of that means that the sand was coming in.

I'm downgrading my Treasure Coast Beach Conditions rating to a 1(poor) again.

The Whites Dual Pulse is an easy swinging detector. That is what I used today because I sprained my back the other day and it feels lighter than a lot of other detectors because it is well balanced.

One detecting tip that I have for today is when going along a beach and you aren't hearing hardly any signals, deposit a few test targets of your own behind you, then on the way back see how many of them you miss. That will give you a self-check. I'll bet that at least 50% of detectorists will be surprised how many they miss.

If you try this self-check where the waves might hit, bury the test objects under a couple of inches of sand so they won't be washed away.

I'm not saying that it is always necessary to cover every inch of sand on a beach. I often use a loose scan pattern when I am sampling an area, but there are times when you should cover every inch. By using some test objects you will learn just how much you might be missing.

Concerning the medallion that I posted yesterday for ID, Laura Strolia, author the the book, The Marigalera of the 1715 Fleet, sent in some good information. I thought she might know something about the medallion.

Here is what she said.

The lettering on the one side refers to St. Ignatius of Loyola of the Society of Jesus. He is shown as a courageous Christian knight, as he fought in many battles early on in his life. The image depicts St. Ignatius defeating a dragon like St. George had done centuries before. This act represents ideal Christian chivalry, thus making him the patron saint of all soldiers. St. Ignatius was said to have laid down his sword under the Blessed Virgin Mary of Montserrat, and he then dedicated his life to God.

The letters and image on the reverse side refer to the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception who was born without original sin.

The Jesuit collection at St. Louis University holds a silver reliquary showing St. Ignatius of Loyola on one side and the Immaculate Conception on the back of it. It dates back to 1650, so the combination of these two images on artifacts goes back a couple hundred years.

Thanks for the help Laura.

When you send in an item for ID, please try to get a good clear photo. Many cameras won't focus well when the object is to close to the lens. Also provide as much information as possible, such as size, material, and any associated finds or anything that might provide some clues.

I can not post every submitted item. And i certainly can't ID every item.

Just because an item is old doesn't necessarily mean that it was lost a long time ago. For example, I dug up a wheat penny the other day, but I also recently found one in circulation.

People sometimes carry around old things. If it shows the wear of time and is found with other similarly old items, that might help to narrow things down a bit.

Unfortunately items that have been in salt water can corrode very quickly. I recently dug up one of the new state quarters that was completely green encrusted and corroded. It certainly wan't old, but it looked like it would be. The soil or context that items are lost in have a lot to do with how they are protected or how they corrode.

I mentioned the Diggers TV program the other day. I found it hard to believe that they were digging up such old items in such good condition. Some of those items didn't look like they had been used at all.


Artifacts from the blockade runner, Modern Greece, will be preserved after sitting for fifty years in storage tanks.

A systematic survey of blockade runners off the North Carolina Coast is planned before those wrecks deteriorate even more.

Here is the link.

http://www.kjct8.com/news/30635467/detail.html

The seas will be slacking off a bit tomorrow and then return to about seven feet or so Sunday. I'm not encouraged by the predicted wind direction though.

The high tide this evening is going to be higher than normal.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

3/2/12 - Owner of Found Ring Wanted & Don't Lose Anything Old Even If You Are

1946 Class Ring.

This ring is the typical style for a class ring from the forties.

People lose things. That's obvious. I'd be surprised if you haven't lost something of sentimental value. Most people do at one time or another. And it can be heart-breaking. It is especially nice to celebrate with people when the lost is found.

Someone lost this class ring. It was found along a wooded path in West Virginia. The path was at one time an Indian and wagon trail. It is the path that my wife's mother used when she walked to school back in the 1940s. It was probably lost decades ago, but you can't be sure of that. Anyhow, attempts to locate the owner have failed and the owner may well have passed on.


If this had been found on Florida State lands, since it is well over 50 years old, it would be classified as an artifact, and you would not be allowed to pick it up if you found it. (If I'm wrong about the technical reading of the law, let me know. The Florida Public Archaeology Network [FPAN] that I mentioned the other day admits that the detecting laws are confusing.)

Interesting! I guess I could take the person who lost the ring to see where it was so she or he could see its final resting place. Maybe some archaeologist would excavated it and the state would claim it. Maybe they would write academic articles about its historic and archaeological significance. Of course I'm kidding, but to make a point.

While I'm all for protecting history for the people, not from the people, this is way too far-reaching. I'm sure many of you own items that are old enough that technically if they were dropped on state property and picked up again, you could have your car confiscated. Don't you think that is a little ridiculous.

I know that Representative Hays says that the new bill applies only to excavations, and that is true if you exclude the other things that it applies to.

Did you notice that you can use a detector in state waters but you are not allowed to "disturb' the bottom (dig)? Isn't that funny. Its like saying you can have all the food you want as long as you don't eat any of it.

Enough of that topic for today. Although I could go on about it forever, this is not the primary forum for discussion of Florida SB 868.

I received the following via email and am posting it with the hope that the lost ring might be returned to the owner.

We found a ring at Fisherman`s Village in Punta Gorda Florida shortly after Christmas this year (late Dec.2011 or early Jan 2012). I ran a found ad in the paper but no one has had the correct identifying information. The next time I was in PG was last week. I went to the police dept. and then it occur ed to me that Fisherman`s Village might have a security office. I went to the main office and told them about the ring. The woman told me a family had come in and reported losing the ring. They were just passing through and continued to call the office several times after they returned home as the ring evidently had great sentimental value. However, she (the woman in the office) had not kept the contact information of the family that lost the ring and they have not called back in a while.

If you lost the ring, describe the ring and any identifying marks along with contact information and I will send your email to the finder.


On a very positive note, one politician saw the light. A few months ago, in the summer of 2011, Mayor Mike Harris of Carthage Missouri,said “exaggerated and erroneous information” led the council to give preliminary approval to an ordinance controlling metal detecting in city parks.

At Harris’ request, the Carthage City Council tabled indefinitely final consideration of the ordinance that would have required anyone wanting to use a metal detector in a city park to sign a request sheet and turn any artifact that was older than 100 years over to the city.

Here is the link to that article.

http://www.carthagepress.com/news/x1837733881/Council-nixes-archeology-ordinance

(Thanks to James F. for this link.)

Maybe something like that can happen in Florida if our law makers will sit back and deliberate long enough to separate fact from fancy. I know that can be difficult and I know they are getting an earful of erroneous information.

Back to lost rings.

Jostens provides a list of found class rings on their site.

Here is the link.

http://www.jostens.com/rings/class_rings_cp_found_rings.html

The rings in the their reported lost database go back to the thirties. Again, now a protected artifact if found in Florida.

Class rings are can be pretty heavy. I've seen some well over an ounce.

There are other online databases for reporting lost rings and locating found rings.

They need to be combines somehow though.


Treasure Coast Beach Detecting Conditions and Forecast.

The wind is now from the south and the seas running around three feet. Detecting conditions are not good on the Treasure Coast.

Unfortunately, the predictions are not as good as they were a day ago. Yesterday the surf web sites were predicting 7.5 seas for the Fort Pierce area next week. That has now been reduced to more like five or six foot seas.

I doubt that will be enough to significantly improve detecting conditions.

Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

2/21/12 Report - Conditions Report & Video

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

One Old Cut On the Treasure Coast This Morning.

This is the remains of a cut that was made a week or so ago. Since then it has filled in some.

There is a bunch of mushy sand at the bottom of the cut.

The recent high tide was doing nothing other than wetting the front of the old deteriorated cut this morning.

The cut was originally over three feet high.




A New Cut on the Treasure Coast This Morning.

Unlike the one above it is new. Still not worth much.

There is mushy sand in front of this one too.

This cut is a foot or less. It could possibly develop a little more, but not enough to be very interesting.


Here is a good HD video of the renourishment project at the Fort Pierce inlet.

It shows the sand being pumped onto the beach, being spread by a Caterpillar. Also the crane and associated boats.

Use the BACK arrow to return to the blog when done viewing the video.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihSKn6c8VdE

How many months will this sand remain in place? Probably no more than the few months the last renourishment lasted.

I heard this sand is coming from off-shore about five miles south of the inlet. That could be interesting, but I haven't seen any evidence of exactly where it is being obtained.

They are just at the beginning of this project.

This mornings look at the beach wasn't real promising. I'm sticking with my 1 beach conditions rating.

Well, I'm going to leave it at that for today. Blogger doesn't seem to be working to well today.

I hope you take a look at the video. It was made with a new HD Flip Cam.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

2/12/12 Report - Huge Sotheby's Spanish Coin Auction & A Little Beach Experiment

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

Only two more detecting days left before Valentines Day!

Photo Received by Email From Sotheby's.

The Archer M. Huntington Collection of 37,895 coins relating to the history of Spain will be sold as a single lot at auction by Sotheby's ending on 8 March 2012. You can pick up this nice collection if you have enough money. The collection is presently owned by the Hispanic Society of America (HSA) and is expected to bring in $25 to $35 million. There are some really exceptional and rare examples in this collection.

Here is a press release from Sotheby's describing the collection.

http://www.sothebys.com/content/dam/sothebys/PDFs/Huntington_Coins_pressrelease.pdf

Some nice photos too.

And here is a link to an excellent 55 page overview of the collection, including more nice photos and some good history.

http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1162850547717746190&postID=4646250314141064512


I mentioned a little experiment I tried the other day. I wanted to find out how the waves would move a coin from the base of a cut. I placed a penny at the base of a cut where some sand had just slid down and waited for some wave action to move the coin. The first few waves barely reached the coin and didn't move it at all. Then a wave crashed into the base of the cut and the penny quickly disappeared.

I didn't see how it moved. I don't know if it flipped, slid or what. But it appeared to move a good distance quickly.

A few more waves hit the same area in rapid succession and I couldn't find the coin until the waves paused for a minute or so. I then relocated the penny, about two yards away from the base of the cut down the slope and about three yards south of its original location.

That is pretty much what I expected.

You will generally find that coins move south on East Coast beaches. Often you'll find good accumulations of items in dips in the water just south of where most people collect on a beach.

I thought that maybe the coin originally moved farther away from the cut on the first wave and was then moved back up a short distance from subsequent waves, but I don't know that for sure.

My experiment seemed to illustrate to me one way that what I call "coin lines" are created.

When found the coin was still close to the top of the sand even though the sand was mushy. Of course I'm only talking about a few minutes here.

I have some ideas on how to improve the experiment and will look into this more before long.


Treasure Coast Beach Forecast and Conditions.

It is a little chilly this morning. Especially on the windy beach. It got down into the thirties along the Treasure Coast last night.

We have some good wind out of the North/Northwest this morning. And the seas are up pretty good - over six feet this morning. Overall that should help.

I'm rating beach conditions as a strong 2 now.

The seas will remain fairly steady throughout the day and then start to decrease tomorrow. It would probably be a good idea to hit the low tide zone on Tuesday or so. Tuesday and later in the week will have considerable smaller seas.

I hope to continue some of my experiments under current conditions if I get a chance.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/28/12 Report - Woodlawn Park & Using Old Postcards for Research

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

St. Pete Pier Postcard.

A couple of days ago I mentioned Tarzan Park, a tourist attraction in Vero back around 1900, and yesterday I suggested maybe trying to find some of the old tourist spots to detect while the local beaches are sanded in.

James F. sent me a link to a 1997 article about Woodland Park, which he has been hoping to locate. Woodland Park is not on the Treasure Coast but is the type of place I was talking about and could be a dream of a detecting site.

From what the article says the amusement park was in operation in 1917, and was a tourist haven. It was on the shores of the St. Johns River and served by paddlewheelers. It was sometimes referred to as "The Gateway to South Florida," or "The City Substantial."

Farmer Schmelz created the amusement park on top of a Timucuan midden mound on several acres of woody swamp land a few hundred yards from Lake Monroe.

It had a dance hall build on stilts over Lake Monroe and a gigantic swimming pool and many rides and attractions.

That would be a great place to research and detect. If you want to go after it, I'd suggest letting James or this blog know what you find. James was generous enough to provide the lead and said I could post what he found.

The site could provide both some good water and dry land hunting. Just finding out where it was would be a fun project and quite an accomplishment.

One reader of this blog took a lead that I provided earlier in this blog and located the site and information about the Walton Hotel and then detected the site.

That is the type of thing you can do if you are tired of detecting the same old beaches that everybody else detects over and over again. Of course you have to do some research, but that can be very worthwhile.

One tool I'd suggest using is a good old USGS topological map.

Another resource that I like to use is old picture postcards.

At the top of this post you see the St. Pete pier. I believe that postcard is from the fifties.

Can you imagine all of the stuff that is in the water below that pier? Of course there would be tons and tons of lead, but also a lot of other things.

When using a postcard like that, notice the background and all of the details such as the boats and where things were back then. It looks like there might have been a ferry or shuttle boat there, but maybe just a fishing or sight-seeing boat.

You can also see where people were gathering on the beach.

Old Postcard Showing Location of a Cabin.

This one isn't of Florida but it is a good example. Somebody marked the location of a cabin on this nice aerial view along with the mileage to the cabin.


Tresure Coast Beach Conditions and Forecast.

The wind has shifted as a front comes through and is now coming from the north/northwest. Seas are still running around two or three feet, so conditions haven't changed yet.

We're still expecting five foot seas on Monday. That will give us some chance of improvement.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/26/12 Report - Tarzan Park, Cob ID & Making Important Detector Rod Adjustments

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

Detectorist on Treasure Coast Treasure Beach Yesterday Morning.

As you undoubtedly know, local beach conditions have not been good lately.

Today seas are running about three feet and will continue at about that level or less until Monday when the we are expecting an increase to up around five feet. Hopefully that will happen and other factors align well.


If you've been reading this blog very long, you probably know something about the Vero Man site. I've mentioned it a few times over the years.

If you don't know about that, here is an article that will give you the background.

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2010/mar/04/scientists-urge-full-scale-excavation-of-vero/


And here is an old (1934) travel article on Tarzan Park. I just found out that it was once called that and was a real tourist attraction back in the day.

Use this link and scroll down to the second page.

http://search.aol.com/aol/search?query=tarzan+park+vero&s_it=keyword_rollover

That gives some nice history.


If you hunt some of the older tourist spots or picnic locations you'll probably find some old silverware like the following.

I'll show some of that, maybe tomorrow.


Here is the cob picture that I showed a few days ago and asked what you could see on it.

This one isn't difficult. You can clearly see a lot of information on it.


It is a 2-reale. You see the denomination on the first line, center space.
..
Potosi mint. You can see the "P" indicating that in the upper left space.

The assayer mark is "VR." Lower left space, and partially visible in the upper right space.

That would be Pedro de Villar, who worked at the Potosi mint where you will see that mark 1684 to 1697.


The "86" indicates the year 1686.

That was pretty easy.


Have you adjusted your the rod on your detector? It makes a big difference. If it is too short, you could well lose an inch or two in detecting depth by swinging your coil too high.

I know you can adjust your posture or swing to get your coil at the proper height, but that could put you in a position that will put extra strain on your back or tire you out quickly. And the natural tendency is to eventually get lax and let the coil lift inches off of the surface.

Setting your rod at the proper length could affect you more than you think.

I notice a lot of people running around with their coil a few inches off of the ground. And although I'm not one of the many people who think depth is all that important, it doesn't make sense to diminish what your detector can doing for you.

If you have the rod adjusted to be too long, you'll probably use more energy keeping the coil lifted and out in front of you, and that will add additional strain and more quickly tire you out.

This is probably one of the most overlooked and easiest detector adjustments that you can make, and it could improve your detector's performance and make detecting easier for you.

The next time you go out, why don't you take the time to check the length of your rod and adjust it for optimal use.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/30/11 Report - A Big Clump, Sunken Plane, Ships Under Sand & Pigs Teeth

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

14K Band Beach Find.

This is the type of thing that is being reported these days from the Treasure Coast. More modern jewelry than older stuff.

I guess we are in the tourist season. And the beaches have been too sandy to find very many old items.



The wrecks of two 19th Century American whaling ships have been discovered below a beach in Western Australia.

Here is the link to the video.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-12-28/story-4/3750362

You never know what might be under all that sand.


I thought this was a bit unusual. I never saw a modern bottle in a clump like this before. I'm sure it isn't that unusual, but it was for me.

The bottle is a vintage Royal Crown cola bottle. Other pieces of glass besides the bottle, shells and other things can also be seen sticking out of the clump.

It is always a good idea to thoroughly check out any clumps. You never know what might be in there. I've seen silver cobs stuck to iron spikes, for example.


A WWII era Navy plane was recently discovered by divers about four miles east of Jupiter in a couple hundred feet of water. The Navy says don't touch it.

Here is the link to the story.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/aviation-enthusiasts-work-to-identify-plane-found-in-2053582.html?printArticle=y


Wild Pig Jaw.

Something else a bit unusual. I've never seen one of those on a beach before.

I was interested in it because I recently picked up a fossil tooth that I thought might be a peccary tooth so I figured this gave me a good chance to see what modern pig teeth look like.

I'll post possible peccary tooth someday soon. Fred D. will probably be able to tell me if that is what it is.



The wind is from the northeast and the seas are pretty calm and will remain that way through the weekend.

I'd hunt the beach fronts while the seas are down.

A cold front will be coming through soon and the seas will begin to increase again by Monday.


Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

10/31/11 Report - A Few Cut Beaches - Continued Level 2 Beach Conditions Rating

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

Ye Olde Pirate Dog.


On stormy moon lit nights you can hear him howl when someone draws near his master's treasure.

Happy Halloween!



Today I found a couple of beaches that were cut. Below is one of those.

One Treasure Coast Beach This Morning.

Both beaches were cut about the same. Three foot and sometimes four foot cuts.

They weren't extremely long. And neither were on primary treasure beaches.

In the above photo, you can see the new seaweed, indicating that the beach has added a little sand since these cuts were originally created.

At low tide I was finding coins and things. Many were modern coins (mostly quarters) but not recent drops. You could tell that from the extent of the corrosion.

Unfortunately I got chased ouf of a coin hole by the incoming tide before I could clean it out. I coudn't get to the best part of that hole yet.

Although I found two cut beaches this morning, the other beaches I saw were not cut. In fact they were very sloppy - mushy and junky.

These cut beaches, I might have mentioned, were not located on any of the most well known and productive treasure beaches.

I got a variety of reports from various beaches yesterday, and they mostly confirmed what I said and showed yesterday.

The seas are not going to slacken for a while. In fact the surf web sites are predicting seven foot and higher seas for later tomorrow. So that will be another chance for improvement.

So far, there hasn't been much additional improvement at all. Just a few spots looked better today.

Even though the wind is coming from the north and northwest, the swells are hitting almost directly from the east.

The better spots are few and scattered. That means you have to hunt for them.

I'm sticking with a 2 rating on my Treasure Coast Treasure Beach Detecting Scale.

To remind you, it is a five point scale with 1 being poor and 5 excellent.


The following signs were posted at various St. Lucie County Beaches.




If any you know what this is about, let me know so I can share it.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

9/12/11 Report - Eight-Reale Found

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

8 Reale Found by Dean C.

Here is a great recent find. I told you before last weekend, I think it was, that there would be some cobs found. This is one photo of a find that was submitted to me a day or two ago.

It is reported to have been found "north of Jupiter inlet."

I don't know if the photo shows all of the detail that actually shows on the cob or not. Like any cob, some of the design is undoubtedly not present.

Anyhow, it appears to be something like the eight-reale below, which you can use as a guide.



The find appears to be a Mexican mint something like this example.

The mint and assayer mark is to the left of the shield in the photo. It appears that it might be an OMP.

If the assayer is "P" it would be an unidentified assayer that worked at the Mexican mint from 1634 to 1665.

The "8," indicating the denomination, seems to be a blur to the right of the shield. And is often the case, you can't see much of the information around the edge of the cob.

A photo of the other side of the cob showing the cross could quickly verify the Mexican mint.

I think it is always handy to have a good example of similar coins to show you where things should appear.


Do you know how sometimes the world seems like nothing more than a conspiracy to get in the way of you doing something you want to do? Well, it has been that way for me lately. I can't complain though. No big deal. But I wanted to get out to the beach to detect and take a look at conditions, yet things got in my way and I didn't get out very much at all.

I did manage to get in some beach time the past few days, but very little. It was so little that I couldn't do this blog the way that I expect to or want to. I just didn't get a chance to look around as much as I wanted and didn't get as much chance to detect as much as I wanted. And then when I tried to do my posts, google was giving me some trouble.

If I was able to get out more the past few days, I would have given more detailed condition updates, and even though I had some technical difficulties, I did manage to get a little done. I'll try to catch up some. It looks like I'll have a little more time and the technical problems seem to be solved.

I'll leave this for now and try to get back with more details information soon - maybe later today.


Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

10/11/11 Report - Sedwick Coins 10th Treasure Auction

I'm going to have to sum up what happened this past weekend and today some other time. I got busy with other things and will have to catch up some other time.

I have some finds to clean and photo for a later date.


I received a press release from Sedwick Coins so I'll just post it as I received it today.

Here goes.


SEDWICK ANNOUNCES TENTH AUCTION

Winter Park, FL--Daniel Frank Sedwick, LLC has just opened their Treasure and World Coin Auction #10 for bidding, closing live on the Internet in four sessions on October 25-26 (Tuesday-Wednesday), viewable online at www.Auction.SedwickCoins.com. The coin lots for this auction will be available for viewing at the A.N.A.’s National Money Show in Pittsburgh, PA, October 13-15, with private viewing at Sedwick’s office in Winter Park (by appointment only) before and after the show.

Of the 1400+ lots in Sedwick’s latest auction, more than 240 lots are gold coins from around the world. Over 100 of these are gold cobs, most of them comprising The Santa Fe Collection of dated Bogotá cob 2 escudos, a landmark reference collection of over 50 different dates, showing changes of styles and assayers over the 130 years of their production, including several “first and finest knowns.”

“The Santa Fe Collection was carefully formed within the past decade with an emphasis on clearly visible dates,” says firm owner Daniel Sedwick. “Misreading partial dates has created much confusion in this series, which this educational collection will serve to clear up.”

But the single most important gold item in the sale is a Brazilian gold monetized ingot of 1832, cast at the Serro Frio foundry under Emperor Pedro II, a very late and exceptionally rare example with its original foundry certificate (known as a guia).

“Every time one of these Brazilian ingots comes up for sale it is a major numismatic event, and ours has reason to be even more so,” says Sedwick’s assistant Agustín (Augi) García, emphasizing that less than 10% of the known ingots still have their original guias.

Other significant pieces of gold in the auction include: a gold bar from the “Tumbaga” wreck (ca. 1528), one of only a handful known, cast from the first spoils of New World conquest; a high-grade emerald cross from the Spanish 1715 Fleet; a filigree devotional scapular from a ca.-1800 wreck (unidentified); and the ornate gold ring embedded in debris from the Spanish 1733 Fleet that was featured on the cover of Flash of Gold, a classic treasure-hunting book written by Marty Meylach in 1971.

The auction will also feature a large number of silver ingots, including “tumbaga” (ca. 1528) bars, large Atocha (1622) bars, neatly cast Dutch bars (early 1700s), and a handful of others, all from shipwrecks. Shipwreck coins in this auction include a significant offering of dated and rare cob coins from the São José wreck of 1622 and countermarked Potosí 8 reales and 4 reales from the Capitana (1654) and Maravillas (1656) wrecks.

Non-shipwreck cobs are well represented in this auction also, with more non-wreck 8 reales than have ever been offered in any of Sedwick’s previous sales, including several date-runs and big wholesale groups of chopmarked Mexican 8 reales and Panama-hoard (ca. 1629) Potosí 8 reales. There is also a significant date-run collection of Lima and Potosí cob 4 reales, as well as Hearts, Royals and a unique machine-made trial-strike Guatemala 2 reales of 1742.

Ancient coins and world silver coins in this sale include Chinese ingots, some very rare early Colombian issues, important French coins, and Mint State Mexican pillar dollars, in addition to medals and tokens and banknotes.

As usual, Sedwick features a wide range of artifacts, many from shipwrecks, among which are several large cannons as well as flintlock guns and cuphilt swords.

Printed catalogs (288 pages, full color) will be available starting Monday, October 10. For more details go to www.sedwickcoins.com.



Here is a story about a VMI class ring being found and returned by a detectorists after being lost for eleven years near Virginia Beach

http://www.fox43tv.com/dpps/news/local/va_beach/man-finds-gold-ring-returns-to-owner_3956522

Thanks to Bernie C. for submitting the link.

The seas are now backing off and that will give you a chance to get into the low tide zones and maybe pick up some left overs.

There are probably some of the more out of the way places that didn't get worked too well during the weekend. Most people tend to work the same old spots. It might be a good time to look for spots that are a little harder to get too or that often are over looked.

I'll be looking forward to receiving photos of your recent finds so I can post them.

Also, don't forget to respond to the latest poll that is on this blog.

I got busy with other business and couldn't keep up with the reports the way I would like to for the past couple of days. Sorry about that.

I'll try to catch up soon.

I did this blog so quickly the last few days that I can only hope that I didn't make too many mistakes.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

9/27/11 Report - Beach Front Cobs - How They Get There

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

Raft Recently Found on Treasure Coast Beach.

I don't know if this is from immigrants floating in or something else. It reminds me of other rafts that I've seen on the beach, although most of them were much more substantial and used by Cubans arriving at South Florida.

Thanks to Bob H. for the photo. He said this raft was found on the beach north of the Island Dunes complex.

A few days ago I mentioned Odyssey Marine and wondered if it would repeat the previous pattern of rebounding sharply after a big drop in the stock price. Well, as I expected, it did - but not as sharply as the last time. The increase has been more gradual, even though yesterday it increased almost eight percent. At times yesterday, it was up nearly 20%. It also increased very nicely the two previous days of trading as well.

I received a link to a story this morning suggesting that the recent share price increase is due to the Gairsoppa project.

The Gairsoppa is believed to hold a cargo of silver worth more than $210 million today. Odyssey's salvage agreement with the United Kingdom will give Odyssey 80 percent of the net salvaged value of the silver recovered.

Thanks to Jim M. for submitting the following link to that story.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Odyssey-Marine-pops-on-apf-2722516200.html?x=0&.v=4

The expected value of that silver will be less if the price of silver continues to decrease. The price of silver has gone from over $40 an ounce to around $30 this month.

The spot price of gold is about $1657 this morning. It was up to $1900 not long ago.


Yesterday I talked about analyzing beaches. You might want to refer back to the sketch that I used yesterday. I'll talk a little today about how old treasure coins move on a beach.

First, you might recall that I did a survey once asking where people had found old treasure coins on the beach. The results confirmed what I had personally found. Treasure coins have been found on almost every part of a beach at one time or another - even in places, that according to some theories, would be surprising.

You might also recall that I mentioned yesterday how the sand on the front of a beach is frequently eroded and replaced. On the very front of the beach sand is lost and replaced many times each year, while on the back beach, the sand is not moved nearly as often or as much.

Of the treasure coins found on the front beach, most are washed in at one time or another. It might appear that they were washed out of the beach by recent erosion when they appear below a cut, but in most cases they had to wash in first. That could occur either when the beach was building or when the level of the beach was cut down and the water was high and coming in and dropping coins on the lowered beach. In front of a cut there is some pretty heavy wave action that could bring in coins and drop them at the base of a cut.

I've actually seen cobs fall out of the face of a cut as the beach was cutting, so I know they wash out at times. On the front beach, the question is how those cobs got in the sand that was cutting in the first place. Remember, on the front beach, the sand has been removed many times and then replaced. When the dunes are low and far back, there is no way for the coins to get on the front beach other than washing in at some point.

Between the two methods mentioned above, the most likely is that the cobs are washed in by the rough surf when the front of the beach has been lowered.

I've never found cobs on the surface of a building beach, although I have found them on the surface just above the face of a cut and in the sea weed line on uncut beaches. However, cobs are never, or should I say almost never, found on or near the surface of a beach front that has a lot of newly accumulated sand on it.

I've seen coins flip up over the face of a cliff, so I have some idea how that can happen. It also appears that small cobs can under certain circumstances travel with the shells, and they are sometimes found in the with the shells above the face of a cut.

If you watch items move in the surf on the front of the beach, there is a lot of variation on how they move at different times. Sometimes they'll wash up the slope, sometimes down the slope and sometimes move more sideways. Sometimes they'll flip, sometimes slide, and sometimes roll, and sometimes they'll pretty much stick where they are as they seem to bury themselves. There are many variables to take into account. I definitely can't get into all of that now.

Anyhow, I am sure that cobs wash onto the front beach where they are later uncovered by erosion. It appears to me that they mostly wash in when the surf is rough and the level of sand has been lowered and there is strong wave action all the way back to the face of the cut. After they wash in and are deposited, they are covered as the old cut fills and the beach builds again.

That is my best theory anyhow. I'll have to get around to talking about other situations and other parts of the beach some other time.

I reminded of some other factors that I don't have time to get into today.

I guess I'll stop there today.



Treasure Coast Beach Forecast and Conditions

The surf web sites are now predicting higher seas, up to 6.5 feet by Monday. then Calm seas are expected for a few days and then starting to increase this weekend.

Very often the surf web sites predict higher seas several days in advance but as the time draws nearer the predictions for big seas either disappear or is reduced very significantly. Hopefully will actually get six foot or higher seas.

Philippe seems headed into the mid Atlantic. Opehlia could form again and might be the reason for the predicted higher seas.

Until then, conditions on the Treasure Coast remain poor.


Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net