4/21/20 Report - Cannon Dug Up. Odd Shaped Coins. Black Swan Treasure Remembered.

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

An old cannon was found buried at a construction site near the Pak Kong car park in Rua de Demétrio Cinatti on Thursday, the Public Security Police (PSP) said in a statement...

Here is the link.

https://macaunews.mo/old-cannon-found-at-construction-site/

That is one hefty cannon.

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The Numismatist lists about 900 US coins and coin varieties and gives the prices for those coins in multiple conditions - usually nine or ten conditions, making a total of around 9000 prices.  That is a lot of coins and prices.

Heptagonal Coins From

Mexico and Kenya

The vast majority of those coins are round.  That is not surprising, but there are coins that are not round.  I've found some like the ones shown above, but also some that are square and some that might be described as scalloped.  I didn't take the time to find them, but below is a stock photo showing both square and scalloped coins.

I started wondering why most coins are round.  Vending machines depend upon coins rolling down a shoot, so that is one reason for modern coins to be round, but why were coins round before there were vending machines.  Of course we know that some cobs were not very round and some of them were nearly square, but there still was a tendency to make coins round.  It seems to me that manufacturing square coins might make more efficient use of the metal, depending upon the method of manufacture.

I wonder why coins have been so predominantly round, even back to ancient times?  It would seem to me that square would be just as satisfactory as long as there were not sharp corners.  I guess a single unbroken line without angles is simple and strong.  And it seems easier to stack round coins.

Anyhow I got interested in coins that are not round (other than cobs) and will try to find some that I've found.  If I correctly recall, St. Lucia had both square and scalloped coins.

What odd shaped coins, other than cobs, have you found?

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Phillip E. sent me the following photos of Jacksonville Beach.  The top photo is the one published by the media and the bottom one is the one he took,  Very different looks.

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Tony S. reminded me of the finagling in the Odyssey Marine vs Spain Black Swan case.

If you want to check it out here is the link.

https://goldandsilverblog.com/black-swan-silver-treasure-plundered-by-spain-with-surreptitious-help-from-u-s-0351/

Notice the letter towards the end of the article.

Since they lost the Black Swan Treasure they became primarily a mining company.  GlobalNewsWire quotes them as saying, We currently have three significant seafloor mineral projects in various stages of development for critically important resources including; phosphate, cobalt, nickel, copper, rare earths and gold.

Their stock is down around $3.50 per share.

Anytime there is big treasure, politics will be involved.


The GoldAndSilverBlog does not seem to have any recent posts.

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You haven't been hearing so much about the IMHE model, as I said would be the case after they presented it.  Not only did it have a huge cone of error (using hurricane model terminology) and was way off, but it really set me off when they gave mitigation as the reason for the difference between the actual numbers and the numbers predicted of the model without even considering error or any other possible factors.  That was just too much for me, especially from expert scientists.  I acknowledge that I was hard on them. To me that is not about politics at all.  It is about using data, and reaching conclusions - the same kind of thing I talk about all the time as it applies to finding objects or identifying artifacts.  It shows the general usefulness and applicability of the same methods ie. considering all the factors and alternative explanations.

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There is more talk of opening up states and businesses.

On the Treasure Coast the surf is small, and it won't be long until salvage season gets ramped up.

Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net.

7/13/19 Report - New 1715 Fleet Finds Being Made. Mystery Button for ID. Putting the Puzzle Together. Tropical Storm.

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

Crew of the Bottomline Salvage Vessel 

Finding Treasure Off The Treasure Coast.

I got a couple photos of brand new 1715 Fleet finds from Captain Jonah Martinez.  Jonah is working on the Bottomline this year.  Here is an eight and some four-reales that they've found.

Reales Recently Found by Crew of the Bottomline.

Congratulations!

Thanks Jonah.

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Here is a two piece button bearing a lion and crown.  I'd like help if anyone can identify it.

Unidentified Two Piece Button Find.

The back of this button is missing, but the front is in good condition.

It is just a little less than 3/4 an inch across.

Any help is appreciated.

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Putting Together the Pieces of the Puzzle.

Yesterday I showed what I think is a piece of soldier art.  That is one piece of a puzzle.  I think it is a very interesting piece, but yet it is only one piece.

The puzzle is of one place and time in history.  A lot of the pieces are there.  I showed the island, the landscape, the fort, where the cannon were, and some of the other things found there, including some buttons that tell us some of the regiments that were there.

On the island you can still see some of the stone walls where the parts of old buildings still stand.  You can see the paths that were undoubtedly the same paths used hundreds of years ago.  And we can read much of the history of the island, including about the battle.

That is a land site that hasn't changed much.  Relics can be found at about the same place where they were dropped.  That is one of the advantages of land sites that haven't been much disturbed.

Putting it all together you get a pretty good picture of that one time and place in history. There is layering.  One era rests on another.  There were the times long before when the indigenous populations used the island, and there were times later.  The different time periods are like individual picture puzzles that have to be put together, each one on top of the other.  \

On Pigeon Island, the late 1700s is the most evident time period.  Many of  the large pieces are still there, including some of the buildings and forts, but there are pieces of puzzles from other time periods still there as well.

Occasionally a piece of the puzzle from one era will get mixed in with the pieces of another.  That happens at some places more than others, like on the side of a steep slope where erosion occurs and things fall towards the sea, but there are a lot of pieces from that one period that you can put together to form a pretty good picture.  That is the way it is with some land sites, but it is much more difficult on a constantly changing beach.

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The topics are getting active, and it is time to start keeping a close eye on the weather.  We might get a storm that produces some nice erosion, and you want to be ready for that.

We have had so much flat surf, and it is continuing for now, but the systems are beginning to come off of Africa.

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

You can see Barry down by Louisiana.  The yellow system will probably fizzle out by the time it gets into the Caribbean, but you can't say for sure yet, and there will be other systems developing out there.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

7/12/19 Report - Carved Lead Soldier Art: One Found Example. Gator Tooth. Tropical Storm in Gulf.

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

Lead Mystery Item That I Believe Has Been Identified.

In my 6/29/19 post, I showed some items found on Pigeon Island.  Those items included 54th and 76th Regiment of Foot buttons, grapeshot, and some other items, including the one shown above.  When I found those items it was early in my metal detecting days and I knew very little about items of the Revolutionary War era.  For a long time I believed the above item was a finial.  There is a hole in one end (left end).  I asked the readers of this blog what they thought, and one person said it was soldier art - a carved cannon.

I recently saw the item when I had some others old finds out.  They were all from the same 1787 battle site that I described in my 6/29 post.

I decided to carefully remove some of the heavy brown patina to take a better look at the item.  Then I took a look at it using magnification.  And since I thought it seemed to have about the same volume as a lead musket ball that I also found at the same site, I weighed both the item and the musket ball.

First, after looking at the newly semi-cleaned item under magnification, I thought I could see how it some of the marks on the item were made with a sharp point.  (See photo below.)

Close-up View of Part of the Same Item.

There are several small oblong marks in a line above and left of center that I think you can easily see.  They definitely seem to be hand-made or carved like many of the other marks on the item.

After inspecting other carved lead bullets that I found online and comparing the tooling on those items with this item, I found the marks to be very similar.

The weight of the musket ball found very near this lead item is 31 grams.  The weight of this item is 27 grams.  That seems pretty close to me.  Some of the difference could be because of material being lost during carving.

The next thing I did is compare the item with photos of cannons actually on the island.

Muzzle End of Cannon Located on Pigeon Island.

The similarity is remarkable - especially the muzzle end.

Muzzle End of Carved Item.

The pennies in the photo didn't make the best background, but I needed something to hold the muzzle end up at an slight angle while I took the photo.

By the way, the lead item was found within a few feet of where a cannon would have been.

I noticed two obvious differences between the lead item and the real cannon.  One is that the lead item is shorter from the muzzle to the base than would be the case if it was created to scale.  The second is that the lead item has a lot more decorative lines and marks.

Putting it all together, I now, rightly or wrongly, strongly believe that the lead item is indeed soldier art.  It also seems to me that a single musket ball might have been used because of the weight of the item, which closely matches that of a musket ball found near where the item was found.  I also think that the soldier might have started at the muzzle end, which is most realistic, and ran short on material, but that is mere speculation.

I wondered about the deep groves at the base end of the cannon.  They are unrealistic, compared to the rest of the item, and could be an attempt to either save material, or part of an effort to stretch the item.

I don't know how the ball, if that is what was used was lengthened.  I'm thinking that maybe it was rolled out first, like dough,  Maybe heated.

One thing you can't see in the photos is indentations on each side of the cannon about two thirds of the way towards the base that could have been for mounting.

While researching this, I noticed that there is an active community of those who collect carved Civil War bullets.  Here is one link where you can see some of those.

https://relicrecord.com/blog/carved-civil-war-bullets/

Here is another.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/304389753070719/

The above item seems to be from an earlier era than the Civil War and also seems to be a bit more ambitious than most of the carved bullets that I've seen so far.  Most of those are chess pieces, have initials carved on them or something fairly simple like that.

I can see why carved bullets appeal to collectors.  There aren't tons of them, and they show the unique artistic expression of an individual.

Thanks to whoever originally suggested that the item was soldier art.  I now think they that is correct.

What do you think?

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I posted this tooth for ID from Gaylen C. a few days ago.

Find and Photo by Gaylen C.

This has been identified as an alligator tooth.  Nice one.

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I just received photos of some new 1715 Fleet finds.  I'll post those for you tomorrow.


It is the time of year to start keeping a close watch on the tropical weather.  These things come and go quickly, and you don't want to miss some prime hunting when the treasure window opens.

Tropical Storm Barry is in the Gulf and headed towards Louisiana or Texas, so shouldn't affect us much.

There is another system in the Atlantic to watch, but it is too far away to guess what it will do.

Tropical Storm Barry.

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

On the Treasure Coast the predictions are for another week or so of small surf.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

7/22/16 Report - Two Dug Ancient-Looking Coins For Identification. Silver Cache Found in Spain. Cannon Found in Waterway.

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

Two Almost Identical Dug Beach Coins.

These two nearly identical coins were recently dug.  They are the same size as a quarter, but not as consistently thick.  I do not see any signs of them being circulated and almost no corrosion other than the dark patina.  I believe they are probably fake.  I don't have any good test acid right now, so I haven't tested them, but from the weight and other characteristics, I think they are not genuine coins but probably made to be used in costume jewelry.  They are more perfectly round than I would expect of a genuine coin, and the edges are sharp.

Even if they aren't genuine, I'd like to determine what they are supposed to look like, if there are genuine coins that look like that.

I provide photos of the lettering below.  If anyone can read the words or tell me what they are supposed to be I'd appreciate it.

Thanks much.

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200 Silver Denarii Found Buried in a Vase.

Barcelona (CNA).- "The 2,500-year-old Empúries site on the Costa Brava continues to provide surprises. The last three weeks of excavations, carried out by thirty students attending the 70thedition of Archaeology Course of Empúries, lead to the largest treasure ever found on the site; a ceramic-vase containing 200 silver denarius dating from the 1st century B.C. Thanks to the good conditions of the treasure, the archaeologists have concluded that the treasure would have been hidden by its owner in one of the rooms of the houses which are also being excavated. The treasure would have been lost after a fire which hit the property. Besides this treasure, 24 amphorae of wine have been discovered in the cellar ​​the house, a slab of bronze -'simpulum'- to extract wine and two bracelets.
Here is the link for the rest of that story."

http://www.catalannewsagency.com/culture/item/200-silver-denarius-discovered-in-empuries-largest-treasure-found-so-far-in-the-roman-site

When I post a news item like this, there is usually something I think you can get from it.  In this case, one thing to notice is how the cache was lost.  A fire to the dwelling caused its loss.

Although the vast majority of my detecting has been on the beach, there are times that I get out and hunt land sites.  In one case I was able to hunt the site of an old hotel that burned down in the 1940s. Sites like that can be good sites with lots of targets, but there will probably be a lot of junk. The junk may actually be a good thing if you are not one of the first to detect the site.  A lot of detectorists will leave a lot of good targets when there is a good covering of junk.

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Mid 1800s Cannon Recovered From Waterway In Hong Kong.
Source: South China Morning Post.

“This trip is tangible evidence that there is historical material in Hong Kong’s waters. There have been lots of surveys on land but not in water,” Jeffery added, urging the government to invest more in maritime archaeology as it is important to the understanding of Hong Kong’s history."

Here is the link.

http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1991821/hong-kongs-sunken-treasure-ancient-anchor-and

Some places are more covered by detectorists and salvagers than others.

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We'll have something like a two-foot surf today.  Just a touch less this weekend.

We'll also have some negative tides.

There is no significant tropical activity yet.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

2/27/16 Report - Nice Old Cannon Find for ID and Some Great Online References. International Society of St. Hubertus.

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

Remains of Probable Found Canon
Photo submitted by Alexander G.

I received the following message with the two photo shown above.

My name is Alexander and I write from the Canary Islands.

I've been visiting some websites and I have seen yours so I would therefore like to ask you about a strange piece of iron that looks like a gun/cannon (photos attached) that some acquaintances found near the coast (weighs about 10 kg and is very, very strong especially in the base, with a thickness of about 8 cm.).

I recently visited websites and seems in some ways to an old Spanish cannon pedrero, falconente or similar. You see this very run down and has lost a lot of metal that has simply disappeared. The coasts of the Canary Islands were frequented by all kinds of Spanish galleons and by pirates etc...

To me that is one beautiful piece that if a replica was made would look great in a museum display.  It is hard to tell what the original dimensions were due to the severe wear.  For me that is what makes it so beautiful.  You can see the action of many years under water.  It looks like it was in shallow water where the currents or water movement was strong.

Thanks for the photos and information Alexander.  I'd like to receive any or all thoughts on the identity of the item.

Here are a few related references to check out.  First is this Project Gutenberg Ebook, Artillery Through the Ages: A Short Illustrated History of Cannon, Emphasizing Types Used in America by Albert Manucy, 2007

Here is one illustration from that book.

And her is another interesting reference.   This one is from the Collections of the Georgia Historical Society, Vol. III, Pt. III, The Spanish Official Account of the Attack on the Colony of Georgia.

And here is an illustration of a pedrero from that reference.

As always, one of the best places to start when it comes to conserving such items is the TAMU Conservation Manual.

You can access any of those links by clicking on the underlined title.

Again, I'd like to receive your thoughts on the item.

I'll have some more thoughts and references on this item tomorrow.

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You undoubtedly heard of the passing of Justice Scalia, but did you know he was connected with the International Soceity of St. Hubertus.

Here is the link.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/justice-scalia-spent-his-last-hours-with-members-of-this-secretive-society-of-elite-hunters/2016/02/24/1d77af38-db20-11e5-891a-4ed04f4213e8_story.html

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That was an interesting slate pendant that I showed yesterday.

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On the Treasure Coast today we still have a north wind and small surf.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

9/11/14 Report - Big Auction With Cannons and All Types of Guns. Al Capones Pocket Watch. Solar Storms. JW Fishers ROV Towable Metal Detector

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

Cannon Offered in James D. Julia Auction.
Source: Link below.

If you are interested in Revolutionary War cannons, machine guns, Winchester lever action rifles, or Colt army revolvers, you'll find plenty to look at in this Oct. 2014 James D. Julia auction catalog.  There are thousands of lots, including a few items other than guns, such as Al Capone's pocket watch.  The catalog is  huge and is a great resource for research.

Here is the link to the first session.  

http://jamesdjulia.com/auction/369-october-2014-firearms-auction/?session=1

Al Capone's Pocket Watch
Source: James D. Julia Auction Catalog
Session 3.

The cannon shown above has an auction estimate of 8 to 12 thousand dollars.

Al Capones pocket watch is estimated at 35 to 55 thousand dollars.  The pocket watch is one of very few items listed other than guns.

You'll find the links to the other two sessions at that site.

www.nhc.noaa.gov

We have two weather systems to watch.  The one out in the middle of the Atlantic has a 70 percent chance of becoming a cyclone in the next 48 hours, while the one just off of our coast only has a 10 percent chance of forming.  We're getting a little rain off of that one.

The second is close but not doing much.  We still have only a 1 - 2 foot surf, and nothing bigger is predicted for the next few days.

Two-Coil JW Fishers Metal Detector Attached to ROV

JW Fishers makes a metal detector that can be attached to the front of one of their ROVs.

You can tow it or whatever. 

The prices is around $12,500.

I don't know how good it is.

I haven't seen any reviews.

Here is a picture of the detector attached to an ROV.







A strong solar storm is heading towards the earth, but we won't get a direct hit.   No disruption to electric grids is expected.  Solar storms are said to disrupt the Earth's magnetic field.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SCI_SOLAR_STORM?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-09-10-17-56-39

I have been getting an unusual amount of what appears to be EMI in my ear phones on some detectors lately, and have dialed back my sensitivity some, which I almost never do.   Could it be the solar storm?

Anybody else notice that?

That is it for today.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@Comcast.net

4/13/14 Report - Treasure Coast Half Reale Date, Iron Cannons and Poll Results

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

Mexican Half Reale Found In Nov. 2013

They say that time heals, but you could say it also reveals.  That is one reason I like holding onto things.  It often takes a good bit of time to learn about some things.

Just yesterday I was browsing through the Sedwick Coins auction listings.  I was looking at Mexican half reales.   I have a special interest in those since they have been frequently found on the shipwreck treasure beaches of the Treasure Coast.  But while looking through the auction listings I noticed a half reale with an O to the right of the monogram.  Hmmmm.  Where had I seen that before?

A little later when I was looking through some half reales, there it was -  the big round circle to the right of the monogram (See photo above.).

I then went to Sewall Menzel's book, Pieces of Eight and Treasure Coins, and looked through the Mexican half reales of the appropriate time period.  And there it was on page 108.   Menzel shows a cob that matches the one in the photo extremely well.

The book says that in 1705 there was a transitional half reale design that showed the common mint and assayer mark of "OMJ" to the left of the monogram and an"O" to the right of the monogram.  The O was the mark of an assistant assayer.

The match between the one in the Menzel book and the one in the above photo was one of the best matches I've seen.  There is the same lop-sided V, and on and on, detail by detail, making for a very excellent match.

Since the transitional design started in 1705 and ended by 1719, or maybe earlier, I now have a better date range for this cob.  If it came from a 1715 Fleet wreck, as I'm confident that it did, the date range would be 1705 - 1715. 

My point is that it was a combination of  browsing through numerous examples, in this case including the auction listings, and taking yet another look at the real thing that made it all come together.  Not only do I now have the date for the cob narrowed down to between 1705 and 1715, but this cob might be from the same die as the one in the Menzel book, or at the very least, a very similar die.

I'm reminded of that old song, Just One Look, which says that's all it took, but one look is seldom enough for me.  I really like how old things seem to reveal their secrets over time as you add one fact or detail after another.


Bill F. ran across some iron Spanish cannons in a marine consignment store.  The asking price was about $2000 each.  They were reportedly found in the Bahamas in the 1930s and were in a yard in the Sewall's Point area for some time.  Bill says they were in good condition.


The most recent blog poll has concluded and the results are in.  The sample size was good, especially considering the time of year and everything.

One thing is for sure - this blog has a heavy Treasure Coast focus even though a good number of its readers are from other parts of the country and other parts of the world.  The two most favorite categories were Treasure Coast specific.

According to the poll results the top "most favorite" thing in the blog is Treasure Coast finds.  I guess that shouldn't be too surprising.  Over one third (36%) of the poll respondents selected that category.

The second most favorite topic is Treasure Coast beach conditions (24%).   That is what I started this blog to be.  That part has become a smaller part of the blog simply because Treasure Coast beach detecting conditions don't change real often and I got tired of giving the same old ratings everyday.  I still make every effort to stay on top of things and warn you of any changes in beach conditions that result in a beach conditions upgrade.  I actually spend a lot of time monitoring beach conditions, even if I can't issue an upgrade or downgrade very often.  I really stay on top of things and give daily conditions ratings when I can issue anything other than a 1 (poor) beach conditions rating.  As you know most of 2014 has been poor this year and there have been very few upgrades.

I'll talk about the poll results some more some other day.


On the Treasure Coast we still have poor beach detecting conditions.  The wind picked up a little today, but we still have something like a three or four foot surf and the wind is coming from the East.

It doesn't look like it will get much better in the next few days.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

6/30/11 Report - Cannon From Revolutionary War Wreck Recovered Off St. Augustine Beach & Tropical Storm Arlene

Photo of Cannon Being Raised.

Photo from Jacksonville.com.

I just noticed yesterday that my hit counter just blew through 200,000 the other day. That seemed fast.


The big news for me today is the cannons that were recovered from an area within sight of the St. Augustine Beach pier. It seems the wreck is from the late 18th century, possibly between the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.

Here is the link for more of the story and a video.

http://m.jacksonville.com/news/metro/2011-06-28/story/shipwreck-yields-cannon-st-augustine-coast

Or,

http://jacksonville.com/news/florida/2011-06-29/story/cannons-retrieved-mystery-ship-st-augustine-begin-long-restoration


The thesis I talked about yesterday is interesting for a number of reasons. One is that it is based upon a reevaluation of artifacts that were in a collection for some time just gathering dust. As the author points out, good information can be obtained from going back to old artifacts and taking another look. I recommend that you do that with your own finds. It is often surprising what insights you'll get at a later date that never occurred to you at first.

You might also want to look through the thesis at the maps and artifacts, including the spikes and pot shards.


I just got a lot of good information about the medallion that I posted way back on 8/23/09. Quite a story goes with it. I'll have to get into that more some other time. Maybe tomorrow.


It seems that a lot of the public has a negative opinion about detectorists. I know that some archaeologists portray detectorists as grave robbers or worse, but I know what their motives are. It is the regular man on the street who has never tried detecting and doesn't have a clue, that I wonder about. A lot of the negativity is just ignorance I guess. And detectorists don't do the best job of informing the public about their contributions. They don't tell how many coins are returned to circulation, how many eye glasses and car keys found, the number of rings returned, and all of the businesses built around metal detecting.


People sometimes ask me about the Florida West Coast. I've spent some time over there and know of some treasure beaches on the west coast, but I don't know the west coast area nearly as well as the Treasure Coast and South Florida.

Anyhow, here is one sunken shipwreck story from the Tampa Bay area from back in January. Not much is known about the source of the artifacts yet. Just supposition.

http://www.tbnweekly.com/pubs/belleair_bee/content_articles/012611_bee-04.txt


Coinshooting and beach hunting are different in a variety of ways. One way is that on beaches, items are frequently moved when the waves move the sand. That is a big difference and requires learning to read a beach.

ON a beach you don't have to pin-point the target so precisely. Digging a coin on dry land requires accurate pin-pointing and removing a plug without damaging the coin. On a beach, you just scoop and sift. Of course on a beach you can still damage coins if your scoop hits the coin or object, so learning to pinpoint more accurately can help on a beach too, but it is not usually so critical. That is why I recommend what I call cross-training. If you hunt different ways and places, you'll always learn something that you can apply elsewhere.


Treasure Coast Beach Forecast and Conditions.

The wind is still out of the south and the seas calm. You probably know that we have been having rain all week. Rain doesn't bother me, but lightening does. You'll sometimes hear lightening crackling in your ear phones when it is still far away.

The wind is still out of the south and the sea is calm. It doesn't look like that will change anytime soon. You'll be dealing with sanded in beaches, as has been the case for at least a few weeks now.

Low tide is now around 1 or 2 o'clock.

There is one named tropical storm now. Arlene. Arlene is down by Mexico and bringing us some of the moisture we've been having. I don't think the Treasure Coast will be affected much by Arlene otherwise.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

5/16/11 Report - Cannon, Lost Merchant Shipwreck & the Danger of Over-Simplification

One Treasure Coast Beach Yesterday at Low Tide.

More on that below along with today's photos.


The Mel Fisher organization is building a custom designed Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) capable to go after the treasure of the Lost Merchant off the coast of North Florida. They have just finished an electronic survey of 37 miles of ocean and will use the new ROV to recover the treasure once this wreck is located.


Kovels Komments reports A bronze Chinese cannon covered with designs and words and stored for over 80 years at the back of a storeroom went to auction with an appraisal of $10,000 to $15,000. It sold for $149,500. The papers with the item said the 800-pound cannon, made in 1695, was sent to the United States as a souvenir by an American soldier. U.S. forces took part in a "China Relief expedition" that went to China in 1900 to rescue U.S. citizens, Europeans, and others who were in danger because of the Boxer Rebellion.


I often get emails from people asking where to look for different types of things. Unfortunately the answer is not real simple. The answer appeared more simple to me at one time but has become increasingly complex. The more you learn about things, the more complex your models become.

One thing you might have learned from the survey on where cobs are found is that cobs have been found in every major zone on our beaches - from the water's edge to the back dunes. After a person finds their first cob, no matter where it was found, the tendency is to continue looking in that area. And then when a few more are found in that area, the tendency is to focus exclusively on that area. That creates a self-fulfilling prophecy, and it is a trap.

If you believe that cobs are found in one zone and you continue to focus on that zone, that is where you will find cobs in the future. The thing is, there will be cobs elsewhere that you will miss simply because you did not spend enough time looking in those other places.

Yes, there are some places that are generally better than others. I would have guessed that the survey would have showed a higher proportion of cobs coming from the cuts. The survey wasn't a scientific survey and the exact numbers are questionable. I can't personally verify where other detectorists have found their cobs, but I have personally verified that cobs are found in all of the mentioned beach zones. I've found cobs in all of those zones myself.

The main point that I am getting to is that your mental model of where cobs will appear on a beach should become more complex as your experience increases. While it is fine to believe that cobs are found in zone X, Y or Z when you are starting, as you gain more experience your model should expand to include more factors. Instead of saying something like cobs are found in zone X, your model should be something more like, on beach X, or on beaches of type X, under condition Y, cobs will be found in zone Z. In other words, take into account the particular beach or type of beach you are dealing with and the conditions that are current on that beach.

Lets say you are at one of the beaches where the cobs generally come from the back dunes. That is what happens on some beaches. If you believe that cobs are found only near the water below dips on the front beach, and if you only hunt, you would miss any cobs that were recently washed out of the back dunes. You would probably strike out because of your over-simplified model.

I walk the line in this blog trying to make things simple while at the same time trying to avoid over-simplifying. If you are relatively new to detecting or haven't yet found your first cob or first few cobs (or whatever you are targeting), simplification can be helpful, but it can also be a trap.

It is true that there are some zones and different types of areas that are generally better than others to detect. But there are also times when those same places aren't the place to be. That is why I highly recommend sampling. Sampling will help you quickly check out the areas that you most suspect and then move on to check out other areas when the first spots don't seem to be producing.

I continue to learn. I've certainly learned a few things lately. To do that I test my theories and revise them whenever experience dictates.

Having received a lot of email and being involved in a lot of discussions, I am more sure than ever that a lot of people are being limited by over-simplification. To give one example, I know of some people that have found many shipwreck spikes and many other types of items, but have not yet managed to find a single cob. On the other hand I know people who have found lots of cobs, but not a single spike. Why?
They hunt different areas. They've become focused on one type of area rather than another, and that is the reason they find so many of one type of object but none of the other. I've observed that those two different types of objects are most often found in different types of areas, and that is why some people find one rather than the other. It has to do with where and how they hunt. (I won't comment on the "how" in this post. Maybe some other time.)

I am an empiricist and use an experimental procedure. Data rules. I suppose that is partly due to the fact that much of my professional life was spent in an academic research setting. I am always trying to improve my models of how the beach works and how different types of objects move and are uncovered. There isn't much out there to read that will really help you on that other than some basics, and that can lead you down the track of over-simplification.


Treasure Coast Beach Forecast and Conditions.

Area Where Swells Were Breaking at High Tide This Morning.

I got out on the beach this morning. My timing was way off. It was high tide and although there were a few scallops and cuts, which surprised me, it was really hard working the low tide zone. The swells were crasing on the front beach pretty hard during high tide and creating a rolling shell pile on the beach side of the dip. There were targets in the rough water, but it was hard to get them. I wished that the tide would back off, but I didn't have time to wait it out.

If you look closely at this photo, you'll see some of the rocks and shells that were being churned up. You can see where the larger pieces were being exposed near the at the right side of the photo, just below center. I have a nice video of the churning action that was going on there but couldn't get the video to load to the post.

This is very close to the area shown above which shows low tide yesterday. I did manage to pick up a few things while working the rough water.

I'll give you a few tips on working rough water in an area like this some other time.

A Few Cut Scallops Found On the Beach This Morning.

This was a bit of a surprise. I suspect you'll find similar scallops and small cuts on some of the other beaches around the Treasure Coast.

There were definitely some interesting spots even though overall conditions remain poor.

I'd go out around low tide and work the recently churned area where rocks are accumulating. I picked a few nice sized fossils out of the churning water as they were flying up and down the slope. They can really smack your feet or shin bones.

There were also some metal targets being churned up with the other stuff.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net