3/30/14 Report - Gold Band Find, iPhone Find, Beach Conditions & Cracked Mayan Skulls

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



Gold Band Beach Find.

It is one of those days that the Chamber of Commerce would order everyday.  Beautiful blue sky, practically no wind, lots of tourists on the roads and beach - I hated it!   No, just kidding.  It isn't my favorite.  I'd rather have wind and rain, but I'm odd that way.

It was a good day to be on the beach.  At least it isn't 100 degrees with 99 percent humidity.  There were a lot of sun-bathers and boaters out, some of whom are bound to lose things.

The high tides have been high and the low tides low.  The low tide this afternoon was nice and low and combined with the smooth surf made for easy water hunting or allowed beach detectors to get far down the beach front if that is what they wanted to do.

There weren't big shell piles, but there were some shells to be found at the beaches that are good for that type of thing.  Also a few little fossil peaces were seen.

I checked around, looking at some of the wreck beaches first.  It was sandy.  See the photos below.  Didn't take my detector out there.

I did see some small cuts, shown below, but didn't spend my time there either.

I went on to a beach visited by tourists.  Finds included the gold band, a common design, and an Apple iPhone, which was down a little more than a foot and drowned beyond repair.  Too bad for somebody.  That probably could have been returned if it was working.



Two Sandy Wreck Beaches This Afternoon.



One Treasure Coast Beach Showing a Small Cut Near the Hide Tide Line.

I'd rather hunt the wreck beaches, but when they look so poor, I'll move on and hunt the modern stuff.  That is my choice right now.

The first part of 2014 has been slow for hunting old stuff.  We had a good spell in November of 2013, but since then, not much.

Here is the dug iPhone.   I was surprised how deep it was.  It was at the water level at lowest tide.


Archaeologists found evidence that the Mayan used clubs with spikes on them.  They looked at skulls and found the forensic wounds.

Here is part of what the following linked article said about that.

 Close examination of 116 skulls left over from 200 years of warfare indicates that ancient Mayan armies used nasty spiked clubs for combat in open terrain.

The widespread adoption of these clubs, as well as projectiles, may have been due to larger armies enlisting more commoners.

A recent published study follows previous research into Mayan skeletal trauma indicating a fondness for flaying and decapitation, heart extraction, dismemberment, de-fleshing, parry fractures and head fractures.

Here is the link if you want to read more of the story.

http://www.cqu.edu.au/cquninews/stories/research-category/skulduggery-not-required-as-mayan-skulls-reveal-brutal-blows-to-the-head

Sometimes people don't like history.  Mel Gibson took a lot of heat for the movie in which he showed such things. 

The political correctness movement wants to decide who did what to whom rather than look at the evidence.

Slavery and brutality was in the New World long before the Europeans arrived.


I got new supplies for my acid test kit.  The nugget tests gold for sure, but I have determined that the very small whitish pieces that I showed are not gold or platinum or silver, at least not of any high purity.

That's all for today.  Still time to detect before the day is over, especially if you want to check the locations where the crowds congregated today.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/23/12 Report - Isaac Heads Towards Keys and West Coast & Club News

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

Thursday Morning National Hurricane Center Map

Isaac now looks like he will be crossing the Keys and skirting the West Coast of Florida, and then maybe heading towards the Panhandle.  It is looking like the West Coast will be getting more of Isaac than the Treasure Coast.

Joyce, on the other hand, looks like she'll head towards Bermuda.

The ocean is flat today.  The seas will begin to increase Friday, reaching a peak of around  8 foot seas on Monday.  The decrease in predicted seas on the Treasure Coast isn't as big a factor in my mind as the predicted change in wind direction due to Isaac's move west.  I'd like to see north/northeast winds, but we won't get much of that.  It looks like it will be more east winds.  Nonetheless, we'll surely still get some improvement in beach detecting conditions.  It can't get worse.

Low tide this afternoon is between 7 and 7:30.

There is still some chance that the predictions will change, but at this point, it looks like the Keys and West Coast will get most of the battering.

The next St. Lucie Metal Detecting Club hunt will be 8 AM, Saturday, August 25 at Stuart Beach, 889 NE Ocean Blvd, Stuart.

The next meeting will be September 15th, 6:00 PM at Bernie's house. For more information check www.stlucietreasurehunters.vpweb.com  or email Bernie.  Bring your own beverage and finds.

The club is planning a trip to the Peace River in the Fall.  Maybe some of you West Coast guys will want to meet up with them.


If you don't have the money to buy that ultra rare gold bar or coin that you drool over and think would be the best investment in the world, it may soon be possible to buy shares in items like priceless gems, jewelry, wines, cars or Picassos. 

http://liquidrarityexchange.com/treasure.html


The big fish were having a feeding frenzy in the Fort Pierce Inlet this morning.  I wish I got a picture of that.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

7/27/11 Report - More on the Lost Merchant, Proposed Laws, & New Club

Side Scan Sonar Images of Lost Merchant Obtained by The Dare.

They got a 100 gamma hit that provides additional evidence that the target is indeed the shipwreck.

Information and picture received from the Mel Fisher organization via email.



Jim M. sent me an email informing me of a new government proposal that could severely affect detectorists.

As you probably know, Florida's navigable waterway's are considered state property, and anything old found in them belongs to the state. I'm talking about a few decades old, not just centuries.

I don't know much about this new proposal yet and am certainly not up on the details and technicalities of it, but it seems that it would give the EPA and Army Corp control over any and every drop of water in the US.

Hard to believe? Here is a link if you want to look into it.

http://www.kintera.org/c.5oJELSPwFhJWG/b.6074153/k.8B4D/Action_Center/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx?c=5oJELSPwFhJWG&b=6074153&aid=16282&tr=y&auid=8712081


Concerning the newly forming St. Lucie Treasure Hunting Club, Bernie C. says, We now have 9 members signed up 4 seasonal and 5 local. Let your friends know about the club if they're into detecting. We are planning a morning hunt on Sunday the 31st of July. Let me know who's interested, also send me any suggestions on locations you'd like to hunt. I am working on club decals/patches, and as soon as the need arises I will be upgrading the webpage. I have also started a Facebook page and will be making a Youtube page to post find videos for our out of town members so they can be updated on what treasures we find. Thanks to all who have showed interest in St Lucie Treasure Hunters Club and I'm looking forward to meeting everyone.

For additional information on the new St. Lucie Treasure Hunting Club, contact Bernie C. at twiprod001@att.net.


Parts of a German bomber were found in England by using an old photograph.

Here is the link.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-14282119

I mention this because old photos and post cards can provide good treasure hunting leads.


The past few days I've given a lot of good old historical resources that could keep you busy for some time. I hope you make good use of them.


Treasure Coast Beach Forecast and Conditions.

Watch out for the thunder storms. You can usually hear them a good ways off as static in your ear phones. Be careful on the beach.

As you undoubtedly know, lightening can send surges through your home wiring and damage electronics. You might want to unplug any detectors that are being charged, along with any other expensive electronics when a storm is nearby.

The rain also brought out tons of mosquitoes, so for your next trip to the beach, you might want to take some mosquito repellent.

The tropical wave that I've been talking about for the last few days now has an 80% chance of becoming a cyclone. It is now closer to the Yucatan and looks like it will move into the Gulf.

The wind is from the south and the seas remain calm - running about two feet. That will continue for the next week, only varying about a half foot one way or the other.

As a result conditions beach detecting conditions remain poor.

Storms do chase people off of the beach. While not so many people visit the beach, those that are there when a storm arises often lose things when they hurriedly collect their belongings for the mad dash to the car.

You might want to try something different - maybe a land site.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

7/21/11 Report - Storing Finds, St. Lucie Club, Conditions Downgrade

Lazy Sea This Morning Just After Low Tide.

I was looking at some finds the other day and was reminded once again how what you do after the find is important.

I was looking at one small charm that was hard to tell how old it was. One little mark on the back caught my attention. It was too small to read, so I got it in good light and pulled out my jewelers loop. Only then could I see 925 stamped on it.

That, of course, means that is sterling silver, which also means that it is not centuries old. A mark like that can often help narrow down the age of found items. Carefully scan finds for small marks.

Some designs have been used basically the same for centuries, so they can be hard to identify by date, especially when they've been in salt water for a while.

It is good to have a good quality jewelers loop to inspect your finds.

A loop can also help you determine the value of gem stones.

Another recommendation is to avoid storing different types of metals together. If one type of metal is stored touching another, the metals can leach or one can mar the surface of the other, leaving hard to remove marks that can ruin the look.


Pewter Medallion Marred By Being Stored In a Box With Other Metal Items.

This is one example. It survived the beach very nicely, but then was damaged by being stored with other metal items. It looks like it might be very difficult or impossible to get rid of the new damage. Although this isn't an important item, the same thing can happen to more important finds.

You don't have to worry about that much with gold, but silver is especially prone to being discolored or marred by other metals. Definitely don't store salt-water blackened silver with like-new silver.

When it comes to silver items, I'd individually wrap each item to keep each one from touching another.


Kovels Komments says, Vintage watches are fashionable again. Some men in their 30s who gave up watches for cell phones are now wearing watches as jewelry. Watch collectors say they have learned to appreciate "a proper mechanical timepiece." Grandpa's watch is cool, especially if it's an old Rolex. And wooden jewelry is back. Remember those carved costume jewelry pins made for children in the 1950s? Hip-hop artists have started a trend back to wooden jewelry. Wooden bracelets, beads, pendants, and even cufflinks and sunglasses are being made. But old wooden jewelry is still selling for bargain prices.


Bernie C. is interested in starting a detecting club in the St. Lucie area. I guess there was one there at one time. Bernie is willing to take the lead to get this thing started. Let him know if you are interested. His email is twiprod001@att.net.

He has a web site for you to look at too.

www.stlucietreasurehunters.vpweb.com


Don't forget that anytime you want to check out the Jupiter area beaches, you can find the photos at the following web site, that you can also find in my treasure links list in this blog.

http://www.jupiterbeachpics.com/


Treasure Coast Beach Forecast and Conditions.

Cindy is a tropical storm out in the Atlantic, and like Bret, is moving away from us. Neither will affect us.

The wind is from the south again, and the front of the beaches are building again.

I'm putting my beach conditions rating back to a 1 again.

That didn't last long, but there is a lot of summer left.

The next several days will see seas down around one foot, so we are back to the conditions that existed prior to the recent erosion.

I saw several guys out detecting the low tide area this morning.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net