2/23/20 Report - Treasure Coin Finds and A Couple Other Recent Finds.

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

Two Silver Reales Found Yesterday by Josh D.

As I said yesterday, a lot of very good finds were made Saturday.  The find photos are starting to come in.  I'll post a couple find photos myself. 

Not only did the most highly-experience local metal detection experts make finds, but some people made their very first shipwreck treasure finds.  Josh D. was one of those.

Josh found the two cobs shown above.   Congratulations Josh!  Many more to come.

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Brian F. is a nugget hunter but for the past eight years has made visits to the Treasure Coast.  It looks like he possibly made his first 1715 Fleet find yesterday.  He found the following tack along with some copper bits at Ambersands.

Tack Found by Brian F. Yesterday at Ambersands.

You know a nugget hunter is going to pick up smalls.

Way to go Brian.

Some of my favorite shipwreck finds are gold nuggets found on shipwreck beaches.  I showed one or two of those in the past.

I've had some additional material to post on the subject of tacks and will do that sometime in the future.

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First finds are special and I like to celebrate them.  You can probably remember yours.  Making a first find can answer a lot of questions and give a boost to your confidence.  When making a certain type of find becomes commonplace, then you set new goals.

My first Treasure Coast cobs (I found cobs elsewhere before I found my first on the Treasure Coast) were found at John Brooks.  I made a number of failed trips before having any success, so it was memorable.

Yesterday a good number of reales were found, including everything up to and including eight-reales.   Artifacts were also found, including musket balls and other items.

Overall it has been a good winter for finding beach treasures this year.   November, December, January and February have all produced 1715 Fleet beach finds.

Below is a find from yesterday.  After partial cleaning, it appears to be a broken medallion.  The stub where the bail broke off is apparent.

There appears to be some writing or something, but the item is too corroded to make out what is on it.  I can't make out any of the design, but if you think you see something, let me know.

Broken Silver Medallion.

Below is a find I'm not at all sure about, and would like opinions.  It seems fragile so I didn't want to do a rubbing to test the metal.  Looks silver to me, but I'm not totally sure.

Mystery Find.

Mystery Item with Dime for Size.

The copperish color comes from light reflection.  In person it looks more silver.

Same Mystery Object on Edge.

The ends fit flat on a flat object, while the middle appears intentionally bowed.  I just don't know about this one.

Let me know if you have any ideas about what it is.

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Below is John Brooks looking towards Frederick Douglass beach.   Nice smooth beach front near low tide.

South of John Brooks Near Low Tide Today.

John Brooks Looking North.

There is a sand bar in front of the beach and no cuts.

Detectorist Today at John Brooks.

There were three detectorists at John Brooks around low tide today.  Everybody was up north it seems.

There were very few targets there.

The surf was down to 4 - 7 feet today and will continue to gradually decrease over the next few days.

I'll have more find photos for you as they come in.

I've seen photos of a lot of reales that were found in the past couple of days.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

2/4/20 Report - Monitoring Cleaning of Silver Reale. Beach Conditions: Short Term and Long Term.

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

Four Reale After Cleaning and A Little Polishing.

I've been showing the progress as I clean a recently found four-reale.  I showed a few photos of that previously, including how it looked when it was found and how it looked after a little cleaning.

I cleaned that cob some more, and you can see above how it looks now.  I'm done with the Muriatic acid.  The encrustation has been removed, and I did just a little shining with a baking soda paste.

The details can be seen much better now.  I'm pretty sure that it is a Phillip V and dates to between 1700 and 1715.

Below is a close-up like the one I showed just a few days ago when I was not done with the cleaning.  If you compare this photo with the one I posted the other day, you'll see how much of the encrustation and foreign particles have  been removed by soaking in Muriatic acid.  You can also see how the high areas that have been shined actually look like silver now.

Close-up View of Part of the Same Four-Reale.

I also stumbled onto something else that might be helpful.  If you want to get a better look at the design before you are done cleaning it, you can use some wet baking soda spread thinly across the surface of the cob to bring out the design, as shown below.

Same Four-Reale With Baking

Soda Bringing Out the Detail.

With just the naked eye I could see the details of the design probably better than I could see it with magnification but without the contrasting white substance.  I was really surprised by how much it helped.  I took the above photo with a regular digital camera.  I probably should have used magnification so you could see the effect even better.

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Steve and Paulette M. sent the following email and photos take yesterday (2/3) and commented on Bonsteel where the cliff in front of the dunes is about six feet high.  Below is the photo and email.

Bonsteel Park 2/3
Photo by Steve and Paulette M.

Today we were looking at different beach accesses north of Fort Pierce and we started at Indialantic and went South to Turtle trails.  Not much good looking erosion anywhere.  We went to Bonsteel knowing 3 weeks ago they dumped sand and bulldozed it a quarter mile north and south about 6 feet thick.  Today it was just about all gone.  Just a thin slice at the dune.  Beach was wider, but not too much. Steve and Paulette M.

Bonsteel Park 2/3
Photo by Steve and Paulette M.

Thanks Steve and Paulette.

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Yesterday I posted a link to an article that discussed a method of monitoring long term beach trends of accretion and erosion.  You'll find that it provides some interesting clues.

Long term trends are obviously important to the treasure hunter.  A beach that has been building for decades will have a lot of sand covering up many of the kinds of things you would most be ooking for.  It can take a lot more to uncover treasure at a beach that has a lot of accumulated sand.

A beach that has generally been eroding over the years and decades, on the other hand, will give you a much better chance.  Although it will vary one way and then the other on a shorter term basis, it won't take as much to uncover the old stuff.

One Treasure Coast beach that was very productive back in the 80s and 90s has been much less productive in the past few years due primarily to frequent renourishment programs to the north and littoral drift.

The sand dumped by renourishment projects will generally eroded much faster than sand that has naturally accumulated.  For one thing it is out of place.  No matter how many hundreds of yards is renourished, it will normally be bordered by areas were the sand has been depleted.  That makes the renourished areas more vulnerable.

No matter how often they dump sand at places like the beach south of the jetty at Fort Pierce, it will erode very quickly because of the interruption of sand caused by the inlet and jetty.

If a beach has been generally eroding over a period of time, new sand dumped on the area will not normally last long very long, but has a slightly better chance if it is dumped during the spring or summer when at least the short term trend is more favorable.  Of course a strong storm could change all of that.

One thing to keep track of is the long term trend of the beach.  Has it been eroding, building or staying about the same?  The bottom line is that a beach that has been eroding over the years will tend to become productive more easily and frequently than one that has been building over a long period of time.

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The surf is small and the tides are small.  In a few days the surf is predicted to increase up to 2 or 3 feet, but that isn't very much either.

Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

12/13/19 Report - Looking More Closely At Your Coin Finds For Fun and Profit. Coin Chips and Cracks. Surf's Up.

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

Potosi Half Reale From Jupiter Beach.

I enjoy studying my finds.  Sometimes it is more than fun.  Occasionally it can be profitable.

When you look more closely at your coins you can discover all kinds of things.  For example on the Potosi half reale shown above, one thing that might jump out at you is the multiple impressions of the S at the bottom of the coin.

When you look at a cob this closely, you can see some of the workmanship of the fellow that cut the die and you might also see artifacts of the minting process.  That brings you closer to the person who made the die and the person that punched the coin.

Closer Look at the Multiple Impression of the S on a Potosi Half Reale.

Unfortunately most beach found cobs are worn and corroded so you can't see the details very clearly.  The side of the cob shown above was complete covered by a thick crust of sand, which preserved the details.

Think for a minute about the man that created the die.  He had to carve the design into the steel die.  Each of those dots was hand carved into the die.   Then the die was used to punch the cob.  

Some of the details you see are the result of workmanship, but some are the result of accident.  I don't know now if the multiple impressions of the S were made by multiple strikes, a bouncing die or recutting of the die.  Perhaps someone can tell me.  I was told something about that at one point but forget now.

Another View of the Same Cob.

It looks to me like the dash in the middle of the monogram might have been recut. Again, maybe  a more knowledgeable person can tell me for sure.

Modern coins also show a lot of interesting details if you look at them very closely.  You might see die chips or cracks, for example.

Below are a few examples.

Die Chips on the Face of Roosevelt.

Modern Roosevelt dimes often show die chips.  On the dime shown above you can see die chips on Roosevelt's cheek, beside the corner of his mouth and above his eye.   I have found numerous examples showing die chips on Roosevelt's face, often more obvious than those shown above.

Roosevelt dimes also often show die chips on the reverse on the olive and oak branches.

Die Chip on Oak Branch on Reverse of Roosevelt Dime.

You can see the die chip between the lower right branches of the oak branch in the picture above.

Die chips are also often found on recent Jefferson nickels.  Below you can see a small die chip between the e and r.

Small Die Chip on Jefferson Nickel.

Die Chips on the O, T, and S.

Above is another example of a Jefferson nickel showing die chips.  There are die chips on the O of Montecello as well as on the T and S in CENTS.

You can also find a lot of die cracks on modern coins if you look closely.  Many memorial cents show a die crack running from a corner of the memorial building to the edge of the coin.

Below is shown a die crack running down the steps and then to the edge of the coin.  Those are very common and insignificant.

Lincoln Memorial Die Crack.

A die crack will be raised on the coin.  It is caused by a crack in the die - not the coin.

Here is a larger and more significant example of a die crack that is actually cataloged.  This die crack runs from the edge of the coin all the way down to Lincoln's neck.

Crack Running From Edge of Coin Down to Lincoln's Chin.

By far my best die crack find is a die crack with retained cud.  A cud is a die break that has not yet fallen out.  You can find that coin cataloged online as well.

My point today is that you can get more enjoyment out of your coins and possibly find a coin worth some decent money if you look at your coin finds more closely.

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The surf is up a bit - maybe up to six or seven feet.  I hope to get out today to inspect some beaches.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/31/19 Report - A Variety of Nice Finds From Brevard and Indian River County. More on Spikes. Bigger Surf Coming.

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

Items Found At Radar Site at Melborne Beach by TM

Photo by TM.

I received an email from TM and photos of some of his finds that came from Brevard and Indian River Counties.


I’ve been detecting the south Brevard and north Indian River county beaches for about a year and a half now.

Found many items and try to clean my share of trash up.

Just thought I’d share a few things. 

Also I really enjoy the treasure beaches report.

TM's finds included those in the photo above and the four following photos.  Each is labeled with the location of the find.  Really a nice and varied group, including some really great finds.

Ring Found North of Bonsteel Beach.

Bracelet Recently Found Near Seagrape Beach Access

Clovis Point Found North of Sebastian Inlet.

Congratulations TM. Great finds! Thanks much for sharing. The Clovis point would be somewhere around ten thousand years old. Now that is an old find. From Wikipedia: The Clovis culture is a prehistoric Paleoamerican culture, named for distinct stone tools found in close association with Pleistocene fauna at Blackwater Locality No. 1 near Clovis, New Mexico, in the 1920s and 1930s. It appears around 11,500–11,000 uncalibrated radiocarbon years before present at the end of the last glacial period, and is characterized by the manufacture of "Clovis points" and distinctive bone and ivory tools. Archaeologists' most precise determinations at present suggest this radiocarbon age is equal to roughly 13,200 to 12,900 calendar years ago. Clovis people are considered to be the ancestors of most of the indigenous cultures of the Americas. You might enjoy reading more about the Clovis culture. Here is a good link. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-clovis-point-and-the-discovery-of-americas-first-culture-3825828/ ---


The past few days I talked a little about Troy's chisel or spike find. At this point, I think the overwhelming consensus is that it is a broken spike. That is my opinion and the opinion of others that I've heard from. If you think about it, I suspect there are hundreds of shipwreck spikes out there for every old chisel. I've discussed some of the reasons for concluding that it is a spike, and posted some of the reader's thoughts that I've received on the subject. I just received an email from Jerry P., who also believes the find is a spike. Jerry also included some photos of those that he has found.

Spikes Found by Jerry P.

Photo by Jerry P.

Notice in particular the broken spike that looks very much like Troy's. I still haven't found the particular examples I was looking for. I wanted to take a close look at the break. I did look at the break on some others. I don't know how good the photos are yet. I haven't uploaded them yet. Also, notice the bent one. I plan on talking more about how they get bent and broken in the future. What do you think about that. I have some ideas, but I'd think it would take a lot of force to break a spike like that. I hope to talk about that more in the future. How do you think spikes get bent or broken? Troy sent me a closer photo of the top of his find.

Find and photo by Troy C.

That gives a better view. Thanks Troy. I was going to upload some photos that I took but found out I have to recharge the camera battery. First the upload utility was giving me trouble, and now the battery runs down. Sheesh. I get back into that topic, maybe tomorrow. One thing I've noticed, especially with broken bronze spikes, is how smooth the break can be. --- I'm just going to tell you about the surf instead of wasting any more time trying to upload the image. Expect a 4 - 6 foot surf on Friday and Saturday. You'll have to look it up yourself. I also asked TM if he could provide any more info on his finds. Happy hunting, Treasureguide@comcast.net

10/14/18 Report - Treasure Coast Finds Beautifully Displayed. Escudos and Silver Cobs At Auction. New Weather.

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

Very Nice Display of Treasure Coast Finds.

Finds and photo by Terry S.

I recently asked people to send in pictures of displays they have created to show their finds.  Terry S., a very well known Treasure Coast detectorists, sent in photos of displays that he created, including the one shown immediately above.

Here is his description of the items.

Top to bottom. Latch believed to be 1715, a 1/2 reale, 3 fishing weights, a silver trade cross with the image of a candle on the lower half. This stands for the light of Christ and was used to trade with the natives. A lead bottle cap, a silver ring believed to be old, ships spikes, a musket ball, two pieces of kangki blue & white porcelain 1715, two prehistoric  horses teeth and a megalodon sharks tooth. 

Terry also said,  I enjoy your blog and read it every day. Well done!

Thanks for sharing Terry.  That is one beautiful treasure display!

Notice the variety of types of treasure featured in this display.  

I hoped that by showing various ways of displaying finds, it would encourage others to do something nice with their finds.  Terry's is a very beautiful example, but I'd like to get photos of all kinds of displays, even if they show only one or two items.  Sometimes a single find can be displayed very nicely by itself.

I'd like to receive a photo of your favorite find or finds displayed.

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The current Sedwick Coins auction begins with thirty-two 1715-Fleet escudos.  There are a few that already have bids.

The auction also includes a number of heavily corroded silver cobs like those you might find on a Treasure Coast beach even though they are from a variety of other wrecks.  Being in less than excellent condition, they are also less expensive.  

If you are hunting for cobs on the Treasure Coast beaches and you haven't found many yet, you might want to look through lots 1777 to 1871 just to become more familiar with the kind of cobs you might  expect to find.

Auctions are very educational.  I recommend that you browse the catalog.

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The most read blog post of the past month is the following:

http://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2015/05/52815-report-unique-beach-treasures.html

It isn't a recent post, but got a lot of attention recently.

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Source: nhc.noaa.gov

I was surprised to see some new activity on the weather map.  The system at about 80W is at about the same location where Michael formed.

We'll have to watch those systems.  It is late in the year but still very warm.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/21/18 Report - Atocha and Margarita Finds. Treasure Coast Coin Find to Identify.

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

Palmander.
Photo from Pinterest.

Do you know what a palmander (also pomander) is?  

It is a container, often a ball, made to hold perfumes such as ambergris. They were worn as ornaments but had the function of a deodorizer but were also thought to protect against other evils. They were often hung from a neck-chain or belt and were perforated and made of gold or silver.   An example is shown above.

Captain Andy and the crew of the Margruder had been finding EOs and pot shards on the Margarita site but switched over to an old productive area where diver Bill Reighard found a gold pomander.

They also found a gold garment mount piece with a missing jewel that might have been either emerald or quartz.  They also found a faceted crystal (See photos below.).

Garment Mount and Crystal.
Photos by the Fisher Organization.

The Dare has been working on the Atocha and found numerous EOs, post shards, a silver plate and numerous silver coins.

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Here is a test.  

J.G. found this doin on 8/19/18 on the Treasure Coast. 

Find and photos by J.G.

What is it?

What can you tell about it?

Let me know what you think and why.  We'll see what the consensus is and who got it first.

Thanks for sharing J.G.

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It has been a very calm summer.  We haven't had any storms, and it seems like the entire summer we've had southeast winds and a calm surf.  That allows the salvage boat to work but doesn't help the beach hunting.

There is still time for a storm though.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/5/18 Report - Coins As Recordings: A Jupiter Shipwreck Cob Example.

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

Half Reale Once Found on Jupiter Beach.

I've been spending some time studying modern coin finds - especially errors and varieties.  You might be surprised how detailed that can get.   As a result I've learned to look at coins in a different way.  That includes old coins and cobs as well as modern coins.

Above is a half reale I found at Jupiter beach a number of years ago.  Unfortunately I didn't record the date so I don't know exactly when that was even though I remember it very well.  Observing the weather, I thought that Jupiter beach might be eroding, so I got in the car and made the nearly one-hour drive.  When I got there I saw the waves hitting the back dunes and creating a nice cut.  The waves were hitting the cut hard and washing away large chunks of sand with every hit.  

I'm pretty sure the cob shown above was washed out of the dunes.  I caught it in the rapid knee to hip high water that was rushing back down the slope.  The side shown above was covered with a thick sand crust.  The other side was pretty much as it is shown below.  I could see the cross, as I braced myself against the rushing water and took it out of the scoop.

Some people reduce each find to a single number - how much it is worth - but a coin contains volumes of information.  This cob is like a recording that goes back to geological time.

If you were to analyze it scientifically you could narrow down where the metal was formed and where it came from.  The shape and type of the cob is typical of those from the Jupiter wreck.  The shape is the handiwork of a worker who cut the planchet.

You also see the work of those who made the die and those who held the die and swung the hammer.

The design itself is the result of politics and royal decrees having far reaching roots and effects.

You see the work of the person who held the die and the man who swung the hammer.

If you inspect a coin closely, you'll see how worn the die was - whether it was new or worn and perhaps showing small cracks or breaks.

You can see where the die was recut and where the die bounced and created a partial second impression.

You can see the results of it being in salt water and on the beach for hundreds of years.  There are even a few grains or sand remaining.

You can even see the result of the cob being cleaned and my own hands where I slipped and made a scratch of my own, which will last as long as the coin.  A good eye can tell that scratch was made after the cob was recovered.

Those are just some of the things you can see if you study this cob.

Side That Was Not Protected by A Crust of Sand.

The second photo shows the side that I could see as soon as I took the cob out of my scoop.  It is not as clear as the side that was originally protected by a thick layer of crust that made that side invisible.

If you look at this side closely, you can see a nice lion rampant in the upper right quadrant and a castle to the left.  You can also see some of the legend between two partial circles of dots.

Unlike many of the cobs that I've shown in this blog, this cob is not from the Mexico mint.  You can easily tell that from the cross.

I've just begun to study coins more closely and am a novice at numismatics, but find it very interesting.

Returning to the other side of the cob for a minute, here is the Philip monogram up close.

Philip Monogram.

You can see some corrosion remaining.

The monogram is very clear.  Notice the horizontal bar in the middle that appears to stand out higher than any of the other parts of the design.

My guess is, and someone could probably confirm, that the die was well worn and the die was sharpened up.  The bar was carved into the worn die after it was well worn.

Although modern coins are produced by machines and this one was struck by hand, the process is still very similar and you'll see many similar effects.

Imagine the fellow that carve the die and how he cut the negative into the die.  He made some nice rounded dots.

You can see how the metal was compacted and stressed and the how the metal flowed into the areas where the die was hollowed out.

Here is a detail on the other side.

Close-up Detail of Half Reale.

In this photo you see the end of the Kings name, Phillipus, and part of the following numeral.

The "S" looks weird.  It doesn't look like an S at all.  It looks more like an eight - actually multiple eights.  What happened?

It could be a couple things.  A real numismatist could probably tell me, or with a little more study I could probably figure it out, but it could be that the die bounced when it was struck.

It also looks to me like the die could have been recut - and perhaps incorrectly.

You see similar things on modern coins.  As I said recently, by studying modern coin errors and varieties, I've learned to look at cobs in a new way.

I'll get into that more some other day.

I'd be happy to receive corrections or additional observations or thoughts about this cob.

One reason I decided to revisit this cob is because my photography has improved since I last posted it.

I hope that you will look at old cobs as containing volumes of information.  If you study them, they are more than a number.  They record a lot of history.  And by careful observation and study, you can unravel the story for yourself.

I've often said that if you know everything about anything, you know everything about everything.

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If I showed enough hate maybe I could get a job writing for the New York Slimes.

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Beach conditions have not improved and remain poor.  The tides are not big and the wind continues from the south.  The surf is only one to two feet.

There is one disturbance way out in the middle of the Atlantic, but it will probably never affect us.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

6/28/18 Report - Context On Treasure Coast Cob Finds. Mexico Minted Half Reale. Arcadia Mills Archaeology Dig.

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

Mexico Minted Half Reale.

Let me put some things in context today.  Recently I've been showing some cob finds.  There were days when several were found.  That doesn't mean that it was typical to walk out on the beach and find that many.  I was living in the Fort Lauderdale area when I started hunting the Treasure Coast.  That means that I had to drive up to hunt without knowing what beach conditions were like on the Treasure Coast.  There was no Treasure Beaches Report.  In fact people didn't have the internet - or cell phones.  There are some advantages you have today with the new technologies, detectors and information sources.

There was no good way to know what beach conditions were like without going to the beach and taking a look.  For me that meant driving a couple of hours.  I would drive two hours often to find nothing but a crummy looking beach.  I made a lot of those trips before I ever found a single cob.  I was getting discouraged and didn't think that I would ever find one.

People tend to think that because there were days when several coins were found that it was always good in those days or that it was much easier.  You often hear people say that it has all been found or there isn't much left and it is much harder today.  I completely disagree with all of that.  It is very much the same now as it was thirty or forty years ago.  It wasn't easy back then, and it isn't easy today.  That is why I have so much to write about.

The one big thing that I think has changed is the frequency of beach renrouishment projects and the amount of sand being dumped on our beaches.  I do believe that has had an effect.  The dunes are protected and don't erode when they otherwise would if it weren't for the renourishment sand.  And the renourishment sand in the water protects the beaches to some extent.

Still, there are good days and bad days.  Some years are better than others.  And some decades are better than others.  Nature has the biggest effect.  There are times when you get a lot of rough weather and erosion.  There are also times when you get a lot of accretion.  Just like the normal winter and summer shifts.

Winter typically makes for better beach hunting than summer - other than tropical storms and hurricanes.  Sand tends to accumulate on the beaches in the summer and the rougher winter weather tends to strip it off.  I've long said that the best treasure beach hunting, with the exception of after good summer storms, is September to April.  And November to February is the peak for treasure beach hunting.  My records of finds confirms that.

There are both long term and short term trends.  There are days, months, and years when things either improve or deteriorate.  If you get a long-term trend of erosion in one area and then get a few good days on top of that long term trend, you have a real good shot.  The same few good days on top of a long-term trend of accretion or towards the end of a summer of southeast winds and accretion, won't likely produce much of anything.  A few additional feet of erosion on a beach that has already been losing sand will produce more finds than the same erosion after a few weeks, months or years of accretion. (For this discussion I'm not taking into account shallow water conditions.)

When you pile sand up in one place on the beach where nature was taking it away, it will erode faster than ever.  It creates a vicious circle.  Not all erosion is the same

I've never detected after the hurricanes that produced some of the best detecting and biggest finds.  I've missed those times when the hunting was at its absolute best.  For example in 2004, I had a lot of other responsibilities that were more important.

In the past few years beach hunting has been slow.  It is a combination of things.  There has been a lot of beach renourishment and the weather hasn't been helping either.  That is one trend, but it won't last forever.  You have to take a long term perspective.  Some times its hot and other times its not.

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Philip Monogram on Same Half Reale Shown Above.

This is the same half reales shown at the top of the post.  It is one of those that was not completely labeled so I don't know when it was found.

This one is on the thin side and has a lot of surface area.  It is pretty much as found and could use a little cleaning.  You can see some shells and crust.

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 ... “And, in excavating it, we found a big iron concretion, about fist size, with turtle shell fragments sitting on top of it,” said Walker, noting that they had the iron X-rayed in the UWF lab. “It looks like it’s a perfectly circular item, about 2 and a quarter inches wide in diameter.”

Walker believes the metal object could be associated with ritual or religious activity by the slaves. They expect to have a better idea in a few weeks, after conservation and cleaning in the electrolysis tank...

Here is the link for the entire article about the dig at the Arcadia Mill site.


http://wuwf.org/post/uwf-researchers-build-story-arcadia-mill-homestead-find-slave-cabin-chimney

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Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

6/19/18 Report - Philip V Half Reale Monogram. Mystery Item. Artifact Web Site. Undersea Cables.

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

Illustration of  a Royal Half Reale Showing the Full Philip V Monogram

In the past three posts I showed half reales carrying the Philip V monogram and a couple with very incomplete Carlos II monograms.

You usually don't see an entire monogram on a half reale and especially not a weathered half reale found on the beach, but if you know what they look like, you can spot pieces of the monogram on many cobs.

The three Philip V reales that I showed in the last three posts each showed a different piece of the monogram.  The mint mark and partial date on the first gave a good idea of what the monogram would look like.

Below are parts of two separate cobs.  The top one (the one I just referred to) shows the left side of the Philip V monogram on a Mexico minted half reale, while the second shows much of the bottom of the monogram.  Using the common parts, the two images can be combined or overlapped to show much of the monogram.  They can be oriented by using the dot and the angle joining the P (in red).

The third Philip V reale (below) that I showed yesterday shows much of what the second reales shows plus the top of the S.

All three of these were minted in Mexico, and all three are Philip V half reales with very similar monograms, and all three were found on the same beach on the same day.

None of these ones show the crown. 

I was very happy to see that I labeled each of these so I knew when and where they were found.  Not all of my finds were so well labeled.

Some other time I'll look at the Carlos II monogram and some of the finds from other days.

As the results of one of my blog polls showed, if you find one, the chances are good that you'll find more than one during a hunt.

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I just received the following email concerning the recent mystery object. Mark said, I believe  the glass item with the cone, is a fancy inkwell. The pen would rest in the hole,  cone side up and any excess ink would run back into the container. There was probably a cork in the non cone side hole. These could actually be flipped over, cork side up without spilling ink "cone down". Try it with water.

I collected and dug bottles here in North Palm Beach county back in the late 60's and 70's

Thanks Mark.  I have seen old ink wells that look much like the mystery item from the outside.  I'm still puzzled by it though.  You might be right.

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Brian B. sent the following email and link.

I was reading up on some old musket balls I found in the palmettos -trying to get an idea on the dating and saw a bottle section on this site, Thought I'd send it your way....THanks Brian 

http://sgtriker.com/bullets.htm 

It has a lot of good information on a wide variety of types of artifacts.  Worth checking out.

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Here is an interesting article on undersea cables.

http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/392577-spotlight-falls-on-russian-threat-to-undersea-cables

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Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net