12/22/18 Report - A Treasure Hunter's Christmas: Decorating with Finds. Antique Bells and Other Finds.

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

A Small Part of the Population of My Lost and Found Village.

Christmas is a special time of year for me.  I really like it.  One thing I like about it is all of the traditions and memories.  But Christmas is a really good time to bring your finds into the story.

I like to make use of finds.  One thing I always like to find is wire.  It comes in handy.  Many of my Christmas tree decorations are held by hangers made of wire I found.  Finds also become ornaments or decorations.

Above you can see some of the items I've found.  Many of them were shown in posts before.  They often find a place in my Lost and Found Village beside the tree along with some other or vintage and antique Christmas decorations.

The movie Polar Express made bells very popular.  Here is a crotal bell I found in the hills of West Virginia.

And here is another one that has been polished and fitted with a nice new ribbon.  It hangs on my Christmas tree.

Polished Antique Petal Bell on Christmas Tree.

As with anything nice, there are fakes sold.  The easiest sign and first thing to look for is the hole in the lower half of the bell.  Many fakes simply have a slit.  Genuine antique bells will have rounded holes at the end of the slit.

Here is a great web site that tells all about such bells, including how to date them and many other interesting facts.

https://classicbells.com/info/DatingBells.html

An entire strap fitted out with bells would have maybe 15 bells.  That would be nice to hear.  They do have a nice sound.

Oh, by the way, the little rusty truck in the top picture also came from the hills of West Virginia.

Decorating with objects that have a history is much more meaningful than buying a box of factory made ornaments.

Using your own finds adds new stories and traditions to your Christmas.  They can be passed down through the generations.  Many of my favorite decorations were made by my grandma or came from my childhood.

Here is a Christmas tree decoration made using sea shells and a few beads.  The beach provides all kinds of things.

Christmas Ornament Made From Treasure Coast Sea Shells.

Another Type of Sea Shell Ornament.

A little paint and glitter were added to these shells.

Silver Bell Made of Float.

This float and rope were beach finds.  It just took a little paint to turn it into a large silver bell.

I put my tree up but haven't finished my decorating yet.  Those are just some of the ways I use finds at Christmas.

And of course, some of the shiny and nicer finds become presents.

I was in the mood to talk Christmas since that is what I was doing.

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We had a couple days on nearly continuous west wind.  The tides are higher now.

It looks like the after Christmas surf might be bigger than predicted earlier.  Possibly up to seven feet now.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

Happy Hunting and happy decorating,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/19/17 Report - 500 Year Old Gold Coin Found by Detectorist. Miscellaneous Finds From North Florida. Repurposing Finds.

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

500 Year Old Gold Coin Found By Detectorist.
Source: See TheTimes link below.

A gold coin more than 500 years old has been discovered by an amateur treasure hunter close to the battlefield where Henry Tudor triumphed over Richard III in the Wars of the Roses.

Michelle Vall, a teaching assistant from Blackpool, found the coin, a half angel, during a charity metal-detecting event at Monks Kirby in Warwickshire in September. The site is 11 miles south of Bosworth Field in Leicestershire.

The coin was minted during the two-year reign of Richard III — the last Yorkist king, who was killed during the battle in 1485 — and is one of only a handful in existence. The coin measures about 2cm in diameter and weighs less than 3g and is expected to fetch £15,000 at auction...

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/fleeing-army-may-have-dropped-richard-iii-gold-coin-h8fwxqbsc

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Finds by Chris N.
Photo by Chris N.

Here are some finds and message from Chris N..

Here is some interesting finds I got down near Vilano Beach. Small Silver Ring old ,some Clad Coins, and a Copper Yes? Copper U.S. Army Insignia. Very Worn! So was the ring. I found them on a down slop wash out.

Thats what. Love about Metal detecting, you never know what your going to unearth... 

Everybody have a "Blessed Safe Christmas" and Prosperous New Year 2018.

Thanks Chis.

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Buoy Made Into Bell

As I've said before, I like to find things that can be useful.  Sometimes it takes a little work, but it isn't difficult and can be rewarding.  I found a buoy on the beach and turned it into a sleigh bell.  All it took was a little silver paint.  The rope was painted red.  I used black tape instead of painting the black part.  I was thinking of the bell in the Polar Express movie when I made it, but it is something like, but much bigger - about a foot across - than a crotal bell I once dug (shown below) .

Dug Crotal Bell

Finding an item that can be repurposed is only part of the fun.  The other part is actually transforming it and then using it.

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Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/28/13 - Crotal Bells, Sharks Teeth and New Atocha Finds

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

Dug Crotal Bell

Yesterday I mentioned some dug crotal bells and gave a link to a web site that provided good information about crotal bells.

This one was dug on an old trail along with some other items including horse shoes.

Did you ever hear someone say "I'll be there with bells on."  If you aren't a youngster you probably have heard that said.

If you look it up online you might find something like the following.  The expression goes back to the days before the automobile, when it was the custom to deck out with the fanciest harness the horse that drew the carriage for special occasions. That, of course, was the harness 'with bells on.'"

I think it has an older and more utilitarian beginning.

The bells were a type of insurance when going on a journey.  They were sometimes traded for goods or services if problems were encountered.  Therefore if you arrived with the bells, you arrived in good condition, not having had excessive problems along the way.

Same Dug Bell

Notice the design around the bottom.

This bell is very much like one that you will see towards the bottom of the above linked site.

It should have a size marker and a makers mark somewhere.  Maybe that can be found when the bell is cleaned.


On the Treasure Coast we still have a one to two foot surf.

There is a lot of sand, and a good many shells on some beaches.

I saw one piece of old pottery along with the shells.  I'm sure there will be a few beach fossils at a few places too.  Of course some beaches have more shells than others.  And also some beaches are a slight bit better for detecting now, even though I wouldn't expect to find any cobs now.


And this just in via email.  -  Captain Andy and the crew of the JB Magruder recently found hundreds of artifacts on the Atocha site, including 210 musket balls, 12 spikes, and 8 split shot and numerous pieces of pottery and a few encrusted objects.  For two days they found something in every hole.

One Very Sandy Convex Beach.

The beach above was very mush and poor.  The beach below was flatter at low tide and more firm.  Both had a good number of shells.  Note the sea weed at the high tide line at the beach below.

Also notice the sand bar in front of this beach.  There had been more of a dip in front of this beach until the bar moved in.

Both pictures are from near low tide this morning.

More Concave Beach.

A 4 - 7 foot surf is predicted for a week from Tuesday.  You know how it goes with those higher surfs that are predicted a week in advance.  It might not happen.

Fossils Found Last Sunday.
Photo by Dan B.

Dan took in quite a haul.  He found 430 sharks teeth as well as the other fossils you see here.  He said it was under difficult circumstances.

That is often the way it is.  The best finds are often difficult.

Congratulations Dan.

Like I always say, "There is always some place to hunt and something to be found."


I received a lot of emails and find photos.  I'll show more of those in the future.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/27/13 Report - Gold Mickey, Silver Coin, Crotal Bells, and Surf

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

14K Gold & Diamond Disney Find.

A couple of days ago I showed some Coca Cola bottles and mentioned that Coca Cola and Disney items are very collectible and easy to sell.  One reader sent in a photo of this nice dug Disney collectible that he found.

The Micky Mouse ring is 14K with diamond eyes.  If it is an employee reward or is older or rare, the collector value could be high.

Always consider the possible collector value of finds when trying to determine values, and if you are interested in selling the item, try to find collectors who would most appreciate the find.

One nice thing about selling collectible finds is that you can put them in the hands of people that will really appreciate and preserve them.

I've been off-beach the last couple of days and scouting out a historic property.  I've hunted it a little in the past and came up with a few finds including an old horse shoe, crotal bells, coins, bottles and other things going back to the 1700s.   As a result I haven't seen the beach or had much time to spend on the computer the past couple of days.  I'll have to get out to the beach to see what if anything is going on.


By the way, here is a nice web site on crotal bells.  The earliest were made in the 9th Century.

http://www.americanbell.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=4170

Here are just a few helpful lines from the above web site.

1400's bells were being molded rather than hammered into shape.
+/- 1500's single mold bells being formed.
1800's petal designs added to top and bottom of the bells.
Pre 1845 were generally egg shaped, slits had circular ends, the shank was drilled.
Post 1845 distinct middle ridges,
- introduction of screws or rivits through top used to attach bell to strap.
Late 1800's only lower half of bells decorated (generally).
1870's Nickel and Tin plating introduced
1940's Chroming process introduced

It is always helpful to be able to identify a date range for items.

Check out the web site.


I have noticed in recent weeks a good number of slightly older coins on some beaches lately.  A good number of wheat pennies, many of which look like they were just dropped.  It doesn't make sense to me.

Here is a 1944 fifty centavos coin found on a beach the other day by Michael E.

50 Centavos Find by Michael E.

The 1944 fifty centavos contains just under .25 ounce of silver.  That makes it worth around $2 in melt value.


We are at the time of year when the beaches usually transition from summer conditions to winter conditions.  The surf should be getting rougher on a regular basis and  we will undoubtedly be seeing more frequent erosion.  That will be a welcome change.  We've been stuck with sandy summer conditions for what seems like forever now.   Usually we get some good erosion and good hunting in October or November.

Above you can see the surf predictions for the Treasure Coast from the Magic Sea Weed web site.  We have a one to two foot surf today, but looking ahead, the chart shows a 4 - 6 foot surf a little over a week from now.

I've pointed out many times how the rough surf predicted a week or so in advance often disappears as the time approaches.  Hopefully that won't happen this time.  In any case, it does look like the surf will be increasing.

The web site also shows a very high low tide today.  The low tides haven't been going down much lately.




That is all for now.  Maybe more later.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net