4/10/20 Report - Variety of Crucifixes: 16th to 21st Century. Indicators of Age To Look For.

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

Old Silver Crucifix Sold In a Previous Sedwick Auction.

A few days ago I posted a photo of one of my favorite 1715 Fleet finds - a gold corpus.  At that time I thought it would have been a good topic for Good Friday, but I posted it anyhow with the intention of coming back to the topic on Good Friday.

Anyone who has done much detecting has found a variety of crucifixes.  They can be very old or new and are made using a variety of materials, including non-metallic.  You might not know if a crucifix is old or new if there are no obvious signs or markings that tell you.

The above crucifix was sold in a Sedwick auction a few years ago, unfortunately I don't remember which auction it was, but it must have been 2015 since that is when I mentioned it first.

This is an item I personally handled.  If I correctly recall it was said to be from late 1700s.  When I looked at it I thought that maybe the coins were later replacements, but I don't know that.  Unfortunately I don't even remember if the coins were matching coins.  One of the most notable things to me is the primitive looking corpus showing a possible indigenous influence.

Below is another silver crucifix from a concluded Sedwick auction.  It is dated as 1560 - 1620, but is French rather than Spanish.

This heavy silver crucifix was thought to be earlier than the one above.  It also shows a skull and crossbones.  The corpus is caricaturish rather than realistic.  Notice the common features, such as the skull and cross bones below the feet of Christ.

The bales of older items tend to be heavy and facing front to back.

Here is another from a previous Sedwick auction.

This one is Spannish and dated 1600s - 1800s, a wide date range.

Notice the worn high spots such as the top of the head.  The older crucifixes I've seen often show heavy wear to the face of Christ from religious use.

Here is later crucifix, dated to the early 1800s.

This one is a later crucifix.  It is made of bronze and ebony.  Like the one above, which could also be as late as the 1800s, this one does not show the skull and cross bones at the bottom.  It also has a small bale.

Leaving the Sedwick catalogs and going to the Mel Fisher artifact database, I found this gold crucifix from the Atocha site.

This one has the bale facing the other direction and has dangling pearls, which were common from the Atocha.  So might that be a clue that it was made in the New World?

One of the common features I've noticed on older crucifixes is that the corpus is attached to the cross at the hands and feet by pins.  The pins, or nails, are often very prominent and important features. That means of attachment often can lead to the corpus being separated from the cross, so you will sometimes find the corpus without the cross, or vice versa.

Of course I can't do much beside introduce a topic like this in a single post, but I thought it was especially appropriate for Good Friday.

You can find crucifixes made of all materials it seems.  I found one that had a little plastic compartment which looks like it held water at one time.  I think it might have been from Israel.

Here are a couple of the more abstract and obviously modern examples that I've found.

 

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I received emails showing interest in a few brief comments I made yesterday concerning the Bible, so I have a recommendation for those of you who might be interested.   If you want to study the Bible and especially the Jewish roots of Christianity, the ultimate authority, in my opinion, is the Hebraist J. B. Lightfoot, who authored four volumes of Commentary on the New Testament From the Talmud and Hebraica as well as several other volumes of Bible Commentary.  Even though his works were originally published in Latin in the 17th century, they were reprinted in English.  Lightfoot was fluent in Greek and Latin, but also classical Hebrew, Mishnaic Hebrew and the Aramaic of the Talmud.  He was therefore uniquely qualified to shed light on the Bible as influenced by ancient Hebrew thought and culture.  Don't be discouraged by the frequent Koine Greek or Hebrew quotations.

Published by Oxford University Press in 1859, the volumes I own were published by the Hendrickson Press in the 20th century.  Excellent, challenging but very worthwhile.

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I meant to do this before, but forgot.  Did you know that you can easily make your own facemasks out of things you will undoubtedly have around the house.  It is easy and effective.

Here is one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY-29VBkGmw

You don't have to jump in a casket and close the lid to be safe.    I won't comment more on that today even though I'm not finding easy to restrain myself.

I can't hold it any longer.  Fauci and Birx need to retire.  They started out somewhat reasonable, but this mantra of  "the numbers are so much better than we predicted because the people did what we told them to do" is not only self-serving but also indefensible.  They call for endless randomized double-blind studies to determine if drugs might be effective and safe, but they have no proof whatsoever that the isolation of huge segments of the population is the only factor that caused their predictions to be off  in another galaxy.  They have no data to prove their conclusion, and no apparent interest in obtaining any.  High school students know that correlation does not mean causation.  If you do a rain dance and it stops raining that doesn't mean the dance caused the rain to stop.  That is where they are with this "mitigation was effective because the numbers are lower" line.  They won't even consider or mention any other possible factors - most notably the model that they pushed being way off the mark to begin with.    If they want to look like scientists they can't jump to conclusions without data and without considering other possible explanations.  The best data they have now was not collected scientifically, and can not be expected to be valid or reliable, coming as it does, from people working in what we are told are extremely chaotic overwhelming circumstances with much more important tasks before them other than reporting.  This stubborn anti-scientific insistence on one explanation without data and without consideration of any other possible factors or explanations completely discredits them.  They are looking like they are either incompetent or dishonest.

To be clear, I am not saying that there is no danger or that you shouldn't distance and take adequate safety measures, but there are ways to be both active and safe.

More data, less BS please.

On a more positive note, DeSantis just said that 40  - 45 percent of the hospital beds in Florida are open, including ICU.  That is a lot.  There will be a long backlog of elective surgeries such as knee and hip replacements and other elective procedures when this is over.

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We are having an offshore wind and small surf.  The tides are still high though.

Have a blessed Good Friday,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/4/20 Report - A Look At One Favorite Find. Spanish Colonial Metallurgy. Boar Hoard Found. Don't Get Arrested.

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

Gold Christ Figure Find.

You will like some finds more than others.  Some people like old things, some like valuable things, some like coins more than other objects, and some finds might just appeal to you.  The find shown above is  one of my favorites for a variety of reasons.

I found it years ago at John Brooks beach.  I didn't appreciate it back then as much as I do today.  In fact when the sand fell away and it first revealed itself to me, I didn't even know for sure that it was old.  If you don't know much about something you can miss what is special about it.  Research helps, and over the years I developed a greater appreciation for the item.

The figure is larger than it looks - probably too large to be worn as a pendent.  Although I don't have exact measurements on hand, it must be about two or three inches high.  It was undoubtedly once attached to a cross at three points - the hands and feet.

One of the things I especially like about it, in addition to the heavily worn nose, probably worn flat by rubbing during prayers or times of stress, is the facial features that I've long thought resembled indigenous more than European features.  I thought that maybe a native or mixed-race worker formed the figure.  I do not have strong evidence to prove any of that, but that is what it looks like to me and how I feel about it.

After much research, I've decided that the figure looks like many older South American examples that I've seen, and shares many of the same features.  The older Spanish colonial examples I've seen were often attached to a cross by pins at the hands and feet.  The general form and lanky features seem to match those of the same period. They were usually attached to what we might consider an over-sized cross.  A modern crucifix is usually very little larger than the Christ figure, but on older ones the cross is often much bigger than the Christ figure.

It is unfortunate when you make a find that you are not prepared for.  You can make big mistakes.  You might not know what it is, you might not know how to clean or preserve it, and you might fail to appreciate it like you should.  That is why it is necessary to preserve and keep items that you do not know much about until you can thoroughly research them.

This item also has a lot of copper alloy like many items of the Spanish colonial period.  I should get it out and measure and document it better, including good photos.


You might also enjoy this post on tumbaga and Spanish colonial metallurgical techniques.

https://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2016/02/21416-report-tumbaga-why-citizens.html


I had been thinking of some of my favorite finds recently anyhow and ran across the following article that made me show this particular find today.

Here is the beginning of that article.

When Spanish invaders arrived in the Americas, they were generally able to subjugate the local peoples thanks, in part, to their superior weaponry and technology. But archeological evidence indicates that, in at least one crucial respect, the Spaniards were quite dependent on an older indigenous technology in parts of Mesoamerica (today’s Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and Honduras).

The invaders needed copper for their artillery, as well as for coins, kettles, and pans, but they lacked the knowledge and skills to produce the metal. Even Spain at that time had not produced the metal domestically for centuries, relying on imports from central Europe. In Mesoamerica they had to depend on local smelters, furnace builders, and miners to produce the essential material. Those skilled workers, in turn, were able to bargain for exemption from the taxes levied on the other indigenous people.

This dependence continued for at least a century, and perhaps as long as two centuries or more, according to new findings published in the journal Latin American Antiquity, in a paper by Dorothy Hosler, professor of archeology and ancient technology at MIT, and Johan Garcia Zaidua, a researcher at the University of Porto, in Portugal...

Here is the link for the rest of that article.

http://news.mit.edu/2020/mesoamerican-copper-smelting-colonial-weaponry-0331

Very interesting article that is also relevant to coins and the mints.

It also lends credence, though nothing in the way of hard evidence, to my feeling that the Christ might have been made by an indigenous worker.

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Hoard Unearthed by Boar Found by Couple.

Source: See Spectator.sme.sk link below

… A married couple during a hike to the Choč mountain near Likavka made a great discovery of silver and two golden coins from the turn of 15^th and 16^th century, My Liptov wrote.

The husband saw the coins in terrain that was dug out by boars. They did not touch it, but immediately contacted archaeologists. They waited for three hours at the spot....

For not disturbing the find before the authorities arrived, the couple was entitled to a reward of 100% the value of the hoard.

Here is the link for the rest of the article.

https://spectator.sme.sk/c/22093970/boars-dug-out-a-treasure-of-coins-from-the-turn-of-15th-and-16th-century.html?ref=av-right


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A paddleboarder was arrested for flouting the California stay-at-home-order.

Source: See KTLA.com link below.

Here is the link for more about that.

https://ktla.com/news/local-news/officials-paddleboarder-arrested-at-malibu-pier-for-flouting-state-stay-at-home-order/


When authorities exercise their power inappropriately or abuse their power, that can hurt voluntary compliance because people will rebel against what they perceive as inappropriate or unjust.

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Prayer warriors praying at an abortion clinic were arrested.  Originally the charge was for having a group of over ten people, but when it was pointed out there were not ten, the charge was changed to something else.

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Some will use this crisis for their own purposes, political or otherwise.  Remain vigilant.

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The Treasure Coast surf is supposed to increase to 3 - 5 feet Sunday and 5 - 7 feet Monday.

Stay vigilant,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

2/7/18 Report - Dug Coins With Holes and Bent Coins: Uses and Superstitions. Snip Pattern On Steve's Mystery Find.

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

Figure From The Book
Numismatic Archaeology of North America: A Field Guide by Aiken et al.

Over the years I dug up a good number of "holed"coins. They include everything from a Charles II half reale to a Lincoln penny.  I don't think I got any of them in circulation.  If I did I didn't notice it at the time.  I think they were all dug coins.  If I'd thought about it, I might have kept them together as a nice little collection of holed coins.

When someone puts a hole in a coin it is often meant to change the function of the coin.  It is no loner used as money but as a pendant, button, token or something else.  I can imagine, though, that coins might be punched to be sewn into clothing for safe keeping and transportation.  I've read of how those escaping persecution in places such as Nazi Germany would sew valuables into their clothing.  I could see why one might do something similar for a long voyage on a cramped ship.  What better way to keep a few coins safe under those circumstances.

It seems that people assume that when they find a holed coin that it was meant to be a pendant.  That might often be the case, but there are other possibilities as well.  The placement and number of holes might tell you something.

The above illustration was published in the numismatic archaeology book by Aiken et al that I've mentioned a few times recently.  The same book also reported on a study of holed coins offered for sale on eBay.

The number of holes can vary from one to several.  The arrangement of holes can suggest the reason for the hole or holes.  A single hole near the edge of a coin suggests that the coin would be suspended, as would be the case with a pendant.  But it would only take one hole for someone to sew a coin into a garment.  It isn't all that easy to make a hole in a coin.  I'd only make as many as necessary.

Below is a picture of a crucifix that was sold in a Sedwick auction a year or two ago.  I personally inspected that item in Orlando before the sale.  I had the feeling and told Mr. Sedwick at the time that I thought it looked like the coins were a later addition.

Illustration From Sedwick Auction Catalog.

As this shows, coins can also be used as religious items and as ornaments.  Notice that the holes are placed so the coin hangs right side up.  Normally the hole would be started from the side that is most likely to show when suspended.

The corpus on the above piece looks to me like it was made by an indigenous silversmith.  I found a similar one of gold on a wreck beach back years ago.

While a single hole might indicate that the coin was to be suspended, two holes might also be for suspension, or when coins are attached to each other to make something like a bracelet.  Two holes can also turn a coin into a button.

Coins were also used at times as good luck tokens or religious medallions.

I used to find a lot of bent coins, especially at one location where there were a lot of rocks that rolled around in the surf.   I used to think the bent coins were probably caused by natural forces, but there are a lot of superstitions and other uses for bent coins.   Some believed a bent coin would change one's luck.  Another tradition is that carrying a bent coin in a purse would keep the purse full.  And then there were "witching coins" and love tokens.  So I guess there are several possibilities.

Here is a an old poem about mentioning a crooked sixpence.

There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile.

He found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile.

He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse,

And they all lived together in a little crooked house.

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Concerning yesterday's mystery find from Steve in Sebastian, DB offered the following.

I recognize the snip pattern as those of aviation snips. That could also lead to the mystery itself. I've found several parts of planes as well as the fact there are WWII planes in the water along the Treasure Coast.
 Happy hunting

DB

Thanks much  DB!

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Not any real change in beach conditions.  I'll have to find time to get out sometime soon.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/4/17 Report - Amateur Detectorist Makes Amazing Find. Mackinac Archaeological Discovery. Washington DC History and Metaphor.

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

Amazing Metal Detector Find.
Source: See TheSun link below.

The 34-year-old, who had only taken up the hobby 18 months ago, was expecting to find something innocuous.

But as he shovelled the dirt, a glint of gold emerged on ornate piece of jewellery with a precious sapphire...

The amateur treasure hunter found what is thought to be a 14the century ring in Robin Hood's Sherwood Forest.  The ring is might be valued for as $90000 US.

Here is the link for the rest of the story.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2435181/robin-hood-sherwood-forest-medieval-ring-found/

The fellow had been detecting for less than two years.  Amazing find!

There is always that chance if you are out there working at it.    The next big find might come when you least expect it.   You might be discouraged and ready to give up, then you get the surprise of your life.

Here is another view of the ring.

Same Ring.
Same source.

Thanks to Dean for that link.

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Mackinac State Historic Park archaeologists have discovered two pieces of silver and a brass crucifix all within one week...

“Last week we found two pieces of trade silver and that's really unusual for Michilimackinac. Trade silver is an excellent marker for the British time period in the Great Lakes fur trade but we've never found a whole lot of here at the site here in general,” said Evans...

That doesn't read quite right.  I'm not the only one that makes mistakes. :)

Here is the link for more of that article.

http://www.9and10news.com/story/35959771/archaeologists-find-rare-artifacts-at-site-in-fort-michilimackinac

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Source: See NewYorker link below.

Progress came slowly, as the land in question refused to coöperate. Pierre Charles L’Enfant, the brilliant French draftsman hired to work out the details, complained that the land was “swampy.” In Jefferson’s sketch, there are signs of the trouble to come: low soundings for the shallow Potomac and a “Mud Bank” not far away from the federal city. The water was often brackish; a few years earlier, in 1785, George Washington had written a letter praising the Potomac for precisely this reason (“the bed of the Potomac before my door, contains an inexhaustable fund of manure”). That was helpful to farmers, but less so to government employees...

Here is the link for more of that article.

http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/draining-the-swamp

Every shadowy creature in the swamp has been awakened by the threat of an intruder.

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Source: nhc.noaa.gov

There are now two disturbances, as you can see from the map.

The one by South America has a ten percent chance of becoming a cyclone in the next 48 hours, while the one over by Africa has a forty percent chance.

There are no significant changes to beach conditions to report yet.

Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

4/20/16 Report - Gold Brooch From Corrigans. Poll Results On Treasure Hunter Spirituality. More On Andy's Crucifix Find.

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

High Carat Gold Brooch With 12 Emeralds
Listed In Current Sedwick Treasure Auction.

This broach was found on the beach at Corrigans.  It is listed in the current Sedwick Treasure Auction.  The item number is 1682.  I posted it because it is an interesting beach find.

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The most current blog poll has concluded and the results are in.  77% of the respondents said they were religious or spiritual.

It should be noted that some good number of churches preach against what might be called "religiousity" so a good number of those who described themselves as spiritual might also be affiliated with a church.  In retrospect, I probably should have defined the first two categories a little differently.

Nonetheless, the poll does show that most detectorists do have some spiritual or religious feeling. That is what I suspected from the emails I receive and what I hear people say.

Religious or spiritual feelings are evidenced in how treasure hunting is experienced and how events are interpreted.  For example, I often hear karma mentioned.  That could indicate a type of spirituality however it also could be little more than a common expression that implies little about any deeper analysis or feelings.  It might be one of those things, like the very common phrase "in our thoughts an prayers," which I believe is often used these days as a politically correct thing to say in certain situations even though the person does not have any intention of seriously praying.

9% of the blog poll respondents described themselves as agnostic, and the same number described themselves as atheistic.  A PEW poll conducted in 2014 found 4% to  be agnostic and 4.2% to be atheist.  A higher number of those that responded to the blog poll and therefore presumed to be detectorist are atheist or agnostic.  The poll therefore did not support my feeling that detectorists and treasure hunters tend to be more spiritually or religiously inclined than the general population. The blog poll did support the notion that a large majority of detectorists or treasure hunters are religious or spiritual.

A spiritual world view will affect how people behave and interpret events.  As I mentioned above, I often hear terms like karma used in the metal detecting community.  That suggests a certain type of behavior based upon what I would think would have to be a spiritual world view or at least some universal intelligence or governing agency.  I guess it could, however, be a concept held by those believing in an entirely material world that somehow behaves in a karmic manner, although I have a hard time imagining how that would work.

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Concerning the crucifix that I talked about the last couple of days, Laura Strolia added the following.

I imagine the cross is from the 20th century. Keyholes [hangers*] began in the early 1900s. The Victorian era was known for nails, wire, and ribbon.

I never asked what the cross is made of. Why isn't it corroded? My guess it was someone's inherited crucifix from a family member and the person decided to bury it. I put my broken rosaries and other objects in the ground as one shouldn't "throw out" blessed religious artifacts. Ironic, here I am digging and placing treasure back into God's holy earth, opposite of what I do when metal detecting!

Laura

Thanks Laura!

* Added by TG.

Andy thinks it might be bronze.
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The Treasure Coast surf has decreased and is now down to around three to five feet.  By Monday we'll be back to a one-foot surf.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/18/16 Report - Beach Conditions On The Treasure Coast, Cross or Crucifix Find.

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

John Brooks Beach This Morning.

Yesterday morning this same beach had some three-foot cuts.  Today, none.  What happened is that the water got up to near the dunes last night.  It washed up over the front beach and smoothed it out.

I took a look at Turtle Trail, Seagrape Trail, Wabasso, Ambersands, and the beach north of the McClarty Museum.  None of those had any significant cuts.

At Turtle Trail, for example, just a little more of the blue bags were showing.  It looked like the beach there lost a little sand, but just a few inches from over the bags.

I would have taken more pictures but my camera battery ran down.

For the size of the surf, not much happened.  None of the beaches looked very interesting this morning,and most of the front beaches were pretty mushy.

The surf will decrease a little tomorrow.  I don't expect much improvement in the beach conditions the next couple of days.

Still, there were some interesting finds the past couple of days.  Below is one find made by Andy S.

Front

Back

Close Up.

The cross is about seven inches tall.  It was found yesterday on a shipwreck beach where a shipwreck spike was also found.

Let me know if you have any thoughts on the item.  I noticed some things that I'll comment on some other time.  I've also asked for expert opinion.

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Concerning my "Hero's Journey" post, Jerry P. said, Today's post is so much like I feel about this "hobby" that I felt compelled to let you know. The "Hero's Journey" chart really fits me and other Detectorists that I've come to know in the short time since I began my "Journey".

Thanks for your comments Jerry.

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Only one day remaining to respond to the current blog poll.  Thanks in advance.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

3/10/15 Report - Mystery Object Might Be Inscription From Crucifix. 233 Coins Detected In One Spot.

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



Item Found By Todd G.

I didn't know what I was going to post today.  I had a bunch of random thoughts, but nothing was coming together.  One topic was partially developed in my mind but it wasn't ready for posting.  I'll put that off to some other time. 

I received an email from Todd G.  Here is what he said.

 

I have been following your blog for several years and was on my annual trip to Florida a little over a week ago when I found this small metal bar where beach restoration is going on near Pepper Park beach, just north of Turtle Trail.  I took it to a coin dealer who said he has seen them before, but he only handled US coins and had no real knowledge of what it was.  Is this just a random item someone may have lost more recently, or could it have been from a shipwreck?  It was laying at the bottom of a 5 foot cut, near the wall of the cut, where a bulldozer had gone though and moved sand to create the cut.  It has not been cleaned other than with a brush and clear water.  It is heavy for its size and a magnet will not stick to it.  I found it with a new XP metal detector and am not familiar with the meaning of the numbers on that machine, and will have to check it out with my Minelab to see what kind of metal that unit believes it to be.

An acid test kit is a good idea for everyone, but you probably wouldn't have it along when you travel.  You can always stop into a pawn shop.  They'll usually test for gold and silver.   If they use the old acid test method, you might not want them to do a rubbing, but most use test pens these days.

Concerning the letters, I'm not certain but it sure looks like INRI.   That isn't a numismatic term or designation, it is religious.  Many depictions of the Crucifix will have those letters on a plaque above the head of Jesus.

 

 The Bible, John (19:19-20), says, "Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, 'Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.' Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek." 

Latin for "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews" is "Iesvs Nazarenvs Rex Iudaeorvm" and the acronym for this title is INRI. Latin uses the letter "I" instead of the English "J", and "V" instead of "U" (i.e., Jesus Nazarenus Rex Judaeorum). Translated to English that would stand for "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews."

That is a very appropriate find for the time of the year.  Good Friday and Easter are not far away.

I'm not absolutely sure those are the letters, but it sure looks like it.   And I can't say how old it might be.   Did it

break off of a Crucifix?  I don't know.  It doesn't have the characteristic dark color of old silver.

What do you all think?  Let me know. 

 

I did a post a few weeks ago on a variety of old items that were found in renourishment sand.

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233 of Coins Found Here By Joe D.

I received the following email from Joe D.

Started off the week with a bang! Had another search "First" for me; most coin's found in one spot!!

This morning, I tried another one of my "drive-by's"! A large empty lot near the city where old homes and buildings were torn down several years ago! I gravitated toward the large trees first, as I usually do at empty lots and parks due to the shade and potential finds they provide! Under the third tree I went under, there was a small round clearing under a lower part of the canopy about six foot across! It looked to me like a "camping" area for a homeless person, but did not have a lot of trash nearby as is typical in my area! (See pictures) When I swung my coil through the area, I got a lot of confusing chatter like aluminum coleslaw and many other "good" sounds! Upon bending down, I could see several coins on the surface! Using my pinpointer, I recovered these and found others partially buried and continued to expand my search area! Eventually the area spread to about 15 foot across! I had set my detector down and was using just the pinpointer for about 40 minutes! I finally resumed with my detector after the signals became more scattered and buried! And the total; (Drum roll please!!) 233 COINS!! $15.11 total! cents thru quarters, dated from 1943 to 2013! Most were newer ( only one wheat😢) but many were from 60's, 70's and 80's! Found from the surface, to about two inches deep! Very little trash among  coins other than a handful of foil gum wrappers and a few aluminum can pieces!

Sorry if this was a little long-winded, but had a lot to explain! Also, it was interesting to note the difference in the corrosion amount among pennies of different decades! But I will leave that for another entry!

That is one big spill!  Reminded me of a time when I found bunches of quarters on the surface the day after a carnival pulled out.   It was where a ticket booth was and it looked like rolls of fresh quarters broke and were left.

This spill appears to have been made over a long period of time though.  It could have been a gathering site for some type of penny pitch game or something, or maybe Voodoo or Santeria.  I've found some of those.  One time a circle of pennies was found around a dead bird.

What do you all think caused such a concentration of coins?  Let me know.

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On the Treasure Coast it looks like we're stuck with a small surf and southerly winds for a while.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@Comcast.net

7/18/14 Report - Which Is Most Important: Search Strategy or Detector Capabilities? How Beach Detecting Is Similar To Detecting In The Mountains. Crucifix & Large Cent.

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



1823 Large Cent Find

A few days ago I did a post about some views concerning metal detecting and metal detectors.  At the time I said I would talk more about strategies in the future.  I'll do that some today.  

Yesterday I told how I used an inexpensive metal detector in an old yard and in a woods and found a few wheat cents, an 1829 Large Cent, a brass relic and a ring in a few hours of detecting with a brand new detector that I had never used before. 

It is important to know your metal detector very well and metal detecting experience can be a big help. My previous experience with other metal detectors helped me quickly learn how to use the new detector fairly effectively.  I am still a relative novice when it comes to knowing this new detector.  It takes a while to learn all the ins and outs of any detector.

What helped me most, I believe, is my search strategy.  You might find it surprising that there is a lot about hunting a beach that can be directly applied to detecting a heavily wooded mountain.  Those two types of environments are very different, yet there are some commonalities when it comes to search strategies.

As you might know if you've been reading this blog very long, I do not put much emphasis on the detector I use.  I put more emphasis on search strategies than any thing else.  If you are in the wrong spot, your detector, no matter how good it is, can't do much for you.  I believe that the most important thing is to find the right spot to spend your time and avoid spending a lot of time in the wrong spots.  You can not do that with 100% accuracy, but it really makes a big difference if you spend your time in the most promising spots whether it is on a beach or a wooded wilderness.  Both present huge expanses that will be highly unproductive.

On a beach there is the wet sand area where the water comes and goes and sifts and sorts things.  On a beach, heavier items tend to get buried deeper in some areas and get uncovered in others.  There are also areas where things get covered or uncovered on a wooded hillside.

I like to eye-ball.  I've talked about that before.  To find old things by eye-balling, you have to find things that have been completely uncovered.  You have to find those areas where old things, instead of sinking, either remain on the surface or have been uncovered. 

Of course eye-balling is more difficult, because even if you find an area where things are being uncovered, a lot of items will still be under a layer of dust or under a little earth.   But if you do enough eye-balling to learn to find old things that way, you have probably learned to find and identify those good areas.  Eye-balling provides a good test of your ability to identify the most promising detecting spots.

On a beach, there are areas where the sand accumulates and older and heavier items are too deep to be detected.  In a woods, there isn't sand, but there are areas, usually flat areas or slight depressions, where leaves accumulate and the cover items quickly.  The soil quickly builds in those areas and old items are quickly buried.  Pull tabs and other similar light junk will stay in the top layers of humus or leaves just like light junk is often found in the top layers of accumulated sand.  There are a lot of similarities.

On the other hand, in the mountains there are streams and run-off areas on the hills where erosion occurs and where old items remain near the surface or are uncovered.  In the future I'll show you a very steep hillside where old things were found near the surface.  I'll do that as soon as I can ge my pictures transferred to this computer.  Right now the devices are not working.

I've given this analogy before.   I'd bet on an old Indian with a bow and arrow who knows how to track game and knows where game can be found over a city slicker with the best gun ever made.  Metal detecting is much like that.  I believe search skills are more important than detector capabilities.  That is one reason I showed what could be done with a relatively inexpensive detector.  It seems people tend to think they need a better detector if they aren't finding much.  In my opinion, that is seldom the biggest part of the problem.

Whether you are hunting a beach or a wooded mountain, there are good areas and poor areas for hunting and you can learn to find the good areas where old items will be near the surface.  I'll give more tips on that in the future.

If you learn to identify those good areas, you'll be able to find old things that do not require you to detect real deep and you won't have to dig big deep holes.  Talk about a time saver!


Here are two views of a broken crucifix from 17th Century Newfoundland believed to be a part of a rosary.  You can see extensive wear from rubbing, which suggests that it could be from a rosary.

Here is the link for more of that story and the source of the photos.

http://www.thetelegram.com/News/Local/2014-07-10/article-3794329/17th-century-crucifix-unearthed-in-Ferryland/1

The Large Cent has a diameter of between 27mm and 29mm. The first official mintage of the large cent was in 1793.  Production continued until 1857, when it was replaced by the much smaller penny.

When I dug the one shown above it was covered with mud and when I first saw it, from the size I thought it might be a half dollar.  After rubbing off some mud, I saw the faint image on the front of the coin and knew it was from an older era.  I was eventually surprised to see One Cent shown on the other side.

All Large Cents were minted in Philadelphia.

People complained that they were too big for pocket change.

While Spanish shipwreck cobs will be much older than a Large Cent, for a US coin, it is one of the oldest US coins that you will find.

Treasure Coast beach conditions haven't changed yet.

Hopefully I'll get more find pictures uploaded soon.

Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net