3/14/20 Detectorists Find Record Breaking Hoard. Nice Artifacts. Green Cabin Coins. More Info.

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

Two Lucky Metal Detectorists Find Record-Breaking Iron Age Coin Hoard

Guinness has verified Jersey’s 69,347 coins – collectively named Catillon II – as a world-beating find. It happened in Jersey, largest of the Channel Islands, back in 2012 and has only now been recognized.

2 metal detectorists, Reg Mead and Richard Miles, tracked down the hoard on the eastern side of the island. Their search was far from brief, lasting an amazing 3 decades. It’s thought Catillon II, found a little over 3 ft under the soil, dates to around 50 BC...

The BBC notes that in addition to coins there were “a large number of gold neck torques and other pieces of jewellery, as well as glass beads, a leather purse and a woven bag of silver and gold work.”...

Here is the link for the rest of the article.

https://www.thevintagenews.com/2020/02/05/iron-age-coin-hoard/

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A day or two ago I mentioned the late-18th century British camp just meters away from the Winter Beach salvage camp.  JamminJack sent in the following photos of the 60th Regiment of Foot buttons, which were on display at the McLarty museum.

60th Regiment of Foot Buttons.

Submitted by JamminJack

And here is another nice artifact.

Flintlock Pistol, Circa 1779.

Photo submitted by JamminJack.

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The reader's of this blog provide a wealth of experiences and information.

A day or two ago I also mentioned the Green Cabin wreck.  I Just received some good information about coins found on the Green Cabin wreck from Mike S., who dived for Roy Volker.

Here is what he said.

Hello, 

I love reading your blog, which brings me back to my days diving for Roy Volker from 1988 to 1996.

Roy was a living encyclopedia of the 1715 fleet and the salvage efforts from the 60s onward, having lived so much of that himself. it was an amazing honor for a kid like me to turn his dream of being a treasure hunter into actual experiences of working as a diver for that man.

One thing he always pointed out to me, and showed me examples from his collection, was that coins from the Green Cabin wreck were bowl-shaped. That's just a note about some of their defining characteristics, which I thought was very cool. I always wanted to find at least one of those coins, but we only worked one day on that wreck during the time I was with him, making our way back up from the Rio Mar wreck towards our usual location, being the cabin wreck. I did find some led sheathing and some white ballast. That is the only wreck I've ever seen white ballast on.

Keep up the great work.

Mike S

Good information.  Thanks for sharing Mike.

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I also received some information concerning the crystals found by TM.    I posted the photo below of the crystals a few days ago.

I asked for permission to post that information and hope to be able to do that soon.  It turned out that they could be something very different from what I initially thought.

As I always say, "Hang onto your finds until you know for sure."

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No change in beach conditions.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/10/19 Report - Earrings: Materials and Some Clues for Determing Age. Diamonds and Other clear Genstones.

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

Nice Crystal On Drop Earring.

I recently posted a photo of what I believe to be a vintage button featuring a clear stone.  Here is   very nice large clear crystal (if that is what I can call it) from a vintage earring that I once found.

Clear stones are a bit of a problem for me.  You always want to know what kind of stone you have, but it can be difficult to tell if you have a diamond, zircon, or any of a variety of other types of clear stones, unless you have a gem tester or take the item to a jewelry store or pawn shop to be tested.

This earring seems to me to be vintage.  Other than its overall look, notice the screw type closure.  Those were invented in the early 1900s and used a lot until the clip-ons were invented around 1930.

Closure For Same Earring.

This one is signed, but I haven't yet been able to make out the signature.

In the Renaissance era earrings were not popular because women's hairstyles obscured the ears, however they became more popular in the 17th century.  According to Deagan's book, Artifacts of the Spanish Colonies of Florida and the Caribbean, 1500 - 1800, earrings have been found at Spanish Colonial New World archaeological sites, especially 17th century sites. The long dangling type are more frequent from 18th century sites.  Many of those were made of copper alloy or gold and featured faceted glass, or paste, while others featured pearls, turquoise or emeralds.  Several gold drop-earrings have been found on 1715 Fleet wreck sites.

The closure can provide a clue to the age of an earring.  In the early 20th century ear piercing was not in fashion, so screw and clipon earrings were heavily used until piercing once again became popular in the 1970s.

17th and 18th century earrings were usually attached by a simple curved wire.  Similar wire hooks are still used today so that alone doesn't help much.

Here is an example I found on a Treasure Coast shipwreck beach, but there is no evidence that it is very old.  It could be quite modern.  There are no definitive marks, and the design is very basic and common.

I have found one almost exactly like one shown in the Deagan book on page 164 (figure 6.12).

When it comes to clear stones, there are a variety of methods or tests you can do yourself to see if you might have a diamond.

Of course the easiest thing is to take it to a jewelry store or pawn shop and have them test it.

Here is a link to a web site that lists 25 different clear gemstones that are used in jewelry.  Of course, it includes diamonds, zircons, white sapphire, spinel and much more.

Simulated gemstones are not new.  Paste, made from glass, goes back to Ancient Egypt.

The Rhine River was filled with quartz pebbles that were used in jewelry. That is why they are called Rhinestones. Eventually the natural glass pebbles were depleted.

In 1891 Swarovski invented a machine that could mechanically cut and facet glass. He began making rhinestones with a 32% high lead content with great refraction.   He also came up with a new kind of plating that for plating silver and gold onto the backs of the crystals.

I plan to add to this content some other day.

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Still nothing of interest on the National Hurricane Center web site.ast.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

7/30/19 Report - Shipwreck Ring Finds. Cloisonne, Enameling and Reverse Intaglio. Weather Systems to Watch.

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

Copper Alloy Ring Found on Treasure Coast

Find and photo by John C.

John said, Found this ring maybe 15-20 years ago, on a Treasure Coast beach, pretty sure its shipwreck, mainly because a fellow Beach Hunter found one identical around the same time I found this one, found on a beach where we find quite a bit of 1800 material, Roberts wreck, or whippy, but we also find 1715 on that Beach as well.  Here's another small copper artifact with glass? 

Copper Alloy With Glass.

Find and photo by John C.

Thanks John.  Congratulations on the nice finds, and thanks for sharing.

The ring looks very similar to those I posted from Deagan's book yesterday.  Certainly of the same general style.  The item shown in the bottom photo looks like it could possibly be from a similar ring.

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Scott C. told me of a cloisonné piece he found years ago that looked like it could be the back of an ornate pocket watch. He said it had the winding hole where it should be and the design on it was a large fleur de lis. Most of the enameling was gone but traces remained. He said he might be able to send a photo. I'd like to see that.

Thanks Scott.

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An email from Susan E. led me to an interesting article on foiled reverse intaglio crystals.  Crystals are carved and colorful foil applied to make beautiful buttons.  Below is a link to an article describing the process.

http://www.dpaglia.com/crystal3.htm

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Talking about enameling and cloisonné, here is another piece that I found.  It is one inch, top to bottom.  Unfortunately I don't remember where or when I found it.

Enameled Pendant or Charm.

One inch high.

Edge of Same Item.

While it looks fine when viewed normally, a closer view reveals corrosion and wear.

Corrosion on Same Item.

I'm unable to provide any more information on the item at this time.  Maybe you can.

The outlines are nicely raised.

If you don't get anything else out of this, I hope you realize that you should keep finds organized and labeled with where and when you found them, along with any other important information.  After a few years, you might not remember, especially if you've found a lot.

Some things you don't think much of when you find them, but later when you know more, they might be more interesting.

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I haven't received much word about salvage finds lately.  That can either mean that not much is being found or they are on a hot spot and don't want to say anything until they are sure they got it all.

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Source: nhc.noaa.gov

There are now a couple areas to watch on the National Hurricane Center map.

One is in the Caribbean and the other is coming off of Africa.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net