7/27/19 Report - Mystery Item Find. Enameling and Cloisonne. Assessing Possible Age of Items.

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

Domed Cloisonné Button.

Measures 5/8 inch diameter.

Here is a dug item.  I think it might be a cloisonné button, but not sure.  What do you think?

Below is the back of the same item.

Back of Same Button.

There is a gold gilt on the back, which has been mostly worn off.  The shank has also been lost.

On the front, you can see where some of the enamel has come off.

Send me your thoughts.

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I refined and improved my list of factors that can help determine the age of a dug item.

Here is my new revised list.

1. Stamps or markings   

        a. Country name or references.  

        b. Legal statement  

        c. Maker's mark  

        d. Marks of composition or purity 

        e. Owner's mark  

        f. Patent or registration marks   

        g. Retailer's name   

        h. Statement of allowed, proper or customary use 

        I. Year or date   

2. Shape

        a. Designs or symbols associated with a time period or culture.   

        b. Image of real objects or events of known date.
        c. Exact or similar example from a particular time period

3. Corrosion, weathering, aging    

4. Context or stratigraphy  

5. Known history of the area where found   

6. Usage wear 

7. Signs of manufacturing process.   

8. Hi-tech scientific testing ie. radiocarbon

Some factors or stronger than others.  By that I mean they provide more confidence or a specific date or narrow date range.

In the above listing stamps and markings are strong factors, for example, while corrosion is a weak factor that only provides a very general idea of the possible age.

Even though stamps and marks are generally relative strong factors, they can be fake, faint, incorrect or incorrectly interpreted.

Factors also intereact.  For example, corrosion might provide some information that an item has a little age, but at the same time removes or obscures stamps or marks.

Some cases are simple and clear.  A single mark might be considered highly definitive, while other cases involve multiple factors and are still not conclusive.

I once posted the silver bracelet shown below.

One additional thing that fits in with factor three is the aging of stones.  Turquoise for example changes color over time, but it probably takes an expert to observe that change.

Here are some of the factors.  The metal is silver, which is no help.  There is a lot of corrosion.  It was found on a beach where other old shipwreck items have been found.  There does not appear to be much use from wear.  Although there is a lot of corrosion, the close-ups of the hands do not appear to show a lot of wear.  Similar hands are similar to those from old shipwreck jewelry, but a photo of a extremely similar modern silver bracelet was found (thanks to Mitch K.).

A few factors can be observed, but inconclusively.

Context can be a strong factor, but it isn't in this case because of the dynamic beach environment and possibility of items from various age periods showing up at the same location.

The amount of corrosion shows that the item is not brand new, but it doesn't take long for items to corrode in a salt water environment. ( I always thought about doing experiments to see how long it takes silver to corrode in salt water, but never did it. )

And although the hands are similar from to those of older periods, they are also common on modern items, and more impressive is the near exact match with a specific example of a modern item.

Overall, the very good match with a modern bracelet seems to carry the most weight.  That, however could be a design that has been used for centuries, but we have no evidence of that.

I said factors can interact.  Here is one example.  Notice that I did not mention stamps or markings, which can be very strong and precise factors.  None were found on this item.  I searched for stamps or marks using a microscope, but it is possible that the corrosion obscured them if they were ever there.  You would certainly expect some type of silver mark on a modern retail piece, yet none was found.  Corrosion can, as you know, obscure stamps or marks.

The band seems too thin and round for most stamps or marks.  Any mark on the thin band would have to be very small, so I did a little additional cleaning of the ands, which to me seemed to be the most likely area for any stamps or marks.  I still found none.  After cleaning the hands and inspecting them closely under magnification, I still found on evidence of any stamps or marks.

I think the checklist can be helpful as it is, but I'll continue to try to improve it.  It might be helpful to define the strength and limits of the various factors.

There can still a good bit of subjectivity involved in reaching a conclusion.  I don't think I'll be able to remove that.  It might not even be desirable to do so.

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Did you know - Turquoise is a compound that includes metals such as aluminum, copper or iron. Water and oil can cause some of these metals to oxidize, or in other words rust. As a result of oxidation, the stones can actually change color.  Blue turquoise that contains copper can change from a light blue to a dark green.

Household chemicals and lotions can also cause turquoise to change color.

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First used on small pieces of jewelry, enamel is not paint but a thin coat of glass. Once applied to a metal and heated to high temperatures, will melt and become fused to the metal. This is similar to how ceramic glazes adhere to pottery. Pure gold, silver and copper were traditionally the only metals used in the enameling process...

Cloisonné: Enameling was practiced as early as the 5th century B.C. by the ancient Greeks, and it was the Greeks who developed the most well-known technique of enameling, cloisonné. The technique of cloisonné enamel is produced by by soldering flat metal strips to the surface of the piece, creating a groove. These are then filled with the enamel, and the piece is then fired until the enamel fuses. When cooled, the surface of the object is polished. Modern Chinese cloisonné is probably the most well known however, Chinese cloisonné ware isn’t the only collectable or desirable form of cloisonné. Russian cloisonné from the Tsarist era is also highly prized by collectors...

Distinguishing between antique and modern enamel can be a very complex process. Even experts can be led astray, and without a trained eye, evaluating these pieces is difficult. An antique Chinese vase was sold recently by Potburys, a UK auction house, for 31,000 pounds. Although it was first catalogued as 19th century, specialists later recognised the vase as a rare survivor from the reign of the emperor Qianlong...

Here is the link.

https://sarasotaantiquebuyers.com/how-to-identify-collectible-enamel/

That reminds of the cloisonné ring I once found just north of Turtle Trail.  The beauty of it struck me.  I always liked cloisonné, but  at the time I didn't think it could possibly be old.  I thought cloisonné was a more modern technique.  I didn't learn until years later that it could have possibly been from a shipwreck.

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Let me know what you think of the mystery item or my list of factors.

There is currently no significant weather or changes in beach conditions.

Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

7/24/19 Report - System Developing in Gulf. Eagle Pin Identified. Starting Discussion on Factors Involved With Dating Dug Items.

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

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

We have a new system in the Gulf that has a 20% chance of becoming a cyclone in the next 48 hours.  It is just below Louisiana now.  The map is getting more active.

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I thought the eagle pin I showed yesterday wouldn't take long to ID.  Mitch King was once again the first to respond saying that it is a navy petty officer third class collar insignia.  Mitch provided the following link.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petty_officer_third_class

DJ confirmed that adding, ...construction port office third class rank in the US NAVY.  DJ provided this link.

Scott B. also got it.

Thanks much guys!  

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I plan to develop a list of factors that can help identify the age of a found object when the age is unknown or uncertain.

There will be a lot of times when a single factor will not be definitive or conclusive.  There will be times when one factor might provide a degree of confidence and additional factors will add to the level of confidence.  At other times it might seem that some factors are suggesting one answer and other factors are suggesting another answer.

I think the exercise of developing the taxonomy will help us become more clear and precise in our understanding of the various factors to be considered and how they contribute to an estimated date range.

For many who hunt the Treasure Coast, there is one type of target that is on their mind - 1715 Fleet treasure.  When they look at a newly dug find, what they wonder if the item might be from a Spanish shipwreck.  I've received many questions over the years that seem very binary - is it an old shipwreck treasure, or not.  That is the primary interest.

There are times when you look at something and it seems the age is obvious enough.  In more complex cases, a single factor might not be definitive or conclusive.  Some factors provide more help than others and are more reliable than others.

You might end up with some pieces of evidence saying one thing and other factors saying something else.  Some factors might deserve more weight than others.  I'll attempt to quantify that to whatever extent I can.

Right now I'll just throw out a few random general factors.  

 Factors for determining age

Shape
Material composition

Amount of wear from usage
Corrosion

Stamps or markings

Context or stratigraphy

Known history of the area
Scientific age testing ie. radiocarbon

I'm just throwing that out now as a place to start.  The list might become longer and it will definitely become more detailed.

I am aware of detailed checklists for certain types of objects.  For example, SHA has a very good one for bottles.

In going through the exercise, I'm sure I will learn a lot and hope that others benefit too.  

I'll kick off this discussion with one simple and super-easy example today.

Small Silver Pendant of Charm.
Approximately 3/4 inch wide.

Here is a dug pendant or charm.  It is approximately 3/4 inch wide.

The shape of the object is very recognizable.  It appears to represent a known historic structure.  It looks like the Acropolis to me.  If that is true, we already have a starting date, but the pendant appears to show the Acropolis in a state of decay.  That could be helpful in some cases, but in this case the object at first glance doesn't seem very old anyhow.

Acropolis In State of Decay.

The recognizable shape provides some quick information, but if we turn the pendant over we are very fortunate again.

Back of Same Pendant.

Look at the bonanza of markings.  There is a country name, maker's mark, and mark of purity.  And it is all very readable without having been cleaned, although magnification does help.

The markings provide a lot of date information too, but I don't have time for all of that today.

Just one more quick comment on the context -  it was found on a volleyball court in front of the Fountainbleau Hotel.  That adds information too.

That was an easy one.  I could post a lot more if I got more into the stamped markings, but I'll have to do that some other time.

We'll eventually look at more difficult examples.



Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

11/26/16 Report - An Excellent Aid For Dating Sites From The Late 19th Century.

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

Vintage Coca Cola Bottle Found On Recent Walk

One thing I recommend to most treasure hunters is to watch for non-metallic items.  They are often good clues as well as treasures.  Non-metallic items can sometimes be worth just as much as gold or silver.

Coca Cola bottles are common, but some of them can be worth a pretty penny.  Even more common ones can be worth a few dollars.  I sold one that I found for over one hundred dollars.  It was in poor condition.  It had big chips and cracks, but it was rare.  If it was in excellent condition, I could have sold it for about four hundred dollars.

Above is a Coke bottle that I found on a little walk just the other day.  It isn't worth much of anything, but will serve as an example.

I found an excellent 2010 article from the Society for Historical Archaeology entitled The Dating Game: Tracking the Hobble-Skirt Coca-Cola Bottle by Bill Lockhart and Bill Porter.  It is the best article on dating Coke bottles that I have seen.  You can find tons of excellent but less detailed web sites.

Using information from the article such as the table shown immediately below, I was able to date the bottle shown above to 1956.

Two Older Found Fort Pierce Coca Cola Bottles

The bottle on the left is marked PAT'D  NOV 16, 1915.  If you look at the table above you'll see that those bottles date from 1917 - 1930.

The bottle on the right is an older style straight side Coke bottle.  Those two bottles would sell for more than the bottle at the top of this post even though they are not in very good condition.

 The following illustration shows the difference between bottles marked as patented in 1915 and those patented in 1923.  I've found that I can easily sell both of those types of bottles.

The bottle shown at the top of the post is marked STARKE FLA on the bottom.  Some people try to collect bottles from all of the cities that bottled Coke, so if you find a collector that needs that particular city, you might get a couple of dollars for the bottle.

Below is the link to the article that I've been talking about.  It has tons of good information on dating Coke bottles.

https://sha.org/bottle/pdffiles/coca-cola.pdf

The earliest Coca Cola bottles were "Hutch" bottles.  I've shown some of them before.

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Broken Glass and Pottery At The Waters Edge

Junky areas like the one above can be worth looking through.  You can find broken pieces of glass and pottery and other things that will help you date a site.  You can find pottery marks and other marks on broken pieces and occassionally some nice little treasure to keep.  I love looking through junky areas like this for clues.

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The surf will be modest for a few days, increasing a bit next week.  Not much too exciting there.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

11/514 Report - Update On Beach Conditions. Time Upside Down, A Book About When Things Are Not Where They Are Supposed To Be.

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



Treasure Coast Beach That Lost a Little More Sand Last Night.

It was good and windy this morning.  I checked out the beach again today to see what happened with the last two high tides. 

The beach shown here got a little steeper since yesterday.  Still it is not cut, but the front is steeper, and the front of the beach is a little more firm. 

The photo below shows how far back the water got on the flat part of that beach.  That shows that the water was pretty high.

There was a layer of shells and sea weed that could be seen about a foot below the flat beach.



Flat Beach On Same Beach.

You can see how far the sea weed was washed back.

One "Almost" Cut On Same Beach

There was a little loss of sand but not enough for me to increase my Treasure Coast Beach Detecting Conditions Rating.

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Here is an interesting book, Time Upside Down, by Ereich Von Fange. You don't have to agree with the author's conclusions to appreciate the book.  It questions many important prevailing "scientific" ideas. 

If you can answer the questions raised in the book for yourself one way or the other that is fine.  I think you'll be better off by entertaining the questions no matter what conclusion you come to as long as you genuinely think about it with an open mind.

The book talks about evidence that challenges the prevailing notions of time, such as how man-made items were found embedded in coal when the coal was supposed formed long before man was on the scene.  Also things like how were tracks made by dinosaurs and man made together in the same layer of rock when they were not supposed to exist at the same time?

The book talks a lot about how things have been found where they shouldn't be.

Here is a link to get you started with one chapter that I thought was interesting, but you might want to back up and read the entire book

http://creationism.org/vonfange/vonFangeTimeUpDownChap05.htm

If you want to read more of the same book, you can find the index here.
 
http://creationism.org/vonfange/vonFangeTimeUpDownChap01.htm

I've commented in this blog before how I don't trust a lot the scientific dating.  I've personally seen what looks like sand stone form in less than two years.

Check this book out.  I think you'll find it interesting.

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The surf on the Treasure Coast was about 4 feet today.  It will be decreasing a bit every day for a few days now.

I'm not expecting anything exciting in that time frame.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@Comcast.net