5/8/19 Report - Difficult to Recover Targets and a Few Tips. Three Finds for Thoughts and Opinions.

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

Compass Rosette Find.

Find and photo by Trina O.

Trina O. reported this item found at Wabasso a couple days ago. It is five inches in diameter.

It looks like a compass rosette to me, but I need some help here. It seems to large for a regular hand compass. There is no hole in the middle, but I suppose the dial could be suspended. And I'd think there would be another ring around the rosette. I'd like to hear from some of you guys who have more experience with these. Does it look like it is from a functional compass?

Let me know what you think.

---

Here is an mystery item (actually two) that requires more than a single photo.

Above are three different views of  the two objects that seem to have exploded at one end.  See also two closer views of the larger one below.

I've found several of these that are very similar.

They appear to be copper or copper alloy and shaped something like shell casings. There is a hole in one end, but the other end appears to be blown off.   As you can see, one exploded more completely than the other.  I thought they might be shell casings at first, but they don't look like any that I am familiar with.

The small end with the hole in the middle of it is about 3/8 inch in diameter.

The cylinder seems to expand a bit from the end, but that might be due to the force of the explosion.

Notice how the metal on the one end was blown back.

What do you think these are?

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There are some  targets that can drive you crazy.  They just don't want to stay in a sand scoop.  Some are small.  Some are light and want to float away.  Some are nimble.  And some are big or awkward.

Evasive targets can be even more evasive when you are working in rough water when there is little or no visibility.

There are small items that will continue to escape through the hole in your scoop.  There are those that keep getting swept out of the front of your scoop.  And then there are the chains.

Gold and silver chains can be very evasive.   You'll get part of a chain in your scoop, and then when you lift the scoop, there will be enough of the that is not in your scoop that the entire chain will slide out as you lift.  That is especially true of the large and heavy chains.

Small chains will snake through the hole in your scoop.  They'll also slip through a small hole in your pocket.  I once had to backtrack  nearly a mile and refind a very nice gold chain that did that to me.

Small objects can take a lot of time to corral.  One I always remember is a small gold bead that I could barely see in the sand even when I had it on my coil cover.  I kept moving it around and heard the signal but still couldn't see it.  It was about the same color as the sand and very small.

Another was a miniature copper teapot that kept slipping through the hole in my scoop. The water was rough and visibility was zero.  Rough water complicates things, because when the item slips through your scoop, it doesn't fall straight down, so you have to find it again.

Sometimes the bottom is so packed and rocky that digging is impossible.  I've described other techniques for dealing with that.

For large deep objects near the water line, one technique has helped me a lot.  Of course you can get a shovel and a buddy and dig like crazy, and you can build a little sand dike, or try to drain the hole, or line the hole with a bottomless bucket or something like that, but none of those have helped me like what I'm about to describe.

After digging the hole to as close to the object as you can get, get down on the ground and stick your hand and arm into the sand soup and feel around.  That sounds simple enough, but it really helps a lot of the time.  If you can get your hand on the object so you can feel its exact depth and location, you'll have a much better chance of getting it out.  Sometimes you can grab it and pull it out.  Be careful not to get stuck or cut.

If an object is long and thin, like a rod, due to the detector's response, you might be digging to one side or another rather than having a good idea of the rod's position.   It is difficult to get something like that in your scoop, but if you know exactly where it is at, you'll have more luck.

For flat objects, you'll have to get the tip of the scoop or shovel under the edge of the object.  If you don't know exactly where the edge is, you'll keep banging into the top of the object.

The arm stretch won't be successful every time, but it will help.  When nothing short of an excavator works, I just leave the object and keep watching for the sand to move until I can get a better shot at it.  You might be worried that someone else will get it, and that is possible, but I've seen objects like that stay in place for years before finally getting to it.

---

John E. sent this photo showing the back of his mystery object along with a penny for size comparison.

My best guess is still earring even though I'm far from sure.  It looks like it would be difficult to insert.

The symbolism of the trident and water and the shape of the object make me think of fertility symbols, but that is probably way off.

What do you think?

---

We'll have a little bigger surf Thursday, but a south wind.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/31/17 Report - Treasure Hunting, Digging Holes and a Metaphor of Life. Should Be Viral Photo. South Hutchinson Island Beaches. Bigger Surf Coming Soon.

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

Partially Buried Scoop In One Big Hole 

Photo by Eric H.

This is the perfect picture for New Years.  If the world was populated by detectorists like me, the photo would go viral.  As soon as I saw it I had to laugh and showed it to my wife, who also laughed when she saw it.

It isn't that the picture is so funny.  It is just so meaningful.  It is a metaphor for life.

I won't tell the story that goes with the picture yet.  As a detectorist you can probably identify with the big hole at the water's edge.  You get it.  You've been there.

You get a signal.  You check it out.  More beeps.  There is something definitely there.  You start digging.  It is still there.  Dig some more.  Still there.  Dig and dig and dig.  You are almost there and the tide tarts coming in and every time you remove some sand, water comes in and fills the hole again. The object is so close, yet remains just out of reach.

As one year comes to an end, it isn't really an end.  We aren't done yet.  There is more to do.  There are things that we haven't yet accomplished even though we put in a lot of work.  There will be obstacles to overcome but there will also be windows of opportunity. There are treasures that will continue to draw us on and some that will continue to remain just our of reach.

You don't know what lies in the bottom of the hole.  Imagination says it might be some exciting treasure, while discouragement says it might be nothing but junk.  The optimist keeps digging, but the pessimist gives up and says there is nothing good there.

There is a lot in life that we can't see and haven't yet reached, yet we know it is there waiting for us - urging us on.

I've been surprised how religious or spiritual so many detectorists are.  It is no wonder though.  They search for what they do not know and do not see, yet they believe that it is out there.  They can search and work for something and not know what it is.  They can do everything right and still not be successful - until the right time.

Yes, there is much left to do.  There is more to find.  There is more to learn.  The goal has not been reached.   2017 may have been the start of many projects and the finish of some, yet there is much more to do.

May 2018 NOT be a year of bottomless holes and junk targets.  May your efforts be rewarded, and may you find the real treasures of life.

---

Fort Pierce South Jetty Beach Yesterday Just Before Noon.

I took a look at the beach yesterday.  Here are some photos that I took at Fort Pierce South Jetty and John Brooks beaches.  There was no new erosion at those beaches.

Fort Pierce South Jetty Beach.

It was foggy still around 11 o'clock when I took the photos.  I had to enhance them a little because the fog made them look blurry.

Fort Pierce South Jetty Yesterday.

The wind was coming from the northwest.  The water had only been to the toe of the cliff.

I did pick up some fossil pieces.

John Brooks Beach Yesterday Just Before Noon.

John Brooks Yesterday.

There was no new erosion at either of these beaches.  I don't know if any of the beaches to the north improved.  Maybe some one can give me a report from up there.

---

The surf predictions are encouraging.  As you can see, we are supposed to get a 5  - 8 foot surf next week.  Also some north winds.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

Have a Happy New Year.

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/27/15 Report - Mexican Minted Cob. Embossed Bottle Finds. Lot Of Walking And Digging.

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


Photos by Leo.

Here is a nice hefty cob that Leo is getting ready to clean.  I have a link to Bill's coin cleaning instructions listed on my reference list but unfortunately that post got deleted when I was deleting some of the oldest posts.

You will find a similar procedure described by using the following link.

http://www.ehow.com/how_5171679_clean-coins-muriatic-acid.html





I can't see a date on this cob, but you can tell from both the style of the cross and what you can see of the mint mark, "OM," that it is from the Mexico mint.

Very nice cob.  It doesn't need a lot of cleaning, and it won't take long.  Under-clean rather than over-clean.

I'll probably show you a Treasure Coast Potosi eight-reale before long. 


Yesterday after I came home from a little beach detecting, I decided to take a little walk and do some eye-balling.  I found a couple embossed bottles.

Coincidently both bottle were from Baltimore companies and both companies were founded in 1889.

 The one on the left reads Hynson, Westcott, Dunning.   That bottle is only about two inches tall.  

The company made things such as mercurochrome.  You might remember that as a home antiseptic that was applied with a glass applicator.  They made other things too, though.

The bottle on the right reads McCormick & CO.  BALTIMORE.

Of course, they are known for spices.

Both companies are still in operation today.

I always enjoy a little eye-balling.  It is surprising what you can find on the surface if you look in the right places.

-----

I did a little beach hunting today.  I've been testing a learning a detector that is new to me.  It has been taking me a while to learn to really get it down.

I visited one of the heavily visited beach parks.  It is also heavily hunted.  I took a good long walk and found a coin line right below a small cut of less than six inches in height.  It was the best coin hole I've found on a beach or a while.  Beach conditions have been so poor.

Sand continues to build on the front of the Treasure Coast beaches. 

I detected in the front of one beach hotel or a while and found a good number of coins.  None that were near the surface.  They were all down at least six inches.  It was a good workout with all of the walking and digging. 

I used to detect that hotel beach once in a while but hadn't been there for a year or more.

Most importantly, I'm getting to better understand and use this detector.

-----

On the Treasure Coast, tomorrow is supposed to be pretty much like today.  After that the surf is supposed to increase up to maybe six feet by this weekend.  That might do us some good.  Time will tell.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@Comcast.net

11/7/14 Report - Seven Metal Detecting Mistakes That I've Made That You Should Avoid. Catching An Asteroid.

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

Asteroid Capture Apparatus
Source: YouTube Science Channel link posted here.

I've talked before about some of the possibilities for treasure hunting in outer space.  Here is a video showing how they hope to catch an asteroid - nothing like a hemerroid, although catching an asteroid might be a pain in the butt.






Here is the link for the full video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oVAZytlfE8&index=6&list=UUvJiYiBUbw4tmpRSZT2r1Hw


----------------------------


I've made my share of mistakes. I think of some of them very frequently.  It might be that those are the ones that I've learned the most from.

I'm not sure the mistakes I remember the most are the most important.  Maybe I made some bigger mistakes, but probably those that I remember the most are those that I particularly regretted and made a mental note to avoid in the future.

Here are a few of the mistakes that I've made.  Maybe you can avoid them.

1. Discarding an item in the field when I didn't know exactly what it was.

One time that I often think of is when I dug a twisted piece of metal and then close by a nearly rectangular piece of flint.  That was probably thirty or more years ago but I still remember it very well.   I realized later that the piece of metal was a piece of a musket cock and the flint was the musket flint. 

Now I wish I had kept it.  And by not recognizing what it was at the time, I probably did not hunt the immediate area as well as I should have. 

2.  Not digging an item carefully enough.

Not too far from where the unidentified musket flint was dug, I detected a very nice artifact, but I wasn't careful when digging it.  It was very brittle and completely crumbled as it was dug. 

I guess that hunt was a very memorable hunt for me - both good and bad.  At the time it was mostly good, because I hadn't yet realized the significance of my mistakes yet, and it was the first time I hunted a centuries old battle site.  I remember most of that hunt very well, not just the mistakes.

Most people have probably damaged a coin or something while digging it.  It is a common and sometimes costly mistake.

3.  Not labeling a find with all the important information, including among other things, when and where it was found. 

You will forget some things.   It is good to be able to go back and refer to good detailed notes or labels when you want them.

4.  Losing track of a nice find.  If you are not careful you can lose track of a valued find after you take it home. I suppose everybody loses track of things once in a while. 

A good organized system for keeping finds will help you find that special item when you want it.

5.  Not checking equipment before going out for a hunt and not taking back up batteries and the like.

You can save a disappointing and wasteful trip by checking your equipment first.

6.  Destroying an item through improper cleaning.

Muriatic acid can be used to clean some things, but it will ruin other things. 

Don't tumble things that might be valuable.

I once tumbled a nice guilded pendant that was hundreds of years old.  It was encrusted and I just assumed it was a coin.  It wasn't, and I damaged it.

Try to find out what something is and what it is made of before starting to clean it.  Learn how to best clean an item before doing anything that could damage it.

When something could possibly be valuable, do your research first and then chose the most cautious method of cleaning to begin with. 

You can clean things in steps, using the most cautious methods first.  That can help avoid more costly mistakes.  Those first steps could reveal something about the item or material that will help you decide how to continue.

7.  Putting a find in a pocket that has a hole in it. 

I mentioned the other day how a nice gold chain slipped through a shirt pocket and I had to walk back a mile or more to find it again.

Check your pockets and goody bags.  Chains will quickly slip through a very small hole easier than you might think.

There are seven mistakes that I've learned from.  I can think of others, but don't have time for them all today.  You might already know these, but even if that is so, this will be a good reminder.  We all get lax from time to time.

Maybe you can avoid making the these mistakes.  I hope so.


Happy and mistake free detecting,
TreasureGuide@Comcast.net

6/24/14 Report - More Land and Sea Treasures: Reale and Pad Lock & Port St. Lucie City Parks Dept. Rules On Metal Detecting,

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

Another Reale Found by the Crew of the Capitana
Photo submitted by Captain Jonah Martinez.

I've been showing some of the finds made by the crew of the Capitana which has been working the Green Cabin wreck.

Yesterday I showed a reale which as far as I could tell was an early Potosi cob.

Here is another from the same wreck site.  This one is obviously a Mexican cob.

Just looking at what I can see on this side, that is about all I can tell about it right now.   I might be able to tell more from the style of castles and lions if I spend some time in research.


As you might know, a letter was sent to the director of the City of Port St. Lucie Parks and Recreation Dept., Sherman Conrad, asking the parks people to allow metal detecting in the city parks.  You might recall that one reader of this blog had been detecting the parks for some time and then one day was told he could no longer do that.

I received a copy of the response signed by Mr. Conrad via email from one of this blog's readers.   Here it is.

To sum it up, metal detecting is allowed in the PSL parks, however, digging and/or "disturbing" grass areas is an offense.   The fines are described in the letter.


Below are a couple of nice inland finds by William M.   Thanks for the photos William!

On the Treasure Coast there has been no change in detecting conditions for quite some time.  If you are a water hunter you might appreciate the smooth surf even if it is sandy.  That probably means you are looking for recent drops though.

Happy Hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/29/13 Report - Water Spout, Sea Weed, Recovering Targets in Strong Currents & Tropical Waves

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

Really Amazing Photo of Water Spout Off of Pepper Park
Photo submitted by Michael E.

That is a great photo Michael.  Thanks for sending it in.

That is one of the things about being out there on the beaches.  You'll see some beautiful and amazing sights.

I wish I had photos of some of the things I remember seeing.


I was using a White's Dual Surf PI this morning.  It is not my primary detector, but I do use it occasionally, depending upon the conditions and what I am trying to do.

I seldom complain about detectors because they all have their weaknesses and strengths, but one thing I really don't like is the very buoyant coil on the PI, which in my opinion is ridiculous.  You'd think it was meant to be a life preserver.

Anyhow, I've mentioned the buoyant coil before.  Some people add a sock full of sand or something to weigh it down.  It is bad enough in calm water, but it was really a nuisance today because I was working in a strong long shore current, and not only did it want to lift, but the current wanted to take it.   That was really a pain when I was focused on digging a target under difficult conditions.

Where I was the current was fast.  When I first got there and took my first look, it looked like the water was high, but it wasn't - the sand was low.  The current had moved a good bit of sand narrowing the beach.  There was a steep drop off (not actually what you would notice as a cut) in the water at the front of the beach.  Good targets were found on the face of the sloping drop off and just below.

I thought I'd mention a few things I do under those conditions when recovering targets.

When you dig into the sand, tilt the front of the scoop up and shake it so that the sand settles down into the bottom of the scoop more.  Otherwise when you lift the scoop up the top layer of sand and possibly the target will be lost, especially when the current is rushing by.

Sometimes you'll want to face the slope or cliff as you dig into it.  Things will tend to stay in the scoop better that way.

When the currents are strong, you might want to face the current so that the current will be pushing into the scoop instead of across the scoop or from behind it.

Place your coil down the slope or down current from where you are digging, so that a target that rolls down the slope or falls off with the current will have a good chance of being heard.

If visibility is good, watch carefully for signs of the target as you dig or lift the scoop.

If you lose a signal as you dig and you think you might have moved the target so it is either deeper in the hole or now on edge, foot fan and then scan the hole again.

Sea Weed in Shallow Water.

I've mentioned before how sea weed accumulating on a beach can be a bad sign.  It can also be a bad sign in shallow water if it is washing in.  On the other hand it can be a good sign.

It can be a good sign in the water if it is live.  Or in the water it can be a good sign if it is being caught in a low dip that had recently been created but hasn't yet filled.  That might happen just after a change in the currents.

Dug Gold Band.

There are now a couple of tropical waves in the Atlantic.  There is some chance they will form.  I'll keep an eye on those.

Low tide was just after 9 AM this morning.

The surf is only 2 or less feet.  It looks like that will not change for a few days.

The low tides have not been real low lately.


I did something other than continue my series on secondary sites again today.  I think I'll probably get back to that topic tomorrow.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/7/13 Report - Detecting Strategies, How To Cut Down Your Digging & More

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

Gold and Diamond Beach Find.

This ring is a nice heavy man's 14K ring with a good diamond.  


Not too long ago I wrote about putting a wood handle on a long handled steel scoop, or should I call it a sifter?  It is a sifter.   After all, that is what the holes are for.

If you read some of the things that I posted from our State officials and the Florida Public Archaeology Network, they, like many other people, think detectorists go around digging a lot of big holes.  As I've explained in the past, a lot of detector finds will actually be very near the surface, some covered only by a thin layer of sand, and some plainly visible.  If you have a keen eye and know where to look, you can find coins and things without a detector.

And don't think all surface finds are new.  I've seen a lot of old stuff on the surface, including 1715 Fleet cobs.  The better you are at hunting out the right spots, the more surface finds you'll encounter.

There were times when I have gone out eye-balling.  Eye-balling is challenging for sure, but some targets will be exposed.   Many other targets are covered by only a thin layer of sand.  Absolutely no digging is necessary to recover many shallow targets, especially those in dry sand or those in the water that can be fanned.

As I've explained before, one of my primary hunting strategies is to locate areas where items have been uncovered or recently deposited so that they are very near the surface.  I will often walk down a beach and look for a surface coin or two.  If I find an area where coins or things are being uncovered, then I stop and use my detector to thoroughly cover the area.  In my opinion it is poor time management to heavily detect areas where targets are scarce or too deeply buried.

If there is one thing that I believe many detectorists put way too much emphasis on, its depth.  They brag about how many inches down a target was found.   Of course there are some targets that are deeply buried, but my primary objective is not to set a record for the amount of time spent moving sand to get to a target.  Going deep is a last resort for me.  And I am not usually interested in spending an hour to pick up the last few targets on a hunted out beach.  There are rare exceptions.

If you were hungry where would you rather hunt game, where the game gather in large numbers or where there are only a few wiley ones left?   If I was hungry, I'd take the former.  If you want the challenge, you might choose those that are more scarce and hard to find.

I'm not saying, that there is no value in having a deep seeking detector, but I am saying that it is more effective to locate the areas where the targets are near the surface than to go around trying to find the deepest possible targets.  It is a matter of strategy and emphasis.  Of course I wouldn't want to pass up a good target at any depth, but I'd much rather find the coin holes and coin lines where targets are laying very near the surface in numbers where I can recover a high number of good targets in a small area.  I'd generally much rather do that than spend my time where the targets are so deep that most can not be detected.  

As long as sand is moving there will be places where objects are being uncovered.  During poor beach detecting conditions, those spots will be harder to find, but they can be found.

When sand goes to one place, it is coming from someplace else.  I've said that in the past, and it is always true.  The trick is to find and go where the sand is uncovering targets that were previously gathered but have been uncovered.

Back to my point about digging holes.  On a dry over-hunted and heavily-populated beach like a lot of the detectorists hunt all the time, the targets are so near the surface that you seldom have to dig at all.  Most of the time you can kick a target out with the toe of a boot without any digging at all.  It helps if you are good at pin-pointing. 

A lot of digging is caused by poor pin-pointing.  If you are not very good at pin-pointing, practice to improve.   It is worth it.  Try to kick targets out without using your sifter.  It will reduce the amount of wasted time.

I didn't get to some of the points I wanted to make today.  I'll get to those some other day.  Among other things I have some tips for fanning.  You might be surprised how quickly you can move sand.  And I plan to address a technique for using your scoop that you've probably never tried.


Here is an article about an early Russian settlement in California at Fort Ross.

http://siberiantimes.com/science/casestudy/features/siberian-links-to-california-could-be-unearthed-by-archeological-dig/


Some think that the price of gold is headed down to $1000 an ounce.  Of course nobody knows but here is a very good analysis of gold prices and gold demand.

http://goldnews.bullionvault.com/silver-and-gold-new-divergence


I hope you'll consider doing some genealogy research as I suggested yesterday.  I think you'll find it interesting.  And with all the resources on the internet, it is easy to find a lot of stuff.



On the Treasure Coast it is a bright hot day.  The wind is from the southeast.  The surf is still pretty low - down around one or two feet.  The surf will increase just a touch for a day or so.

The low tide this afternoon is around 3 PM.  Looks like the low tide won't be real low.

Beach conditions remain poor.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net