2/28/20 Report - Low Surf Now. Eight Reales Cleaned and Uncleaned. FKNMS Blueprint Petition.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of TreasureBeachesReport.

New Brown Sand Built Up on Front of John Brooks Beach Thursday.

Before I get into other things today, I wanted to show a few photos.  John Brooks has a new pile of sand on the front beach.  

New Sand on Beach Front at John Brooks Thursday.

It might not be easy to see in the photos, but it is like a new sand bar on the front beach.   That sand will continually shift in and out and work its way slowly south with the littoral currents.

Turtle Trail Thursday Morning.

Photo by Tyler C.

Turtle Trail actually lost an inch or two of sand over the bags since the last photo that I showed.

Tyler C. sent these photos of Turtle Trail that were taken Thursday morning.   Thanks Tyler.

Turtle Trail Thursday Morning

Photo by Tyler C.

The stairs at Seagrape are taped off.  If the access isn't closed now, I suspect it will be soon.

Stairs at Seagrape Trail

Photo by DJ

The surf will remain only one or two feet for a few days.  The wind is off-shore.

I've been intending to study the effect of wave periods, but really haven't gotten around to that in any kind of systematic thorough way yet.

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Not long ago I posted Bill P's directions for cleaning cobs with Muriatic acid.  I've received emails thanking me for posting that information.  

Jammin Jack gave it a try.  Here is what he said.

After reading your responses to using muriatic acid on coins, I took a chance on my last 3 coins. I diluted as mentioned, and used a soft nylon brush. A lot faster, but still needed scrubbing. I think they came out okay.

We always dumped our EOs in similar solution, but coins were either left as found or electrolysis. I always had someone clean my coins. Learning experience for a salty dog! Thank you for doing a section on cleaning coins...

Below are some of the coins Jack cleaned.

Eight Reale From the Bruce Ward Estate.
Photo by Jammin Jack.

Above is an eight reale from the Bruce Ward estate that was cleaned by Jammin Jack using the Muriatic acid method described by Bill P. as previously posted in this blog. Below is the same coin in its uncleaned state.

Same Eight-Reale Before Cleaning.

Photo submitted by Jammin Jack.

Here is another example from Jack.  First the uncleaned coin.

Uncleaned Eight Reale

Photo by Jammin Jack.

Same Eight Reale After Cleaning.

Photo by Jammin Jack.

Looks great, Jack.   Thanks for sharing the results.

Auggie Garcia of Sedwick Coins once told me that most people who buy treasure coins like them bright and shiny.

For your convenience, I added the post on cleaning coins to the reference site link list that you'll find on the first page of the blog.  It is the second link listed.

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Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Blueprint.

I received the following email concerning the FKNMS blueprint from the Mel Fisher organization as well as from another reader of this blog.  

PLEASE SIGN AND SHARE THIS PETITION:

The proposed expansion and new regulations of the “FKNMS blueprint” would discourage and quite possibly outlaw future explorers, researchers, historians, and salvagers from working other shipwrecks in the FKNMS. It will not stop Mel Fisher’s Expeditions on the Atocha and Margarita sites because they are grandfathered in due to “Pre-Existing Federal Admiralty Claims”.

Please help us protect the shipwrecks and the rights of future generations by signing the petition below.  The proposed regulations support leaving artifacts on the bottom ‘in-situ’ to rot. In-situ preservation is a total fallacy, a fact admitted to even by NOAA’s archaeologist. The expansion and new regulations would also negatively impact our locals, our visitors and a variety of businesses by limiting access to backcountry channels and sandbars, adding new no-motor zones, adding new no-access zones and imposing many other new overreaching regulations.

The expansion and new regulations would also have a severe negative impact on our commercial fishing, charter boat fishing, snorkeling, diving industries and just about all water related tourist activities. The damage to these industries will hurt tourism and create a negative "trickle down effect" on the entire economy in the Florida Keys.  

You don’t have to be a Florida resident to sign this petition.

Please SHARE or Forward this so we can get as many signatures as possible and show massive support to stop the expansion and over regulation of the Federal Government in our beautiful Florida Keys.

Please help us help our community and future generations by signing the petition at: SayNoToNOAA.org

==============================================  

Our mailing address is:

Mel Fisher's Treasures

1322 US Highway 1

Sebastian, FL 32958

USA

Our telephone:

772-589-9875

Forward this email to a friend:

http://us4.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=5e970e179d5f6020d8b1f2f63&id=7ca440e703&e=5cc0e990c1

FKNMS is the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

Use this link to sign the petition.

https://www.saynotonoaa.org/

To learn more about the FKNMS Blueprint see https://floridakeys.noaa.gov/blueprint/

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I have a lot of information back-logged waiting to be posted.   There has been so much going on this winter.

I plan to continue my discussion of beach dynamics, which people have told me they found very helpful.  I also plan to talk about the Winter Beach salvage camps, finds, including mystery finds, "big scoopin," and many other topics.

A lot of snowbirds have been detecting along the Treasure Coast lately.  I've heard from quite a few of them.   The Treasure Coast seems to be getting a lot of Sprint Break metal detecting action.

That's all for now.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/14/19 Report - Laser-Inscribed Diamonds. Spanish and Other Foreign Coins in US Colonies. Super Wolf Blood Moon.

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

Laser-Inscribed Diamond.
Source:SerendipityDiamonds.com.
More about that below.

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Have you ever wondered why a United States quarter-dollar is called “two-bits”? Or, a half-dollar “four-bits”? Do you know why we call our basic monetary unit “dollar” instead of something else?

Here is a nice article that will answer those questions.

https://coinweek.com/world-coins/history-of-coins-two-bits-four-bits-six-bits-eight/

And here is a brief excerpt from the same web site.

The English colonies of America were prohibited by royal law from coining, minting, or even so much as using coins. The colonists were supposed to ship any and all coins to Mother England in payment for manufactured goods. This, of course, precluded any foolhardy colonist from starting a mint. Besides, there is little silver or gold to be had in New England and eastern Canada to this day. So, the English Colonies decided to use paper money which served them well until they attempted to finance the USA Revolutionary War with it. By 1780, this form of currency became useless and worthless and the money called Continental Currency collapsed.

Immediately, part of the vacuum was filled by the milled Spanish-American silver issues based on the real system in denominations of 1/8R through eight-reales. The most widely circulated of these was the piece of eight, which, when supplies of smaller denomination coins dwindled were chopped or cut into smaller pieces to make change. Thus, one eighth of eight-reales became one bit, one quarter two-bits–the equivalent of our present day quarter-dollar. One-half is four-bits and three quarters are six-bits. Many believe these expressions to be slang, yet, history suggests they are perfectly good nomenclature...

After reading that web site you might want to follow that one up with these.

http://materialculture18t.wixsite.com/18thcmcrc/money--scales

https://historicjamestowne.org/selected-artifacts/english-coins-2/

Thanks to Dale J. for the coinweek link.

Having the 1715 Fleet wrecks offshore, Spanish colonial coins receive a lot of our attention, but English, Irish and Dutch coins were also used in colonial America.

I recommend both the MaterialCulture and HistoricJamesTowne web sites.

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Did you know...

Diamonds accompanied by GIA Diamond Dossiers® typically feature a micro-laser inscription applied to the edge of the diamond. The GIA report number appears microscopically engraved on the outer edge (girdle) of the diamond. This gives buyers a unique way of linking their GIA report to the physical diamond. Enter this number into GIA’s website and hey-presto – you have an electronic copy of your diamond grading report.

Where to find the girdle of a diamond

The girdle of your diamond runs around the outer edge between the upper crown facets and the lower pavilion facets. It is basically the thin outer edge, separating the upper part of the diamond from the lower section. The outer edge will appear as a polished, faceted or bruted (matt) surface on which the number will be microscopically lasered.

A GIA laser inscription gives the consumer greater confidence when purchasing a diamond. Retailers should use this as a further selling point since not all laboratories laser mark diamonds in this way. The inscription is permanently registered in GIA’s archive database.

The GIA inscription is invisible to the naked eye and difficult to see under 10x magnification to the untrained eye. Buyers who purchase without consultation are likely to be unaware of the presence of the inscription.

Here is that link.

https://www.serendipitydiamonds.com/blog/how-to-read-the-gia-laser-inscription-on-your-diamond/

Other wording can be inscribed on diamonds, however it would be very rare for those inscriptions to help identify rightful owners.  For one thing, the databases are kept confidential without a court order.

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A super wolf blood moon is going to appear in all its stunning splendor later this month, as a rare cosmic gesture to welcome in 2019.

People who live in the Americas, Europe, Africa and the central Pacific region could take a glimpse of this stunning image late on the evening of Jan. 20 and into the early morning hours of Jan. 21, according to National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

The eastern side of North America will have the best view, but the full lunar eclipse will be visible from coast to coast, and will last far longer than most eclipses, with a duration of roughly one hour and three minutes. Super blood wolf moons are highly uncommon: only 28 are expected to align this century... 

https://abcnews.go.com/US/super-blood-moon-eclipse-make-appearance-jan-21/story?id=60334755


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Both the tides and surf are small along the Treasure Coast now.  The surf is expected to increase Wednesday - maybe up to five feet.

Happy hunting
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/28/17 Report - Tropical Storm Coming. Schooner Dollars. Coin Collecting in 1910. 8 Reale From Bonsteel.

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

Tropical Storm 18
Source: nhc.noaa.gov

Tropical Storm 18 is headed towards Florida.  It doesn't look like it will do us much good though.  We'll eventually get some north winds and swells but the surf will be small.  A lot of the wind will be coming from the west.

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The following was published in 1910.

That interesting little account came from a free google ebook composed of volumes 23 and 24 of The Numismatist, beginning in January of 1910.

The price of $1500 was in 1910 dollars, so it would be more like $36,000 in today's money.

You'll find many interesting articles, ads and illustrations.  Just click on the link above to browse that free ebook.

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The following cob was originally found and sold by Darrel S.  He found the pictures online.

Photo Clips Submitted by Darrel S.

Here is what Darrel said.


I sold this coin many years, ago. It was found with 2 others underneath Chucks Steakhouse, north of Bon Steel lot.

I see my stuff pop up time to time..

Obviously, there was no flipper, info, or certificate. Just my word. Interesting.


As you probably know, Bonsteel is known for the many half reales, not so much for larger denominations.

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There is a TV program on the Science channel you might like.  I think it is called What On Earth.  They do a little too much hookum, but if you can tolerate that, they show some interesting stuff.

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I lost my first attempt at a post today.  I had a lot of it done and then lost it.  I think there was something else I talked about, but that is all I'm going to do now.

I think you'll like browsing the Numismatist.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/11/12 Report - Eight Reale and Another Cool Front

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

The Cob for ID Presented Two Days Ago.

I'll give the answers for this one first today. You probably found this one easier to ID than the half reale. More information is visible on this cob.

You can see that the cross is distinctly different from those of the Mexican mint and that of the half reale that I showed from the Mexican mint.

As opposed to the monogram that you'll see on half reales, this cob has a pillar and waves design.

On the pillars side of the cob you see a lot of information.

In the upper left space you see an L, which is the mint mark for the Lima mint.

To the right of that is an eight, indicating the denomination.

To the right of that you see an R, which is the assayer mark. For cobs of this date and mint, it would indicate Leonardo de Rojas.

On the bottom, or third row, you see the mint and assayer marks in reversed position, and in the middle of that "88" , which in this case indicates 1688.

Note that on the cross side of the cob, you can also see the 88 and the L.

A cob very much like this one was dug at Corrigans, I think it was in October of 2008, if I correctly recall.

I heard from some readers who got the answers to this and the earlier half reale. From my email, it seems that some of you like these cob ID exercises, so I'll do one every once in a while.


The deadline to consign to the Sedwick Treasure and World Coin Auction #11, scheduled for April 3-5, has been extended until January 22, 2012.

There is not much time left.

Sewicks is now offering a finders fee for materials that they can use. They say,
We will pay YOU a fee for bringing the deal to us. Some restrictions apply (must be a fresh deal, not from one of our clients, etc).

Sedwick will be at the Treasure Coast Coin Club's 48th Coin and Currency Show, January 21-22 at the Vero Beach Community Center, 2266 14th Ave., Vero Beach, FL.

You won't want to miss that!

For more information visit www.sedwickcoins.com.


The video I mentioned the other day talked about Sitio Conte, the site where gold artifacts were found when a river changed direction.

Always check out new erosion, weather it is on a beach or elsewhere. You never know what might be exposed.

Learn to identify spots that are likely to be losing the top layers over time rather than building up.

Cliffs are one place where older layers are often exposed over time rather than becoming more deeply buried.


It appears a cool front passed through this morning. The wind is from the south. I can see that looking out of my window. I would have expected a little more of a westerly direction. Anyhow, the south wind won't do as any good. Beaches will continue to build in the short term. And the seas are predicted to remain calm for a couple of days. I therefore would expect more beach building, and of course that is all added to the beach renourishment projects that are going on.


Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

4/8/11 Report - Two Eight-Reale Royals

Two Mexico Mint Royals From the Early 1700s.

When people find cobs or look to buy cobs, they find out how difficult it can be to identify a cob. Cobs often don't have mint marks, assayer initials or dates. As the survey showed the majority of this blog's reader who have found reales have found eight reales. Therefore I decided to present some of the best examples of the types of cobs you are likely to find on the Treasure Coast.

Of course many of the cobs found on the Treasure Coast come from the 1715 Fleet, even though there are wrecks from other time periods here. Therefore I selected some examples just prior to 1715, which are common dates found on the Treasure Coast wrecks.

I was looking through the Menzel book on treasure coins and noticed this one Mexican 8 reale that really stuck out. It is a royal, or presentation piece, but it just looked especially fine to me. I think it must be about the best looking workmanship that I've seen on a cob. I'm talking about the coin shown on the left above.

As you can see, it shows the OM, indicating the Mexican mint and the J, indicating assayer Jose Esutaquio de Leon y Losa, who worked at the Mexican mint from 1700 - 1724, under the reign of Philip V, and who later went on to serve at the mint in Guatemala in 1733. He is known for his workmanship and variety of design styles.

In this coin you can also easily see the date, 1714 at about the ten o'clock position above the shield.

For beach finds, you seldom find a "royal," but rather an oddly shaped and much more poorly executed cob with corrosion on top of it all. Therefore you would be lucky to find all of that information clearly displayed on any single cob.

To me, that coin looks almost too good to be true, even when compared to other royals of the same general time period.

I thought you Treasure Coast treasure hunters might find this coin to be a useful example.

The one on the right is not bad either, but doesn't look as fine to me. I added it for comparison and to show a few things. It was done under the same assayer (J), but in the year 1705. You can see that the design is slightly different.

There are numerous differences between those two coins. All of the different designs and varieties makes studying cobs very challenging. It is pretty overwhelming for me.

There are some rather obvious differences and some you have to look for. One of the more noticeable differences is the crown. A more subtle difference is in the shield. Even though both cobs show the same shield, on the 1705 example, the Bourbon crest in the middle covers part of the castle to the left of it,while in the 1714 cob, the Bourbon crest covers the entire castle. That design began in 1714.

As you can see, if you really know your cobs, and I don't, there are a lot of clues to a coins origination and date, even when you don't see the date or other marks.

The 1714 example also has rosettes above and below the denomination (8) and above and below the OMJ. Jose maintained this design from 1714 on through his work at Mexico.

There are also differences to be found on the reverse as well.

I personally like half reales. There is something about the monograms that I like better than the shields. Maybe it is the fact that you seldom get anything close to a full design on any one half reale, so you have to piece together what you learn from a variety of different examples. It's like a puzzle.


If you stashed away your old gold and silver finds in a safe deposit box, you should be very happen with the way prices have increased.


I mentioned before that Chinese antiques are bringing very high prices these days.

Kovels Komments reports on a jade plaque that sold for over $94,000. Here is what they said about that.

A carved Chinese celadon jade plaque, an oval just 6 inches high, sold for a surprising price at Clars Auction Gallery in Oakland, California, in March 2011. Estimated at $1,500, it sold for $94,800 to a collector from Taiwan. If you have a piece of Asian jade, pottery, or ivory that has a family history dating before 1950, it would be wise to take it to an expert, preferably at a museum. It might be very, very old and worth a lot of money. Most likely it is just a recent piece or a good copy. But we have recently reported on at least four pieces that went for unexpectedly high prices.



I found a nice virtual book about the Nuevo El Constante Shipwreck. You might want to take a look.

http://www.crt.state.la.us/archaeology/virtualbooks/NUEVO/nuevo.htm


Treasure Coast Beach Conditions and Forecast.

The weather is beautiful. The water was a little rougher today than I expected, yet still pretty calm. The tide was pretty low too.

The wind is now from the southeast and the seas will remain calm for a few days. The cut that I showed two days ago has basically disappeared, but the shells and fossils have reappeared on some beaches.

Not a bad day for water or low tide hunting, or again, for spring break beach hunting.

I know you might get tired of this reminder, but don't hunt in the water where there are shipwreck leases. I've talked about that in the past. I've provided information in the past about shipwreck lease areas, but I don't know about any possible changes and I can't define it for you precisely, so I won't try. I don't want to risk making an error and getting you into trouble. You are responsible for obeying the laws.

Cob hunting conditions remain poor. I've been having a lot of fun with junky artifacts though. Which reminds me, I have some to show after I learn more about them.

Oh, one more thing. They will be dumping new sand onto the south end of Bathtub Beach.

And I started a new survey on the blog. Don't forget to vote.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

2/2/2011 Barrel Hoop, Fisher Finds & Coin Lines and Holes

Barrel Hoop Remnant From the Santa Margarita.

I noticed this barrel hoop from the Atocha for sale on eBay. A lot of people pass up rusty looking items like this, but they can be worth something. This particular barrel hoop already was bid up over $250 and will probably go up much more.

Part of the value comes from the fact that it is known (as well as can be) to come from the Santa Margarita. Another part of its value undoubtedly comes from the certification of authenticity and Mel Fisher's autograph.

A few days ago I wrote about keeping good records on your finds. Even rusty old things can sometimes have value when you are able to establish where they came from, especially if the source happens to be an old shipwreck.

The barrel hoop also was attractively displayed in a framed case. That helps.


Someone wrote in asking what are the characteristics of the coin lines and coin holes that I have been talking about.

Both coin lines and coin holes are concentrations of coins that have either been washed up onto the wet sand or washed down to the wet sand from high dry sand. They occur when the wave action washes away sand and sifts and deposits the coins in the wet sand area. Other items besides coins are often found in coin lines and coin holes, but there are more coins.

A coin line is formed when the coins are deposited in a long line which runs roughly parallel to the waterline. I've seen coin lines up to over one hundred yards long although they are more typically closer to 10 or 20 yards long.

Coin lines can be either narrow or wide. When wide, the lighter coins like zinc pennies are most often higher on the bank. That is especially true when the erosion is near the water and the coins come from the water rather than the higher sand. Quarters and heavier items, such as gold are more often lower on the bank.

The coins in long coin lines are usually not as close together as those in shorter lines.

Coin holes, rather than being shaped like a line or band, are oval shaped distributions of coins. Lighter objects in coin holes usually are found more at the upper edge and ends with the heavier objects found closer to the middle of the hole.

Of course, coin holes also vary in density.

I've talked before about how you can scan a beach to find any possible coin lines and holes, and I've also done posts on to work each.

A nice densely packed coin hole is a good place to find gold objects.

Coin holes are also found in the water. When that is the case, the target of primary interest will be gold objects.

When there is a good sifting due to the wave action, gold will generally be found lower and deeper than coins whether it is in the water or in the wet sand.

Often there will be a deep layer of dense material such as clay or rocks that traps the gold and keeps it from sinking deeper.

A rock bottom can be very hard to work and almost impossible to use a regular scoop.

A good hole over a densely packed rock bottom can be a very productive place to work. A clay bottom is about as good.

I've talked about how to work a water site having a packed rock bottom before too.


News from the Mel Fisher Group.

This week the crew of the Magruder found a rare early 1600 2-reale and 3 eight-reales while working on the Atocha.

Three iron spikes, 4 iron nails and a variety of unidentified encrusted objects were also found on the trail of the Atocha.

People have been sending me pictures of a bunch of mystery objects. I have a few more to show too in the future.

I've been told that other people enjoy them as much as I do.


Forecast and Conditions.

The wind is from the south. The beaches aren't very good for finding shipwreck treasure.

With the calm seas and low tides it wouldn't be a bad time to be in the water. I know someone will ask where they can and can't hunt in the water along the Treasure Coast. I've posted photos of the leased shipwreck sites along the treasure coast and also posted the applicable rules and regulations, so if that is what you are wondering about, you can use the search box for this blog and you will find most of that information.

In the most general terms, anywhere there is a leased treasure ship salvage site, you can't detect in the water. That is the most detail I can give on that right now.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

2/1/11 Report - Star of Lima 8 Reale & Low Energy Beaches

1659 Star of Lima Eight Reale.

Just a really neat coin that very well illustrates the coins of Lima during the early period. It seems there are a gazillion variations.


One person who metal detects in South Florida recently wrote and said that the beach he has been hunting does not show any pattern of coin distribution in the wet sand. He said that the targets were distributed randomly like in the dry sand. That was a good observation.

I know the beach he was talking about very well. That beach is bordered by very shallow water that runs for a hundred or more yards off shore. And the beach there does not often erode because the waves decrease before hitting land.

When you don't get much wave energy on a beach for whatever reason, you won't often find either coin lines or coin holes developing. In those circumstances, the coin distribution will be pretty much the same in both the dry and wet sand because you do not have the waves stirring things up and sorting things out.

As you observe beaches over a long period of time, you will learn where coin lines and holes tend to develop. The first thing you need for a coin line or hole to develop, is a target rich area. You can't get a concentration of coins unless there are coins in the area to begin with. That is obvious. It is not necessary that the targets be from recent years. They could have been deposited when the beach was more heavily used and less heavily detected some time in the past. Some of the best spots that I've found were on beaches that were used in past decades but were abandoned in more recent years.

The second thing you need is a source of accumulated targets that can be affected by the level of wave energy that is unleashed on that particular beach. Too much sand over the source, too steep of a drop off next to the beach, or too little wave energy on the beach can prevent formation of coin lines and holes.

Certain spots will repeatedly develop coin lines or coin holes while others seldom will. Once you find a spot that develops lines or holes, it can be worth repeatedly checking that area. Coin lines and coin holes will often replenish when the conditions are right.

At some spots it takes more extreme wave conditions to create a line or hole. And spots will replenish more frequently than others.

I am not suggesting that you avoid areas that do not have coin lines or coin holes, but when there are holes or lines forming somewhere, you will often find it more productive and more time-efficient to hunt those areas rather than most other areas.


Oliver Hazard Perry's ship, the USS Revenge, may have been found. That is what one diver thinks.

Here is the story.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/08/uss-revenge-shipwreck-fro_n_806177.html


Not too long ago I showed a strip of lead sheathing that had a checked pattern on one side. One report that I recently read said that lead sheathing was sometimes mounted over a layer of course cloth and the pattern of the cloth could be seen on the sheathing that was salvaged. I wonder if that could be the cause of the pattern on that strip of lead that I showed? Possible, I guess, but who knows.


If you have an Atocha emerald that you want to sell, someone on Craig's list is wanting to buy one.

Here is the ad that LB sent me.


WANTED: Emerald from Atocha shipwreck (melbourne)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 2011-01-30, 9:42AM EST
Reply to: sale-xb4hd-2187963434@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]

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

Looking for a reasonably priced emerald salvaged from the shipwreck Atocha (mel fisher) to compliment my Aotcha coin




Forecast and Conditions.

The wind is out of the southeast and the seas are calm. It looks like they'll stay that way for at least a few days. That means no significant change in conditions real soon.

I did get a look at a few beaches this morning. Most were very sandy. The beach south of the Fort Pierce lost a foot or two of sand sometime in the last few days but was filling in again.

Oh well.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net