5/10/20 Report - Eight-Reale Kicks Off 2020 Salvage Season. Old(?) Wood Handle Fork Find. 18th Century British Indiaman Wreck. Surf Building.

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

2020 started off as a good year for beach hunting.  A good number of reales were found on Treasure Coast beaches January through March, and then came the beach closures.

Now the 2020 salvage season has begun.  The calm surf allowed an early start to the salvage season and at least one eight-reale was found off of Douglass Beach already.  The 1715 Fleet find was made by Queens Jewels, Jason and Joey Gooch working on the M/V Blackwater salvage vessel.

Congratulations!

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Two Tine Fork or Skewer.

As I mentioned yesterday, I decided to go back and look at some tableware that I found in the past and never researched much.

Here is a peculiar two-tined fork or skewer.  I believe it is probably a skewer rather than a fork simply because of size and feel.  It also shows very little wear, but it could have been repaired.  I'll show you why I think that might be the case.

There are no maker's marks or anything like that on this one.  It does not appear to be very well made.  There is some obvious asymmetrical grinding on the back near the base of one tine.

Wood Fork Handle With Wood Pins.

The rivets are not metal.  Wood pins hold the handle to the tang.  I haven't seen that on any other tableware that I've found.  Mostly they seem to have metal rivets.

The handle appears to be a relatively soft wood and very square - not nicely shaped for the hand.

Poorly Fitting Tang and Handle.

Notice how square the edges are and how poorly the tang fits into the handle.

My opinion is that the fork or skewer was either not made by a company that made tons of them or else it was repaired - maybe both.

I'd guess it is old, but don't know much of anything about this one.  It lacks any identifying marks.  The use of wood pins makes me think it is probably older, but it shows little wear as it is.

I don't think I'll ever find out much more about this one.

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I've found a lot of silverware over the years.  Some came from the beach.  Many of those were in very poor condition.  A good number also came from inland sites where some were dug and some were evidently secreted.  They were generally in better condition.  It is very common to find silverware at home sites.

I recently started researching some of my old silverware finds.  Yesterday I posted a photo of a spoon with a maker's mark I couldn't identify.  Mitch King said the mark is that of the AB&Co., England.  I don't have the dates on that company yet.

Thanks much Mitch!


Spoons have been around for thousands of years, but forks, which took over for knives and fingers, came later.

Forks were the last of the flatware tools to be added to this gastronomic arsenal. The early Greeks were known to use forks, and one was carried to Italy by a Greek princess in 1071. There is some disagreement about when tined instruments first appeared in inventories on the continent. Many credit Catherine de Medici with bringing them from Italy to France in 1553 upon her marriage to the future King Henry II, but gold and silver forks, used only for eating mulberries and other foods that stain the fingers, are listed in the inventory of Charles V of France (1338-1380).

Nevertheless, by the 1600s, fork usage had spread all the way to England, where a gentleman traveler by the name of George Coryat credits himself with the momentous introduction. This may have been a bit of a boast, as Queen Elizabeth I counted them in her inventory. Even so, forks were not readily adopted in England. The Church had frowned on them, ruling that they took glory from God who gave us fingers to eat with, and were seen as effeminate in many corners. However, King Charles I of England declared them “decent to use” in 1633, and the fork slowly but surely gained acceptance at the table...

You might find the following linked article on the history flatware interesting.  It is the source of the above excerpt.

https://rauantiques.com/blogs/canvases-carats-and-curiosities/flatware-history

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Here is the title and abstract of an article about an early 18th century British West Indiaman wrecked near Soldier Key.  If you know the area around Key Biscayne you'll be familiar with a lot of the history and shipwrecks in that area.  Actual treasure chests were recovered from Key Biscayne, not to mention many other treasures.  I spent a lot of time in that area when I lived down south.


A FINE WRECK IN SHALLOW WATER: INVESTIGATION INTO, AND CONSERVATION OF, A HEAVILY DISTURBED 18TH CENTURY BRITISH WEST INDIAMAN, THE SOLDIER KEY WRECK

Allen Donald Wilson

In the summer of 2012, a team of archaeologists excavated a known shipwreck site in the
submerged bottomlands in north Biscayne National Park. This site had been excavated
previously by John Hall, a professor from the University of Miami, in the early 1980s. Hall never
produced a report on the excavations and did not curate the artifacts recovered. The purpose of
this 2012 research was to document any remaining material culture, determine the best way to
preserve the site, and ultimately to use whatever remaining hull structure and portable artifacts
were available to determine the nationality, previous ports of call, and potentially the name of the

vessel as well as how the ship came to wreck in that location. 

The excavation revealed the midships to stern portion of a British West Indiaman that
dates to the early to mid 18th century. The sparse artifact assemblage suggests that the vessel
was coming from Jamaica en route to England when the ship succumbed to a hurricane.
However, a large number of ships wrecked in the region during the time period the Soldier Key
Wreck would have sailed. Unfortunately, no name could definitively be ascribed to the ship. 


Here is the link.

https://www.academia.edu/19559882/A_FINE_WRECK_IN_SHALLOW_WATER_INVESTIGATION_INTO_AND_CONSERVATION_OF_A_HEAVILY_DISTURBED_18TH_CENTURY_BRITISH_WEST_INDIAMAN_THE_SOLDIER_KEY_WRECK?email_work_card=view-paper

This one is in Biscayne National Park and I do not know of any treasure from the wreck being reported.  Still it is an interesting read.

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The past couple of days I posted links to some very good studies.  One was a major study on near-shore shipwrecks and another was on privateering.  You won't want to miss those.

It looks like the surf will be building for a few days and maybe get up to five or seven feet.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

Happy Mother's Day,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

5/7/20 Report - Old Treasure Coast Coin Thought To Be From Unknown Wreck and 1715 Fleet Coin Ceritified. Some Beach Erosion.

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

Two-Reale Found by Terry S.

Photo by Terry S.

As you might recall, I previously showed and discussed this two-reale that was found by Terry S.  Terry had the coin cleaned by West Bay Trading Co. of Vero, who also issued a certificate of authenticity for the coin.

Other Side of Same Two-Reale

Find and photo by Terry S.

Here is the certificate of authenticity.

Certificate of Authenticity for Above Two-Reale

Photo by Terry S.

Terry believes the coin came from an early and previously unknown Treasure Coast shipwreck and is probably the oldest coin ever found on the Treasure Coast.  The COA indicates that the wreck is unknown and the coin is graded as grade 1.

Terry also had an eight-reale cleaned and certified by West Bay Trading Company.

Eight-Reale

Find and photo by Terry S.

Here is the other side of the same coin.

Undated Eight-Reale

Find and phot by Terry S.

And here is the COA for the eight-reale.

COA for Eight-Reale Found by Terry S.

Photo by Terry S.

As you can see, the eight-reale is certified as being from the 1715 Fleet and being grade 1.

Thanks for sharing Terry.

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7PM Update:  A front came thought this morning and there was some small erosion as early as noon today.


Looks like the surf will be building.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

I found a few little things yesterday on a local walk.  I haven't taken photos of them yet though.

I also have some other better finds that I'll be looking at.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/21/18 Report - Ready To Be Excited? First 1715 Fleet Finds Reported in 2018. Reales, Cross and More.

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

Reales and Cross Found by JP
Photo submitted by Terry S.

I received the following email with the photos from Terry S. Saturday.

A little over a week ago I was detecting with a close friend. We had split up and my friend had walked ahead when I received a call from him saying he was into the treasure coins and I should join him. He had found two  8 reales and what appeared to be an old Spanish cross. We were joined by a 3rd friend and each of us experienced some of the most fantastic detecting possible. Coins were everywhere and we all had a great day but JP was having one of those days that most people dream about.

Finds By JP
Photo submitted by Terry S.

[Same email continued]  The following day my friend and I detected the same area and I found this 8 reale (below). I had it looked at by an expert and my coin is a 1711 Mexico mint.

The second photo of my coin shows a small o large m and J. The J below the M surmounted with and o ( standing for Mexico City) is for the assayer, Jose Eustaquio de Leon y Losa, who was the Mexico Mint Assayer/Mint Master from 1705 until 1724. Now the story gets interesting.

Terry's 8-Reale Find.
Photo submitted by Terry

Same 8-Reale Showing Mint and Assayer Marks.

Photo submitted by Terry.

[ Same email continued]  When I found my reale I texted my friend DP with a picture of my coin. He stopped by and when I told him that I found my coin laying right on top of the sand he said if that was the case he was going to look around. He walked about 20 feet from where I was detecting and found another reale  also laying right on top of the sand. Apparently the high waves had washed them up and my friend found a 8 reale without a detector. He later returned with his detector and found a second well worn 8 reale with virtually no markings.Three friends had a fantastic couple of days detecting and we each walked away with a piece of 300 year old history. Terry

Eye-balled Eight-Reale Find by DP
Photo submitted by Terry

Worn Reale Find.
Photo submitted by Terry.

Congratulations on the great finds guys, and thanks for sharing.

Nice start for 2018.  

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The surf predictions for next weekend looks interesting at this point.

Surf Prediction for Fort Pierce Area.
Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

I haven't yet looked to see what the tides and wind is supposed to be doing then.

Maybe some of the north winds we've been having moved some of the sand in front of the beach.   

Happy hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/24/15 Report - Potosi Pillars and Waves Reales Date Designations. Gusty West Winds Saturday. Coins of the Lost Galleons Book.

Written by the Treasure Guide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachsreport.BlogSpot.com.

1726 Eight Reales Illustration and Photo
Source: Seawall Menzel book Cobs, Pieces of Eight and Treasure Coins

I recently received a picture of a very interesting Treasure Coast Potosi Eight-Reales.  As a result I did a little research to see what I could learn about the cob.  One thing I learned is that before 1700, and back until when the Potosi Pillars and Waves cobs were first produced in 1652, a two digit date was typical, while 1700 and later a three digit date was typical on such cobs.

As you might know, there can be many varieties for a cob made by a specific mint in any given year.  Since different dies were used and the same die reworked and reused over the period of time, the large number of existing varieties can be over-whelming, but each difference can provide an important clue that can be used to help date and identify the cob.

The Potosi Pillars-and-waves eight reale that I recently looked at had some features that were similar in many ways to the one shown at the top of this post, although it was not the same year.

You seldom if ever are able to see all of the design features on a salvaged or dug cob.  They just aren't that perfect.  Even if the strike is near perfect, years in the ocean or sand will take a toll.

Not long ago I discussed the subject of Royals and some questions regarding their true purpose.  Royals are cobs that are produced in exceptional quality and are often considered to be presentation pieces for the king, thus the name, however their true purpose is not so certain.  (See the previous post discussing the Sedwick article on that topic.)

The above illustration from the Menzel book shows a three digit date displayed on the bottom row between the pillars, in this case "726" indicating the year 1726.   Of course that date is later than 1715 and would not normally be found on 1715 Fleet wrecks or beaches, however it does illustrate one thing that I was interested in, and that is how the dates were displayed on Potosi Pillars and Waves eight-reales beginning in 1700.

As I said above, Pillars and Waves cobs manufactured in Potosi prior to 1700 showed a two-digit date between the pillars.  "52," for example, would indicate 1652. 

On the top row between the pillars in the example shown above, you see the mint mark "P," followed by the denomination, "8," followed by the assayer intial "Y." 

In the second row, "PLVSVLTR."  Plus Ultra can be interpreted as "more beyond," referring to the New World. 

In the example above, in the third row you have the assayer initial and mint mark plus a three digit date between the columns, as is typical of Potosi eight reales produced from 1700 on.

Just one additional note: Lima also produced Pillars and Waves cobs. 

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While on the subject of cobs, I just came across a book that I evidently forgot that I had.  It is a small paperback by Kathryn Budde-Jones entitled Coins of the Lost Galleons, second edition published 1993.

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On the Treasure Coast the wind was coming from the South and West early in the day.   According to the buoy data, the waves didn't get much over three feet.  Later in the day the wind was more out of the West and North.

It doesn't look like we'll get much more than a two or three foot surf for a few days.  We do have a negative tide now.  That is one good thing.

_____

I've had a chance to give an ATX a few tests and one thing that I've seen that I like a lot compared to some other pulse detectors that I've used or tested is that a small thin gold ring gave a better signal than a clad dime.  That was observed under various conditions.

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Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@Comcast.net