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

4/13/19 Report - Revisiting Factors For Successful Detecting. Whats Different: Now and Then.

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

Recent Falcon Heavy Liftoff From Kenny Space Center

Thanks Alberto!  Great photo!

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South Hutchinson Island Beach As Seen Yesterday.

One thing that impressed when I saw the above beach heavily eroded a couple weeks ago, is how much sand there is on our beaches now.  Like many beaches along the Treasure Coast, this beach was renourished a year or two ago.  The cliff you see is in renourishment sand.  I don't know where it came from.

But what struck me most is when I looked at the first condo you see to the south.  I remember when there was a rock outcropping exposed all the way back almost to the condo about twenty years ago.  I wish I knew what year that was.  But back then, around the same time, Jensen beach was eroded back to the seagrape trees, and north of John Brooks the erosion was all the way back to very near the condos.

People sometimes say that most of the treasure has been found.  I don't buy that.  Obviously some of it has been found, but I don't think that is the big problem.  I think the big problem is all of the sand.

This year we saw some pretty big erosion at John Brooks and Frederick Douglass, but nothing much was reported found.  I believe the reason for that is that the erosion was into renourishment sand.  It didn't get down to the older layers of sand.  The erosion was far from where it had been in the past.  As recently as 2004, when we had the hurricanes of Francis and Jeane, John Brooks was eroded all the way back and under the board walkway.  That is much farther than anything we've had in more recent years.

On beaches like John Brooks on South Hutchinson Island, you don't have high dunes behind the beach to erode and dump new targets on the beach.  And it is unlikely that many old targets will show up on the beach while the renourishment sand is piled up on the beach and in front of the beach.

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I developed and presented a metal detecting success formula in this blog.  One of the advantages of doing something like that is that it really forced me to think it through. And then when it is communicated, it is open for review, criticism and discussion, which leads to additional refinement and improvement.

My success formula, as I posted it in the past, is as follows.

S = L x T x Sk x E x D.

I defined Success as the number of finds. I suppose it would be better to define success in terms of total value.  Value, of course, is subjective.  (You might be interested in my post on metal detecting math.)

L is location. T is time spent detecting. Sk stands for skill level, D, the detector used, and E is amount of effort.

I discussed those factors to some extent in previous posts. I talked about the effort factor in my 1/9/18 post, for example.

Extreme effort can really pay off.  That refers to really pushing the boundaries in a variety of ways.  I've discussed that before and won't get into it now.  Extreme effort can be limited by your determination, physical fitness, and courage, or  should I say stupidity.

D is for the type of detector you use and its capabilities - not how you use it. How you use your detector is part of the skill factor.

I wanted to revisit the formula and refine it a little more.

The factors on the right side of the equation are listed in order of my estimation of their relative importance.  Location is the most important factor in my opinion.  If you are not where the targets are, none of the rest matters much.

All of the factors interact.  If you have a quality detector, it still doesn't matter much unless you know how to use it well.  The skill factor interacts with the detector factor. 

The factors that I have been thinking about a lot lately are the Location and Time factors.  I mentioned not long ago the importance of the time you spend scouting around and how that time can be as important as the amount of time you spend detecting.  Time spent on the beaches and time spent scouting the beaches can dramatically improve your chance of being at the right spot at the right time.  

The time factor includes time spent in the field as well as time spent actually detecting. It also includes research and information gathering.  Therefore to be more specific, my time factor includes three factors: time scouting (Ts), time detecting (Td), and time gathering and assimilating information (Ti). 

I have some things to say about scouting beaches, but I'll keep that for another time.  Scouting interacts with beach reading, which is a part of the Skill factor.  

You might think I'm making much about nothing, but if you take time to think it all out in a clear and specific way, you'll notice things and increase your understanding even when you don't realize it.



Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/25/18 Report - Understanding Factors Involved With How Coins Move in Sand. Archaeological Detecting. Emeralds and Silver Bars.

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

A couple days ago I talked about how coins move on the beach.  Evidently a lot of people were interested in the topic and followed up by visiting previous posts on the subject.  As a result I decided to show something that clearly illustrates some of the main factors involved.  It isn't simple because it depends upon a variety of factors - the force and direction of the water being a couple of the most important.  The complication is that the water force can change from near zero to very high.

First, here is a question for you?  Will a coin always move in the same direction as the current.

Here is an illustration.

The illustration shows a coin lying on a sand slope.  The current is moving towards shore and up over the slope very much like it would with a surge.

What do you think will happen?   It depends upon the how strongly the current is moving, but if the current is very slight it can move sand in and pile it up on the slope and eventually cover the object.
However, if there is enough current, but not too much, the current will move the sand from around the coin, especially the that part of the coin that faces the current.  That would be red area shown in the next illustration.

When a sufficient amount of sand is moved from that area, the coin will slip down the slope a notch and remain there until enough sand is moved for the same thing to happen again.  Of course the current would have to remain about the same and the coin would be in the same orientation on the sandy slope.

I've seen this actually demonstrated in a tank filled with water and sand and a controlled current.  This is a case in which the object moves opposite the direction of the current,  If the current is either too weak or too strong, it won't happen the same way.  If the current is strong enough, it can push the coin along in the same direction as the sand.

The important factors are the characteristics of the objects to be moved, including both the density and shape, as well as the force of the current.

When an object like this coin is on a slope and the supporting sand is removed, gravity moves it down the slope.

One of the important characteristics of a coin is the shape.  Coins tend to lie flat against the surface and present a small and rounded edge towards any modest current.  The current then speeds a little as it is forced around the stationary object.

A variety of things can destroy this entire scenario.  Just think of a wave crashing right on top of the slope and coin.  In that case, sand will be thrown around and the coin moved rather abruptly.

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The Society of American Archaeology web site lists a variety of projects involving detectorists.

Here is the link.

http://www.saa.org/ForthePublic/Resources/MetalDetectingInArchaeology/MetalDetectoristsParticipatinginArchaeologyRe/tabid/1030/Default.aspx

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There are several 1715 Fleet emeralds up for auction in the current Sedwick auction.  They have starting bids of around $100.  I've posted about people who have found emeralds on the Treasure Coast beaches.  Some of those emeralds are not the greatest, but one exceptional one was a 68 karat emerald found by a lady that was collecting shells at Golden Sands beach.  Watch for green in the shell piles.

https://auction.sedwickcoins.com/Crude-natural-emerald-from-the-1715-Fleet-8-5-carats_i29836856

The big silver bars seem to be bringing in really good prices.  I think one is up to about $29,000 already.

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The surf is pretty small now and won't start increasing again until Monday.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

2/8/18 Reort - Rocket Launch. Importance of Detector in the Success Formula: Author's Opinion. More on Mystery Find.

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

Tuesday's Rocket Launch As Seen From Sebastian.
Photo by Alberto S.

Great photo Alberto!  The bigger you blow this up the better it looks.  I saw the rocket go up but didn't get any photos.

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On 1/21/18 I showed on some reale finds reported by Terry S.  You might recall that two of those reales were sight finds.  They were seen lying on the surface. They weren't deep.  In fact they weren't buried at all.

A few weeks ago I showed a cut and told about a few modern coins that were lying on the surface.  I've also seen cobs on the surface in the past.

Obviously not all cobs are found on the surface, but most that I've found have been fairly shallow.  I can't recall digging any that were real deep.

When you find a good hot spot on a beach ( as opposed to land sites ) most of the coins will not be deeply buried.  If you find the best spots with the largest concentration of coins, it there is a good chance that some will on the surface in plain sight.

In the past I identified five ways that coins move on a beach.  Despite what people say, coins do not sink down through the sand.  They get buried, but they do not get pulled down through the sand by gravity.  I've discussed that in detail in the past and talked about trigger points and the things that determine how sand and different objects move relative to each other.

All of the above is to set the stage for my main point which is that detecting depth is not the the primary factor for most cob finds.  The important thing is being at the right spot at the right time.  The big thing is to put your coil over a cob, which is not that easy, and as you know, it happens too infrequently.

Everybody always wants the best and deepest seeking detector.  If they aren't finding much of anything they think it is because their detector isn't working well.  If you don't have a decent detector, that won't help you, but the lack of finds is more often due to other factors.

You don't need a super detector to detect reales.  Other than worn down fractional half reales, most reales will not be difficult to detect if you are using a decent detector and put your coil on one.
The trick is to put your coil over what you want to find.  That is why I say that a detector won't find you anything.  All it does is beep when your coil is over a target, but you have to put your coil over the target, and that is where most of the knowledge and skill comes in.

I'm not saying that the detector has no effect.  You do need a decent detector and you need some level of skill.  You must have confidence in your detector.  That is very important.  That is one reason I suggest a lot of experimenting and testing.  If you do that, you'll know what your detector will or will not do and how to use it for best results.

I've been saying that I was going to revisit my formula for metal detecting success, but I've been putting it off.  Here is is.

 S = L x T x Sk x E x D.

S is the amount of success in terms of number of finds.  L is location.  T is time spent detecting.  Sk stands for skill level.  D, the detector used, and E is amount of effort or determination. 


I talked about the first four factors in the recent past.   I talked about the effort factor in my 1/9/18 post, for example.  

D is for the type of detector you use and its capabilities -  not how you use it.  How you use your detector is part of the skill factor.  

There is a detector factor.  I agree with that, but as long as you have a decent detector, it is not a big factor.  I put the detector factor last in the formula because I think it is the least important of the factors listed.

There is one more factor that I will be adding to the formula.  It is something that I am personally not good at, which might be why I missed it.

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Concerning Sebastian Steve's mystery find that I posted a couple days ago, Darrel S. said, I forgot to mention that I visited the old Piper shop on Aviation Blvd many years, ago. Yes, there were planes from that period, but was told the pieces I showed them (same as in your blog) were probably old flashing from construction sites. Most of the snips used in cutting metal have serated edges.

 However Steve P. offered the following: I agree with DB, as an aircraft mechanic, it looks like aviation snips pattern.

Thanks guys.

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I recueved a great Ole Timer Talk to post soon concerning holed coins.

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The tides are now small, and it looks like the surf will remain in the two to four foot range for a couple weeks.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/15/18 Report - Metal Detecting Videos. Factors For Metal Detecting Success.

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

I watched football this weekend.  Maybe you've noticed that when I miss a day it is usually a football day.  I love the strategy part of football. I enjoy figuring out how to get things done, whether it is win a football game, develop computer software or find things.

Saturday I started a discussion of the factors that lead to successful metal detecting. Today I'll address a few factors,but leave discussion of some of the more complex and interesting ones such as skill for later.

Before I really get started on that I wanted to briefly talk about something else.  I don't often watch YouTube videos, but I was looking for something specific and watched a few metal detecting videos a couple days ago.  The first thing that struck me was something that I commented on before.  It drives me crazy when they take several minutes to retrieve a target.  They pass the coil over the target I don't know how many times to pinpoint and get a good reading on the meter or whatever, and then they spend a lot of time on top of that probing around with a pinpointer.  If I took me that long to dig a target, I'd have time for about two targets per hunt.  If my wife did that I'd be screaming at her to dig the thing and get on with it.

In one video a fellow was comparing a CTX 3030 with an Ex Deus.  He detected an area first with the Ex Deus and found some things.  Then he took the CTX and found some more things "that the Ex Deus missed."  Then he detected the area with the Ex Deus again and found some more things that the CTX "missed."  In my opinion that was no comparison of the two detectors, as the detectorist suggested.  It was more a test of the detectorist.

I'm not exactly sure of the order.  Maybe he used the Ex Deus first or maybe it was the CTX first.  I'm not sure now, but it doesn't matter.  That was not a very good comparison of the two detectors.  I've posted some notes on how to really compare two detectors, but even then it would be a comparison of two detectors using a specific set of settings under a specific set of circumstances.

The detector that was used the third time, obviously found items previously missed by the other detector, but also items missed by itself.

Now I'll continue with my discussion of the factors that result in successful detecting.

Using my old rough formula as a starting point, one of the most important factors that determines metal detecting success is location.  That one is obvious enough.  You can only find things where they are.  If you want to find Spanish shipwreck treasures, you are better off on the Treasure Coast than in Arizona.  You'll find a lot more gold jewelry in South Florida than the West  Virginia hills. That might be obvious, but that isn't all that needs to be considered.

Site selection is not what I'm talking about when I talk about location. I'm talking about where you live and where you can hunt on a regular basis without lengthy or expensive travel.  Site selection is a different matter and is a component of the factor I call skill (S).

One option is to travel, but another option would be to take advantage of what the local area has to offer. SuperRick, for example, does both.  He lives in Arizona and hunts meteorites and gold nuggets there and also travels to Florida and the Treasure Coast to detect.  If you are trying to maximize success defined in economic terms, then take into account the time and expense lost in travel.

I show a variety of types of treasure, including things such as sea glass, shells, fossils and bottles.  Besides the fact that I like all of those things, it is easier to be successful if you are aware of a wide variety of types of treasure..  If you can't find one type of treasure on a beach, you can usually find another.  That expands the range of opportunities.

The other important factor I'm going to talk about today is time (T). It is actually the amount of time spent detecting and does not include things such as research, which is also valuable, cleaning finds etc.

You will find more if you hunt more. I'm sure of that.  But it is not only because you cover more ground.  When you are out in the field detecting areas, both good and bad, you learn a lot.  You learn more about the beach or area that you are detecting.  You learn more about your detector.  And perhaps most importantly, you are there to see what is going on so you'll be Johnny on the spot when the widow of opportunity opens.  There are many ways that spending more time detecting will help you.  I've only mentioned a few.

When I originally posted the first draft of my crude formula for success, some people said perseverance should be included.  I think it is included to some extent in the time factor.  It certainly helps.

I'll get into the skill factor soon.  It is a very complex factor, because there are so many different skill areas.
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Tomorrow the surf is supposed to be up to five to seven feet.  I might not get out to take a look, so would appreciate any reports.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/13/18 Report - Beginning Discussion on Factors That Determine Success With Metal Detecting. North Winds Coming.

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

If you ever wondered why some people find more than others or why you aren't finding more, the discussion I'm going to start today will help you answer those questions.

I once developed a rough formula for metal detecting success.  Today I'll start with that rough formula and in the future refine and expand on it.  That will provide a framework for discussing the various factors that determine success.

Here is the rough formula I threw out there a few years ago.  S = L x T x Sk x D x E.

S is the measure of success. L is location.  T is time spent detecting.  Sk stands for skill level.  D, the detector used, and E is amount of effort.  I talked about the effort factor in a recent post (1/9/18).

In the above formula, the factors were listed left to right in order of approximate importance.  Location, time on task and skill are therefore all shown as more important than the detector (D), which comes fourth in the list.  There might be some changes to the order in my revised formula, but the detector is one of the most overrated factors.  Yes you have to have a detector that works, but if you have a detector made by one of the major brand names, how you use the detector (skill) is more important than the detector you use.  I don't want to get into this too deeply now, but as I've said before, I'd trust the wise old Indian with a bow and arrow to come home with the bacon over the city slicker with the best rifle money can buy.  When people are not finding much, the first thing they wonder is if there detector is good enough.  I have to move on, but I'll return to this some time in the future.

Where was I?  I hope you can see from that little discussion how the formula forces you to think more clearly about the factors involved in success even if it all seems very obvious at first glance.  Things seem obvious until you are forced to think about them more clearly and precisely.  You might agree or disagree, but thinking it out can be helpful in either case.

The first thing I need to do is talk a little about success.  It can be defined in many ways.  When I originally developed the formula, I was thinking of long term success as measured by the total number of finds, but as you know, not all finds are equal.

While quantity can be relatively easy to define, quality is not as easy.  It can be the total economic value, but even that is a bit of a guess.  But some people do not seek the most economically valuable targets.  They might be more interested in history, for example.  Some might like to find "old" things or things that tell a story.  So success can be defined in many ways and in different ways for different people.  One person might highly value a find that has no real economic value and might routinely target things that are not at all interesting to other people.

Each person has to define success for him or herself.  I do think you should try to quantify success though.  There should be some measure of value, however you define that for yourself: not just a total number.  You can find tons of low value finds that are not as valuable as a single high value find, therefore your measure of success should probably be a weighted quantity.

I once conducted a poll on what people wanted to find.  A few people told me they weren't looking for anything in particular but hoped to some day stumble onto an amazing treasure, maybe like a chest of gold coins or something.  That is like winning the lottery.  If you are seeking one of those once-in-a-lifetime finds, that isn't what I'm talking about today.  You can still increase the odds somewhat by putting in a lot of time (or buying a lot of tickets) but chance plays a bigger factor than the type of long term strategic hunting that I'm talking about today.

It seems I've never been able to convince people of the importance and effect of simply keeping a good running measure of success of what they are trying to accomplish, whether it is weight control, blood pressure, or metal detecting.  Regularly monitoring performance has a definite effect upon performance.  People who weight themselves every day will be aware of where they stand and any trends, and that will have an effect on behavior.

You might be aware of studies such as when the lighting was changed in a factory, and they wanted to see if improved lighting led to improved productivity.  It seemed to.  When people knew there was a study of their performance (that they were being observed) their performance improved.  I forget the name of that.  I think it might be the Hawthorne Effect.

Anyhow, I encourage you to keep track of your performance in some quantifiable way that is meaningful to you.  When I began detecting, I kept track of the number of coins I was getting. I posted some of my early records not too long ago.  I could see the totals increasing over the weeks and months.  Later I quit recording clad coins and started recording only gold and precious metal finds.  That is what I was targeting then, and I kept good records of the number and type found, where and when.  I've shown some of those records too.  But that goes to show how success might be defined differently not only by different people but also different years for the same person.

Your measure of success might include multiple types of targets.  Hunting treasure coins and shipwreck artifacts on the beach is very different than hunting modern jewelry on a resort beach.  I'll get more into those types of differences some other time.

Things can change a lot over a few decades of metal detecting.  There have been times when I went hardcore and times when, because of a change in circumstances, I only hunted infrequently and very casually.  The time of my most intense detecting ( Perhaps I should say extreme detecting, although not in terms of the amount of time spent because that was very limited due to my teaching and consulting work) was quite a few years ago.  There were years when I detected often, andalso many years when I didn't detect much at all.   It varied a lot.  There were years when I picked up hundreds of pieces of gold and others when I only picked up a few, but the amount of time spent was  different.  Total number of finds or a total value of finds is not a very meaningful number when you are not spending much time.  Since I now spend so little time detecting (because of a variety of factors that I won't get into now) a measure of efficiency seems like a more relevant measure.  How much is accomplished per unit of time?  That is what I would want to know.

Just to illustrate what I mean by that, I have probably not detected much more than a couple hours so far this year.  I actually spend more time checking beaches and taking photos for the blog than I spent detecting.  Most of that was targeting modern targets.  Some of that was on a mid 1900s site.   Less than an hour was on targeting shipwreck coins.  In those two hours I picked up two pieces of gold - both modern jewelry.  They were both on the small side and not too valuable.  Was that success or not?  In terms of total finds, I'd say no.  If the amount of time is considered, it wasn't bad.

You'll note that the second factor in my original formula was T (time spent detecting).  If success is defined as some total number of finds, total time spent detecting is definitely one of the most important factors.  For comparing success for times when a lot of time was spent with times when little time was spent, I took time into consideration, by comparing success per unit of time.  How much was found per hour of detecting.  That makes it somewhat, though not perfectly comparable.

I'll quit there for today and pick up with the factors determining amount of success in the future.

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The surf on the Treasure Coast will not be big this weekend, however the wind will be from the north on Sunday and Monday.  That is good.  On Monday the surf is supposed to be up to 5 - 7 feet.  That combined with the north wind might do us some good.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/3/17 Report - Pink Star Diamond. Below Normal Hurricane Season Expected. Ten Factors That Determine Beach Erosion.

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

`

59.6 Carat Pink Star Diamond
Source: See Sothebys link below.

One of the world’s great natural treasures, the Pink Star diamond will lead Sotheby’s sale of Magnificent Jewels and Jadite in Hong Kong 4 April. Estimated in excess of US$60 million, this 59.60-carat oval mixed-cut pink diamond is the largest Internally Flawless, Fancy Vivid Pink diamond ever graded by the GIA. The sale of the Pink Star continues Sotheby’s tradition of bringing some of the rarest and most extraordinary collectibles to market.

http://www.sothebys.com/en/news-video/videos/2017/the-pink-star-a-true-masterpiece-of-nature.html

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Experts are calling for a below-normal hurricane season this year, as a potential El Niño may limit the development of storms.

AccuWeather meteorologists are predicting 10 named storms, five of which are projected to become hurricanes and three of which may become major hurricanes. 

“The big factor is going to be the fact that we now believe El Niño will come on board some time during the summer and will continue all the way through the rest of the hurricane season,” AccuWeather Meteorologist Dan Kottlowski said.


Here is the link for more about that.

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/2017-atlantic-hurricane-forecast-possible-el-nino-to-limit-development-of-storms/70001271

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When people talk about beach conditions, the two factors they typically talk about is high seas and the wind.  Other than those two important factors there are others that are important.  Here is a list of ten factors that determine how a beach will erode.

1.  Size of the waves.

2.  Direction of wind and waves.  This is actually relative to the beach and long shore currents.  On the Treasure Coast waves hitting from the north are best.

3. Tides.

4. Amount of sand or depth of water in front of the beach.

5. Where the waves are breaking.  This factor is determined largely by numbers 1, 3 and 4.

5. Timing.  High waves are more effective when the tide is also high, for example.

 6.  Obstacles such as inlets, rocks or sea walls.

7.  Duration of favorable wind, waves and tides.

8.  Type of sand or other material making up the beach and how it is packed.

9.  Beach saturation and pore pressures.

10.  Slope of the beach.

I also suspect that the wave periods may also have an effect.


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The last few days have seen small surf, southeast wind.  There is no real changed expected very soon.  The tides are not as big now.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/15/13 Report - Storm Erin, Lots of Sea Weed, and The Importance of the E Factor in Metal Detecting

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

From National Hurricane Center

We have a new named storm - Erin.  As you can see it is over by the Cape Verdis just coming off of Africa.  It will be over a week before Erin will be in our neighborhood, if it does make it this way.

The other weather system is approaching the Yucatan.  Maybe it will go back into the Gulf after that.

Bill S. sent in this report.  Here is what he said.

...I chose today to make my first dedicated survey of the beaches opposite the 1715 wreck sites from Wabasso Beach Park northward. I can verify the seaweed was thick just north of the Amber Sands beach access. Regarding the sandbar, in the troughs a good amount of material collected, trapped there by the water movement. ... About all I found at the edge of the surf was some sea glass (a nice green piece, and some smaller amber pieces), and a boat load of iron flakes. 

I had the good fortune to see one of the salvor's boats working an area about 200 yards offshore and not far south of the McClarty Museum...

I also had the good fortune to see an amazing sight: a shark lunging into a school of bait fish just beyond the beach break. (Small fish were thick in the surf zone this morning.) Incredible!

Thanks for the report Bill.

As I showed yesterday, there was seaweed on the more southern Treasure Coast beaches too.  That is always a bad sign indicating sand and other light material washing up onto the beach.  It is a good sign when it starts to leave.



A lot of money went down the drain in the form of mashed hundred dollar bills.

According to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, their D.C. factory location produced a botched batch of more than 30 million hundred-dollar bills—that makes for a useless 3 billion dollars. 

The latest printing error, called "mashing," results when too much ink is applied to the paper and does not fit within the marked parameters, making for imprecise details on the bill's artwork.

Here is the source of that quiote and the rest of the story.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100960164?__source=xfinity|mod&ticket=ST-5514-blBPj7yzCQCanbknOWS7eij7I4oaDmKxu3v-20&rememberMe=null



I started to create a formula for detecting success.  Here is what I had.   S = L x T x Sk x D x E

S stands for the amount of long term success.

L stand for general location where the detectorist lives. Some areas present many more high level opportunities than others.

T (Time on Task) is total time spent detecting.

Sk stands for the skill level of the detectorist.

D stands for the quality of the detector or detectors used.

So far these are all weighted the same.  That will definitely change as I fine tune the formula.

E stand for effort.  Maybe I should call it Ee for Extreme effort.  This factor was added recently.  It includes the willingness and ability to do things like walk miles to a site, work in extreme weather, including cold, heat, storms, and in very rough water, or on rocky bottoms, etc.

One person suggested that this factor should be perseverance, and I can see that, but I would factor perseverance in with T.

Research is a factor, but now I have that lumped in with Sk.

I'm open to suggestions on this one.

I know that many detectorists think there is too much  competition these days, but believe me, you can find spots that are pretty much your own if you have the E factor.   There are things that prevent others from finding these little detected areas.

Sometimes people think that the reason nobody is detecting at a location, is because there is nothing there.  That assumption can be a mistake.  A lot of people follow the crowd.  They go to the places they hear about or where they hear somebody else has found something.  While I have no objection to hunting where others have been, there are a lot of good places that you can have pretty much to your self.

Sometimes those places are hard to get to.  Sometimes nobody knows that anything interesting ever happened there.   Sometimes the spot is hard to hunt because of something like trash or rocks.  There is usually some barrier or reason that most people avoid those spots.  They can be good spots though.  Those are the kinds of places I spent most of my time.

If you are willing to adjust and make the effort those areas can be some of the best.  And they can be right in the middle of a very busy and otherwise over-hunted area.


On the Treasure Coast the wind continues from the southeast.  There will be a small ( 1 foot) surf for the next couple of days, then increasing to two to three feet by Monday.

Not much will change real soon.  Keep watching those storms.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

7/17/13 Report - George III Coin, Dual Surf PI Detector, Four Factors For Detecting Success & More

Written by the Treasure Guide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

A Couple Treasure Coast Finds by Rich R.
Photo submitted by Rich.

Rich R. sent in some photos of finds, including the above.  Rich is a Fort Pierce detectorist that hunts the Treasure Coast.  He has a very nice group of finds!

Thanks for the photos Rich.

George III was born in1738 in London and became King in 1760 succeeding his grandfather George II.

Here is what the profile would look like.  This is just an illustration and not the same coin shown above.

King George III Illustration

Recent news of the 48 gold coins discovered off of Sebastian should let you know that despite what some people think, it hasn't all been found.  New discoveries will be popping up from time to time for a long time to come.


Yesterday I mentioned the fellow that sold me one of my first detectors, Jerry.  It turns out that James Fielding, one of the readers of this blog, had written an article that was published in a treasure magazine about Jerry and his wife back in the eighties.   James sent me a copy of the article, and I was able to verify what I remembered and correct an item or two.

First of all, Jerry's wife's name is Susan.  I found that in James' article.

Secondly, I mentioned that they detected the shallow water every low tide for a month.  As the article states, it was actually three months.  The had their clock set to go off before every low tide for three months, and got out there and did it.  That is  commitment.

As I mentioned a few days ago, detecting success is determined largely by three factors.  The first being location: the second being time on task: and the third, skill.   They certainly put in their time.  And they did very well.

The article that James wrote also talked about the detecting club they that ran.  I wasn't a part of the club, but observed some of the club activities on a couple of occasions when I happened to be hunting close to where the club hunt took place.  On one occasion, I stuck my head up out of the water and saw the club hunting on the beach next to where I was.

A few days ago I mentioned how members of a Treasure Coast club and Central Florida detecting club helped law enforcement find clues to solve a murder.  James' article told about how Jerry's detecting club was enlisted to find lost grave's of veterans.  They were able to detect the buried bronze markers and relocate the lost graves.   There is another example of a service provided by detectorists.

Thanks for the info and article James.


I snapped a handle to a scoop that I was using yesterday.  It was an aluminum handle.  That isn't my preference, but I was using it because it was handy, and I figured I'd use it until it broke.  It lasted longer than I ever expected.  I quickly replaced the aluminum handle with a nice 1 x 1 wood handle.

My previous wood handle lasted nearly twenty years before breaking.  The stainless steel scoop is still good.   I much prefer wood handles anyhow.


I mentioned my top three factors in detecting success - location, time, and skill.   The fourth would be detector.   Some detectors are definitely better for specific tasks than others, but a skilled detectorist can get more out of a poor detector than a poor detectorist can get out of a good detector.  Of course there is an interaction, but those are my top four factors, and the order that I would give them.

I like using different detectors from time to time.  I even like using a really poor detector once in a while for the challenge of it and what you can learn.   Get one of those $19.95 detectors and see what you can find with it.  You might be surprised to learn that you can actually find some things, mostly rusted relics, but it will take all of the skill you can summon to find anything  very interesting.  Of course you can find things eye-balling too.

The other day I was testing out a Whites Dual Surf PI for a guy.   There were some things I liked about it and some things I didn't like about it.  It is light and well balanced and easy to swing on land.

The battery compartment is easy to access and separate from the circuitry.  I like that.  It seems to detect fairly well.

Coins came through loud and clear, but there was little indication in the signal of the type of metal.  Iron sounded the same as other metals.  It took me a little while to get used to the erratic threshold.  The coil wanted to float to the surface of the water and it was it wasn't easy to swing under water.  It is definitely a good detector, but in my opinion has some definite draw backs.  In the short time I used the detector I'm sure that I didn't master it, so maybe some of the shortcomings were due to my lack of experience with the detector.




Surf This Morning on the Treasure Coast

There was about six inches of sand evidently removed by the last high tide on at least one Treasure Coast beach.

The surf was about 2 - 3 feet this morning.  The surf will drop down to about 1 foot by Saturday.  Of course that means no significant erosion in the mean time, but not too bad for water hunting.

The next low tide will be about 10 PM tonight.

Tomorrow I'll discuss a very informative article that was recently sent to me.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net