12/10/19 Re;port - Rare Mint Error Coins Found on SS Central America. Finds and Friends. Palladium Coins, Jewelry and Investment.

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

Nine Rare 1856-S/s Quarters Discovered In SS Central America Treasure.

The fabled SS Central America, the famous "Ship of Gold" that sank in 1857 carrying tons of California Gold Rush treasure, continues to surprise and delight the numismatic world...

Here is the link for more about that.

http://www.coinnews.net/2019/12/03/nine-rare-1856-s-s-quarters-discovered-in-ss-central-america-treasure/

Interesting that they found mint errors on coins that were already rare and historic because of their age and association with the SS Republic.

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I'm not much of a coin collector.  I don't buy coins.  I like finding coins - even in parking lots.  I check my change, and of course I dig up a lot of coins.

One thing I don't like about the coin collecting hobby is the extreme emphases on condition.  A barely discernible difference that most people can't even see with the naked eye can result in a huge difference in value.  People will pay thousands or millions of dollars for an encapsulated coin that they can't even touch.  

Personally I like coins that show some age and wear.  They've been used and handled.  In my opinion, the wear and patina makes them more appealing.  It tells something of their journey and story.

To be special to me, a find of any type doesn't have to be rare or valuable or highly sought after.  It just has to be meaningful in some personal way.

I've received some very nice coins as gifts.  They are nice enough.  They are shiny and new, some even beautiful to look at, but still something is lacking, and it isn't entirely because of the sealed containers.

There are millions and millions of different kinds of coins.  There are seemingly even millions and millions of rare coins, but a coin is just one more of the millions until it somehow becomes special to you.   Maybe it is the "perfectness" that makes it special to you.  Maybe it is the story behind it - maybe a pirate or treasure story.  Maybe it is something very personal.  Maybe it is just the fact that you are the one that found it.

I just realized that finds are a little bit like friends.  There are millions upon millions of people in this world, but each one is unique. They might not be perfect in every way.  You don't know everything about them, and you continue to learn more about them.  There are probably some things they don't want you to know, but you can accept them the way they are.  They always come with a history and a story.  But the more you get to know them, the more you appreciate them.  And when you find a friend, their story becomes part of your story and that makes them special to you.

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Currently selling for nearly $1900 per ounce, as an investment palladium (Pd) has been outperforming gold and silver.  While the primary use of palladium is in automobile manufacture, it is also used in jewelry and Canada produces palladium coins.

Here are some facts about palladium presented by Monex.

1. Palladium is the least appreciated of the four precious metals as an investment, but
2. Palladium prices have appreciated more than the more popular precious metals over last ten years.
3. Congressional approval has paved the way for the first Palladium Eagle from the US Mint.
4. US Mint's Palladium Eagle will use the famed “Mercury Head” dime obverse design.
5. A United States palladium coin will endorse the metal as an alternative bullion investment.
6. Recent advances in Selective Catalytic Reduction reduces the quantity of palladium per vehicle.
7. During a temporary supply squeeze, palladium prices exceeded gold prices, reaching $1,000 per ounce.
8. South Africa mine production fell over most of the past decade, and is projected to decline further.
9. For the most part, palladium is produced as a by-product of other mining.
10. About 40% of the worlds mining supply comes from just one Russian company, Norilsk.

See: https://www.monex.com/prods/investing-in-palladium.html

Palladium jewelry will often be marked PD950.

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The surf will be running around three of four feet on the Treasure Coast for a few days.

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

10/12/17 Report - Metal Detecting Over A Few Decades. Thomas Jefferson's Home. Inca In Peru.

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

Metal Detecting: The Changing Journey For One Person.

Life looks a lot different when you are 20 years old and looking ahead than it does at 70 something and looking back.  Its not the same at all.  I guess if you live in the moment or are totally consumed by daily struggles, you might not notice the difference, but otherwise you might come to see things entirely differently.

Not only do I see life differently, but also metal detecting.  When I started, I had no idea what I might accomplish.  I started trying to find  pocket change - counting it at the end of each hunt and trying to find more the next time out.  As I improved my skill level and finds, I started to focus on jewelry and better things.  I counted gold rings instead of small change.  I was still studying and trying to learn as much as I could and kept improving.  During one period of about six months when I was between jobs, I proved to myself that I could find enough to make a living at it if I wanted to.  I wanted to know what I could do.  I wanted to prove something, mostly to myself.   Now that matters very little.

When I moved to the Treasure Coast I started hunting more for shipwreck finds than modern jewelry even though I had done some of that before moving.  I like historic stuff better anyhow.  Unlike with modern jewelry finds, there is no living person that had to lose the item first.

Loved ones pass away.  Heavy life and death situations are faced.  And surprise, surprise, I got old.

Life doesn't look the same.  It is just as amazing and marvelous - even more so.  A lot of things were once taken for granted that are now appreciated and recognized as fleeting.  Things that were once important, like education, degrees, career accomplishments, no longer matter.  No body cares, and I almost never think of it.  While those things once consumed a large part of life, they are now irrelevant to me except as distant memories.

As far as metal detecting, there were times when I was very competitive.  And I'm not a competitive person by nature, but when I set a goal for myself, I can pursue it very intensely.  I'm no longer competitive with my metal detecting at all.  I don't see anyone else's success as affecting mine in any significant way.  I always have a strategy, and a way to adjust or work around or use what anyone else might be doing.

I used to do things that I would not even consider doing today, such as water hunting in the ocean at night alone.  Or working really rough or other dangerous conditions.

Just like in the rest of life, many of the things that once seemed very important to me in metal detecting, are no longer important to me at all.  Finds that I would once drool over, no longer excite me.  Some of those, as precious and hard to come by as they are, now seem sort of boring.  But don't get me wrong.  The fun and interest of the activity is not gone.  It is still an activity that I very much enjoy.  I still enjoy finds.  But in a different way.

The finds I most like now are not necessarily valuable or the kind of things most sought by many people.  I like little things.  They don't have to be amazing or tremendously valuable.   I appreciate the little pieces of history - pieces that require study and tell a story and still leave a little mystery.   It could be something valuable, but if it was, I'd prefer a one-of-a-kind piece or something unusually rare.  It would have a little mystery to it or help solve a mystery.  It doesn't have to mean anything to anybody else.  It only has to mean something to me.

My professional career involved research, teaching and consulting.  I do that now, but as it relates to metal detecting.

Since I began this blog, I've communicated with a lot of people.  A lot of peope read this blog, and some send emails.  Some have helped me a lot.  Fred Dengler, for example, always answered my every fossil related question.  He was more than an always helpful expert: he is a great guy. and I proudly count him a friend.   I haven't heard from him for a while and hope he is well.  Fact is, I miss him.  He provided expertise, but also something more.  He freely gave of himself.

The thing that I have come to appreciate is the kind and generous people. Some contribute to this blog in some way.  Some send encouraging comments, thank me for what I do and wish me well.  Some have offered to financially compensate me for the benefit they get from the blog.  I haven't accepted any contributions, but I appreciate the offer just as much or more than what might have been offered.

I have made friends through this blog that I never met.  A very few I have met.

For me, the journey has changed.  It is now less about the finds and much more about the search and the experiences I had along the way, and now, more than ever, about the fine people that I met.

I've met good people.  They care about others and try to help others.  They've been good to me.  That has been my biggest reward for doing this blog - getting to know that there are so many good people out there in the world and getting to know some of them personally.

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Arcaheological investigations were conducted around Thomas Jefferson’s historic home and plantation in Bedford County.

At a tour on Saturday, Jack Gary, the director of archaeology, said that a new two-lane “Polar Forest Parkway” soon will be constructed to make the property more accessiblevia an extensive section of unused land.

To prepare for the road, Poplar Forest’s archaeologists excavated 4,000 small sites along its marked path . That way, they can ensure the road doesn’t obscure anything with potential historical import...

Here is the link for the rest of that story.

http://www.roanoke.com/news/local/bedford_county/archeology-at-poplar-forest-details-time-before-and-after-jefferson/article_13febf10-4fdc-57a6-b34a-5f9bc53dd995.html

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An Inca site was recently discovered in Peru.

Here is the link to that story.

http://www.andina.com.pe/Ingles/noticia-peru-inca-citadel-remains-found-in-cusco-686051.aspx

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Only one day remaining to respond to the blog poll.  All responses are appreciated.


Ophelia is still a hurricane but is just a fish storm.

On the Treasure Coast today we have a little wind from the northeast, but the swells are still more easterly.  The surf is around four to six feet.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net