1/16/20 Report - Cortes' Aztec Gold Bar Plunder Analyzed. Beach Reports and Photos.

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

A new scientific analysis of a large gold bar found decades ago in downtown Mexico City has confirmed it was part of the plunder Spanish conquistadors abandoned as they beat a temporary retreat from the Aztec capital...

A year later, Cortés would return and lay siege to the city, which was already weakened with supply lines cut and diseases that accompanied the Spanish invaders taking a toll.

The bar was originally discovered in 1981 during a construction project some 16ft (5m) underground in downtown Mexico City – which was built on the ruins of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlán – where a canal that would have been used by the fleeing Spaniards was once located.

The bar weighs about 2kg (4.4lb) and is 26.2cm (10.3in) long, 5.4cm wide and 1.4cm thick...

Here is the  link for more about that.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/10/mexico-city-gold-aztec-treasure-spanish-conquistadors

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I received a the following beach reports and photos by Steve M.

We got to Turtle Trails at just after sunrise.    Pretty smoothed down beach.   Less sand than a few weeks ago.   We went north to just about Sea Grape.   Just a couple modern nails.    Real deep. 

Turtle Trail Early Morning 1/15

Photo by Steve M.

Turtle Trail Early Morning 1/15
Photo by Steve M.

Turtle Trail Early Morning 1/15
Photo by Steve M.

After Turtle we headed north. Wabasso was still closed until the 20th. We went to Golden Sands then to Bonsteel Park. Beach re- nourishments going on as we were there. Talked to somebody they said all the way to Melbourne. We didn’t do any detecting on this leg.

Golden Sands 1/15

Photo by Steve M.

Bonsteel 1/15

Photo by Steve M.

Renourishment Project at Bonsteel 1/15

Photo by Steve M.

If you've been wondering about any of these beaches, you can thank Steve M. for sharing the photos.

Thanks Steve!

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Looks like we'll have a nice increase in surf Friday that will last just a couple tide cycles.

MagicSeaWeed.com.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/24/16 Report - Strap Gold Bar. 250,000 Year-Old Aluminum Find. Post-Matthew Modern Era Finds. Bigger Surf Coming.

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

Gold "Strap" Bar Currently Listed In The Sedwick Coins Auction # 20.

This could be the star of the most recent Sedwick auction. It has an estimated price of $60,000 to $90,0000, and already has a bid of $50,000.  Here is part of what the description says.

Complete gold "strap" ingot for making oro corriente pieces, marked five times with circular tax stamp of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (Charles I of Spain) and C inside box, 1128 grams, estimated 22K, very rare, from an unidentified early 1500s wreck in the Caribbean. 10-1/2" x 1-1/4" x 1/4". It is tempting to call this object simply a “gold bar,” but that does not convey its full importance, as its near-uniform flatness and its markings all indicate that this piece is the first example ever recorded of a complete “strap” (in Spanish: riel) for cutting into the known (but very rare) money pieces (small) known as “oro corriente,” which were used in place of actual gold coins (which were in short supply) in the colonies and thus represent the “first fish out of the lake” from the colonies in terms of local gold coinage...

You can find the auction catalog at Sedwickcoins.com.

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Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

The surf Monday is predicted to be only one or two feet, but the surf will start to increase Tuesday and according to the predictions, possibly reaching up to six or seven feet by Thursday.  The tides are still remaining pretty high too.

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Not only did Matthew provide access to old shipwreck items, but for many people it opened the window to more older modern era finds such as those shown below.

These Post-Matthew Finds Include A Couple Mercury Dimes and Buffalo Nickle.
Finds and photo by Mark M.

Renken Y. found the following heavy silver ring and military shell, both of which were lost for a good while.

Finds and photos by Renken

The shell casing looks like a WW II era shell.  Many of them were found along the Treasure Coast in the past.  It seems they don't surface as often as they used to.

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Source: See link immediately below.

This piece of metal was estimated to be 250,000 years old even though aluminum is a much more modern metal.  Some take this to mean that it must be a part of a UFO wreck.  Personally, I've long doubted the methods used for determining ages and so am not convinced that it is actually that old.  Might be though.

Here is the link to the story.

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2016/10/21/investigator-claims-ufo-wreckage-is-evidence-aliens-visited-earth-250000-years-ago.html

Thanks to Dean for the link.
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Thanks for all the responses to the blog poll.  The poll results showed that my beach ratings and predictions were accurate.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/30/15 Report - Sedwick Coins Auction Items. Polishing Found Jewelry. Viking Treasure Found On Danish Island.

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

Some Of The Artifacts Auctioned By Sedwick Coins In Orlando..

Tuesday I stopped at the Hilton Doubldtree in Orlando to inspect some of the items that were going to be auctioned by Sedwick Coins.  Frank Sedwick brought out those that I most wanted to see.

Larger artifacts were out on a table, but coins and other small items were carefully stored, as you would expect.  I don't know how he keeps track of so many valuable items.  That job would make me a little nervous, but Frank is obviously very used to it.  One of the ladies working the tables grew up in Fort Pierce and was a graduate of Fort Pierce Central.

I took a look at some of the heart-shaped cobs.  They were in  excellent condition.  They  showed very little wear of any kind.  That isn't totally surprising since it is believed they were apparently made for some special purpose other than circulation as coinage.   Most of the heart-shaped cobs are "holed," but not all.

One that I carefully inspected had two holes - one at the top and one at the bottom.  The holes were very carefully made.  One hole was amazingly close to the edge of the coin.  Just a smidgen off and the hole would have been something other than a hole.  It was apparent that those cobs were made with great care.  I could see how anyone could easily get into collecting such interesting pieces.

Another item I studied was the crucifix with attached coins.  I posted a a picture of that item and made a few comments about it in a previous post.

It was a good opportunity to inspect a variety of unique items, and, as always, Frank and Augie were very accommodating.

Some of you probably watched the online bidding yesterday.  One of the highest priced items was a  gold bar that sold for over $100,000.  It was lot number 234.  Below is the item description.

Long, complete gold bar #2, 2307 grams, marked with fineness XXI (21K) and foundry/assayer SARGOSA / PECARTA, from the Santa Margarita (1622). 11-1/2" x 1" x 3/4". Impressively complete and neatly cast ingot with lots of markings, including four finenesses, seven circular tax stamps and one foundry/assayer, central depression from casting shrinkage, small cylindrical assayer's "bite" at one end, "2" stamped on bottom by salvagers. From the Santa Margarita (1622), with Fisher photo-certificate #2-M-80.

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The other day I showed a Hermes silver ring found by Robert H.  He used a Dremel and jewelers rouge to give it a good cleaning.

Here is a picture of the ring that shows how nice it looked after being polished.

Ring Found By Robert H. After Cleaned Up.

The following link will take you to a web site that provides a table that shows the polishing compound to use on a wide variety of metals including gold, silver, copper and many more.

http://www.pjtool.com/jewelers-rouge-chart.aspx

That ring now looks great Robert.  Thanks for sharing.

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An amateur archaeologist took his metal detector on a business trip and ended up finding a rare cache of Viking coins on a Danish island.

Here is the link for more on that story.

http://cphpost.dk/news/amateur-archaeologist-finds-viking-treasure-on-danish-island.html

I want to thank all of the amateur archaeologists who make and properly report important finds.

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We recently had a Super Moon and some nice high tides.  The surf will be around three feet for the next few days.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/16/15 Report - Atocha Gold Finger Bar. John Wilkes Booth Tour. Nimrud Destroyed. Buttons Found.

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

Atocha Gold Bar In April 29 Sedwick Coins Treasure Auction.
Photo Source: See Sedwick Coins link.

Here is the description from the auction catalog.

Complete gold "finger" bar #1526, 699 grams, marked with fineness XXIII: (23.5K) and serial number 152-1, from the Atocha (1622). 5-1/4" x 7/8" x 1/2". From a series of mysteriously high grade bars without foundry/assayer markings and tax stamps (also no assayer's "bite"), hence purported to be either the property of the Church or representative of the "king's fifth" (tax), this example with very bold fineness but light serial number (both hand-engraved), two dimples on top where the metal settled during cooling. From the Atocha (1622), with Fisher photo-certificate #A84-1526.

Here is a link to the Ingots and Bullion session of the Sedwick Coins Auction.

http://auction.sedwickcoins.com/Treasure-World-and-U-S-Coin-Auction-17-April-29-30-2015_a24016?m=all&p=1&ps=50&ca=860002&so=1&q=

And here is link to a short video showing some of the highlights of the Sedwick Coins Treasure Auction that goes live on April 29.  Take a look some of the great treasure bars and cobs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTDsxWexQN4

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Now that you have your taxes done maybe you want to think about a summer vacation.  How about a tour following the trail of John Wilkes Booth that he made in the after shooting Lincoln up until his capture.  This year is the 150th year since the assassination of Lincoln.

Here is the link showing some of the stops.

http://www.aol.com/article/2015/04/14/lincoln-assassination-road-trip-john-wilkes-booth-escape-route/21171737/

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This video shows ISIS  destroying the 3000 year-old remains of the city of Nimrud in Iraq.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/iraqi-city-of-nimrud-stood-for-3000-years-until-isis/

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Buttons Dug By Dan B.
Photo by Dan B.

Dan B. is still digging inland sites.  He found four of these buttons showing a locomotive and coal car.

Nice buttons Dan!  Thanks for sharing.








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Have you seen the Gold Rush Nugget Bucket?  Pretty neat.  I'd like to live close to the gold fields.

http://www.goldrushnuggetbucket.com/

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Here is a very short video clip made near low tide on Thursday.   There were a few rain showers up and down the beach.

Thursday on the Treasure Coast we'll have one more day of smooth surf and some good negative tides.  Friday the surf will increase a little.   According to the predictions we'll have a few days of rainy weather.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/4/15 Report - $100,000 1715 Fleet Gold Bar. Charles Garrett Gone. More Palm Beach Renourishment.

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

Unique $100,000 1715 Fleet Gold Bar
Photo source: Sedwick online auction catalog.

This Peruvian 2148-gram 20K gold bar from the 1715 Fleet with tax stamp and other markings requires a starting bid of $100,000.

The really neat thing to me about this brick is the incomplete melting of the cobs or whatever it is made of.  You can see some of those in the photo.

It seems to date to the reign of Charles V and the early 1500s.

The item is lot number 252 in the current SedwickCoins auction.

Online bidding has begun.





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Photo Of Beach In Front Of Mar-a-Lago
Photo by Joe D.

Joe said, Yesterday I went on the beach in front of Trumps and the surrounding area, but finding beach access in this area is difficult to the say the least! This is one of the few areas that has not, as of yet, had beach renourishment! Lots of iron due to rotting groins, and the sand is building! There was some previous erosion (see pics), but nothing but some older encrusted clad! Had to be mindful of the "private" beach so I didn't attract unwanted attention from staff!

 Definitely favor beach hunting (less kneeling and bending), but with near eight foot depth by 200 foot width of renurishment sand being place, it looks like beach hunting will be about done here for a while! 

Notice the tops of the old groins showing. 

One of my best hunting spots was between some old rotting groins in South Florida.  They have now been covered up by tons and tons of sand.

That is one good picture Joe!  Thanks.

Renourishment Project
Photo by Joe. D.

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A big name in metal detecting just passed away.   Any serious detectorist knows the name Charles Garrett.  If you don't own a Garrett detector, you've read his books and articles.

Mitch King sent me the following link to his obituary. 

http://www.garrett.com/charles_garrett_obituary.aspx

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There was a beautiful full moon out last night.  Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring equinox.

That tells you something.   I suppose man has closely observed nature's cycles as long as he has walked the earth.  There are always some people who observe things more carefully.  Those that observed most carefully often won a special role, maybe as shaman, priest or elder.

Holidays punctuate the year and provide cherished memories.  I have many and you probably do too.

If you don't celebrate Easter at this time of year you probably celebrate something - maybe Passover, which is intimately connected with and foreshadows Easter.  It all ties together.  Even Easter bunnies and eggs hint of new birth. 

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The most read post of February was the 2/22/15 Report - New Authoritative Research On The Gold Pelican-in-Piety Of The 1715 Fleet. 

That one contained the most recent research by author Laura Strolia.  If you missed it you might want to go back and read it.

The most Google Plused posts of Feb were the following.

2/25/15 Report - Florida Coin Shooter's Dream Come True!  Reader Of This Blog Finds 335 Silver Coins On One Small Lot!

2/16/15 Report - Strategically Selecting Discrimination Settings.   Rechargeable Batteries.

There are literally hundreds of posts in this blog now.  They are still available.  You might find the search box on the first page useful.

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\The surf today (Saturday was only one - two feet.  Easter it will be more like three or four feet, and Monday just a touch higher.

Happy Easter,
TreasureGuide@Comcast.net

2/27/12 Report - Gold Bars, Sand, & Lodging

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

Just Something Real Pretty To Look At.

This photo is from the Sotheby's catalog entitled Magnificent Coins of the Spanish World, which is the auction for the The Archer M. Huntington Collection.

Here is the link to a site where you can find the catalog.

http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/2012/magnificent-coins-of-the-spanish-world-the-archer-m-huntington-collection/overview.html


I received my invitation to the 4th Annual Treasure Hunters Cookout, which will be held in April at the Pennwood Motor Lodge where some of the early treasure hunters stayed back in the day.

I often get requests for information about lodging on the Treasure Coast from people coming to detect the beaches. I won't make a recommendation, but here is a list of some possibilities.

http://www.sebastianfl.com/Motels.cfm

Speaking of local hangouts, the Driftwood Resort in Vero Beach is celebrating its 75th anniversary. With the wreck of the Breconshire just off-shore, the driftwood contruction and the artifacts that you will see, beachcombers, detectorists, and treasure hunters of all stripes will find something of interest at the Driftwood.

Cut On Treasure Coast Beach Sunday.

This cut was a few hundred yards long and varied from half a foot to nearly three feet. On Saturday, it was about half that. And on Saturday the sand in front of the cut was very firm and seemed to be composed of brown sand and small pieces of shell, but I didn't find what I would call a layer of shell in the first foot or so. I found that a little surprising considering how firm the surface was.

There was a line of targets running along the cut about three to five yards in front of the cut.

By Sunday the cut was slightly bigger than on Saturday, but the sand in front was more mushy on Sunday. By that time the wind had shifted from the northeast to east.

The initial erosion occured, as you might suspect, during the northeast wind.

Here is another video showing progress of the Fort Pierce Inlet renourishment project. Notice all of the beach beautification for peak tourist season. Nobody seemed to be there to see Saturday afternoon but all of that rusty construction equipment really made for a pretty beach.

Notice Old Faithless was moved down the beach a few yards. Nice to be able to see a geyser without going to Yellowstone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1c-j1Pme-U&list=UU40rmid7y8dybrNwqTt_ZUg&index=1&feature=plcp

I want to sign up for one of those construction watcher jobs. Then when that job is over I could sign up to watch the sand go back into the sea.

Speaking of beach renourishment, Bathtub Beach is closed for repairs again. The previous repairs must have lasted all of a few weeks.

The wind is now east/southeast. The typical cycle that you see as these fronts come through is now pretty much complete. I'd rate beach conditions as a minimal two right now. It will undoubtedly be short lived.

The seas will be decreasing today and for a couple of days.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/28/11 Report - Two Pound Gold Bar & Various Other Stuff

Two Pound Gold Bar Found on the Trail of the Atocha on April 16

I mentioned this find in an earlier post and said I expected to get a picture of it. It has no markings and must have been smuggled.

Below is a part of the story of the find as told by diver Tim Meade who found the bar. (The photo and story was received by email from the Fisher organization.)

I finished my sweep around where the bedrock meets the berm. I didn’t have a single hit; I was re-tuning my detector to go across the bedrock, and I glanced over my left shoulder and saw about 4 inches of the bar sticking out of a solution hole. And I swear, it was glowing like neon green. I kept staring at it, and I had no idea what it was. I had seen gold underwater before, but I had no idea what this was. I grabbed my detector and I was going to poke it to see what it was and about two feet away from it the detector rang. I just dropped the detector, and my hand started shaking. And then it changed colors from green to gold! Then I swam over and I grabbed it and it started coming out of the solution hole and it kept coming and coming and coming and coming. When it came all the way out, I turned it once or twice in my hands and grabbed it.

Congratulations guys. Neat looking bar.


A heavy piece like that is going to work it's way down through the sand over time and end up on a hard surface under all of the sand. It is not going to get washed up on the beach or onto a sand bar.


I just added a new survey which should prove interesting. It asks where you have found your shipwreck cobs or treasure coins. Basically I've divided the beach into a five or six areas going from the edge of the water to the back dunes. Although I know that cobs have been found in all of those areas, I believe more have been found in one of those areas. I won't say which yet because I don't want to influence the results of the survey.

Thanks to one of the blog's readers for suggesting this question.

This Saturday there will be a big treasure hunting party where a lot of the guys (and probably gals too) will be gathering. I just wanted to give a big shout out to all who will be attending. Have a ton of fun.

Yesterday I talked about fake cobs after someone sent me a photo of a find and from the photo I thought it could possibly be a fake. I told the finder to take it to one of the museums where they could have someone look at it.

Sad to say it was a fake, but my advice proved good. The folks at the museum were helpful and gave their expert opinion. The folks at the museums on the Treasure Coast are good people - always helpful and friendly and willing to take a look at a find. I've also found the State of Florida people to be helpful too. So don't be afraid to contact the experts when you have a good reasonable question.


Gold and silver continue to increase. Or should I say the dollar continues to go down the drain.

If you've dug any Morgan dollars, you might be glad to know that the price of the lower quality Morgan's is doing very well. Some think too well. But isn't that what you would expect with the rapidly increasing price of silver?

Odyssey Marine stock is also doing very well. It hit above $3.95 yesterday, and in a few weeks has appreciated around 30%. Not bad. It seems the minerals exploration business helped them overcome some of the problems in the treasure business.


Treasure Coast Beach Forecast and Conditions.

I got a bit of a surprise yesterday. The wind picked up a bit in the afternoon and the seas were coming in from the southeast with more gusto than I had expected. There were whitecaps on the river.

The wind has decreased a bit for now and the river is smooth, but there is supposed to be a cool front coming. That means the wind will be shifting and coming in from the north for a short while. Unfortunately the seas are expected to only reach about four feet. As you know that isn't much and won't change conditions much.

I'd keep on checking the bathing beaches for modern jewelry and the low tide areas for coin holes and older junk with the hope of picking up a possible artifact of some sort.


May all your treasures be real.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net