2/23/20 Report - Treasure Coin Finds and A Couple Other Recent Finds.

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

Two Silver Reales Found Yesterday by Josh D.

As I said yesterday, a lot of very good finds were made Saturday.  The find photos are starting to come in.  I'll post a couple find photos myself. 

Not only did the most highly-experience local metal detection experts make finds, but some people made their very first shipwreck treasure finds.  Josh D. was one of those.

Josh found the two cobs shown above.   Congratulations Josh!  Many more to come.

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Brian F. is a nugget hunter but for the past eight years has made visits to the Treasure Coast.  It looks like he possibly made his first 1715 Fleet find yesterday.  He found the following tack along with some copper bits at Ambersands.

Tack Found by Brian F. Yesterday at Ambersands.

You know a nugget hunter is going to pick up smalls.

Way to go Brian.

Some of my favorite shipwreck finds are gold nuggets found on shipwreck beaches.  I showed one or two of those in the past.

I've had some additional material to post on the subject of tacks and will do that sometime in the future.

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First finds are special and I like to celebrate them.  You can probably remember yours.  Making a first find can answer a lot of questions and give a boost to your confidence.  When making a certain type of find becomes commonplace, then you set new goals.

My first Treasure Coast cobs (I found cobs elsewhere before I found my first on the Treasure Coast) were found at John Brooks.  I made a number of failed trips before having any success, so it was memorable.

Yesterday a good number of reales were found, including everything up to and including eight-reales.   Artifacts were also found, including musket balls and other items.

Overall it has been a good winter for finding beach treasures this year.   November, December, January and February have all produced 1715 Fleet beach finds.

Below is a find from yesterday.  After partial cleaning, it appears to be a broken medallion.  The stub where the bail broke off is apparent.

There appears to be some writing or something, but the item is too corroded to make out what is on it.  I can't make out any of the design, but if you think you see something, let me know.

Broken Silver Medallion.

Below is a find I'm not at all sure about, and would like opinions.  It seems fragile so I didn't want to do a rubbing to test the metal.  Looks silver to me, but I'm not totally sure.

Mystery Find.

Mystery Item with Dime for Size.

The copperish color comes from light reflection.  In person it looks more silver.

Same Mystery Object on Edge.

The ends fit flat on a flat object, while the middle appears intentionally bowed.  I just don't know about this one.

Let me know if you have any ideas about what it is.

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Below is John Brooks looking towards Frederick Douglass beach.   Nice smooth beach front near low tide.

South of John Brooks Near Low Tide Today.

John Brooks Looking North.

There is a sand bar in front of the beach and no cuts.

Detectorist Today at John Brooks.

There were three detectorists at John Brooks around low tide today.  Everybody was up north it seems.

There were very few targets there.

The surf was down to 4 - 7 feet today and will continue to gradually decrease over the next few days.

I'll have more find photos for you as they come in.

I've seen photos of a lot of reales that were found in the past couple of days.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/22/19 Report - One Nice Find. Ultimate Test Bed. Mystery Object Definitely Identified. Florida Beaches and A Wave.

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

Gold Nugget Detected by Richard W.

Photo by Richard W.

Richard W. said, Since you’re doing some testing with the Equinox I thought you might enjoy looking at this small gold nugget I found last week on a mountain in Colorado with my Equinox 800. For size comparison I placed it on my watch for the photo. It really has some detail. I used factory settings, Gold 1 and sensitivity at 22. It rang up at 2 to 4 on target display. Hope to make it again next year to Wabasso for another hunt up and down the coast from there.

Richard W.
Woodland Park, Colorado
Thanks Richard.  Congratulations on a nice find!

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Here are some tips from Sebastian Steve.

…  I built this first rate "Test Bed" a couple years ago, to finally have an accurate place to test and tune metal detectors.  

Simple rows of holes 4' between each row and each hole.  It is IMPERATIVE to clean out each and every metal target in the entire test bed area before even beginning.  The last thing you need is a big nail at 6" helping your dime reading, or giving you a funky double header!  Go over the ground again and again, I had 87 pieces of small metal, mostly rusted nails, but some non ferrous as well (tin clippings from the soffits, etc.)  

Holes are accurately dug as each plug was dug with a post hole digger, then a paint stick laid over the center of the top of the hole, with a tape measure going straight down the middle. Very accurate depth determination.  Then the soil at the bottom is packed and depth re-verified.  Only then is a 6" plastic disc (cut from old tupperware or the like that lunch meat comes in) laid carefully flat in the bottom.  The coin is then placed on this.  Depth now finalized... within 1/4" but always to the deeper side it not spot on.  Now we know that with the plastic disc, that the coin will 1. no longer work down deeper, and 2., the coin will not tilt.  Tilt was my main concern.  The hole is carefully filled and packed solid.  Be prepared to have some extra dirt to pack each hole fill and tight.  Then only rain and time will be needed for that all natural feel.  Granted...coins will react will and influence the soil around them, but my system gives good exposure to the surrounding soil/sands.

I have holes for an 8" and a 10" penny, same nickel, same dime, quarter is 8", 10", 12", and 14,"  These are all clad.  Anything less than 8" deep is not worth the challenge in the "Test Bed."  Then I have a 8" silver dime, and a 8" and 10" deep lead Minie'Balls.  For kicks...a brass house key at 8"  I planted a Civil War 10 pound projectile at 3.5 ft., right before heading north this summer.  This allowed me to practice on these types of deep, large targets as well.  (Note:  This was the ONLY target the Minelab Equinox with the 6" coil could NOT detect).  

___A well constructed and accurate "Test Bed" is an invaluable asset if you are serious about detecting.___  Allowing you to really know how your machine reacts to different depths and targets.  So many different ways to tune a machine.  Which is best, which combination?   What does the rain really do?  So many errors and malfunctions that a quick run past the "Test Bed" will quickly expose before heading out.  For example a failing coil or weak batteries, or corroded connector, or not tight, that may still "look" good on the meter.

The most alarming but MOST VALUABLE experiment you will learn, is that most any metal detector when subjected to a very deep coin, even silver, will read as if the coin were -rusty iron-.  Can you say GRUNT?  Every time, time and again.  That is one of the main issues I want to explore with a new or different machine.  A proper "Test Bed" will soon humble even the most experienced detectorist...just as soon as you see a silver quarter grunt like some old rusty metal when over a foot deep!  It is heartbreaking when you think..."Oh my Gosh... I wonder how many, a hundred or more signals like this, I --WALKED RIGHT ON PAST--.  Makes you think and slow down.  (:

Good Hunting,

Sebastian Steve

Thanks Steve!

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John E.'s mystery object is now nailed down.  Mitch K. and Steve M. found the item on the internet for sale.  Here it is.

• It is a 4 way battery post and terminal cleaner. It is a durable aluminum alloy construction, hardened and tempered springs steel post cleaners
• 4 Way Battery Post Cleaner is designed to give leverage when cleaning battery Post and Terminals.
• Help to removes heavy stubborn corrosion build-up on battery posts and terminals for improved electrical contact.
• Designed to give leverage when cleaning battery post and terminals

Thanks guys!

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Here is a little news from Brian M. on beach conditions north of the Treasure Coast.

I detect Daytona area and we are sanded in bad.  About 4 or 5 weeks ago we had about 4 or 5 feet of sand pile on the beach..

 

... the last few weeks have been real hard to find much of anything.  I went yesterday and detected a large grid in front of a nice hotel. Spent four hours hunting . I did almost the whole  hotel beach area and found two pull tabs and two bottle caps. I was thinking that maybe below the Cape may not be as sanded in . (due to the north flow.)  I have been as far north as Flagler Beach and it’s the same. We need some big surf.

Thanks for sharing Brain.  It has been a long summer of poor beach conditions.

\

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

From the nhc.noaa.gov:

1. A trough of low pressure located over the central and northwestern
Bahamas is producing disorganized showers and thunderstorms.  Some
slow development is possible by this weekend or early next week
while the system moves northwestward toward the Florida peninsula at
5 to 10 mph and then turns northeastward off the southeastern coast
of the United States.
* Formation chance through 48 hours...low...near 0 percent.
* Formation chance through 5 days...low...20 percent. Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide

8/4/19 Report - Gold Shipwreck and Beach Nuggets. Two Kilogram Nugget Found. Killed by Falling Beach Dunes.

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

Three people were killed when a dune collapsed,

I've seen similar dangerous conditions on the Treasure Coast.  There was one beach a few years ago that was very dangerous. Be careful when working next to a high cliff.  Heavy slabs can fall off without warning.  

Here is the link for more about the incident.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/encinitas-bluff-collapse-victims-killed-identified-as-women-from-same-family/ar-AAFieoT?ocid=spartandhp

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On 7/31 I posted some of the most recent 1715 Fleet finds.  Included was a group of gold nuggets from Rio Mar.  

I found at few gold nuggets at John Brooks.  The largest, and the one that I posted before, is shown below.  It was found near three other smaller ones.  I didn't find any other old items that day.

Photo by TreasureGuide

As you can see, this one is sharp, and maybe you can not see it as well, but it has a good bit of quartz on it.  I should get a better photo of it sometime.  Being so sharp and angular, it doesn't look like placer gold.

The nuggets from Rio Mar that I showed in 7/31 are similarly angular, but I don't see any evidence of quartz.

Photo submitted by JaminJackUSA.

A search of the Mel Fisher artifact database, shows a lot of nuggets, but all of those in the database came from the Margarita and Atocha sites.  I did not find any in the database from the Treasure Coast.

I'd like to see photos of other gold nuggets from Treasure Coast shipwrecks or shipwreck beaches.

Rio Mar has long been known as the primary site on the Treasure Coast for nuggets and fine gold - some of it too fine to be easily collected.

I've also posted some possible nuggets that could be dental gold or other miscellaneous melted bits that are difficult to identify as being wreck related, such as the one shown below that was found by Duane C. 

On the subject of gold nuggets, here is a good story.

A Victorian retiree has struck gold, unearthing a 2-kilogram nugget worth about $130,000 on the outskirts of the gold rush town Ballarat.

The amateur prospector was searching through old pastureland in a now 'top secret' location when his metal detector started beeping.

He started digging and quickly uncovered a .22 lead bullet.

Thinking that was that, he was about to move on — but his detector was "insistent" there was something else further down.

Located under 30 centimetres of wash under about 15 centimetres of clay was the whopping gold nugget, which has since been named You Wouldn't Believe It... 

Here is that link.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-27/gold-nugget-found-in-ballarat-by-retiree/11353044

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We are still having nice big tides, but little surf on the Treasure Coast.

From the National Hurricane Center:

A westward-moving tropical wave located about 300 miles east of the
central Lesser Antilles continues to produce an area of cloudiness
and thunderstorms. Environmental conditions are forecast to become
less conducive during the next couple of days, and significant
development of this system is not anticipated.
* Formation chance through 48 hours...low...10 percent.
* Formation chance through 5 days...low...10 percent.

I'd still keep an eye on that one.  It has plenty of time yet.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

9/17/18 Report - Reviewing Some of the Neat Treasure Coast Finds of the Summer of 1918.

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

d

Silver Frame Found by Grant, Diver on the Bottomline
Photo by Captain Jonah Martinez

Before all the storm activity I was going to look back at some of the find's made on the Treasure Coast his summer.  It was a slow summer, but there were some great finds.

Among the top finds were those made by the salvage crews.  I posted a photo of the silver frame found by Grant and the crew of the Bottomline.  That is a very unique and significant discovery.

Author and researcher Laura Strolia provided this blog with some excellent research on the object.  She said it is probably a retablo associated with St. John.

Here is the link to that post.

http://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2018/08/81218-report-research-on-amazing-2018.html

This wasn't the only find made by the crew of the Bottomline.  I also showed a nice silver candlestick bottom, silver cob and olive jar shard found by those guys.

There were beach finds made by individual detectorists too.  One of my favorite beach finds was the cannon ball that was hidden in a conglomerate.  That was found by Fred B.

Here is that link.

http://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2018/08/82318-report-big-surprise-found-in.html

There was also a gold nugget found on a Treasure Coast beach by Duane C.

Here is that link.

http://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2018/08/gold-nugget-recently-found-on-treasure.html

I've found gold nuggets on Treasure Coast shipwreck beaches in the past.  This one looked different, but that was something that isn't found every day.

I probably forgot or missed a lot of great finds.  If you have Treasure Coast find from this summer that you want me to post, send a photo and description.

My personal favorite finds this year were not found on a beach.  A 1914 ten-dollar gold coin in excellent condition and over twenty silver dollars were found, along with a bunch of other older coins.  That helped ease the frustration of not getting out to the beach very much.

I was going to post more today but am tired of trying to work with a messed up computer.

There isn't any significant tropical weather to watch now.  The surf will be around two or three feet for most of this week.

A fellow up north got killed by a shark.

Florence is still dumping rain on North Carolina and other northern states.

I heard from some of the guys up in North Carolina that hunt the treasure beaches up there.  There will undoubtedly be some good finds made up that way.

Pray for those who had flooding and damage.

Thanks to the many volunteers who helped the residents.

That is all for now.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/20/18 Report - Gold Nugget Recently Found on Treasure Coast Beach. Mystery Find. Reported Reale Find.

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

Gold Nugget Beach Find.
Find and photo by Duane C.

Here is what Duane said about his find.

I wasn't sure what I had a first thinking it may have been dental gold. Actually is a gold nugget., 23-24k. Very heavy 3.8 grams for its relatively small (pea) size. Maybe from a broken piece of jewelry?

Congratulations Duane! Nice photo too.

As you probably know, gold nuggets have been found on the wreck beaches. I've shown one or more that I found.

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Mystery object found by Peter G.

Here is what Peter said about this find.

I found it on the low tide line at John Brooks Park. It is light in weight and about 3/4 inch diameter. 

You can’t bend it at all with your fingers. It seems to have a hole thru the center but is plugged with hard marine growth. It also has 2 very tiny holes evenly spaced around the center hole. The top outside does appear to have threads for a cap with a tiny hole in the threads. All tiny holes are inline as if they were drilled. 

Help Peter out if you can. Send me your ideas on what his find might be, and we'll see if there is any consensus.

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I also received a report of a beach reale find. I hope to have more on that later.

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There are no storms in the Atlantic to follow right now.  The surf is still around one foot, and the tides are moderate now.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

9/17/17 Report - Around The Treasure Coast. Beach Closures. Now Its Hurricane Maria.

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

Wabasso This Sunday Morning.

I took a look at a few beaches this morning.  But before I get into that, here are some that were closed.

Turtle Trail and Seagrape Trail beach accesses were closed as of about 8 AM this morning.  I doubt there is any good reason for that, but have my suspicions.  It seemed a few people parked outside and walked in. 

Walton Rocks was closed this morning as of about 10 AM.  People were also parked outside this access.

Ambersands, Treasure Shores, Golden Sands, Wabasso Beach, Rio Mar, John Brooks, and Frederick Douglas were all open today.  

There were detectorists at Wabasso early this morning, like many other mornings.  

You can see Wabasso Beach in the photo above.  The water had been high enough to hit the base of the cliff.

Ambersands Beach This Morning (Sunday)

Frederick Douglas Beach This Morning (Sunday)

Frederick Douglas Beach changed overnight.  John Brooks stayed about the same as it was yesterday.

Same View of Frederick Douglas Yesterday (Saturday)

Here is what Frederick Douglas looked like yesterday.  To the south (shown in this view) it changed a good bit.  But to the north it looked very similar to how it looked yesterday.

Frederick Douglas to the North Yesterday

The dip shown in the photo above was still there today.

There were quite a few targets, but most of them I could not get to because they were deep and kept getting washed over.

Jose didn't turn out to be the big deal.  The water didn't have any angle to it this morning.  At least the sand got stirred up some.   I'm sure there were and will be a few cob finds, but I'd only give about a 2 rating overall for the Treasure Coast at this point.  I'll have a poll in a few days to try to see how much was found.  Sorry I wasn't able to keep on top of things better this time.  I had a lot of other things to do and just got my home internet working minutes ago.

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Find by Travis B.

Find by Travis B.

This ring was found by Travis B. in the Vero area Saturday.

It might not be centuries old, but maybe decades.

This kind of thing at least tells you that some things with a little age have surfaced in the area.  A good sign.





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Dan C. is now convinced that he has his answer to the identify of the "gold nugget" he found.  Here is what he said.

Please thank "Duane" for his reply regarding the gold.

I knew it wasn't a nugget from jewelry (or a shipwreck) since there was no "polishing", in fact the pic labeled "top view 1" when zoomed in, shows fine ridges and the grey embedded material that wouldn't melt in muriatic acid must have been carbon, ie; ashes.

Now I can rest assured this mystery is solved. It is indeed a sort of morbid find.

Years ago, I hunted in the water at Saipan where a large WWII battle took place.

On one invasion beach, I found a section of human skull, and many human bones, in the shallow water, so this will not be the first morbid find.

On a side note, my hunts resulted in finally returning a gold class ring to a Navy officer who lost it there, over 60 years ago. The ring was returned to the eldest son  and the widow of James Cooney, who both reside in New York. It felt a huge relief to finally locate them.

On the gold splash, I hit it with a polishing wheel, and it does indeed now shine like gold.

Thanks again,

Dan C.

Thanks for following up Dan.  It is good to know that the mystery was solved to your satisfaction. Thanks for letting us know.

Thanks to all who took the time to provide input.

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It might not be over yet.

Source: nhc.noaa.com

Maria looks to be headed towards the Bahamas.

The surf is predicted to decrease a little, but it is still big enough to improve conditions if it hits at the right direction.  Then there is another bump in the surf predicted for about a week out.  I suppose that one is from Maria.

Surf Predictions
Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

9/14/17 Report - Treasure Coast Beaches. Gold Splash Find from Space Coast? Jose Still To Make Waves.

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

South Hutchinson Island Wednesday Morning

 This cut was about four feet high.  You can see where the dunes eroded.  You can also see how the shells were piled up.

Beach Tuesday Morning.

You can also see that the convex front beach.  It appears that the beach filled again after the cutting.
There was also a small dip and bar in front of that.

Yesterday Morning on South Hutchinson Island A Little After Low Tide.

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If you thought that was a lot of musket balls that Jonah and the guys found (See yesterday's post.), that was only about half of it.  There was another picture, that didn't load for me.

Maybe he'll resend the one that I didn't get loaded.

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Overall I'd only give a Treasure Coast Treasure Beach Detecting Conditions Rating of about a 2 right now.  I only got a chance to check out one beach for myself so I feel very uncertain about my rating.   If the other beaches are better, maybe it should be a 3 rating.

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There are a lot of places around the state that might actually be better hunting right now, from Miami to Naples to Jacksonville.  I think I mentioned one wreck that was uncovered farther up the East Coast.

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Dan C. found what appears to be a small gold splash.  Here is the photo.

What Appears To Be A Small Gold Splash.
Photo and find by Dan C.

Here is what Dan had to say.

I wanted to share a unusual find from a "space coast beach"  ...

Today I found 3 rings and a strange nugget of what turned out to be gold.

At first I thought it was a molten droplet of brass, but there was no tarnish.

It was found at the surf line today. Later at home, I tested it as between 14 to 18K gold.

(using a standard gold test kit)

I say between 14 to 18 because 14 K gave no reaction on the test stone rubbing, and 18K produced a mild reaction dissolving VERY slowly) I tried covering the whole thing in acid, and 14K acid gave a light smoke, no discoloration other than perhaps making it look even more gold. 10K acid gave no reaction at all.

I have seen the nugget collection at the Smithsonian, and it doesn't look like any nugget there.

It appears to be a drop of molten gold that solidified suddenly when it hit water.

What on earth could it be ?   Space debris ? Or a real nugget that I am just not familiar with.

Finding the 3 rings (one stainless, one gold 18K with gemstones, one silver) will get me back out there at 6 am tomorrow.

I only did about 1800 square yards in 4 hours using a 17 inch coil , not even 5 percent of the beach.

The sand was pulled away but without any cuts. The beach now simply slopes from base of dunes straight to the water.

Dan C, Orlando

Let me know your thoughts on Dan's find.

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Hurricane Jose is still out in the Atlantic.  It isn't supposed to make landfall or come close the Florida.  Evidently we're still supposed to get some surf from it.  It looks like maybe 5 - 8 feet on Saturday.  That one should be far enough away that it won't cause so much danger and havoc.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com