11/21/17 Report - Gold Pendant. Hallmarks. Thanks Guys. Seagrape Trail Monday.

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

Here is a find made by John C. back some time ago.   Like the Pelican in Piety ring found by Dan B., this pendant shows hallmarks - but on the front.  Below is what John said about it.

This piece was found north of Sebastian   Inlet.  Noticed similar markings to Danny's ring. Crown  on the top and the leopard head on the bottom signifies London.  Much lower carat gold. I think 375 is 9 kt.

Shown before and after cleaning.

Photos by John C.

You can find a lot of good information to help you decipher hallmarks.  First you might check out wikipedia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallmark#England

And here is a very detailed document on British hallmarks.

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http:/www.britishhallmarkingcouncil.gov.uk/publications/hallmarks2.pdf

You can learn a lot when you research finds.  That is half the fun of finding old and interesting things.

Dan B., who found the Pelican in Piety ring that I showed on 11/8, had the following to say.

Wanted to thank you for the recent excitement pertaining to the ring.

I was thinking what is crazy is that until the notorious find of the pelican of piety in Fort Pierce in 2010 it would have been an obscure Spanish religious symbol only well known to the few who had in-depth knowledge of the fleet and its items!?!? Uncanny

I am actually considering contacting LW and G for our records of sales in 1962 and 1963. Also have a few strings out to some old hunters who may have seen it on someone. I'm enjoying this. Thanks again. Hope you are well.

Ps. Loved "what is grass for"


Thanks Dan.  As you suggest, the cool thing is how it adds to the awareness of those who are interested.  That might seem like a small thing, but the effect is multiplied many times.  The effect can multiply without being recognized while raising awareness and the general level of knowledge having an impact far into the future.

We owe a debt of gratitude to Captain Bonnie Schubert, who literally uncovered the gold pelican artifact after it had been concealed for hundreds of years in the ocean, and to Laura Strolia, who conducted research and published the  historical background and helped us understand the significance of the artifact and the Pelican in Piety icon.   She raised our awareness and increased our knowledge.  That is obvious to me from the comments and responses of the readers of this blog. We can not tell what long term impact that might have. This is Thanksgiving week so it is an especially good time to thank those who have contributed so much to our understanding and the enjoyment of our hobby.

(For those of you who don't know, What is Grass For is a post I did not too long ago.)

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Seagrape Trail Monday
Photo by Darrel S.

Darrel said, Went back to Sea Grape with CZ21. Detected from 1:30-4:00pm. Low was 2:45pm. Nice low sand and hundreds of hits! Mostly nails, scrap iron, space debris, tiny washers, and older coins. Only detector out on beach or parking lot!

Seagrape Trail Monday
Photo by Darrel S.

Thanks for the report and photos Darrel.

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While I'm giving thanks, I want to say thanks to all of you who read this blog, and especially those of you who contribute and respond.  The responses I get encourage me to keep going.

The surf will be a little higher today.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

2/8/16 Report - Nicely Marked and Monogrammed Silver Tag or Label Find.

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

Marked Silver Found by Dan B.

Dan B. found this monogrammed silver label or tag.  The monogram seems to me to be "FMH."  Maybe that is it.

This is a very good example of marked silver.  Nice find Dan!

Notice also the marks to the left of that.  I think the top mark (HP??) is the makers mark.

Closer View of Marks.

It should not be too difficult to identify the makers mark.  There are comprehensive lists of silver makers marks.

The one mark that I am fairly confident about is the lion.  The walking lion indicates that the silver is sterling (.925 pure).

I can't really make out the mark on the right.  The "n" could be the date letter.  Letters indicate a specific date.  The font or style of the letter is important.  There are letter sequences in different styles.

I am assuming that this is British silver.  I'm not absolutely sure of that.

Maybe someone who has studies silver marks or has more time to research it can help Dan.  Let me know if you can add information.

Here is one good source for looking up silver marks.

http://www.925-1000.com/

The tag seems to be over an inch long.  I wonder if it might be a label for a wine bottle.  It seems to be about the right size and shape, but I don't see where it might be attached to a chain, and many quality wine labels are more ornate.

What do you think?

Here is one web site where you can view antique silver wine labels.

http://www.steppeshillfarmantiques.com/silver-and-porcelain/silver/wine-sauce-labels

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That is a nice instructive example of marked silver.  If you haven't investigated something like that before, this will provide a good exercise.  Look into the web sites and try to figure out the marks.

I have a couple other posts that I'm working on, but they aren't ready yet.  I'll therefore leave that for some other day.

Please let me know if you figure out some of these marks or can figure out what the item might be.

I also suggest you take a look at yesterday's post if you haven't already, and send me your thoughts on the citizen archaeology permit proposed legislation.  Also, express your feelings to your representatives.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

5/16/15 Report - Another Closer Look At Two Old Finds. And One Recent Modern Find.

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

I felt like taking another look at some old finds today.

First is this unusual silver cross.  I've shown it before, but never got the marks figured out.  Maybe someone can help.

I can't quite make out the word at the top and don't know what to make of the other marks.

I see none of the marks you would expect to see, such as 925 or sterling or anything like that.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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I've shown the following higa before.  It was found on a shipwreck beach, it is like one shown in the Mel Fisher artifact database.  It has no identifying marks that I've been able to find.

I decided to look it over very carefully under magnification to see if I could find any marks that I might have missed.




While I didn't find any identifying marks I did see some features that I thought were interesting.  I was glad that I took a closer look at it.

Here is a close-up view.

Notice the carving on the fingers.   I believe that it is carved ivory.

Notice below what appears to be the cementum rings.

The item also fluoresces yellow.  Ivory copies or substitutes generally appear dull purple in black light, according to the following reference, if I got it right.  I'll have to study it more carefully.

As far as I have been able to determine, this item is probably ivory.   Here is a link to a very good reference that provides instruction on identifying ivory and its substitutes.

http://www.cites.org/sites/default/files/eng/resources/pub/E-Ivory-guide.pdf

I'm still not confident in this.

I could see how the silver ring was formed.


And also the detail along the edge of the silver cap, which I never noticed before.





I was glad that I looked at it one more time even if I didn't find any markings.  I didn't find anything to suggest it is not ivory.

I always enjoy learning about finds.

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Now for a recent modern finds.

Here is a somewhat unusual small ring.

It is 14K with sapphire and two small diamonds.

It is clearly marked 14k so there is no mystery to this one.

Almost looks like and evil eye ring.

Could be.

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On the Treasure Coast the surf was a little rougher today.  The good thing is the nice negative low tides.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net