10/12/19 Report - A Couple Miscellaneous Reader Finds. Learning From Auctions. Trade Beads. Subtropical Storm Melissa. Rough Surf.

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

Odd Eisenhower Dollar

Find and Photo by Jerry P.

A couple days ago I showed a clad quarter with a hole in it that I found.  That reminded Jerry P. of this odd find he once made in Melborne.  Any ideas on why it would be punched or drilled like that?

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Fossil Find by Dustin L.

Photo by Dusin.

Dustin L. recently found this fossil bone and wondered what it might be from.  I'm not good at identifying fossil bones, but it looks to me like it might have been split to obtain the marrow.  Obviously it is from a rather large animal.

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Lot 1221 In The Current Sedwick Auction.

These trade beads are lot 1441 in the current Sedwick Auction.  You can learn a lot by browsing the Sedwick Auctions.  The lot description shown below tells you about a US trading post destroyed by the Seminoles, for example.

Necklace made of hundreds of tiny glass trade beads in many colors, recovered from the site of the US trading post on the Caloosahatchee River near Ft. Meyers, Florida, that was massacred and destroyed by Seminole Indians led by Chief Holatamico (better known as Billy Bowlegs). 8 grams, 26" long. A long string of tiny, plain beads in many different colors (mostly orange, red and yellow), often referred to as "Harney Massacre" beads in reference to Lieutenant Colonel William S. Harney, who was manning the site when the Seminoles attacked. Housed in a Riker box with printed history and with photo-certificate.

A few days ago I posted a photo of an alligator across from the old mound by Fort Pierce.  Many trade beads have been found in that area.  Many of them were found on private property.

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Here is the latest big find from Oak Island.  I just received this photo from Bill G.

Big Find From Oak Island.

Submitted by Bill G.

Due to the size, they thought it might be Viking.

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Subtropical Storm Melissa

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

The only thing on the National Hurricane Center map right now is Melissa, which is a tropical storm headed out to sea.

On the Treasure Coast we are having some high surf.  I'll try to check it out before long.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

Happy hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/10/19 Report - Metal Detectorist Finds Hoard. Sebastian Inlet Bridge To Be Closed. Couple Odd Finds. More Surf.

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

Source: See News.err,ee link below

Another archaeological find has been made on the island of Saaremaa, just weeks after a major haul including a 1,700-year-old gold bracelet came to light.

The recent find dates from a later era, the viking period, ERR's online news in Estonian reports, and includes a large number of silver coins, according to both the Heritage Protection Board (Muinsuskaitseamet)  and Saaremaa Museum.

As with the earlier treasure trove, the latest find was the work of a metal detector hobbyist, who, in line with Estonian law, informed the authorities.

"We are grateful for the licensed hobby detector, who reported the findings to the Heritage Protection Board, which can now preserve some of the crucial history of Saaremaa," Saaremaa Museum stated on its social media page (see also gallery below)...

Two separate hoards were found. One of these dating to the second half of the 10th century, contained silver coins which came via the Viking trade route which crossed the Baltic from the present-day Swedish island of Gotland, to Saaremaa's southern coast, and then on to Lääne County and on to present-day Tallinn...

Here is the link for more about that.

https://news.err.ee/988737/another-saaremaa-archaeological-haul-includes-viking-era-silver-coins


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The bridge on A1A over the Sebastian Inlet is scheduled to be closed for 18 months beginning in 2020 or 2021.  The closure for repairs to damage caused by Dorian will result in a 40 mile detour for some motorists.

Here is the link.

https://www.mynews13.com/fl/orlando/news/2019/10/07/bridge-over-sebastian-inlet-to-be-replaced

Thanks to Jerry P. for that link.

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I previously mentioned that the last time I was at Turtle Trail I found a number of greened clad coins.  One (shown below) had a strange small hole in it.

Holed Quarter Dug at Turtle Trail.

Closer View of Same Hole Shown From Other Side.

Is that quarter familiar to anyone?  I know that some have made holes in coins to attach a string for testing.

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Here is a closeup.  Can you guess what it is?

Can You Guess What It Is?

I would never get it, but it is a closeup of the surface of a blue glass insulator that has what looks to the naked eye to be just an imperfection in the glass.   When I looked at it more closely though, the lines are not just excess glass, they are actually embossed into the glass.  What it looks like to me is the imprint of a string or thin wire that was in the mold when the glass insulator was made.  If it was a coin, it would be called a strike-through error.

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Source: nhc.noaa.gov

It looks like none of those systems will affect us much.

The tides are pretty flat now.  I'd like to see a good low tide.  I've been waiting for that for a good while.  

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

It looks like we'll get some more surf on Friday and Saturday, however I'm not expecting any significant change in beach conditions.  It looks like more of the same.

Happy hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/17/19 Report - Beach Conditions. Finds. Authenticating. Submerged Prehistoric Forest.

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

Juno Beach Wednesday Morning.

Photo by Joe D.

Juno Beach Wednesday Morning

Photo by Joe D.

Joe D. sent these photos from Juno along with the following brief email message.

Here's  a couple pics of Juno this morning! And a few hours at an inland site yesterday! Man my legs are sore today!!

And here are his finds.

Finds Made by Joe D. Yesterday.

Thanks for the great beach and find photos Joe!  Looks like you had a fun day.

The Juno beaches look very much like those I saw on South Hutchinson Island yesterday.

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Here is an item Jason T. found in the water.

Find and photo by Jason T.

Jason said and expert told him this was a 300 AD Greek coin.  There is the possibility that is a reproduction used for jewelry though, and Jason agreed that was a possibility.

Jason said don't throw an item away until you know what it is.  I totally agree with that.  You'll learn a lot by investigating mystery items.

One thing a couple coin collectors pointed out to me on this one is that the hole appears to be drilled rather than punched.  If the hole was made in ancient times, it would have been punched rather than drilled.

I'd definitely keep researching the item.  Good find, one way or the other.  The research will teach you a lot.

Thanks Jason!

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Source: See BBC link below.

Archaeologists have found evidence of early human activity at a submerged prehistoric forest in the Western Isles.

Lionacleit in Benbecula is one of more than 20 recorded sites of ancient woodland that once grew in the islands.

The remains included an early butchery site and stone tools used for preparing food.

Archaeologists have described the discoveries at Lionacleit as "extra special".

They found the remains of the area where animals had been butchered for food during studies of the site last year... 

Here is the link.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-46890793

I'd love to be able to browse an area like that.

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The Treasure Coast surf will be decreasing for the next few days.

Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

11/12/18 Report - Broken Old Medallion. Repaired Wooden Artifact. Robert Marx Lecture: Archaeology of the Abyss.

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

Old Broken Praying Hands Medallion.

Find and photo by John C.

Take a close look and you'll see the praying hands on this broken medallion.  Below is what John C. had to say about it.

Well sorry I know I'm a little off topic again, because as you can see from the picture it's not a drilled coin, but a religious medallion that at some point was purposely drilled.

It has to be over 20 years since I found this medallion, but I still remember it clearly, I think mainly because of how disappointed I was that it came out in three pieces. I'm sure there are other Beach Hunters out there that can remember a time when you attempt to dig a target only to find out that your shovel or scoop will only go down two or three inches at a time because of the thick layer of shell that's just below the sand. I hate that when that happens. Fortunately those conditions don't happen too often, so as you can see The Medallion broke at its weakest point where it was drilled,, makes you wonder why someone would drill a hole and ruin a beautiful medallion, but I sure would love to know the history and the story behind this medallion, but it looks like the original bezel ring at the top may have broke off long before it was drilled, so maybe it was lost and found several times,?

But I think what really inspired me to share this photo the most, was not so much the drill hole, but the image itself on The Medallion, "praying hands."

It says in Scripture that we should "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in all circumstances"

So I think some will agree, that if there has ever been a time in the past say 50 years when our great country and all the movers and shakers of this country need prayers, it's now, but it's always encouraging to remember that God has a plan and a purpose for everything, and no matter how dark things may seem he's still in control.

Thanks again, for all your hard work an effort, that you put into your blog. JC 

Thanks for sharing John.   Fascinating medal.

The hole in the body of the medallion could have been created after the original loop broke.  People were not so quick to throw broken things away in days gone by.  They would often repair or repurpose broken items.  When trying to identify and date an artifact, you have to take into account that the item may have been used over a period of many years and could have been repaired or repurposed.

Hard to tell how old that medallion is but it certainly looks old.  I'd like to see some research and history on the motif of the praying hands.  Maybe someone will be able to provide that.

Back to the subject of repaired items.

Archaeologists found a 2000-year-old wood bowl that had been repaired with rivets and staples.

2000-Year-Old Repaired Wood Bowl.

Source: See BBC.com link below.

Here is the link to the article.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-46124211

And here is a wood bowl that is probably a hundred or more years old, but certainly not thousands of years old.  It is 17.5 inches in diameter.

Antique Wood Bowl.

It is badly cracked and was repaired a long time ago.  I added some wood glue to it, but before that it was repaired with wire.

Two Sets of Holes and Wire Used to Repair Cracked Wood Bowl.

Below is the other side.

Wire Used to Repair Crack Exposed.

On this one the wood chipped off exposing the wired used to repair the crack.

It can be difficult to determine the age of old items like this because they can be repaired and used for a very long time, and then repurposed and used for something else yet again.

A piece of an old copper kettle, for example, can be cut and turned into any number of things.

There isn't a huge difference between this wood bowl and the 2000-year-old bowl discussed in the article.

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SIR ROBERT MARX LECTURE SERIES

ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE ABYSS

Shipwreck Treasures from the Deep

By Sir Robert Marx

At the bottom of bodies of wa

SIR ROBERT MARX LECTURE SERIES

ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE ABYSS

Shipwreck Treasures from the Deep

By Sir Robert Marx

At the bottom of bodies of wa

SIR ROBERT MARX LECTURE SERIES

ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE ABYSS

Shipwreck Treasures from the Deep

By Sir Robert Marx

In this lecture Sir Robert, a pioneer in deep water archaeology, talks about early robotic

equipment and recoveries he made on deep-water shipwreck sites and submerged

settlements. He will take us around the world, from Singapore to the Azores, to

FOR MORE

fascinating sites that he and others have explored.

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The surf on the Treasure Coast is supposed to be about four to six feet today, slacking off gradually through the rest of the week.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net