3/26/18 Report - First Investigation Ever To Really Answer Two Big Questions: How Much Is Actually In The Ground As Compared To How Much Will Be Found Using A Metal Detector.

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


Before I get started today, I have to bring attention to the fact that yesterday's Nazi sub story was fake news.  It is a hoax.  Thaanks to those readers who brought that to my attention.

I'm very happy to be able to present an exceptional study today.  You just don't get this kind of information.  It doesn't come easily.  One of the readers of this blog put in a LOT of work and really uncovered some good information - not to mention finds.  Not only was the site thoroughly covered with a metal detector multiple times, but then the entire lot was sifted to locate and record all of the finds that were still in the ground.  Below is what that reader, who chooses to remain anonymous, reported.

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As long-promised, here is my full accounting of using a sifter to search an entire lot.

First, I should give a little background about why I embarked on this project.  I had been using a detector for about three years.   As my skill improved, I had success with repeatedly hunting the same ground, using many of the techniques mentioned previously in this blog.  However, two questions began to gnaw at me:  how many finds remained in the ground despite using all the tricks?  As many have said, no area is truly "hunted out".   Plus, old coins are my priority finds and I just wasn't finding very many.  I questioned whether they simply weren't there or whether they were there, but I couldn't find them with a detector.

I had been searching a small (60ft x 75ft) vacant lot over several weeks where two small houses had been recently demolished.  There had been homes on this lot since about 1910 in a town settled around 1880.  I would expect very little activity at this lot location prior to the first house being built.  I was the second detectorist to hunt this lot.  My fellow detectorist found four silver quarters, including an 1894 Barber, three silver dimes, and a Morgan dollar!  My first attempt with a detector was very brief and I only found a clad quarter and two memorial pennies, which was a very deceptive for actual finds on this lot.  After using the detector extensively, I found the following:   12 silver coins (no Barbers), a couple of Buffalo nickels, 52 wheats and 50 modern coins.   I used every detecting technique and trick I knew and it continued to produce intermittently due to the sheer amount of metal trash.  In fact, five of those silver finds came well into my sifting project as I would occasionally hunt unsifted, but repeatedly detected, territory to break up the monotony.  Most of the lot had a coil over it at least twelve times (just from me), gridding from different directions, using two different detectors (Minelab Safari and Deus) under various detecting conditions.   I would consider myself to be above-average with a detector, but by no means superb.

I decided to use a sifter to find out what I was missing and to pick up additional nonmetallic items like bottles and marbles.  This is my sifter, version 2.0.

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​It was built to be sturdy.  The legs fold up and the top sifting screen can be flipped to dump materials that are too big to pass through the screen.

As a test, I initially picked what I thought would be the best spot for coin finds, based on concentration of previous finds.  I began making interesting finds almost immediately, especially marbles and some coins.  The sifting was very slow at first as my initial sifter could not handle much volume.  I was surprised to find that almost all manmade objects resided in the top 12 inches of soil, usually in the top eight inches.  There typically is a change in color of the soil at the undisturbed level that has not been impacted by human activity.  This level is usually just below a layer of nails and other pieces of iron that I suspect is from the first construction at the site.   If I sifted all the dirt to that layer, I would then use a detector in the hole (don't want to miss a cache), then flip the soil with a shovel for another 8-12 inches and detect again.  Occasionally I found a buried bottle and a few times deeper coins upon turning up the soil.

I worked the site over two years, usually when no other promising detecting sites were available.  I would estimate I spent 60-80 hours, but it might have been more.  I tried various techniques.  I would estimate about half of the lot was sifted and the other half was dug a few inches at a time, detecting both the dug dirt and the newly exposed layer.   I was mainly focused on improved speed (while maintaining confidence that I was missing very few finds) as I tried different techniques of digging, detecting and sifting combinations, but eventually was able to use the sifter as quickly as any other technique or combination.  Pure sifting catches 98% of good finds, in my opinion, although it is still possible to miss some things.

Now for my finds.  As I was gathering the finds for the pictures, I was stunned by the volume of finds when collected together.  I recall there being a lot, but I was surprised by the final totals.  Almost 500 coins were found on this lot by me.  This is a picture of the copper memorial pennies and clad.

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​There was a total of 177 pennies, 20 quarters, 40 nickels and 46 dimes.  This pile includes the coins found from surface with the detector.   There were 173 wheats.

​This next picture is of the older copper and nickel finds.

​ I found three Indian head pennies, including my oldest 1880, one Shield nickel, three V-nickels, and 11 Buffalo.

Next is the picture of the silver coins.

​There were a total of 43 silver coins found.  This picture includes the twelve silver coins found from the surface with the detector.  Highlights include the Walking Liberty half, three Barber quarters and three Barber dimes.  If you count the eight silver coins found by the detectorist prior to me hunting, there were 51 silver coins on this small lot!

I've included a picture of other interesting metallic finds.

​ I found quite a few cufflinks and three silver rings.  No gold.  This picture does not represent, by any means, all the interesting metallic finds made.  I didn't keep the finds separate until I was two thirds through the lot, so they are now mixed in with all my finds.

I thought folks might like to see my nonmetallic finds.  I found 103 marbles, many of which are clay.


​ The majority of the marbles in this picture were found on this lot, but as I mentioned, I wasn't keeping finds separate initially, so I had to add some to give the correct total.  I did keep very detailed records of the number of finds from the site, so the number is accurate.  Also, you can see in this picture some other game piece finds, including lucky number seven billiard ball.  That was a good omen!

Some of my favorite finds are old bottles and I found a bunch.

​This picture probably represents only a third of the bottles found that I kept, but does include my three favorite, which are the old soda drink bottles.

I did not take a picture of the trash, but probably should have.  Imagine a heaped pickup truck bed full and that is likely an underestimate.  There was probably enough to cover the entire lot with a layer, leaving no exposed dirt.  

You might have noticed that my finds with the detector are the more recently lost coins, speaking generally.  This has held true at other sites.  My focus is finding old coins.  Old coins are deeper (no surprise).  Once you start sifting, you can reach those older coins that were masked by trash or out-of-range of the detector.  Sifting finds are definitely skewed older.

I've concluded that sifting can be very productive when choosing the right site.  In my opinion, the best sites are newly scraped, tons of trash (old rusted bottle caps are best indicator of good kind of human activity), old bottles or glass, and marbles.  If I find a few old coins with the detector, I then know there is much, much more in the ground.

Some might ask if I was just fortunate on selecting my first sifting spot.  I wondered also if that may be the case.  However, it has proven not to be.  I've extensively used the sifter at three other sites with many other finds.  A different lot is approaching fifty silver coins in total, only ten found with my detector from the surface!  Sifting is definitely not for everyone, as it is undeniably hard work.  However, it brings out the archaeologist in me and I like seeing all that human activity has brought to the area.  

When I started this project, I sought to answer two main questions:  how much was I missing and are there old coins in the ground where I search?  The answers:  a lot and yes!

Hope this helps.  

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Thanks much!  That is a tremendous help.

There is so much information in that report, I'll take a few minutes and look at some of the numbers to help you sum things up.

The study was conducted on a small residential lot in a working class 20th century Florida neighborhood.  The lot size was approximately 4500 square feet and the lot was occupied for nearly one hundred years.

About 500 coins total (detecting and sifting) was found by the reader.  That would be about one for every nine square feet or one square yard.

43 silver coins were found by the same reader.  That would be one for little more than every 100 square feet.  Counting known silver coin finds by one other detectorist, it would be more like one for every 90 square feet.

About one in ten coins found on this lot inhabited during most of the 20th century were silver.

Despite detecting the lot at least 12 times, only about 20 percent of the coins found on the lot were found by detecting.  The remainder were found by sifting.  Just over 30% of the silver coins found, were found by detecting.

On a home site you have to take into account the massive amount of junk and masking that occurs on a homesite.

You can't do that kind of study on a beach because the beach will change daily.

As approximate as those numbers might be, they might also give you something to think about.

You might want to read the report over a few times, especially if you detect residential lots.

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The front is coming through and the wind has changed.  The surf will build to up around seven feet tomorrow.  There will be two or three hours of north wind in the early morning hours.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

2/19/18 Report - Examples of the Lost and Found Service Provided by Detectorists. Lions Club Eye-Glass Program.

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

Nearly Five Gallons of Lost Keys.

Have you ever lost your keys?  If so, you are not alone.  I've found tons of keys.  Those shown above are a small portion of those that I've found.  Today I'm going to talk about just a few of the things that were found and returned to the original owner.  People don't hear about many of the items that are found and returned by detectorists.

People often ask detectorists what is their most valuable find.  One answer I give is this one about the time I found some keys.  I was in the Florida Panhandle doing some consulting for the Naval Air Station and after work went out to a remote beach to do a little metal detecting.  I encountered a family just leaving the beach.  No one else was around anywhere.  When they got to the car, they discovered they had lost their keys.  I won't tell the whole story because I told it before.  But they told me they lost their keys, and I followed their tracks to where they had their blanket and found their keys in short order.  This is in the days before cell phones, and if I wasn't there to find their keys, I don't know how long it would have been before they could have got a locksmith or whatever.

I remember only two times that I received a reward for finding an item for someone.  I never asked for a reward and usually don't accept a reward even if it is offered, however there was this one time when I was offered fifty dollars if I could find the keys for the beach concession business at the Fountainbleau hotel.  The fellow lost the keys before he opened the business that morning.  It was a big bunch of keys.  He was out of business until the keys were found.  It didn't take me long to find them, and I received the fifty dollars.

Many of the hotel keys have been replaced by magnetic cards, so there aren't as many keys out there to be found.

Of course there are other kinds of things that I've found for people. Over the years I've found buckets  of eye-glasses too.

I was metal detecting in the shallow water in front of another resort one day when a fellow told me he lost his eye glasses.  He was a tourist staying at the local hotel.  I looked for the glasses and found them.  The surf was rough, and it took some time though.  The fellow offered to buy me a drink, but I thanked him and declined.

Tourists don't realize how easy it is to lose their glasses to an unexpected wave.  And glasses are light enough that they'll drift along the bottom in a rough surf.

Here is something you should know about.  Eye-glasses can be recycled.  The Lions Club has boxes at various locations where you can leave used eye glasses that they will pick up and recycle.  I dropped the eye-glasses that I found into a box at a local hospital.  They have a web site that tells how they can use your old eye-glasses to provide sight for people in need.  Here are a couple sentences from their web site.

If you have used eyeglasses you no longer need, you can donate them now. Lions accept prescription and reading glasses, sunglasses and plastic and metal frames. Children's glasses are especially needed. 

You can use the following link to learn more about the Lions Club program and how you can donate used eye-glasses to help someone in need.

http://www.lionsclubs.org/EN/how-we-serve/health/sight/index.php

Sometimes the lenses will be scratched up from the sand.  I don't know if they can regrind those or not.  It doesn't matter if the frames are messed up.

I've been asked to help find a lot of things.  One day I was asked by young girl if I could find her dental retainer that she lost in the water.  That is something I knew nothing about.  I asked her if it had metal on it and she said yes, so I gave it a shot but was unsuccessful.

As you know, people also lose coins and jewelry.  I'll talk about some of those some other time and give some additional tips.

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With the beautiful weather and snow-birds in town, there is a good chance you'll be able to find something for someone.

The surf remains around two feet.  There will be a moderate low tide.  The wind is coming out of the east/southeast.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

9/10/17 Report - For Metal Detecting You May Have Missed The Big Deal. More To Come.

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

Surf Predictions for the Week.

If you've been watching Irma all week, you might have missed the main event.  Look at these surf predictions from MagicSeaWeed.  The 10 to 14 foot surf for Sunday is obviously from Irma, but the 8 - 13 feet next Saturday - that will be from Jose, which, if the predictions are correct, is going to be out in the ocean to the east of us.

I don't know how much Irma is going to affect our beaches, but so far we have had mostly east winds from her.  Of course the strongest winds from Irma haven't reaches us yet. Still there won't be a long period of north winds from Irma.

On the other hand, Jose will produce days of north winds for the Treasure Coast along with a high surf.  That is if the predictions are correct and don't change substantially.

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Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

On the left you see an 8 - 12 foot surf, and on the right you see the wind direction - north.  That is only one of three or so days of big surf combined with north winds.  The combination is more of what you want to see happen for beach erosion and good metal detecting.   Some of the best detecting in the past was produced by storms that were not hurricanes.  They stayed out in the ocean off the coast and churned north/northeast waves for days.

Source: Windyty.com

Here is the prediction for next Saturday.  That is Jose sitting well off the coast but sending us a lot of north winds and waves.

Concerning Irma, she hasn't really hit the treasure coast yet with her best punch.  That will be late tonight probably.  As you might recall, by Monday the surf is supposed to decrease.  That doesn't mean that the bridges and beaches will be open.

I'd keep some of my powder dry, and stay prepared for Jose.  You won't have so much wind and damage to deal with on shore, but still blowing and churning up the sand.

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Yesterday some of the Turnpike service stations were closed, so make sure it is safe and check for reopenings before you decide to drive somewhere.

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Here is a handy tip.  For keeping real-time track of the weather at various spots, check Weather Underground (wunderground.com/personal-weather-station).  You'll find that many residents have their own weather stations and the data from those stations appears on Weather Bug.  For example, you can find weather stations located at Rio Mar or right down the road from you.

Here is an example of the kind of thing I'm talking about.  This one is on Indian River Drive south of Fort Pierce.

https://www.wunderground.com/personal-weather-station/dashboard?ID=KFLFORTP10

I just checked this one and noticed that the wind there had changed to ESE now.

You can probably find a station near the area you are interested in.

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I should also add that even though I talk mostly about the Treasure Coast, the West Coast and the Keys should have some good detecting after people have been made safe and the necessaary repairs have been made.  I'm sure some treasure coins will be found in places like Naples after the storm is over.

Right now I'm just hoping for the safety of all.

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As of the 8 AM update, Irma is still predicted to go up the Florida West Coast.

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That is all for now.  Maybe I'll have some updates later in the day.

Stay safe and warm.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/3/17 Report - Dug Silver and What It Looks Like. Antique and Collectible Keys Web Site.

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

Object Found on Beach.
You might be surprised what it is.

Someone asked what silver coins and objects look like when they come out of the ground.  It isn't easy to answer that because it varies so much depending upon a number of factors.  Generally silver turns a darker grey to black when it has been on a beach for a while, especially if it has been in salt water.  Above is an example of a piece of silver found on a beach.

It is difficult to identify this coin from this view.  It looks something like a corroded silver cob.  Below you can see the other side of the same object.

Other Side of Same Object.

Can you tell what it is now?  It is a silver Roosevelt dime.

From the appearance, you could easily think that it might be something much older.  When you hold the above object, you can't really see the design very well unless you have the right kind of lighting.

Roosevelt dimes were made from 1946 to 1964, so I don't know how long the dime was on the beach, but it can't be more than 71 years, which might sound like a long time to some of you, but it isn't anything like a Spanish cob, which might have been out there for three hundred years.

Here is a new Roosevelt dime.  It is not silver, but you can match up the images.

New Not-Silver Roosevelt Dime

The older silver dimes were 90 percent silver and 10 percent copper.  The newer dimes are a "sandwich" of pure copper inner layer between two outer layers of cupronickle (75% copper, 25% nickel) alloy giving a total composition of 91.67% Cu and 8.33% Ni.

If you look at edge of one of the newer dimes, you can see a strip of copper.

You might remember when I suggested cutting a silver dime in halves or quarters and using the pieces as test objects for reales.  I said if you can detect piece of a silver dime, you can detect a small silver reale.  They are really very much alike.  In fact some reales from Potosi were assayed and found to have about 10 percent copper content like even though they were not supposed to have that much copper content.

Silver can be encrusted or discolored, depending upon where it has been.  It is really difficult to give a single answer saying what silver will look like when it comes out of the ground.  You can, however, with a good amount of experience, learn to identify silver most of the time from just looking at it, no matter how badly corroded it might be.

Like I said above, the appearance of silver will vary depending upon where it was found.  The silver coins I found in a cold water lake in Minnesota were more of a bluish tint, for example.  They did not corrode much at all compared to those found on a salt water beach or around mangroves.  Salt water beaches and acid soil are both very hard on silver.

For the person that asked what dug silver looks like, you'll find many examples if you read back through the old posts.  Some are shown before and after cleaning.  You can also see Spanish reales in various states of cleaning.

I also found that you can almost always tell a silver coin from the sound it makes when you drop it on a ceramic tile.  Try it.

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Hotel keys used to be very common beach finds.  That was before the more modern key cards.  I found gallons of hotel keys.  Some were the nice big ornate brass keys, while others were smaller and had those large plastic tags bearing the name of the hotel and room number.

I found this very useful web site about antique and collectible keys.

http://www.collectorsweekly.com/tools-and-hardware/keys

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There is nothing much to watch in the weather right now.  There is one disturbance just coming off of Africa, but it is too early to pay it much attention.

We're in for more one to two foot surf on the Treasure Coast and south winds.   That means hot weather.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/7/16 Report - Odyssey Marine Exploration Business. Important Artifacts From Tortugas Shipwreck.

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

Source: http://www.shipwreck.net/documents/OMEPapers37.pdf

I haven't mentioned Odyssey Marine Explorations for some time.  They went through a period when they had a lot of financial losses and the price of their common stock plummeted.  That changed. OMEX stock recently went from around $3 per share to over $9 per share.  You don't often see moves like that.  I won't go into a complete analysis, but here is what they say about the shipwreck part of their business.  They are also into deep-sea mineral exploration and mining.  The following summary is from http://www.odysseymarine.com.


In the fourth quarter of 2015, a third-party company contracted Odyssey to recover cargo from a shipwreck located in the Mediterranean Sea. Odyssey recognized $3.0 million of revenue in 2015 for these services. The recovered cargo is the property of the contracting party and was not part of the Monaco transaction summarized below.

On December 10, 2015, Odyssey sold certain intangible and tangible assets primarily related to its shipwreck business to Monaco Financial, LLC and affiliated entities for aggregate consideration of approximately $21.0 million. The company's shipwreck database and research library was acquired by Magellan Offshore Services, Ltd. ("Magellan"). However, Odyssey retained its vessel, equipment, tools, and specialized offshore team members. As part of the Monaco transaction, Magellan agreed to exclusively hire Odyssey on a "cost plus" basis for any shipwreck search and recovery projects conducted in the next five years. In turn, Odyssey agreed not to compete with Magellan in the shipwreck search and recovery business. Odyssey is also entitled to receive 21.25% of the net proceeds from any monetization of recovered cargo. As part of the Monaco transaction, Odyssey retained four pre-existing projects, including the HMS Victory 1744 and HMS Sussex projects. Magellan may participate in funding the recovery costs of these projects in the future, and will have the right to receive up to 50% of Odyssey's net proceeds, if any.

Monaco Financial, LLC acquired all of Odyssey's remaining coins, ingots and bars from the SS Republic, "Tortugas," and SS Gairsoppa shipwrecks, as well as an interest in the proceeds payable to Odyssey under the Master Services Agreement for the SS Central America project. Monaco Financial also purchased Odyssey's headquarters building and leased office space back to Odyssey.

Seascape Artifact Exhibits acquired Odyssey's artifact collection, exhibits, and all of Odyssey's shipwreck intellectual property and copyrights, including video, photos and publications.

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Odyssey Marine is a company that produces a lot ov very good research.  One paper examines a couple of plates found on the Tortugas shipwreck.  At the top of the page is a photo of one of those plates.  Here are two paragraphs from a paper about those plates produced by Odyssey.

Given the Tortugas plates’ specific imagery and chronological context, it is plausible that their presence on the Buen Jesús merchant vessel in early September 1622 archaeologically reflects the presence of administrators or missionaries of the Sacred Congregation of the Propagation of the Faith returning to Seville on this Tierra Firme fleet ship. In this historical hypothesis their personal belongings stowed on an Americas-bound vessel earlier in the year would have included two plates freshly thrown under papal commission. Of humble service, albeit highly appointed, one might imagine that a single plate would have sufficed per individual. 

The two examples recovered from the Tortugas wreck could suggest the presence of two such missionaries gracing the ship’s deck. Within this context it is relevant to recall the other select religious artifacts found on the wreck, which included rosary beads, a Virgin Mary clay figurine, a brass medallion dedicated to St. Catherine of Sienna, and two Seville Blue on White bowls painted with ecclesiastic inscriptions, of which only the letters ‘CAR’ written above ‘MO’ are preserved on their interior roundels (Stemm et al., 2013: 82-3, 96).
 

This is a great example of how much an artifact can tell if it provides some clues and thorough research is done.

Here is the link to the paper if you want to read more.

http://www.shipwreck.net/documents/OMEPapers37.pdf

 I do highly recommend reading this excellent paper.  You will learn more about the markings, symbolism and the history of the times.

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The weather is beautiful today for anyone who wants to visit the beach.  I'm not expecting any improvement in beach detecting conditions though.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/15/14 Report - Key and Ring Find, Keys From the Margarita, Portuguese Man-O-War & Beach Conditions

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



Treasure Coast Beach Around Low Tide This Afternoon.

I went out to look at a couple of beaches this afternoon.  Here is a photo of the first, that as you can see, had a little cutting and also a little scalloping.

The cuts here were less than two feet at the highest.  What is worse, is that the sand in front had filled up to the cuts and was mushy.

You can see how there were some scattered shells along in front of the cut.  I didn't bother detecting here.



Same Beach Just a Little South.

This is the same beach, this time looking from the flat beach towards the water and out over a dip.  Maybe you can see where the dip is in the middle of the picture.  Here it was more scalloped than cut. 

I went to one other beach and it was less cut and scalloped than this one.  It also had scattered shells and was very mushy along the water line.

There were targets at the second beach near the water line, although not things like coins -  pieces of copper and stuff like that.  Also there were some larger items that couldn't be recovered because they were deep and close to the water.

Portuguese Man-O-War

I saw a couple of these.  They normally show up seasonally.   They were pretty big and capable of delivering a good sting.

The stinging tentacles can be feet long.   I've got some good stings from those while in the water.  Try to avoid them.  When there are a lot of them in the water you might want to wear a wet suit or something.

Meat tenderizer seems to be a good thing to apply to affected areas to reduce the pain.  I've heard of other people who use other applications.  Some apply alcohol, but I haven't found that to be very effective.

Key and Ring.
Finds and photo by Dan B.

Here are a couple of finds from Dan B, and here is what he said.

At the top of the broken one, it says Allegheny, and is stamped in the middle with the number 16 and says County PA on the bottom. Not sure how old the key is, and the ring was found at the beach and appears to be modern. Go At Pro. Found two of these with low sensitivity just to reduce interference's from deeper objects.



The key is modern but it got me thinking that since there are a lot of keys found, you might want to be able to recognize older keys.   As a start I'll show some 17th Century keys from the Margarita, which sank in 1622.

The keys found from the Margarita and Atocha mostly look very much like those shown in the picture below, which is one of many pictures of keys from the Margarita and Atocha shown in the Mel Fisher artifact database.

Here is the source link for the picture of the keys. http://www.melfisherartifacts.com/

Keys From the Margarita.
Source: Mel Fisher artifact database.

Tomorrow on the Treasure Coast the surf is supposed to be a bit bigger - up around four to six feet.  Also the high tide will be pretty high.  


I'm still not expecting much improvement in detecting conditions although we might have a few hours of North winds on Wednesday.   There is a lot of sand that needs to be moved.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net