6/2/20 Report - Beach Conditions From Frederick Douglass to Turtle Trail. Tropical Storm Cristobal.

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

Fort Pierce South Jetty Beach.

I took a look at a few beaches Monday.  You can see a couple of them here.

Frederick Douglass Beach Monday.

We have summer beaches now, and it is hot so people are getting in the water more.

Frederick Douglass Beach Near Low Tide Monday.

John Brooks beach looked very much like Frederick Douglass.

Frederick Douglass Beach Monday.

I managed to find a small gold lion pendant.

Gold Lion Pendant.

Tuesday Morning I visited Turtle Trail.  Here is what it looked like.

Turtle Trail Tuesday Morning.

Tuesday the weather was the kind I like - cloudy and rainy.  No crowds - just nature.

There were a few very small cuts and dips.

Turtle Trail Tuesday Morning.

Down around the low tide swash area there was about a foot of fine sand over a layer of coarse shells.  The shell layer contained miscellaneous light trash and a few pennies and things like that.  There were deeper objects, but they were difficult to dig out.

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About a month ago I did a couple posts on Rolex watches.  There are now a lot of new stolen ones out there.

Last night looter's took $2.4 million worth of Rolex watches from a looted Soho store.

Here is the link.

https://nypost.com/2020/06/01/looters-swipe-2-4m-worth-of-watches-from-soho-rolex-store/

By the way, if you are wondering why the police aren't doing much to stop the rioters, looters and Antifa trouble makers, it is because a lot of them are from well connected political families that support Antifa.  For example, the son of former VP candidate, Tim Kaine, is a member of Antifa, and Mayor de Blasio's daughter was recently arrested during the riots.

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We have a new tropical storm in the Gulf.

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

It looks like it will head towards Louisiana.  I doubt that it will affect us much.

Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

8/5/18 Report - Coins As Recordings: A Jupiter Shipwreck Cob Example.

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

Half Reale Once Found on Jupiter Beach.

I've been spending some time studying modern coin finds - especially errors and varieties.  You might be surprised how detailed that can get.   As a result I've learned to look at coins in a different way.  That includes old coins and cobs as well as modern coins.

Above is a half reale I found at Jupiter beach a number of years ago.  Unfortunately I didn't record the date so I don't know exactly when that was even though I remember it very well.  Observing the weather, I thought that Jupiter beach might be eroding, so I got in the car and made the nearly one-hour drive.  When I got there I saw the waves hitting the back dunes and creating a nice cut.  The waves were hitting the cut hard and washing away large chunks of sand with every hit.  

I'm pretty sure the cob shown above was washed out of the dunes.  I caught it in the rapid knee to hip high water that was rushing back down the slope.  The side shown above was covered with a thick sand crust.  The other side was pretty much as it is shown below.  I could see the cross, as I braced myself against the rushing water and took it out of the scoop.

Some people reduce each find to a single number - how much it is worth - but a coin contains volumes of information.  This cob is like a recording that goes back to geological time.

If you were to analyze it scientifically you could narrow down where the metal was formed and where it came from.  The shape and type of the cob is typical of those from the Jupiter wreck.  The shape is the handiwork of a worker who cut the planchet.

You also see the work of those who made the die and those who held the die and swung the hammer.

The design itself is the result of politics and royal decrees having far reaching roots and effects.

You see the work of the person who held the die and the man who swung the hammer.

If you inspect a coin closely, you'll see how worn the die was - whether it was new or worn and perhaps showing small cracks or breaks.

You can see where the die was recut and where the die bounced and created a partial second impression.

You can see the results of it being in salt water and on the beach for hundreds of years.  There are even a few grains or sand remaining.

You can even see the result of the cob being cleaned and my own hands where I slipped and made a scratch of my own, which will last as long as the coin.  A good eye can tell that scratch was made after the cob was recovered.

Those are just some of the things you can see if you study this cob.

Side That Was Not Protected by A Crust of Sand.

The second photo shows the side that I could see as soon as I took the cob out of my scoop.  It is not as clear as the side that was originally protected by a thick layer of crust that made that side invisible.

If you look at this side closely, you can see a nice lion rampant in the upper right quadrant and a castle to the left.  You can also see some of the legend between two partial circles of dots.

Unlike many of the cobs that I've shown in this blog, this cob is not from the Mexico mint.  You can easily tell that from the cross.

I've just begun to study coins more closely and am a novice at numismatics, but find it very interesting.

Returning to the other side of the cob for a minute, here is the Philip monogram up close.

Philip Monogram.

You can see some corrosion remaining.

The monogram is very clear.  Notice the horizontal bar in the middle that appears to stand out higher than any of the other parts of the design.

My guess is, and someone could probably confirm, that the die was well worn and the die was sharpened up.  The bar was carved into the worn die after it was well worn.

Although modern coins are produced by machines and this one was struck by hand, the process is still very similar and you'll see many similar effects.

Imagine the fellow that carve the die and how he cut the negative into the die.  He made some nice rounded dots.

You can see how the metal was compacted and stressed and the how the metal flowed into the areas where the die was hollowed out.

Here is a detail on the other side.

Close-up Detail of Half Reale.

In this photo you see the end of the Kings name, Phillipus, and part of the following numeral.

The "S" looks weird.  It doesn't look like an S at all.  It looks more like an eight - actually multiple eights.  What happened?

It could be a couple things.  A real numismatist could probably tell me, or with a little more study I could probably figure it out, but it could be that the die bounced when it was struck.

It also looks to me like the die could have been recut - and perhaps incorrectly.

You see similar things on modern coins.  As I said recently, by studying modern coin errors and varieties, I've learned to look at cobs in a new way.

I'll get into that more some other day.

I'd be happy to receive corrections or additional observations or thoughts about this cob.

One reason I decided to revisit this cob is because my photography has improved since I last posted it.

I hope that you will look at old cobs as containing volumes of information.  If you study them, they are more than a number.  They record a lot of history.  And by careful observation and study, you can unravel the story for yourself.

I've often said that if you know everything about anything, you know everything about everything.

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If I showed enough hate maybe I could get a job writing for the New York Slimes.

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Beach conditions have not improved and remain poor.  The tides are not big and the wind continues from the south.  The surf is only one to two feet.

There is one disturbance way out in the middle of the Atlantic, but it will probably never affect us.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

11/16/15 Report - Morgan Silver Dollar Find. Shipwrecks In Potomac. Lion Ring.

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

1898 Silver Dollar.  No mint mark.

A couple of days ago I showed some finds from a recent hunt including some badly corroded coins along with a remarkably preserved silver dime.  The dime's condition surprised me a lot, but there was more to come.

Here is another find from the same hunt.  It was among the last of the finds.  There were some little artifacts, including lead bolts and lead pieces, but this was the last coin find.

In my experience, silver dollars finds are relatively rare.  I haven't dug many of them over the years, and none on Treasure Coast beaches.  In fact I've dug a lot more cobs than silver dollars.  Most silver dollars have been inland finds.

This one, like the 1957 dime, and very unlike the copper coins, is in very good condition as found. I did wipe it off a little.





This one was certainly a pleasant surprise.  It gave one big signal.

I was hoping to find some old silver coins.  The dime was a pleasant find, but this was even better.

It isn't worth a lot, but I was happy to find it anyway.  As happy as I was to find this coin, I'm still more intrigued by a bullet I found not far away.  I'll probably show it tomorrow or sometime soon. I have a lot of questions about the bullet and hope I can get some help with identification.

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Roberto sent this photo pointing out the similarity between this ring and the one I posted a couple of days ago, which was not made of gold.

In my experience, lion rings must be among the top five most common figural ring designs.

Most often, again judging from my experience, the eyes are colored stone,s and a clear stone is in the mouth.  I don't know if there is any significance to that or if it just looks right.

If you know of any significance to the stones, please send me an email.

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Hidden beneath the waters of the Potomac River are dozens of sunken ships known as a “ghost fleet” that sailed from the Revolutionary War to after World War I, and now, thanks…

Here is the link for the rest of that story.

http://wtop.com/maryland/2015/11/ghost-fleet-offers-treasure-trove-of-wildlife-history-in-the-potomac-photos/slide/1/

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On the Treasure Coast we'll have a 3 - 4 foot surf today and tomorrow.  Unfortunately, the wind will be out of the east.  I'm not expecting any significant improvement in beach conditions for at least a couple of days.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGujide@comcast.net

2/9/14 Report - Souvenir Or Fake Reale Recently Found On The Treasure Coast & Not A Fake.

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

I just received an email from a reader who had been trying to clean what appeared to be his first cob find.   He did his research and learned how to clean cobs.  Then he carefully cleaned it so he could see the details.  Then he did some research only to find out it was a fake or souvenir reale.

Most of us have found fakes.  I'd say I've found about a half dozen fake cobs over the years.  My first fake was really confusing.  It was encrusted very much like a real cob might be.  As a result I carefully cleaned it, first carefully removing some of the crust with a dental pick.   When I finally got it to where I could see some of the detail I was even more confused.  The design didn't match the  color I was seeing.  Remember, that was my first cob (I thought) and I didn't know much about them at the time.  I did more and more research until somehow (I don't remember exactly now) I finally learned that it was a fake.  What a disappointment!

Today I can usually identify a fake pretty quickly, often as soon as I see it or pick it up.  Sometimes they can be identified by feel.  Some are way too light.  Sometimes you can tell by appearance.

Some fakes are made out of lead.  Some, like like the one below, are plated with a gold color plating  Some are marked "COPY," but often the marking will be small or covered by dirt or sand.

I've seen some convincing fakes.  I'm sometimes hesitant to scratch a possible cob for metal testing, and that can be a bit of an obstacle.

Often I can identify a cheaper metal by look or feel, but I have seen fake cobs actually made of silver.

I usually remember where I found the better fakes because at first sight I thought they were real.

One thing to consider is where it was found.  If you find a cob on top of dry sand in a public park where no cobs have been found before, most likely it is a fake.   It isn't likely that one will show up in a place like that, but strange things can happen.  I've found a lot of things where I still wonder how in the world they got there.   Some kid could have taken dad's prized possession for show-and-tell and lost it.  Things like that are possible.

The first fake cob that I ever found (the encrusted one I talked about above) was found probably ten yards from where I found a genuine cob, so you can't always tell if it might be fake by location, although that might be your first tip off.

Replica 8-escudo.

Here is a "replica" coin.  There is no intention to deceive.  It is sold with the packaging clearly marked "replica."  Nonetheless, if you dug one up you might get excited at first glance.

One very big Florida retailer includes these with some of the detectors they sell.

After a while you'll get to know what cobs should look like.   Real cobs will often be black.  They aren't perfect either.  They can be a little bit like diamonds.   If they look too perfect, maybe they are fake.

With experience you'll have a better idea of what a real cob should look like.  That first sight of a fake in the scoop can get you excited until the disappointment settles in.

I once found a genuine Spanish silver coin that I thought was a fake at first glance (See photo below.).  It is shown here as it looked after it was partially cleaned.

When I dug it up I saw what appeared to be a cross on one side and quickly assumed it was a fake reale and put it in my pocket without getting excited at all.  I assumed it was fake.  It looked too perfect.  It was perfectly round.  It was not worn.  It did have enough sand on it that the design was not clear.

I didn't really take much time to inspect it.  I didn't expect to find anything very old where I was and quickly slipped it in my pocket.

Since that time I've learned that old things do show up at that location on rare occasion, including 18th and 17th century items.

This particular coin, showing a cross and a lion and castle on one side, in my judgement was probably a fake.  Anyhow, I knew that I could inspect it later, so slipped into my pocket and continued my hunt.

After cleaning it off and doing the research, I eventually learned that this coin was a 1966 100 pesetas silver bullion coin.  The same coin is shown cleaned at the top of this post.  Not exactly a fake.

Fakes can be disappointing, especially if you thought you just found your first reale.  The one thing good about them is that you generally learn a lot from them.  All of the cleaning and research pays off to some extent.  You will probably learn more about cobs from your first fake than your first real cob.

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The surf on the Treasure Coast is supposed to be calm Monday and Tuesday.  Wednesday we are supposed to get somthing like a five to seven foot surf.  That could do us some good if the other factors line up.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net