7/15/20 Report - Beginner's Luck. Old Gold Metal Detector Finds. A Super Answer. The Second 2.5 Million Views.

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

Sword Mount Found by Beginning Detectorist.
See BBC.com link below.

A woman who inherited a metal detector and found two rare Anglo-Saxon items within three months said it was a case of "beginner's luck".

Mel Hollwoger, 54, unearthed a sword scabbard mount and rare gold band in fields near her home in Aldborough, Norfolk.

The mount was valued at £25,000 and both have been declared treasure.

Ms Hollwoger only took up the hobby to accompany her partner who used to hunt with his late father.

She inherited his metal detector and three months after finding her first piece, unearthed the gold, gem and cut-glass band...

Here is the link for the rest of that story.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-norfolk-52985523

I've heard some people say that it is skill instead of luck for them, but who can say exactly what they will find on any particular day.  Your greatest finds seem to always be a surprise.  Isn't part of the fun of metal detecting going out there not knowing what is waiting for you hidden in the sand and then seeing the object emerge for the first time?

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Now there are wedding bands made of silicon!

https://www.saferingz.com/

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14th Century Ring Found in Box of Old Finds After Nearly 40 Years.
Source: bbc.com - link below

A retired man has found a 14th Century gold ring in his garage, nearly 40 years after he first discovered it.

Tom Clark, 81, located the seal ring in a tin at his Buckinghamshire home among items which had come from his late mother's house.

The Aylesbury metal detectorist had first discovered it on farmland between 1979 and 1982, but had not realised the significance of the find.

It could now fetch up to £10,000 at auction...

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-49458604

That happens if you detect long enough.  You don't always know the value of a find when you first find it and then you throw it in a box where it stays for years.   Then years later when you look through your old finds and discover that you have something that you failed to appreciate before.   But that only happens if you don't get careless and lose or throw things like that out.

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Here is a video you might like.  It is not about metal detecting, but is still something I think you should see.  It is an exceptionally good answer to the difficult question: where did God come from.  

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=best+answer+ever+god+not+in+time+space+matter+kovind&docid=607995797983332163&mid=6089B953EA031BEBB5AE6089B953EA031BEBB5AE&view=detail&FORM=VIRE

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I was forced to start using the most recent blog editor, which caused a few unexpected and unwanted changes to the blog.  I'll have to make more changes before long.  I've mentioned that my new posts will be in a separate blog with a different link.  I don't think that will cause any problems.  I'll try not to change too much else.

I've done this blog for a long time now.  There were forums and discussion groups, but this blog began before Facebook and many of the other social media platforms that now exist.  In fact I was not aware of any other metal detecting blog sites when I began this one.  Since then they have become common.  

There have been changes.  One that I really regret is blogger removing the survey app.  I could have learned to use some other survey app, but just didn't take the time to figure that out yet.  

There are a couple changes to blogger, and I don't have all of it worked out yet.  

I didn't expect to be doing this so long, and I don't know how people ever found this blog, but some have been reading this blog daily for a lot of years now.  Some of you have been with me since the blog began.  Other loyal readers and contributors passed away.  I mentioned a few of those.  

As I recently mentioned, the blogger Page View counter went over 2.5 million recently.   It is already showing thousands over 2.5 million now.  I don't know exactly how it works, and I'd like to have it posted on the front page.  I lost the "hit" counter that used to be displayed on the front page when I switched to the new editor.  That is too bad, but it didn't count exactly the same way as the page view counter.  

I never did any advertising or promotion or never looked into optimization or whatever they do, so I don't know how people ever found the site.  It must be completely word-of-mouth. 

Since I don't advertise or try to promote or sell anything at all.  It is simply something I started when I took on responsibilities that kept me from going out detecting very much, so it kept me involved by trying to help other people.   At the same time it did help me.  By attempting to communicate clearly it forced me to really think things through more completely than I otherwise would.  I enjoy enjoy and benefit from that process.  I also benefit from the many stories and contributions that people send to me.

Thanks for your kindness and assistance.

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No storms to watch.  

The surf is only one or two feet, and the tides are small.

Happy hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net

5/28/19 Report - 27 Iron Age Gold Artifacts Discovered by Detectorist. Good Luck or Bad Luck. Extra-Shiny Quarters. Religion and Gaming.

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

A Few of The 27 Gold Artifacts Discovered by A Detectorist in Denmark.
Source: See Sciencenoridic.com link below.

27 Gold Artifacts Discovered by Detectorist in Denmark.

… The most recent discovery was made by a pair of metal detectorists and amateur archaeologists in a field on the Danish island of Hjarnø, in Horsens Fjord. It was a spectacular discovery and an expensive one, containing more than 34 objects, 27 of which are pure gold.

Forgotten treasure or a gift for the gods?

Amateur archaeologist, Terese Refsgaard, alerted us to the discovery at Vejle Museums, in accordance with Danish law. And one of our first questions was whether the objects were buried together as treasure to be hidden, or whether it was intended as an offering to the gods.

Treasure is buried in a hurry to hide it during times of threat or during a turbulent situation, and is often intended to be collected again once the threat has passed. But an offering is intended to remain buried as a gift to the gods.

Sacrifices often contain a certain combination of objects, probably so that they can be used later on in Valhalla, as described in the Ynglinga Saga...

Here is the link for the rest of the article.

http://sciencenordic.com/archaeologists-celebrate-spectacular-discovery-iron-age-treasure

Click on the gallery to see more photos of the finds.

In my post yesterday I pondered the possible significance of a painted stone.  When things can't be otherwise explained, artifacts are often thought to be either religious or having to do with gaming.  I get the feeling that those two interpretations are used too much.  Of course, some items are used for religion or gaming.  I just think those interpretations are used too often.

I've found most of the items shown immediately below.  I didn't know what they were until I discovered a web site that sells them.  That gave me the explanation.

Yemana Tools

Source papajimsbotanica.com.

Here is the explanation from papajimsbotanica.com web site.

Yemaya is the essence of Fertility, Protects all women. It is also known to bring you Good luck, Blessings and also attract love your way. The energy allows you to focus on your hard work to achieve your goals. Find solutions to your love, good luck and fertility problems. When you don’t seem to have the energy look to our Yemaya Tools! Includes 9 pieces.
16 peice set. 

That is a case in which the religious use was not obvious to me, but was the right interpretation.

Here are some Treasure Coast Native American beach finds.

The round item at the upper right is called a discoidal and is thought to have been used in games.  That is what the experts say.  It seems to be widely accepted that they are gaming pieces, yet no matter how much consensus there is about that, I have my doubts even though I have absolutely no expertise on the subject and should probably just accept the common wisdom.

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One day at the dollar store I received some exceptionally shiny quarters in my change.  I thought they were proof.  They were clearly different than the quarters you usually see.

Here is a brand new 2019 quarter I got in change yesterday.  It was taken out of a new roll and shows very few defects other than "bag marks" from the mint.

Nice New 2019 Quarter.

And here is the extra-shiny quarter.  The photo was taken with the same camera and lighting.

Extra-shiny 2019 Quarter.

Here they are side by side in the same photo.

Two 2019 Quarters Side-by-Side.

I found out that the shiny one wasn't proof.  It is actually silver-plated.

You can buy silver plated coins on Amazon and eBay and I think they are offered on TV at times.

Anyway it fooled me, but I learned something.

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Here is an excerpt from the amazing story of Andy O'Donnell of World War II.   Was it good luck or bad luck?  It seemed his ships always sank, but he survived.

… So what is the verdict? Was Andy really bad luck or was it all just a series of coincidences? Consider that every ship the man spent an evening aboard was sunk, even though in three cases he wasn't onboard when it happened. (Some point out that the vessel that fished him out of the water off Guadalcanal in August of 1942, the destroyer Wilson, survived the war unscathed, suggesting that the "curse" was not all encompassing, but the man did not spend the evening on the ship, having been put ashore just a few hours after being picked up. Do curses have time limits, one wonders?) The odds against such a thing happening are astronomically high. On the other hand, some might argue that other than the Bullhead, the "curse" proved to be anything but that for Andy, for he managed to survive two sinkings in three months—a feat no other American sailor accomplished. In the end, we can only wonder about the farm boy from Olathe, Kansas, and how the stars and planets all managed to line up in such a way as to make his story possible....

Here is the link for the rest of the article.

https://www.ourcuriousworld.com/AndyStory.htm

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I just got a good lead the other day when my wife was talking to someone she knew.  There is a crumbling chimney and junk spread around in an overgrown area.  I plan to check it out sometime.

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We are into summer conditions now and the beaches won't change often except when we get a storm.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/27/17 Report - Finding That Fine Line of Good Judgement To Minimize Metal Detecting Mistakes.

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

Yesterday I mentioned several different kinds of mistakes that I've made.  They included (1) not paying enough attention to a dug item in the field to get the significance of the item,  (2) not keeping an item when it isn't known for sure what it is, (3) not digging carefully enough, (4) not being careful enough when you clean an item, and (5) not storing an item properly, and then I added another, (6) leaving good targets in the ground.

So what is the solution?  How do you keep from making those kinds of mistakes?

There are always trade-offs.  Take the first type of mistake - not paying enough attention to a dug item in the field.  You can carefully inspect every item you dig and try to figure out what it tells you about the site, or you can quickly pocket every dug item so you can spend as much time as possible detecting. Those are the two extremes, and either one could be a big mistake.  The optimal solution is somewhere in between.  You will want to analyze finds but not waste too much time especially on less significant items.

Research and experience will help you more quickly analyze finds and make good decisions.  If you do your research, you'll have some familiarity with the most likely targets, and you'll have a good idea of the significance of those finds and what you should do if you find a particular type of object.

Consider the musket hammer and flint that I mentioned.  If that wasn't my very first hunt in a target rich colonial battleground site, I would have been better prepared to quickly identify the find and its significance.  If I had read more and studied relevant pictures before the hunt, I probably would have correctly identified the musket flint as soon as I saw it.  If I found the same hammer and flint under the same conditions today,  I would have stayed in the same spot for a while and looked for other related items, perhaps more of the same musket.  I would have adjusted my hunt as the result of the find instead passing them over as two isolated insignificant objects.  The fact is that I wasn't well prepared for that hunt and made some mistakes.

On the same hunt I also made the mistake I have listed above as number three.  I was not careful enough about digging an item that was found just a few yards from the musket hammer and flint.  I damaged a very nice find.  The musket and flint, had I realized their significance, should have told me that there could be some very nice old items in the area.

The solution for that kind of mistake also involves trade-offs.  You can dig everything with great care, or you can try to recover every item as quickly as possible.  Again, there is another option.  If you analyze the signal and the situation, you will know when it would be wise to exercise extreme caution. You can't be right every time.  It is a matter of probabilities and using the information you gather to make adjustments.  You will be wrong at times, but you can definitely cut down on the number and seriousness of the mistakes that you make.

If I had correctly identified the hammer and flint, I should have known to be more careful with my digging.  If I was finding nothing but pull tabs and clad coins, and there was little indication of anything very nice being in the area, I could be a little more careless and not be in too much danger of making a really big mistake.   A lot of factors can affect how carefully you dig.  If you have all the time in the world to explore a site, you can dig as if every target is precious.  I prefer to adjust as I go.

I'll jump now to the mistake of leaving exceptionally good targets in the ground.  There is always that possibility if you don't dig everything.  As I explained the other day, the very best finds, such as Rolex watches or gold bars, won't be identified by a metal detector's readout and they are rare enough that you probably won't identify them accurately from the signal.  The very best finds are like that.  They are rare and usually come as big surprises.

This type of mistake is very dangerous.  You will probably never know that you made it.  The treasure remains silent in the ground and you go on your merry way happy that you did not have to dig another piece of junk.

One way to avoid leaving the very best targets in the ground is to really learn how to use your detector and how to interpret the signals.  That will help, but I recommend the utmost caution in passing up targets that you don't recognize.  Analyzing the site and the situation will help.

I encourage people to dig everything, but that is not always possible, and it is not always wise. A lot of the time I just sample a site and make a decision knowing that I might miss something good.  Skill and experience can help you minimize mistakes, but  there is still some amount of luck or chance involved. That is part of the fun and what makes it so interesting.  It is a game that you can never completely perfect.

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Darrel S. says he has been having trouble with a SeriousDetecting store.  Here is what he said.

I have been going through a horrible 2 months with this company. I ordered a coil last year. Was defective and they paid for return shipping (sent a label.) Sent back and they rejected the package. They claim never delivered. Local PO said they refused it. It is on the way back and I have to pay return shipping. I will probably contact CORS in Ukraine and go from there.

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I don't generally comment on companies much, but will repeat that I was not at all happy with Tesoro, who advertised a lifetime guarantee, but they don't honor it if they decide the detector is obsolete.  That is not what I call a lifetime guarantee.  I have two old Tesoro detectors that they determined were obsolete even though they were purchased with a lifetime guarantee.

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One person wrote mentioning that mangroves are protected.  That is true.  Don't cut or damage them.

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Nothing new to report about beach conditions.

Happy hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

7/5/16 Report - Largest Gold Nugget Ever Found In Western Hemisphere. Skill, Effort and Luck. First Metal Detector Ever.

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

Largest Gold Nugget Ever Found In Western Hemisphere
Source: http://www.goldrushnuggets.com/bootofcortez.html

Did you ever hear of the Boot of Cortes?  It is the largest gold nugget ever found in the Western Hemisphere.  It weighs 389.4 grams.

That is amazing enough, but how do you think it was found.  If you guessed by a metal detector, you'd be right.  

A fellow heard about nuggets being found in an area in the Southwest and, of course, he wanted to find his own, so he bought a metal detector.  What do you think he bought?  Remember, this is a fellow who found a record breaking gold nugget.  You might think it was a Minelab GPX 5000 or some other high-end gold detector.  Actually, it was nothing like that.

The year was 1989, and the fellow bought his metal detector at a Radio Shack store.

If you are old enough to remember, Radio Shack sold metal detectors back in the 1980s and earlier. My grandma got one maybe around 1960.  She probably paid less than $20 for it. I don't remember the exact year, but I do remember the detector and trying it out.

That was the first time I ever used a metal detector, and as I recall it wouldn't detect much.  I don't think it would even find coins.  We would find things like horse shoes and door knobs.

Of course, neither grandma nor I really knew what we were doing at the time.  And I don't remember the details very well, but it wasn't really a very good detector.

Our story about the Boot of Cortes starts about thirty years later than that (1989), so I'm sure it was better detector than the one grandma and I had.  Yet it wasn't a high-end gold detector.  I'm sure that the Radio Shack detector that found the Boot of Cortes was nothing like a modern top of the line gold detector.

One point I want to make today is that some of the best finds are made with less than the best equipment and are made by people that are not always the most skilled.  As I've detailed over and over again, many amazing discoveries are made by accident and without any metal detector at all.

Anyone who put a coil on this nugget would have detected it.  What made this find so special is what made it easy to find.  It was huge.  It didn't require any high level of skill and it didn't require the best detector.

You'd just have to put your coil on it and dig it.  I'm sure there are people out there who would get that signal, decide it could not be a gold nugget, and pass it up.

This fellow was digging everything it seems.

Here is what I read.   He learned how to operate it, and then he set out for an area that was reported to have produced nuggets. Once there, he started to walk; slowly and carefully across the desert, all the while following a grid pattern that would ensure that no areas would be unchecked. Hundreds of boring hours slowly ebbed away with an occasional 'beep' from his ear-phones to signal a potential find. Most were due to scrap iron or old lead bullets. Then one day; the 'beep' sounded a little different. Digging down; he caught that first gleam from his own personal El Dorado. Hardly believing his eyes he kept digging, the gleaming surface kept going - and going. By the time he had completely uncovered this incredible nugget, it was obvious that it was huge.  

That would be totally exciting.

This is also a story of patience and persistence.  

There is always some measure of luck and skill and effort involved.  Skill is doing the things you can to improve the probability of success.  Luck has to do with the things you can not know and can not control.  Skill improves the chance of success, but when it comes to any particularly special find, there is always some luck involved.  I'd say that is something like life in general.

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When was the first time a metal detector was used?

The first time a metal detector was used was back in 1881 by its inventor Alexander Graham Bell who used the detector to try to find the bullet in the body of assassinated US President James Garfield.

It is said that the metal detector worked but did not find the bullet partly because of the metal bed frame on which the President was lying.

Sorry.  I forget where I read that.

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The most read post of June was the 6/8/16 Report - Treasure Coast Treasure History: Cobb Coin VS Unidentified Wreck. 2000 Year Old Cache of Hasmonian Coins.
  

And the most Google Plused post was the 6/26/16 Report -  Found Fashion - Post-Apocalyptic Fashion by TG.  This one wasn't read by many people, but it seems some of the people who did read it really liked it.

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No change in beach conditions.  More of the same, except the holiday weekend probably increased beach traffic.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net