4/10/17 Report - Religious Metal Detector Finds and Easter Traditions. A Letter From 1564 Fort Caroline

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

Gold Metal Detector Find From The Beach Near The Nieves Wreck Site.

The figure shown above is about two inches high and was undoubtedly at one time attached to a cross.  It is truly old.  Both the method of manufacture and type of gold show that.  So does the style, wear and encrustation.  It is definitely centuries old.

It isn't a new find, and I posted it before but thought it was particularly appropriate for today's post.  

If you've been detecting the Treasure Coast very long or just reading this blog, you are aware of how many religious artifacts have been found on the shipwreck sites and beaches and how common religious symbols are on many finds.  You will find a cross prominently displayed on many treasure coins, and religious medallions are also common metal detector finds.  

The most important Christian season has begun.  You might think it would be Christmas by the way we celebrate today, but it is actually Easter. Yesterday, of course, was Palm Sunday. And Easter is next Sunday.

Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring equinox.  You might have noticed the bright moon lately.

Easter isn't a new celebration at all.  Maybe it has changed some over the centuries, but it has been celebrated for many centuries, including the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Even the Easter bunny and Easter eggs, which might seem to have no religious significance stem from ancient practises and meanings and still carry religious significance for some even if the same symbols carried different meanings at different times and places.  Ancient pagan beliefs and symbols related to fertility carry the meaning of redemption and rebirth for many today.

Spain is one place where Easter is celebrated with much fanfare.  I'm sure that the celebrations have changed over the centuries, but much has remained the same too.

In Spain Semana Santa (Holy Week) is the most important celebration.  

Here, the most important Catholic holiday is commemorated with a week full of color, art, religious fervor, and extravagant processions. The most spectacular events take place in Malaga and Seville, where the streets are taken over by flamboyant parades and intricate religious displays depicting biblical scenes.

Like everywhere in Spain, the festivities begin on Palm Sunday (Domingo de Ramos) and last until Easter Monday (Lunes de Pascua), with the most dramatic and passionate parades held on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday...

Although Easter celebrations in Malaga are of huge proportions, it’s the Seville Semana Santa that has crossed the boundaries becoming a world-famous event. During the Holy Week, the gorgeous Andalusian capital comes to life with thousands of pilgrims that gather here from all corners of the world to witness the city’s extravagant pasos.

See https://spainattractions.es/easter-spain/ for more.

Like many of our Christmas traditions, our Easter traditions were heavily influenced by German settlers.  That includes the Easter Bunny (Osterhase). According to the tradition, children would build brightly colored nests, often out of caps and bonnets, in secluded areas of their homes.  The “Oster Hase” would, if the children had been good, lay brightly colored eggs in the nest.  As the tradition spread, the nest has become the manufactured, modern Easter basket, and the placing of the nest in a secluded area has become the tradition of hiding baskets.

See https://www.thegenealogist.com/featuredarticles/2014/the-traditions-of-a-joyous-easter-137/.

The same things we are acknowledging, remembering and celebrating this year have been celebrated for centuries and centuries.  We have a lot in common with our ancestors and the early settlers and explorers.  It is hard to imagine the same things being celebrated hundreds of years ago, but as much as things have changed, some things remain the same.  At the core and root of it all is something human and something Divine that transcends space and time.

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Here is a letter written by a young French man from Fort Caroline in 1564.

http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00025123/00001/1x

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I didn't post yesterday because I've been researching something and lost my sources.  I'll get back to it when I find them again.

It seems a lot of the snowbirds have gone home.  The beaches haven't been as busy lately.

The surf will be around three to five feet this week.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

2/11/17 Report - Finds: Pins, Bottle, Gold and Diamonds.

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

I made an unusual find the other day.  I found a small round container.  I didn't have any idea what might be in it.  It was covered with mud and water.  I thought that it might be filled with mud and nothing else.  After getting the top off, I found that it was full of small sewing pins.  That was a first for me.

Closeup of a Bunch of Sewing Pins In a Clump.
Dime added for size comparison.

I put the dime on top of the clump of pins not too far off the center. The pins are stuck together.

I'm glad they weren't spread out on the ground because I would have begun to dig them one at a time.

I've dug thimbles on the beach before but not a clump of pins.

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The weather is absolutely beautiful, even if I do prefer wind and rain.  The robins have been at my house for a few days.  They show up around February 9 almost every year.

Last night the full moon was absolutely beautiful too.  We were supposed to be able to see a comet about 3 AM.  I missed it.

Yesterday I found a good number of modern coins below a small six inch cut on one beach.  There were a few other items there too.  The cut there was not big, but in front of the cut it was more sloped and not as sandy as John Brooks Beach, which I showed yesterday.  .

After leaving the wreck beaches I hit a tourist beach on the way home and came away with two pieces of gold: a diamond ring and a pearl ear ring.

I didn't get out Saturday at all and don't know what happened with the wreck beaches over night.

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I found an embossed Horlick's Malted Milk bottle on the Treasure Coast the other day.  I didn't clean it yet, but took a quick pic.

It is a small bottle.  I was surprised what I learned from some quick research.  It is still sold, and malted milk isn't what I thought.  I thought malted milk was like a milk shake but apparently not.  And even though the bottle showed up on the Treasure Coast, it seems that Horlick's Malted MIlk  is much more popular today overseas.

Here is what I learned.

In the initial stage of manufacturing, milled malted barley and wheat flour are mashed together in hot water where the starch is converted into sugars.  To this sugar solution dairy powders are added. The water content is then evaporated to form a syrup that is dried in vacuum band driers to form a cake. This cake is milled into the finished powder...

1873: James Horlick, a pharmacist joined his brother, William, in the US and together they founded the company J and W Horlicks in Chicago to manufacture a patented malted milk drink as an artificial infant food...

The bottle I found is not nearly that old.

Here is the link.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horlicks

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I hope to be able to check some beaches again soon.  Haven't heard anything from the Vero/Sebastian area yet.

Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

9/28/14 Report - Closer View Of Inland Finds. Formation of the Continental Marines. Recruitment Poster.

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

Couple More Finds From William M.
Photo by William.

I didn't show all of William M's finds the other day.  Here are close ups of some that I think are particularly nice.

The locket with picture is especially nice.  That probably had a lot of sentimental value to someone.  William said it looked like a photo.  Wouldn't it be nice to find out who it is or who it belonged to?

Those are a couple of very nice finds from an inland site.

Below is another very nice relic found by William.  That is the kind of thing any relic hunter would like to find.

Thanks for sharing William!

Nie Relic Found By William.
Photo by William.

The summer issue of the Sons of the American Revolution Magazine had an interesting article about the origin of the US Marines. 

The Continental Marines was formed in 1775 by resolution of the Continental Congress.

 Here are excerpts from a recruitment poster that was hung in a tavern.  

What a Brilliant Prospect does this Event Present to every Lad of Spirit who is inclined to try his Fortune in this highly renowned Corps.  The Continental Marines.
When every thing that swims the Seas must be a PRIZE!

Thousands are at this moment endeavoring to get on Board Privateers where they will serve without pay or reward of any kind whatsoever, so certain does their chance appear of enriching themselves by PRIZE MONEY!  What enviable Station then must the CONTINENTAL MARINE hold, - who with far superior advantages to these, has the additional benefit of liberal Pay, and plenty of the best Provisions, with a good and well appointed Ship under him, the Pride and Glory of the Continental  Navy; surely every Man of Spirit must blush to remain at Home in Inactivity and Indolence when his Country needs his Assistance.

...

YOU WILL RECEIVE Seventeen Dollars  Bounty.  And on your Arrival at Head Quarters be comfortably and genteely CLOTHED.  And Spirited young BOYS, of a promising Appearance, who are Five Feet Six Inches High, will receive TEN DOLARS and equal Advantage of PROVISIONS and Clothing with the Men. 

...

The Daily Allowance of a Marine when embarked is One Pond of BEEF or PORK.  One Pound of BREAD, Flour, Raisins, Butter, Cheese, Oatmeal, Molasses, Tea, Sugar, etc. etc.  And a Pint of the best Wine, or half a Pint of the Best RUM or BRANDY, togehter with a pint of LEMONADE.  ...

Anyone bringing a recruit to Tun Tavern was promised three dollars.  More information could also be obtained at the tavern.

The capitalization is as it appeared on the original poster.  It appears strange to us.

Here is a trivia question.  Where was the first amphibious landing of the Continental Marines on foreign soil?   Hint: it occurred in 1776.


We sure are having a lot of rain. 

The surf on the Treasure Coast is around 2 - 3 feet.  It will be about that on Monday and then decrease just a touch for a couple of days.

There is nothing in the Atlantic that will affect the Treasure Coast beaches significantly.

That is all for today. 


Only two more days remaining to respond to the blog poll. 

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@Comcast.net