12/16/18 Report - Tampa Bottling Works Bottle Find. More on 1670 Escudo. Lead In A Dream: Nix Island.

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

Tampa Bottling Works Bottle.

Find and photo by Russ P.

Great bottle find Russ!

Russ said, I came across a trash pit while sifting and pulled out 20 intact bottles, estimated to be around 110-120 years old, including my favorite all-time bottle, the Tampa Bottling Works soda bottle below. It may have been used to bottle Coca Cola, but does not have the Coca Cola label.

Also included were four very similar bottles, matches to the two green/brown bottles listed on your bottle barn. I suspect they are common, and likely beer bottles, but surprisingly have not found any other exact matches (other than yours) on the internet. Do you know any more about them? Interesting, the mold seam is horizontal about halfway down the bottle on all four of mine. 

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1670 Escudo

Photo submitted by Dan B.

This is the same 1670 escudo that I previously posted as one of Captain Jonah's favorites.  Dan sent this photo with some additional comments that further reveal what makes it stand out as one of Jonah's favorites.

Here is what Dan said.

Just thought you all might enjoy the clearer picture. Bill had to use padded hemostats to pull this from a deep crack. A worn old world coin in a pile of new world freshly minted escudos. It definitely stood out among the others. 

The care used to extract it is noteworthy.

Thanks Dan.

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I've been having a hard time figuring out what is my favorite coin find.   The first that come to mind are some that were found this year, but then I think of some of my first gold coin finds, and they rank just as highly in my mind.

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Did you ever have a dream that revealed a good lead?

Here is an interesting story about how a dream revealed a historic island that was previously unknown to the dreamer.

… What, wondered Lisa, was the Island of Nix? Neither one of us had ever heard of any land by that moniker. It took just a Google search, however, to learn that Nix Island, or "Nix's Mate" -- does exist in Boston Harbor: a tiny bit of stone that now has only a navigational beacon on it. So, there was something by that name, and it was surrounded by water!

But Massachusetts? Big palm-like leaves? Caribbean garb?

Further reading revealed that Nix's Mate was once twelve acres in size. As a Boston website puts it, "The island was used a pasture, and as a place for ships to load ballast.

"Pirates were hanged at Nix's Mate, with their bodies displayed there for a while to deter other buccaneers...

Here is the link for the rest of the story.

https://www.spiritdaily.com/nixisland.htm


Did you notice how the island had shrunk over the years?   Many places that were once land are now submerged.  The tip of Key Biscayne is one example.  It is said that a treasure chest was once retrieved from that now submerged land.

Antique maps often reveal changes to islands or beaches that any treasure hunter searching for old treasure should know about.  That, to me, is very important information.

By comparing maps from various periods you should be able to get an idea of how the shoreline  has been changing and get a good idea of where the shoreline was during the period that you are interested in.  You might also be able to distinguish between man-made and natural changes to the shoreline.  That would be one of the first things I'd find out if I were searching a place like Oak Island.

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It looks like we'll have a calm surf with nothing higher than two feet for the coming week.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

5/1/14 Report - Flash Flooding, More Beach Observations, Old Maps and Sedwick Auction Goes Live

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



I recently posted some links to articles about discoveries over in the Gulf Coast area.  I used to hunt that area fairly frequently, especially around Pensacola.

They are now having flash flooding over there (see photo here).  That could uncover some old earth and artifacts.

The Pensacola News Journal reports the following.

 About 23,700 people are without power in Escambia County and 1,300 in Santa Rosa. Gulf Power is still evaluating how long it will take to get power restored.

Here is the link.

http://www.pnj.com/story/weather/2014/04/29/weather-alerts-flooding-hazardous-weather/8448465/

Not only have I been talking about the Gulf Coast area but also about checking any newly exposed or disturbed earth.  I can guarantee old things will be uncovered by flooding like this.

It looks like we will be getting thunder storms on the Treasure Coast Friday and Saturday.


Yesterday I was talking about sitting at the beach and observing.  Clint L. sent me a long email.  I'll post the part that relates to that now.

Here is what Clint said.

I decided to spend a week at the beach WATCHING…People and their actions., waves and their actions, seaweed etc.

What I saw was this: Women would stand in waist deep water in fall/winter waves and get blasted midsection and the reaction of throwing their arms up and outward caused watches, bracelets and rings to pop off and go out in the water. Guys would perform sumersaults off buddies shoulders and large necklaces would come off.

 I stood at the waters edge at Lake Worth Beach  and watched waves for hours…if a wave comes straight in and straight out, I did not see anything except herringbone necklaces (eye sight)  washing up the beach slope and looking like a yellow pencil and then rolling back on the wave retreat. I would snatch these up immediately. They were always straight where the smallest sand particles would lock them in a straight position. I found Necklaces with Gold Maltese Crosses, Eagles, etc by eying the beach and would see about 3 to 6 inches of chain moving with the waves and grab it . People would walk right by this stuff and not be aware of it.

If a wave comes in at an angle, and creates a crescentic motion, coins, medallions and other flat things would actually surf in and drop out at the peak of the wave…yes, in a 15 minute period,  I watched 3 quarters, 2 nickels, and a dime size St. Christopher in 14k drop at my feet.

I found small gold and silver chains by SIGHT wrapped up in the sea wrack at high tide zone.

 

I'll post other parts of Clint's email some other time.  His detecting goes back quite a number of years and includes the famous storm of 1984 among others.



The first session of the SedwickCoins treasure auction will begin this morning (5/1/14) at 10:00 EDT.

Gold cobs will be auctioned first.

Here is the link.

http://auction.sedwickcoins.com/auctionlist.aspx



You can find some really good research materials on Ancestry.com.   Here is a map that I found useful - just as one example.

Notice towards the upper left corner where I circled the Old Miller Block House.  An Indian massacre took place there.

The map is an 1870 land use map, and it is very useful.   All of those old buildings and farms are good potential detecting sites.

As I've said before you can join Ancestry.com for a free trial period.  You'll be amazed by all the good research resources.


On the Treasure Coast the surf will be up to about four feet today and tomorrow maybe another foot or so higher.  Unfortunately the wind and swells are still coming from the South.

Don't forget to respond to the blog poll.


You might enjoy watching the bidding on the auction today.  It goes fast.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net