10/18/16 Report - BIG SURF Coming. Ferdinand VII Reale Find. Silver Sea Salvaged Forks. Pewter Fork Handle.

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

Predicted Surf From The MagicSeaWeed Site
Link cqn be found on blog.

The first thing I want to talk about today is the predicted surf chart from the MagicSeaWeed web site.

5 - 7 feet is still predicted for Monday.  That is good enough by itself, but then we also have around five feet predicted for the rest of the week leading up to as much as 12 feet for next Sunday.

There is a good chance that the 12 foot surf will not happen, yet it could.  All in all, that is the most promising thing I've seen all year.

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Coin Find and Photos By GoldNugget

Here is a nice old "holed" coin found by GoldNuggeet on a North Carolina beach.

It is very worn, but I think it is Ferdinand VII, which would make it 1808 - 1833.

The date would be at the bottom of the portrait, but I can't make it out.

Notice the counterstamp "RSH".  Anyone know more about that?  If so, let me know.

The legend on this side should be something like DEI . GRATIA . year . FERDIN . VII

Below is shown the other side of the same coin.

The mint mark and assayer should be to the upper left of the left column.

The denomination should be left of the left column at about the 9 o'clock position.

I can not make those out.  Maybe it is F dot M above the column - not sure.

The legend on this side should be HISPAN . ET. IND . REX . NG . followed by the denomination and mint mark and assayer initial.
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If you can correct any of this or add some information, please send me an email.

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One of the things that caught my interest at the Queens Jewels conservation lab in Sebastian is the number of silver forks.

Silver Forks At The Conservation Lab

That is a nice collection. They seem to all be very similar.

Unfortunately the State of Florida, according to what I hear, hasn't settled the 2014 salvage contract yet, so those finds won't be available for viewing or study through the state for some time.  You'd think they'd be interested in obtaining items that they determine have the most interest for the citizens of the state.  As it is, you probably have a better chance of seeing them here.  As I've shown before, most people who have viewed Florida's sea-salvaged history have done so at a private museum or display rather than through the Florida collection.

On the subject of forks, here is what has been identified as an 18th Century fork handle. This is an entirely different type, as you can see.

Ornately Decorated Pewter Fork Handle

This pewter fork handle, if that is indeed what it is, was found on a 1715 Fleet beach years ago.  I've heard that handles like this were filled with a type of plaster or wood.  I haven't seen any examples in artifact databases or anywhere.

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I'll be looking for the predicted increase in surf later today and hopefully we'll actually see the increase that is predicted for Monday.  Time will tell - real soon.

If you can correct or add to what I said about either the reale or fork handle, please do.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/17/14 Report - Mystery Item and 18th or 17th Century Pewter Fork Handle Find

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

Holed Piece of Pottery.

Some things you never figure out.  No matter how much data was being collected they never figured out what the Boston bombers were up to until it was too late.

To the left is a photo of an item I saw on a Caribbean Island along with a variety of 18th Century and earlier items.  I never figured this item out.

It is about one inch square and a little less than half an inch thick, with an obvious round hole made in the middle.

I don't  think I ever received any guesses on what it might be.  There was more than one of these types of whatzits at the site.

My feeling is that maybe a rope went through the middle or that it was used something like a washer, but that is just a wild guess.

Anybody have any other ideas?

Battles took place at that particular site and there was a fort nearby right around 1800.  Of course there was activity in that area hundreds of years earlier, and it could be much earlier.  I don't know.

On the other hand, it might take a while but eventually some items do get identified.  I feel fairly confident about the following item.

Pewter Find.

See if you can guess what it is?

It was found on a Treasure Coast shipwreck beach quite a number of years ago.

It is pewter, about five inches long and 3/8 inch across and deep.

It is hollow.

What I think it is, thanks to the input from others who I am pretty sure know more about it than I, is a fork handle.  The handle, according to those others, was likely filled with plaster.  I think that is right.

I never would have guessed, but I have seen other similar  items identified as 18th or 17th Century forks since, and they are very similar but more complete.


I can hardly believe that it was all the way back in June that I talked about the massive NSA data collection efforts and referred to George Orwell's novel, 1984.  In the past few days, not only has the President decided that changes needed to be made to the NSA data collection efforts, but I've been hearing a variety of Orwellian references.


On the Treasure Coast we've been having a succession of cold fronts.  Nice chilly weather, but the West winds haven't been doing anything for beach detecting conditions.

Tomorrow the surf will get up to a lofty two or three feet!  Wow!

Maybe we'll get some change eventually.


A few days ago I posted some bottles that were found on the Treasure Coast and I heard from at least one fellow that was out giving bottle hunting a try.

The winter is still young and hopefully we'll get some improved detecting conditions.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net