9/27/18 Report - Nine Foot Surf Possible This Weekend. Barber Dime From Rio Mar. People On the Galleons.

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

Very Sharp 1915 Dime Once Found at Rio Mar

This dime is very sharp.  It was evidently almost like new when lost.  Look at the sharpness of the details.

You can often get an idea of a where a coin has been by just looking at it.  This one probably spent most of it's life in the dunes.  It doesn't take much salt water exposure to blacken a silver coin, but it evidently was not in the surf.  The details are too sharp for that.

Too bad about the surface oxidization, it would otherwise grade very well.  As it is, most coin collectors would not have much interest in a coin like this.

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One day I talked a little about the variety of,people that would be on a galleon, from all the way at the top rank down to the cabin boy, but did you know that on warships there was a trumpeter?  In the sixteenth century there would be as many as six trumpeters on a warship, but by the seventeenth century there would be just one.

During battles, the trumpeter would stand on the afterdeck near the poop lantern and play continuously.  When there was no battle, he would play mornings and afternoons and at official ceremonies.

Galleons required a lot of maintenance on long voyages.  Of course skilled workmen were needed on each galleon.  They included carpenters, caulkers, a cooper, etc.  There was also a skilled diver.

The skilled workers had to supply there own tools and make repairs.  Even when there was no battle, rough seas could damage caulking.  Twice a day the caulker inspected the pumps and reported their condition to the captain and pilot.

During battles, the carpenter and caulker stayed below decks and repaired any damage from artillery.  They also worked on the ships during careening between voyages along with local workmen.

You can think of treasure and Spanish galleons and overlook the logistics and all of the daily duties that were conducted by the people on board.  It was no walk in the park.

If you are interested in learning more about that, and everything that went into the building of a galleon in the seventeenth century, I recommend Carla Phillips' book, Six Galleons for the King of Spain.

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Last weekend the 4th Annual Pirate Fest was held in Vero.  Alberto S. said a there was a nice crowd and lot's of fun especially for the little ones, even a cannon demonstration. Carl Fismer was promoting two books and a sunken treasure workshop in Islamorada in October which includes dives to 2 wreck sites.  

I missed that one.

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Kirk is still a tropical storm and headed towards the south Caribbean.

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

I'm hoping for some cooler weather.

It looks like a big Treasure Coast surf will be coming this weekend.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

2/3/18 Report - Why You Should Keep Track of What You Are and Are Not Finding. Treasure Coast Pirate Fest.

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

For more information
http://www.treasurecoastpiratefest.com/

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I find it useful to pay attention to what I am finding and what I am not finding.  I said something about that just yesterday.  There is always a reason why you are finding some things and not others.  Analyzing your finds will always provide helpful information.

That applies to all finds but it is easiest to illustrate by using US coins.  They are relatively easy to find and there are plenty of them, so that gives you a lot of data points.  It is easier to see patterns ad figure out what is going on when you have a lot of data.

I'm using US coins for my examples, but you so the same type of analysis with treasure coins, artifacts or almost any kind of target for which you have enough data.  I should say before going any farther, that it is a lot easier to develop generalizations about US coins than it is to develop good generalizations about treasure coins, but the same principles apply, and you can actually apply some of the things you learn from hunting modern coins to hunting treasure coins.

There can be a lot of unknown factors involved.  When there are a lot of unknown factors and you can't figure out what is going on, it can seem like pure chance, but there are still reasons even when you don't know what they are.

What you are finding or not finding can tell you something about the site you are searching, or something about how your detector works, or how targets are distributed.

If you keep good records, you will know the proportion of different types of coins you've found over some reasonable time span.  For example, I used to know for certain types of sites how many US coins I would find on average between each gold ring.  As a result I would know when I was long overdue as well as when I was in a hot streak.  I would start to wonder what was going on when I was long overdue.  That meant taking time to think things over and trying to figure out if something was wrong or if something needed fixed.

The main point so far is that there are reasons that you do or do not find certain types of targets, and it helps to know why you are or are not finding those types of things.

Maybe you haven't kept good records of your finds.  Lets just start with some rough numbers on coins.  Above is a table giving the production of various denomination of coins for 2015 and 2016.  If the production numbers for those years are fairly typical, pennies should represent something close to fifty percent of your coin finds if you are not intentionally discriminating them.  Nickels would be close to 10% of you finds, while dimes and quarters would each make up about 30% of your coin finds.

There are other coins listed such as half dollars and dollar coins, but they are few in comparison and are not found very often for other reasons, so I'll leave the out to keep things simple.

So what if you are finding a lot more quarters than dimes?  Again, there are a variety of possibilities.  Maybe for some reason there are more quarters at that site.  Or maybe you are detecting more quarters because of something about your detector or how you are detecting.  You might think it is hard to believe but some people detect a greater proportion of the larger coins because of their detector settings or how they detect.  A very poor detector, or a high coil and fast sweep speed can cause you to miss a greater proportion of small dimes.

If you know your typical coin distribution as determined by your own records with that detector, you will have a good idea of what to expect and therefore be alert to any deviation that might have a cause that you can address.  You might be able to figure out if it is due to the site, your detector, or something you are doing.

I recently mentioned how when I expected a lot of coins in one area and but was only finding nickels at first, how that told me that someone had probably already detected that area.  It is not uncommon for some detectorists to leave a disproportionate number of nickels behind.  The point being once again, that an unusual distribution of targets can tell you something.  In this case it had to do with the site.  It had already been detected.  Further analysis of finds at the site confirmed that.

To give you another example.  There was one beach where I was finding a lot of dollar coins.  That was unusual.  Anyone would take notice of that even if they didn't have a detailed set of expectations.  I found nearly a roll of silver dollars in one small area.  I thought maybe someone dropped a roll of dollar coins there.   I eventually found out that there was once a gambling casino at that location.  Again, ask yourself if any unusual distribution of coins might be due to the site, your detector or how you are searching.

Unfortunately we can't go from mint production numbers alone.  There are a lot of things that can affect your personal baseline.  My personal experience suggests that some detectors are more sensitive to nickels than others, as one example.  Where and how you detect will also affect your personal baseline.

Parking or park admission fees can have something to do with the distribution of coins at a particular beach, although that is less often true today than it once was.  If there are parking meters by the beach, there would usually be more coins of the type accepted by the meters.  Beaches that had concession stands had more coins.  I think you can see where I'm going with this.  There are quite a variety of things that can affect the distribution of coins at a site.

If we use the above mint production numbers to provide a sample baseline, you might expect something like two dollar coins per every thousand modern coin finds.  I doubt if that happens though.  A lot of the dollar coins go into collections instead of into circulation.  Also people are generally more careful with larger and higher denomination coins, and they are easier to find if dropped.  There are social/behavioral factors too.

I talked mostly about modern coins today, but remember whenever you are finding a lot of one type of thing and very few of another, there is a reason, and it might be worth thinking about.

Just to throw out one final example, I found a lot of reales and precious metal artifacts before I found any shipwreck spikes.  You might think it is a lot easier to find big spikes, but there was a reason I was finding the smaller precious metal items and no spikes.  In fact there were at least two reasons for that.  One had to do with my detector, which was used mostly to find precious metals and was not hot at all to iron,  and the second reason had to do with how I was hunting.  When I first hunted for shipwreck treasure I had for years up until that time been hunting gold jewelry.  I was still hunting like I hunted when I hunted jewelry.  I was disregarding a lot of items that didn't seem like they would be made of precious metals.  As a result I was finding small item made of precious metals but no spikes.  Again, there are reasons, and they can be addressed if you know what they are.

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We still have some decent tides but the low tides will not be quite so low as they have been recently.  The surf will be something like two to five feet for a few days.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

2/6/16 Report - Strong North Wind Moves A Little Treasure Coast Sand Friday.

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

South of Turtle Trail Friday After Low Tide

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Pirate Fest will be in Fort Pierce at Veteran's Park this weekend.  Here is the link for more information.

http://www.treasurecoastpiratefest.com/

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Thursday the wind at the beach was blowing north to south.  Friday it switched around and was blowing strong from north to south.  I thought it might start to do something to the beach so I went out to see.

As you can see from the picture above, there was a small amount of erosion.

Some sand was lost but not a lot.  Around noon it looked like a foot or so of sand had been removed from the beach front.  The blue bags were not visible yet.

If the north wind continues through the evening or overnight, the bags might reappear.

Here is a picture from the Turtle Trail beach access.

View From Turtle Trail Beach Access Around Noon Friday.

The view from Seagrape Trail looked similar.  Just a little sand had been removed.  Here it is.

View  From Seagrape Trail Beach Access Friday Just After Low Tide.

Fort Pierce South Inlet Beach Park Thursday Afternoon

On Thursday, as I said, the wind was blowing the opposite direction.  Above you can see how the south wind was moving a little sand from the front of the beach at Fort Pierce South Inlet Beach.

There are three steps there now, and about a seven foot cliff near the inlet.

Walton Rocks Showed No Cuts Thrusday.

The wind will be more from the northeast on Saturday.  If the wind keeps blowing at a good direction something might develop in the next day or two.

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Be sure to read Laura's research that I posted for 2/5/16.  It's great.

I have something else I'm working on that I think will be really good.  I had it started, but lost several paragraphs just a short time ago.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

2/1/14 - Big Storms Lead to Big Finds in the UK, Treasure Coast Site Produces More Relics and Pirate Fest Continues

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




Another Part of the Pirate Camp at Pirate Fest in Fort Pierce This Weekend

We've been having poor beach detecting conditions on the Treasure Coast for the past couple of months now. 

November was good, as I've documented.  There were a good number of Spanish treasure coins found that month.  At least we had one good month.  Of course winter isn't over yet and there is still a good chance of some good nor'easters.  Lately the wind has been from the West a lot of the time as the cold air has been coming in with the various fronts.

The high tides are higher than normal now, around Fort Pierce over plus 3 ft., and the low tides lower than normal, the last being minus one foot.   Those aren't huge tides, but for this area they are higher and lower than average.


I frequently say that there is always some place to hunt and something to be found.  That is true in more ways than one.

People continue to make finds off-beach.  Also finds are being made in other parts of the state, country and world.

You might have noticed that they have been having a lot of rough weather across the big pond.

I got word from one of this blog's friends, Peter H. from Wales.

Another Scene From Pirate Fest.

Here is what Peter had to say.

While its quiet on the Treasure coast its been very stormy in the UK with record rain wind  and storm surges which have stripped millions of tones of sand off the beaches exposing  ancient forests, artifacts and shipwrecks. Here are a couple of links from my part of the coast which I hope you will find interesting.

Thanks for the report Peter.   Here are the links Peter sent showing a real variety of great finds.  

Take a look.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-25943369

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-25709977

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/wales-weather-10000-year-old-forest-napoleonic-6502541

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-25917404

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/wales-skeleton-coast-reveals-another-2512908

Peter said, Its exciting times on the beaches over here !

We can see that.   Thanks!

Say Hi from the TBR blog to all of our detecting brethren in Wales.



There are some things being found in the Treasure Coast area.  I've been mentioning some of the off-beach finds.

A day or two ago I mentioned that SW found a Seminole War button.  He revisited the same site and found some other nice things.

Here is what he said.

I found another button, smaller than the first. Most definitely an Artillery, probably a cuff. Also found a period nail and some sort of a strap buckle. I did take photos tonight, I will send them when I find the camera cord.

 ... There is a new owner, the previous owner owned the property for a long time (decades). He hunted it extensively. One of the tenants said a young man hunted it several seasons. Very tough to hunt, either lots of heavy roots or extremely soft dirt, things sink! Everything over 4 inches deep. Modern quarters 10 inches. Lots of junk, I hunted four times, first target of the first day the jacket button, 2nd trip one silver dime. Third trip nothing, I was starting to get discouraged, but today, the smaller cuff button, strap buckle and the nail. Happy day.  

Thanks for the report SW. 

There is a lesson there.  Don't give up on a site too early.

You can often rehunt an old site and find more after a good rain.


Yesterday I reported on a missing church relic.  It was found.

Here is that link.

http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2014/01/31/italian-police-recover-blood-stained-cloth-from-relic-of-pope-john-paul-ii/


The predictions show something like a four foot surf along the Treasure Coast for the next several days.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/31/14 Report - Some Cuts on Treasure Coast, Gold Box Found But Precious Reliquary Missing & Pirates Camp at Fort Pierce

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

Missing Reliquary.

More about this missing reliquary below.

I took a look at a couple of Treasure Coast beaches this afternoon near low tide.

The water got up pretty high.  We've been having some fairly big tides.  Nothing real big, but the water did get higher on the beach than it has for quite a while.

Here is a picture of one cut that I found.  It is just over a foot or so high.  It is recent renourishment sand, so it will be among the first to go.  It is pretty clean sand too.

Cut Beach.

Sea glass and fossils are still available with the shells.

At another beach I took a look at there was no cutting at all, but you could tell that the high tide had been up high there too.

The high tide along with the North winds was responsible for the few small cuts, which were high on the beach.

The surf web sites are predicting a high surf a week out.

You know how it is with that kind of prediction.  Usually it never happens.

Treasure Coast Beach With No Cuts

Below is a link to a great web site containing many photos of Revolutionary War and War of 1812 items.  I've posted some items that I've found in the past that match items found on this web site.  For one example, I've shown a dug 76th Foot button that matches the first button shown on the site.

There is also an item that closely resembles a whatzit that I've posted in this blog. Unfortunately it isn't named on the web site either.

Take a look.  There are a lot of interesting items to look at.

http://www.pbase.com/richard_canada/buttons&page=all

Thanks to William M. for telling me about this web site.


For those with a serious research need, here is a link to the Naval Records of the American Revolution.

http://books.google.com/books?id=8qJLAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA537&lpg=PA537&dq=1788+st.+lucia&source=bl&ots=f4T3i6V6w-&sig=kfampyx5wZhgY1Frd9dU1vdpWIg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Wa_qUurgHZPrkAfE6YG4Bw&ved=0CEcQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=1788%20st.%20lucia&f=false


A gold reliquary case and church crucifix have been found but a precious relic (See photo at top of post.) is still missing after thieves stole and then discarded the items.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25969326

That is one way that treasures can end up in unexpected places.

Pirate Camp at Riverside Park

The pirates have set up camp at Pirate Fest in Fort Pierce.  Here is one pirate's home.

When I went past a band of buccaneers was entertaining and pirates were walking around in costume although the Fest barely got started.

If you go, dress for the occasion.

There is a weapons code.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/29/14 Report - Treasure Coast Sea Glass and Fort Pierce Pirate Fest

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

Exceptional Piece of Red Sea Glass Found
on a Treasure Coast Beach

I mentioned sea glass a day or two ago.  You might think that picking up sea glass is a nice thing to do, something like collecting shells but having no particular value.  That is wrong.  Not only can sea glass be valuable in an economic sense, but for the detectorist it can be an important indicator.

If you see sea glass while detecting, think about what it might tell you.  See if you can determine anything about its age or source.  That might help you determine if the site is worth detecting.

You might not know it, but like most collectibles that are bought and sold, sea glass has enough economic value, that it is often counterfeited or faked.  Some people actually try to create sea glass by tumbling or etching glass and then try to sell it as sea glass.

Obviously genuine sea glass has more actual value, and there are ways to tell the difference between genuine sea glass and fake sea glass. 

For one thing, tumbled sea glass has a more uniform surface than sea glass that is tumbled in the ocean.  Genuine sea glass also has a different surface patina created by being submerged in the water for years.  And that difference is not just due to salt residue.  There is an actually a change to the surface of the glass.

One vendor of sea glass jewelry uses the term "certified genuine" sea glass.

This web site explains how to tell the difference between genuine sea glass and fake sea glass.

http://www.bytheseajewelry.com/theglass/genuine.php

Here is one interesting paragraph from the above web site that addresses the issue of fake sea glass.

Cost is the best determiner. If you see a bag of blue or red sea glass for $5.99 and claiming it is real sea glass, it is not. For example - A single piece of bright aqua sea glass (unset in jewelry) recently sold for over $260. Single unset top quality red pieces can go for well over $100 in a pendant size. A pair of genuine blue earrings can sell for a much as $70 where a pair of artificial or faux sea glass will sell for around $25.

As you see, pieces of genuine sea glass can sell for hundreds of dollars.  

Of course not all genuine sea glass is of the same quality.  Very good sea glass can be described as jewelry quality.

Three Small Pieces of Sea Glass Found
on the Treasure Coast a Couple of Days Ago
The red is rare, the green much more common.

Some sea glass has not been in the ocean very long and has not been smoothed or changed enough.

Some beaches produce better sea glass than others.  Some have older sea glass, and some areas have a rougher surf and rocks or shells that smooth the surface of the glass over time. 

Rarity determines price too.  Yellow and orange sea glass are the most rare, with red following right behind.  Those three colors are highly sought after.   Blue is more common than those, and green, brown and clear are very common.

Red sea glass is sometimes from old warning lanterns.

Here is a web site that lists some Florida beaches where people can look for sea glass.  Some are rated.

http://www.odysseyseaglass.com/east-coast-sea-glass.html#Florida_

And the following web site talks about the rarity of red sea glass specifically.

http://www.odysseyseaglass.com/red-sea-glass.html


Very old sea glass, such as what is called black glass, can be a sign of a nearby shipwreck or other human activity from the past.

If you hold black glass up to a bright light, you will often see that it is not actually black, but olive green.  Also look for bubbles in the interior of the glass that might indicate that it was hand blown.

The piece of glass at the top of this post was being held up so that the sun light cane through it.  It is an exceptional piece of sea glass and would make a nice piece of jewelry.  It is not nearly as bright when not held up to the sun though.  It is a rare color, has a very good "cushion" shape, and is well smoothed.  It is about one fourth as thick as wide.

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As an unpaid advertisement, or actually more like a news item, Pirate Fest will be held in Fort Pierce beginning January 31 and ending Feb. 2.

Here is the link to learn more about that.

http://www.treasurecoastpiratefest.com/


On the Treasure Coast we have a two to three foot surf today.  Still not much, but the tide will be dropping more today.  That might give more access to shells and sea glass.

The surf will be increasing a little the next tow days, but not much.  Not enough to improved detecting conditions, but if you look out a week or so in the predictions, a higher surf is now predicted.   We'll have to wait and see if that actually comes to pass.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@oomcast.net