9/26/19 Report - Karen Turns Our Way. Software Update for Equinox. Metal Detector Maintenance.

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

Tropical Storm Karen and Hurricane Lorenzo

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

We have two systems in the Atlantic to watch now, although neither is likely to affect us much, but they weren't sure about Dorian and Karen has already made a turn.

Projected Path of Karen.

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

Karen, which was heading north/northeast, has made a turn and is now heading west towards the Bahamas.  They are still saying she isn't anything for us to worry about.  That doesn't necessarily mean she won't eventually send us some nice surf.

Predicted Surf for the Fort Pierce Area.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

As you can see the surf is supposed to increase next week.  Unfortunately I'm not seeing any north winds to go along with it.

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Several people notified me of the 2.0 software update for the Equinox detectors.  I'll include the note from Joe D. because he added some other useful information, including his experience with the update.

Here is what Joe said.

   I hit Carlin Park today after a quick look, just before low tide! I really liked what i saw, and hunted multiple lines from dune cut to water line! And also amongst the rocks! I love hunting here when this much is exposed by the weather! Although there were some mushy spots, there was plenty of areas to search!  

    On the not to love side, there were few good targets! A lot of minute can slaw, and probably 50 pull and pop tabs! I was mostly aware of what the targets were, but dug everything anyway to reinforce 

sound differences! I pulled a few coins in the rocks that were near cemented in, and had to work to get out! But nothing old! Still and all, l still like it there!

     I got a notification from Minelab of a new software update! This was the first update since I've owned this machine! The process was fairly quick once i figured out where to find it on the site! It was listed under the specific detector, not the main page! 

    I also took the time to disassemble and clean my detector! I've used it a lot lately so the need was there to check out all the parts! I had noticed that the plastic arm cuff was creaking a lot when detecting, and i thought it may break a few times today! (Really the only cheap part) I added a temporary fix until i get a new aluminum Jeff Herke cuff from Steves Detector Rods; that i ordered today! I've emailed Steve several times in the last several days, and he was extremely helpful, and accommodating for the order!

     I also checked the silicone seal that i installed a few months ago in the handle, and cleaned before reinstalling! Its doing a great job keeping water and sand out of that area! Well worth the money! 

    The cleaning process reminds me a lot of cleaning my rifles!  I got nailed by a few carbon fiber strands from inside the shaft sections, but now I'm ready to go again! 

     Also, i pull the coil cover off and wash the coil out after every beach run! It can build up a lot of sand there, as well as the lower section of the shaft, which can clog and hold water and sand! Some people hate coil covers, but i would not hunt without one! Or my coil would be destroyed by now!

    I will send a few pics, as always!

 Joe D.

Thanks Joe, and thanks to all of those who took the time to notify me of the update.

Here is what Minelab describes as the benefits of the update.

Difficult ferrous targets — the common enemy for all detectorists. That is until EQUINOX. Hit the download on our EQUINOX update to make those pesky bottle caps, rusty nails and other falsing targets a thing of the past. Fire up the Minelab Update Utility and you’re on your way. It’s simple. You’ll experience the enhanced Iron Bias feature, improved EQUINOX 600 backlight and much more.

Improved Iron Bias

Iron Bias has been enhanced with the addition of a new Iron Bias settings profile. The original EQUINOX Iron Bias 'FE' settings will still be available, but there is now the option to switch to the new Iron Bias 'F2' settings, which have an improved capability to reject a much wider range of difficult iron targets, including bottle caps.

EQUINOX 600 Backlight Brightness

The EQUINOX 600 now has the ability to adjust the backlight brightness to an additional 'Low' setting that matches the minimum setting on the EQUINOX 800. This 'Low' brightness is ideal for detecting at night and in low light conditions.

And here is the link for the update.

https://www.minelab.com/usa/equinox-software-update-2-0?fbclid=IwAR3QcyFBFqKsq-uzIG0tAhWewoMFjvKAP2DCuqhRGGIrzB7cR2GZG9i4L9g

I really didn't have much trouble with iron or other trash using the Equinox 600.  I've discussed the reasons for that in the past.  It is more the possibility of skipping gold than hitting trash that bothers me.  There are a variety of ways of staying away from or identifying iron.  Sometimes you don't want to skip it though.

I think I'll quit there today.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/13/19 Report - Revisiting Factors For Successful Detecting. Whats Different: Now and Then.

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

Recent Falcon Heavy Liftoff From Kenny Space Center

Thanks Alberto!  Great photo!

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South Hutchinson Island Beach As Seen Yesterday.

One thing that impressed when I saw the above beach heavily eroded a couple weeks ago, is how much sand there is on our beaches now.  Like many beaches along the Treasure Coast, this beach was renourished a year or two ago.  The cliff you see is in renourishment sand.  I don't know where it came from.

But what struck me most is when I looked at the first condo you see to the south.  I remember when there was a rock outcropping exposed all the way back almost to the condo about twenty years ago.  I wish I knew what year that was.  But back then, around the same time, Jensen beach was eroded back to the seagrape trees, and north of John Brooks the erosion was all the way back to very near the condos.

People sometimes say that most of the treasure has been found.  I don't buy that.  Obviously some of it has been found, but I don't think that is the big problem.  I think the big problem is all of the sand.

This year we saw some pretty big erosion at John Brooks and Frederick Douglass, but nothing much was reported found.  I believe the reason for that is that the erosion was into renourishment sand.  It didn't get down to the older layers of sand.  The erosion was far from where it had been in the past.  As recently as 2004, when we had the hurricanes of Francis and Jeane, John Brooks was eroded all the way back and under the board walkway.  That is much farther than anything we've had in more recent years.

On beaches like John Brooks on South Hutchinson Island, you don't have high dunes behind the beach to erode and dump new targets on the beach.  And it is unlikely that many old targets will show up on the beach while the renourishment sand is piled up on the beach and in front of the beach.

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I developed and presented a metal detecting success formula in this blog.  One of the advantages of doing something like that is that it really forced me to think it through. And then when it is communicated, it is open for review, criticism and discussion, which leads to additional refinement and improvement.

My success formula, as I posted it in the past, is as follows.

S = L x T x Sk x E x D.

I defined Success as the number of finds. I suppose it would be better to define success in terms of total value.  Value, of course, is subjective.  (You might be interested in my post on metal detecting math.)

L is location. T is time spent detecting. Sk stands for skill level, D, the detector used, and E is amount of effort.

I discussed those factors to some extent in previous posts. I talked about the effort factor in my 1/9/18 post, for example.

Extreme effort can really pay off.  That refers to really pushing the boundaries in a variety of ways.  I've discussed that before and won't get into it now.  Extreme effort can be limited by your determination, physical fitness, and courage, or  should I say stupidity.

D is for the type of detector you use and its capabilities - not how you use it. How you use your detector is part of the skill factor.

I wanted to revisit the formula and refine it a little more.

The factors on the right side of the equation are listed in order of my estimation of their relative importance.  Location is the most important factor in my opinion.  If you are not where the targets are, none of the rest matters much.

All of the factors interact.  If you have a quality detector, it still doesn't matter much unless you know how to use it well.  The skill factor interacts with the detector factor. 

The factors that I have been thinking about a lot lately are the Location and Time factors.  I mentioned not long ago the importance of the time you spend scouting around and how that time can be as important as the amount of time you spend detecting.  Time spent on the beaches and time spent scouting the beaches can dramatically improve your chance of being at the right spot at the right time.  

The time factor includes time spent in the field as well as time spent actually detecting. It also includes research and information gathering.  Therefore to be more specific, my time factor includes three factors: time scouting (Ts), time detecting (Td), and time gathering and assimilating information (Ti). 

I have some things to say about scouting beaches, but I'll keep that for another time.  Scouting interacts with beach reading, which is a part of the Skill factor.  

You might think I'm making much about nothing, but if you take time to think it all out in a clear and specific way, you'll notice things and increase your understanding even when you don't realize it.



Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/18/2019 Report - How To Identify Fake Coins. Palm Beaches. Obstructions Causing Cuts. Vero Coin Show This Weekend.

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

Palm Beach Yesterday (Thursday)

Photo by Joe D.

As you can see, there are no cuts on this stretch of beach.  That is the kind of thing I've been seeing lately.

Palm Beaches Erosion Yesterday.

Photo by Joe D.

Besides the small cut, there is another difference in this picture - the rocks.  As is often the case, rocks, sea walls, jetties, inlets and other obstacles to the natural flow of water and sand will produce erosion where there would otherwise be none.

Erosion Around Rocks.

You can tell that this is sand that has not been there long.  Notice the sea weed.

The erosion is enough to wash out some coins and other things that were lost in the accumulated sand but would likely produce nothing much old.

Here are Joe's finds.

Finds by Joe D.

Thanks for the beach and find photos Joe.

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If you've been detecting very long you've probably found at least a few fake or reproduction coins.  They can be confusing at first.  The first one I found took a lot of time in cleaning and research before I learned what it actually was.

Identifying fakes can be more difficult when coins are heavily encrusted.  They can be completely  covered, or nearly so, and you can spend a lot of time carefully cleaning them before you learn that you have a fake.

After you've seen a few, you will be able to spot some fakes at first glance, but others, especially types of coins you've never seen before, can still be difficult.

If you've seen enough beach-seasoned Spanish reales, you can probably easily identify most fakes.

I found a good web site that tells how to identify forged ancient coins, but it will also help you with cobs and other types of coins.

Here are four methods of creating fakes that are described on the web site.

1. Casting - Molten medal is poured in to a mold made from an original coin. This method methed is as old as counterfeiting and forging.



2. Electrotyping - An original coin is impressed into fine clay onto which metal is electroplated creating a shell with a good impression of the coin. This method was invented in the mid-19th century.



3. Die striking - Dies are produced produced on which an image of a coin has been replicated and the false coin is struck. This is a version of how most genuine ancient coins were minted.



4. Tooling - Engraving details either by hand or machine. Normally used to alter a coin to either improve its details, or to alter design from a common type to a rare type, but sometimes to improve details on a fake to make it look more genuine.

Nearly all fake ancient coins are made by one of these methods so sometimes combining two of them as when a cast fake is tooled to remove evidence or casting.

One way to identify a fake, is to test the type of metal.  Most fakes are not made of the right type of metal.  All of the fake reales that I've found were made of some metal other than silver.

Many fakes are plated.  That often provides the first clue.   If fake has been in the surf, the plating can be worn off or starting to wear off.

You can also often tell a fake by the amount of wear or lack of wear.  But that means you are familiar with normal wear patterns.

If you want to learn to identify fakes, you will want to use the following link.

http://www.calgarycoin.com/reference/fakes/cast.htm

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Captain Jonah sent an email reminding me about the Vero coin show this weekend.

The 55th annual Vero Coin Show is approaching fast.  The show is being held Jan 19 & 20, 2018 at the Vero Beach Community Center.  The address is 2266 14th Ave, Vero Beach, Fl.  We still have a few bourse tables left so if you are interested please contact us.  This is a very busy show with attendance averaging around 1,200 people.

This is the perfect show to sell your coins or buy new ones.  Our dealers have been with us for a long time and are willing and able to help you any way they can.

For further information please contact Scott Anderson at verocoinshow@gmail.com

Here is the link.

http://treasurecoastcoinclub.org/2019-vero-coin-show/

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Nothing new to report with the weather or beach conditions.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

5/30/17 Report - Exposed Reef In Ambersands/Sebastian Area. Big Nested Iron Pots Found On Margarita Site. Personal Story of Sadness and Gratitude.

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

Exposed Rocks at Low Tide.
Photo by Darrel S.

 The rocks you see in the picture above and below were found by Darrel S. two or three days ago in the Ambersand/Sebastian area.

He detected the area and said he dug a hundred holes and left fifty more targets he didn't feel like digging.  There was a lot of small junk.  A lot of fishing stuff (See below.).

Rocks Exposed At Low Tide Up In Sebastian Area.
Photo by Darrel S.

Dug Fishing Related Junk.
Photo by Darrel S.

Darrel also said there was a lot of noseeums one day.  And on Sunday the parking lots in the Turtle Trail area where full - both sides of A1A.  He didn't find a place to park.

Well Memorial Day is over and there should be some out there that the beach-goers lost.  We are getting the summer heat now.

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Here is some news from the Fisher organization.

The Sea Reaper worked the Margarita scatter where a lot of artifacts from the galley were found.  They recovered over 100 artifacts in that area, including two heavily encrusted large nested iron pots.  Other finds included musket balls, majolica, blade fragments and other unidentified objects.

They will be searching an area that they call the "silver store house," which is where 17th century salvors found numerous silver bars.  Personal property of passengers such as emeralds and jewelry might also be found in the area. One eight reales has been found there.

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I posted a picture of may father yesterday.  He was in France in 1943, I think.  I posted that it was 1944 yesterday, but after thinking about it some more, I think it was probably 1943.  Anyhow, I awoke last night thinking about something I felt compelled to post today.

When I was about eleven  years old, which would have been about 1956, my dad was driving me somewhere on a unpaved road that snaked along the top of  ridge.  On both side there were green farm fields descending into a valley.  Near one very sharp bend in the road, somebody was building a house on top of a high point that would have been a fine lookout from which you could see for miles in every direction.   It was a very small house being built out of what appeared to be second hand lumber.  Mockingly I cracked, "You might as well live in a chicken coop."  My dad's reaction was strong.  I could see the anger in his eyes.  He told me something like, "Never judge a person like that."  At the time, I didn't really understand why he reacted the way he did.

Many years later - a few years after he passed away - I learned why he responded the way he did.  He was right.  It was wrong to judge a person that way, but there was more to it.  When he was young - younger than I was when this incident took place - there were times when he lived on the streets.  His father was gone and he dug ditches and did what he could from the time he was ten years old. I was too young to realize it, but he was ashamed of his childhood and early family life,  He never talked about it, and  I never knew or met any of his relatives.  If I asked about his family he just said that he was s*it in a field and hatched.

Back to the chicken coop.  When he was about the age I was when this incident occurred ( which would have been during the Great Depression, as well as I can figure it ) he and his destitute single mother and two half siblings lived in a chicken coop.

He wouldn't want me to tell you this, He wouldn't want anyone to know about his youth.  It wasn't long ago that I learned about this.

He was ashamed of where he came from.  He should have been proud of what he overcame to become the man he was.  I thought we were rich.  We didn't have much ( something else I didn't realize at the time ), but I had more than the other kids I knew.  I really did feel wealthy.  I never went without food, and he made sure I had more than I needed and everything I wanted.  He should have been proud.  I had love and security and he spent his hard earned money on toys and things for me that he never had.

I didn't realize it at the time, but he should have been proud, and I should have been ashamed.  But what do kids know?  What do any of us know?

It is always hard for later generations to know what it was like before their time.  And it is therefore hard to appreciate their accomplishments.  The same thing applies to history in general as well as metal detecting.

Very often, we know too little until it is too late.  Thanks dad!

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Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/29/15 Report - Beaches and Rocks. Entertaining Angels Unaware.

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

Morning Clouds On A Treasure Coast Beach

Small Rocks and Stones On Treasure Coast Beach.

I haven't been talking much about how sand and things move on a beach.  I will be talking about beach profiles and similar things again soon.

Here is a picture showing a beach where stones were accumulating on a beach.  They were up to about a foot and a half in diameter.  It is just an indication of how things like that are washing up at that location.  And as I've said many times, it has to do with density and size and shape - not weight. There might be other things washing up nearby.

Sometimes it appears that unmoved rocks were uncovered, when actually they washed up or out.

Expect a few days of three foot surf.

I have some recent finds to show - both old and modern.  I'll get around to that some day soon.

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I really enjoy Christmas and always have.  After all of the excitement, people tend to slow down a bit and reflect on the old year and think about the possibilities for the new year.  That is what I've been doing.

One thing I was thinking about is how some people seem to be like black holes.  No matter what you do for them or give them, all the good will is quickly consumed and disappears.  They aren't grateful.  They aren't thankful.  They don't appreciate what people do for them.  They somehow feel short-changed and have a very negative view of other people and the world. As a result, they are critical, nasty and create ill-will when and where they could just as easily create good will.

Unlike those people, there are grateful generous people who appreciate what you do for them, and they multiply it, giving it out again many times over and as a result receive more themselves.

The phrase "angels unaware" has been on my mind.   It comes from a Bible passage that warns people to be hospitable because you never know when a stranger might actually be an angel.  The Hebrew and Greek words translated "angel" in the Bible also means "messenger."

It doesn't matter if you believe in angelic beings walking the earth or not, the more general point is that you never know who a stranger might be and what opportunity or gift they might represent.  As a result, taking a person too lightly or dismissing them as unimportant or insignificant is an easy way to miss an opportunity.

I'm not just moralizing here.  This applies very much to metal detecting and treasure hunting..

I remember one time when I was looking out over a beach on a stormy day and another fellow came up and starting talking to me.  He told me something that I knew was clearly wrong. It had to do with the location of a treasure wreck.  He got insulted that I didn't agree with him.  He evidently got angry and went off muttering something or other.  I was just trying to tell him what I believed to be the case.  He took it as an insult.

There are times when opportunities stand right in front of you and you don't realize it and as a result miss out.  I'm sure I've done it many times myself.

It is like the waitress that served my family and I on Christmas Eve.  She was pleasant, attentive and went beyond what she had to do and as a result got two or three times the tip she would have received otherwise.  She had been working very long hours and it would have been very easy for her to feel tired, over-worked, agitated, get nasty and rude and miss out.

Pioneering treasure hunter Art McKee was well known for his generosity and willingness to share, He often met tourists who pulled into the parking lot of his treasure museum, and even if the museum was closed, he would sometimes give personal tours.  Many stories were told by people who pulled into the parking lot and without knowing who he was, struck up a conversation and ended up receiving a personal tour or even a chance to dive on one of his sites. Others didn't recognize him and paid him no attention and quickly drove off, missing the chance of a lifetime.

Often a conversation with a stranger on the beach will result in a good tip.  Don't do it for that reason though.  It seems to work much better when your motives are not selfish.  When you are giving, that makes others feel like giving too.

There is no way to know how many such opportunities you might have missed.  I do know of many times when I was eager to help someone in one way or another, perhaps with a gift or assistance but then some rude or dismissive action killed the opportunity.

There are reasons that some people seem to receive a lot more than others.  It is not all just an accident. Some people by their generosity and positive attitude tend to draw good to them, while others seem to repel what they are seeking.

Don't get me wrong.  I'm not saying that only good people do well in life and if life has been tough for you, it is your fault.  Sometimes it is, but sometimes it isn't.  It is not all about trying to get the most you can for yourself.  It isn't all about material gain and worldly success. If you read me that way, you are not getting all of what I am saying.

You never know who a stranger might be or what opportunity they might represent.  There might actually be an angel of sorts at your door.  Don't turn him or her away.  A rude comment or selfish attitude might cost you much more than you could ever guess.

Respect others.  Don't be eager to find fault or take offense.  Build up a bubble of goodwill around you by being kind, forgiving, generous and seeking to appreciate the good qualities of others. 

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Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/31/15 Report - Now Hurricane Fred. Beach Processes and Coins. 11,000 Year Old Idol Found.

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

For me, the one area where the most questions remain is the breaker area, especially when that is close to the beach like it was yesterday because of the big high tide.

There were surfers catching some nice waves at Wabasso yesterday but the rides were short because the waves were breaking right in front of the beach.

There is so much turmoil where the waves break and it is so difficult to see exactly what is going on there, that it is hard to figure it all out.  It was only recently when I saw those pictures that showed waves sucking sand that I learned about that.

I've talked about how the recently found escudos appear to be in such great condition, and I've also talked about and shown the rocks where they were found.  It might seem that unless the coins were hidden in the cracks, crevices and holes where they would be protected, that they would show a lot more damage. That may or may not be true.  It is possible that they were under enough sand to protect them even if they were not hiding in cracks or holes.  Remember, there is normally two to four feet of sand over the rocks along there.

Above is a crude diagram that I scribbled.  Maybe it will help some.

What I am showing, top to bottom, is the water level just in front of the beach, and something like three or four feet below, the irregular rock surface.  The brown lines represent various levels of sand.  The red/orange dots represent coins.

The coins tend to settle as the sand moves.  One question is how much the sand in the holes move.  I'd say that it is not much.

If the sand is at level A, all the rocks and coins are covered by a good amount of sand.  As long as that amount of sand remains on top of the coins, they will be relatively stationary and very well protected.

If the sand between A and G is moved by erosion or whatever, the coin that was in that layer will settle on the next layer down.  It might then get covered by a layer of sand whenever sand moves back over it.  The coin also could move with the sand to some extent.

If the sand is removed so that C represents the new surface, some of the rocks will then be visible.  In this illustration the uncovered rocks would be those to the right side of the diagram.

Also, if the new level of sand was at C, then the top coin might end up sitting very close to the other coin that was on the rock below it. 

Instead of being a straight line though, you'd probably see some sand in the dips on the more protected side, maybe like that shown at H.

How deeply the holes might be emptied is hard to say.  I feel that the sand in those holes would be packed fairly well and remain very stable.  I think the holes would protect anything in them from most of the turbulence.  It would seem to me it would take a lot to clean out those holes, and as long as the holes are filled with sand, coins could not sink into the bottom of the hole, but would only sink as deep as the undisturbed sand.

To put it another way, I think it would take something unusual (not impossible) for a coin to find its way to the bottom of a deep and narrow hole.  I think the sediment in such a hole would be very stable.  Of course, sand would come out much easier than a coin.

We are dealing with a lot of unknowns here.  I am just trying to advance my understanding of this turbulent and chaotic area a little.

I can understand how water forcefully propelled downward by blowers might clean out the holes and cracks, but the question is if natural forces could clean out the cracks and holes.  Could crashing waves clean out those holes.

That is the part of the beach that is the most chaotic and the most difficult to observe and understand.

We know that coins have been down there for three hundred years.  One fact that stands out to me is that I've never seen those rocks exposed in the last few decades.  I could have easily missed that though, since I don't visit that area all the time, and I was not there when we had the big hurricanes of 2001.  If any of you were there after Francis or Jeane, did you see the rocks exposed there at all?  Have you ever seen the rocks exposed there as the result of natural forces?

There are places on the Treasure Coast where the rocks are normally exposed.  Walton Rocks is one.  Walton Rocks was named that at least a century ago, so I assume that hasn't changed much.

I just read the following, We are still emerging from that ice age, and sea level has been rising at highly variable rates over the last 20,000 years; during the past century, the rate of sea level rise has averaged 10-15 centimeters per century worldwide.  If that is right, three hundred years ago the sea level would have been about a foot and a half lower, and if everything else was the same, the beach would have been farther east.  Also from the look of the dunes and how they have to continually renourish the area, I'd also guess that the beach was farther to the east three hundred years ago.  That means the rocks would have been more covered back then, and even in recent years I have not seen them exposed.

I hope that is helpful.  It helps me to think it through.

In this discussion I mentioned a number of things that I'm pretty confident about as well as some things that I don't know about.  Raising good questions helps find answers.

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One thing I should have mentioned yesterday is the lightning.  As the thunder showers move through, there was frequent lightning.  That will probably be the case for a few days.  Be careful.

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A mysterious wooden idol found in a Russian peat bog has been dated to 11,000 years ago - and contains a code no one can decipher. 

The Shigir Idol is twice as old as the Pyramids and Stonehenge - and is by far the oldest wooden structure in the world. 

Even more mysteriously, it is covered in what experts describe as ‘encrypted code’ - a message from a lost civilisation. ..

Here is the link.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/mysterious-russian-statue-is-11-000-years-old---twice-as-old-as-the-pyramids-170632897.html#lLHd4iF

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Hurricane Fred has formed, but it is closer to Africa than us and expected to dissipate before reaching mid Atlantic.

We'll have some pretty big tides for a few days.  

Yesterday I showed what a lot of the Treasure Coast beaches looked like.  I don't expect any big change on that today.

Happy hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/23/15 Report - How Did The Escudos End Up Where They Were Found. A Few Thoughts. Tropical Storm Danny.

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

One of the Cobs Recently Found By the Captiana Crew.

Just a picture of one of the escudos on display at the press release Thursday.

The press release was at Captain Hiram's Resort in Sebastian.   The 1715 Fleet Queens Jewels guys talked about their recent finds and their experiences. There were a lot of TV cameras.  You probably saw clips from the release on the local news.  I heard one video clip from the release on the radio Friday morning when I was in the car.

There are some guys in the metal detecting community that try to make it all about themselves.  For them it is all me, me, me.   That is how they sound.   You know the type.   The P. T. Barnums of metal detecting.  Those are the same guys that have to resort to dirty tricks to sabotage other detectorists.  Unfortunately we have some of those.

That is the exact opposite of what I saw at the press release Thursday.  The Capitana guys are treasure rock stars, but they don't act like it.  They are some of the nicest guys you'll ever meet.

There was no arrogance.  No bragging.  There was no, We were successful because we were smarter and better than everybody else.  They told their stories with humility.  I wouldn't mind if all treasure hunters and detectorists were like them.  It would do us good.  Those are the kind of guys that you like to root for.  I know they'd be rooting for you too.

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I've shown a lot of treasure in the last few days.  I showed gold cobs of different sizes and types, and I showed a video of the guys finding those gold cobs.

There is a lot to take in and think about.  It is time to play Sherlock Holmes.  Let's see if there is anything we can learn.

Let's start with the cobs.  What did you notice?  One thing I noticed is the remarkable lack of scratches or other damage.  I didn't inspect the escudos carefully when I did get to see some in person.  Mostly I've seen photos, and that just isn't the same.

Gold is a relatively soft metal.  It can be easily scratched, yet the escudos seem to show very little damage of any kind.  Not even many scratches.

From the video we can see they were found among rocks, and they were found near shore where the breakers crash. You might think that combination would bang them up.  But you don't see much of that.

If you watched the video you also saw that many were found in crevices and cracks and dips where they would be protected.  Any covering sand would protect them too.

Yesterday I showed an escudo that was lodged in a crack of a rock.  And in the video we see that some of those pot holes were maybe two, three or four feet deep, and sometimes the space between the rocks was very narrow.  Once they got into a place like that they would be well protected.

Divers Finding Escudos In Dips Between Rocks.
Source: Video provided by Jonah Martinez.

Over the years I've found a lot of clad coins in the shallow water that were bent like those shown in the picture here.

Penny and Nickle Bent As Found

The picture shows just a couple examples of coins that I've found bent up, and some were bent almost in half.

If you try to bend a coin like that you'll find out how difficult it is.  That takes a lot of force.

I don't know exactly how it happens, but all the bent ones that I've found, if I correctly recall, were found near the water's edge or in shallow water. They were also found in areas where there were a lot of loose coral rocks.  I would see the rocks piled up at the edge of the water at times.  Sometimes you'd see them and other times not.  I'm sure the rocks got moved around, and sometimes piled up, and other times buried.  My guess is that the coins got trapped between rocks in rock piles and got bent when the rocks got shifted and buried.  That is my best theory at this point.

I see no evidence of anything like that on the recently recovered gold cobs - not even scratches.  What we see in the video is large rocks that would not move.

It appears to me, rightly or wrongly, that the gold cobs were well protected protected during the three hundred years they were lost,  Even hurricanes failed to damage them.

I'm guessing that these escudos did not drop immediately onto uncovered rocks when they were initially lost. I think either they were lost on the beach or in the water, but on sand, and then gradually settled as the sand moved.

There is the possibility that they were once in bags or boxes.  I know of no evidence of that though.

I think they gradually settled down into the rock crevices. Once covered by sand, even just a little, they would be well protected.

It is also possible that they didn't settled all of the way into the dips until sand was moved by the blowers. That is a possibility I want to look into. I have some experiments planned.

Once coins settle into the cracks and crevices and pot holes in the rocks, I think there is very little chance that even a hurricane would move them onto the beach again.  Those would certainly be protected from most, if not all violent water movement,  And they wouldn't move until the covering of sand was removed first.

If the escudos were lost on the beach or in deeper water or on sand over top of the rocks, they could settle deeper when the sand was moved.  I believe it would be possible for cobs to be lifted and even thrown, but in my opinion that would be very unusual and unlikely if they were protected by narrow crevices and deep pot holes.

There is still a lot to learn about how those escudos got to where they were found, but I think we may have at least started the journey.  I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

There are a lot of variables, for sure.  It seems near impossible to figure out all of this, but in the past year or two I've learned a heck of a lot that took me a few decades to learn.  For example, it took me a long time to understand and appreciate what I call "trigger points" and "drop points" and how that determines how items are sifted and sorted. For me, that was a big leap, and it just occurred in the past couple of years, and only after decades.

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Tropical Storm Danny
Source: nhc.noaa.gov

Tropical storm Danny is now headed towards the Dominican Republic.  As you can see things are heating up in the Atlantic.  There are three there other disturbances out there.

Danny will soon be downgraded to a depression.  I don't think it will amount to much by the time it gets close to us.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/10/15 Report - Beach Treasure - The Ground Floor. Rocks, Pot Holes, Cracks, Cuts and Beaches

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




I found another very good photo breaking down a typical beach.  Beach detectorists typically only detect a very small part of that.  We detect from the dune own into the water a short distance, but what diminishes the area covered even more is the fact that we only detect a few inches of the surface.  That would be the top few inches along the area shown in red below.  That isn't much of the beach.

First we have to narrow down the area of the beach where we want to detect, whether it is the dry beach, wet sand, shallow water, or what.  No one actually covers the area all the way from the dunes down and into the water.  That is simply too much area to cover.  You usually would be prepared for one area or another.  If you are working the dry sand you might want one detector or if you are working the shallow water another detector.  Maybe a different scoop and other equipment as well.

But my main point here is that you are only detecting a few inches of the surface of part of the beach.  Even with a very good detector you aren't getting into the deeper layers where there might or not be good things to be found.

When beach hunters are successful, the treasures are on or very near the surface for one reason or another.  Either they have just been deposited there (washed up or washed out) or a deeper treasure bearing layer has been cut into by mother nature.

When things are deeper into the yellow or one of the other layers shown above, we're not going to get them.

There is one way that the top diagram is not like what we have on the Treasure Coast.  The diagram shows various layers including sand, peat and clay, and we saw in a recent post a picture of a beach where those layers were being exposed, but the diagram does not show rocks.

You can see the rocks in many places along the Treasure Coast -  a lot along South Hutchinson Island.
You can see the rocks, actually reef, at Walton Rocks and down around Bathtub Beach, to name two notable locations.

Exposed Rocks On Treasure Coast.

At some locations the rocks are covered by a lot of sand and at other locations the rocks are actually exposed, at some times more than others as the sand comes and goes.  The big advantage the  treasure boats have is that they can remove the sand with blowers, and that is how they have been finding old treasures such as those that I've reported in the past.  The finds that I've reported were made after sand was blown away to expose coins and things that were laying on the rocks in pot holes and cracks between rocks.

Beach detectorists, on the other hand, are almost always detecting through inches or feet of sand.  We are dependent mostly upon Mother Nature depositing or exposing coins so we can find them in that few inches of surface that we have access to.  Old things also are occasionally made accessible when man moves sand, such as during construction or beach renourishment or something like that.

Rocks can provide a good indicator of the movement of sand as the rocks get covered or uncovered.

There is at least one Treasure Coast beach where I suspect that the reef covers a wreck or parts of a wreck.

I wanted to talk about the rocks today because that is one thing that the diagram left out, and they are very important.

Once in a while you will even find an old coin or something in a rock-like conglomerate.  That is not uncommon.  Very often it will be iron.

I've seen what looks and feels like sandstone form in about a year.  That sounds impossible, but I've seen it. It doesn't take very long for a sand and things to solidify in some places.  If you walk along the West bank of the Indian River and look at the lower concrete blocks that they put there to prevent erosion, in some places you'll see where sand has formed sandstone on the concrete blocks.

What you'll mostly see along the Treasure Coast beaches is a sharp type of rock like that shown in the picture above, but a few feet under the front of the beach you'll see large smoothed out flowing rock too.  You'll see the same or a similar kind also in places along the west side of the Indian River in places.

The coins found in deep pot holes won't be washing up in the near future as the result of nature.  It will take one heck of a storm to move most of them.  Others are more vulnerable.

What we're normally waiting for is a cut, something like that shown by my orange line above, where sand is removed and older layers are exposed.  That line is a little deceptive though.  You won't have a cut in one place without sand and things being moved elsewhere.  It is all connected.

The cut might cut into a treasure bearing layer, or coins might be deposited in front of the cut.  It could work either way.  And we've also in the past talked about other possibilities such as when coins are thrown up on the top edge of the cut.

In any case, don't forget the rocks.  They provide a surface beyond which things will not sink.  Sometimes that is close to the surface and sometimes it is several feet under the sand.

Along the west bank of the Indian River I'm told by the guys who place pilings for piers that the hard bottom is down about six feet.  Along the beach the rocks are sometimes exposed, such as on South Hutchinson Island, but up north, typically more like four feet- give or take.

As a detectorist, I've there have been a very few occasions I've seen when feet of sand has exposed treasure bearing rock.  When that happens you can find heavy concentrations of modern and/or older items.

I think I'll end there today.

Here is the link where I got the top diagram.

http://geologycafe.com/erosion/coastal.html

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There is no significant change Treasure Coast beach detecting conditions.  More of the same.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

2/8/14 Report - A Recent Treasure Coast Cut and Some Hints For Analysis. 17 Pound Gold Nugget Found.

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

Interesting Spot On The Treasure Coast Yesterday.

This picture makes a good illustration.  I'll use it to talk about beach analysis.

The low spot is just a touch above and to the right of the center of the picture.  That would be in the wet sand just behind the bigger rocks.

Cuts were very few and far between that day. This spot was not at all typical.

When I look at a spot like this the first thing I look for after looking at the cut is the low spot in front of the cut.  In this case, the low spot was bordered on one side by rocks.

The cut in this picture is about four feet high and maybe a little more.  As you can see the cut extends to the north a good ways.  It also extends a good ways to the south (out of the picture).

I'd take a look at the bottom of the cliff to see if it is a fresh cut or if it is a few days old and deteriorating.  Also look at the sand in front of the cut to see if the cut is filling yet, and if so, how much.  Check the firmness of the sand in front of the cut.

There are boards sticking out of the sand.  Check them to get an idea of how old they are.  In this case I was disappointed by how modern they looked.  I really should have taken a better look at them and the nails that were in them.   Nails can tell you a lot about the age of the boards.  I didn't take the time to uncover the nails.  That could have been a mistake.

Rocks can function as traps.  Both the rocks and boards can serve as markers, as they are covered and uncovered it will tell you how much sand is being added or removed.  Always take a good look at such markers.  They can provide valuable information.

In this picture you can see a bend in the beach.  Look at any cuts or dips to try to determine how they were formed.  There may be other similar places along the coast where similar cuts were formed.   I'd check other spots south of bends like this one.  Sometimes you'll get a good idea of where other cuts will occur along the coast by looking at how and where one cut was formed.

Just under the top layer of sand was a layer of course but hard packed red/brown shell sand.  You will learn to identify different types of sand and what types of items might be found in them.  That sand had been undisturbed for a good while, but the boards suggested to me that the sand had not been undisturbed as long as I first thought might have been the case when I first saw it.

Watch any spots like this over time.  They can fill or become deeper.  They can move any direction.  By watching the various markers, including boards and rocks, you should be able to tell if the dip is moving one direction or another from one day to the next.

Note when the dip was formed.  What was the wind direction at that time?

When a cut like this is formed south of an eastward bend in the beach, it would normally be a north/northeast wind.   When the wind changes there is a good chance the cut will fill again.

Any cut like this is worth checking out at least briefly.

Today we have a southeast wind.  That won't change until around Tuesday when we'll get a northeast wind again and a bit of a bump in the surf.

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Here is the kind of day you'd like to have.  A herdsman found a 17 pound gold nugget laying on the ground.   Now that is the type of eyeball find I'd love to make.

Here is the link for the whole story.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/chinese-herdsman-stumbles-onto-a-17-pound-gold-nugget-2015-02-05?mod=MW_story_recommended_tab

Thanks to Leo for sending that in!


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.ne