10/31/15 Report - $100,000 Eight-Reale. Ancient Shipwreck Cemetary. Sword Found. Ghosts of Treaures Past.

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

Lot 720 as shown in the Sedwick Coins
Online Auction Catalog.

This heart-shaped eight reale brought a winning bid of $100,000 in the Sedwick Coins treasure auction that concluded this week.  It is the best example known.

I held this reale myself and inspected it carefully.  It is beautiful.  Unlike many heart-shaped cobs, this one is not holed.

Potosi was the only mint to make cobs in this shape.  Heart-shaped cobs from other mints do exist, but they were shaped into hearts later instead of being struck on a heart-shaped flan.

The purpose of these special cobs is not known for certain.  There is an article about that on the Sedwick  Coins web site.





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Underwater archaeologists have discovered 22 shipwrecks around a small Greek archipelago, revealing what may be the ancient shipwreck capital of the world...

"Surpassing all expectations, over only 13 days we added 12 percent to the total of known ancient shipwrecks in Greek territorial waters," Peter Campbell, of the University of Southampton and co-director from US based RPM Nautical Foundation, told Discovery News...

Here is the link to that article.

http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/22-shipwrecks-found-in-single-greek-location-in-greece-151028.htm

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A hiker travelling the ancient route between western and eastern Norway found a 1,200-year-old Viking sword after sitting down to rest after a short fishing trip. Further studies of the area will take place next spring...


That sword was in really amazing condition too.

Here is that link for that article.

http://www.thelocal.no/20151021/hiker-finds-1300-yr-old-viking-sword

One more example of how amazing objects can be found without a metal detector.

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A lonely beach can be as busy as Times Square on New Years Eve if you really listen to your finds and use your imagination a little.  Fossils tell of giant sloths, mammoths, tapirs and Megalodons. Treasure coins conjure up ghosts of pirates, missionaries, conquistadors, sailors, and half-drowned survivors. Arrow heads and shell artifacts echo early man hunting and going about the business of survival.  Badly corroded World War II dog tags announce in sad muted tones the names of young men who trained in Florida for a landing in Europe that would change the world.  Modern coins and jewelry items tell of those who played, grew up and raised families on the Treasure Coast as well as tourists who came to enjoy the sun, sand and surf.  It is all there.  You can feel it if you are quiet enough.  You can see it if you respect it enough.

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It looks like we are in for a week or so of 2 to 4 foot surf.  Not very encouraging.

Please respond to the blog poll if you hunted the Treasure Coast beaches during the last half of October.  It will help me evaluate my beach detecting conditions ratings as well as tell us what was or was not found.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

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10/29/14 Report - Sedwick Coins Video. Coin Values: Ancient and U. S. Find The Best Home For Metal Detector Finds.

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

Here is a quick but powerful video showing some of the lots in the upcoming Nov. 6 Sedwick Coins auction in Orlando.

Above is one of the many images from the auction teaser video.  Click on the following link to go to the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pau9XNFLroo

Fun video!

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Many people think that an older coin will naturally be more valuable than a modern coin.  It seems natural that an ancient coin that is hundreds or thousands of years old would be very valuable.  You might be surprised to learn that U. S. coins are often more valuable than ancient coins though.  There is simply more interest in and a better market for many U. S. coins.

The U. S. Coin Values Advisor did a study involving the selling price of thousands of U. S and ancient coins on eBay to see how U. S. coins compared in value to ancient coins.

The average selling price for ancient coins was higher than the average selling price for Indian Head cents and Morgan dollars, but the highest selling price for both Indian Head cents and Morgan dollars was much higher than the highest selling price for an ancient coin.

There are many common and lower-condition Indian Head cents and Morgan dollars sold at relatively low prices, but rarer examples in fine condition sell for very high prices - much higher prices than ancient coins.

To be specific, an 1877 MS-66 Indian Head sold for $53,000 while a 320 BC Stater sold for nearly $15,000.  The Stater was over 1500 years older than the Indian Head.

Here is the table summarizing the results of that study.

And here is the link to the article about how U. S. coins are often a better investment ancient coins.

http://www.us-coin-values-advisor.com/Ancient-coins-vs-US-coins.html

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A variety of factors determine the value of an item, but you won't get the full value of an item unless you get the item in front of the people that really want it.  They say that an item is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it, so you have to get the item in front of the person that is willing to pay a lot for it.  That person will often be the person that appreciates it the most.

Some people don't sell finds.  I say it is good to sell an item when by selling the item it goes to someone who cherishes it and will take good care of it. 

I'm not talking about things like class rings or engagement rings here.

I've sold some items that went to museums where they were displayed and viewed by many people.  That is the kind of thing that pleases me.

One bottle from Fort Pierce was bought by a well known bottle collector, who published a picture of the bottle in a book on pharmacy bottles.   In cases like that I'm glad I sold the item, and I feel that I did the right thing by offering the item for sale.

Selling an item sometimes isn't just about the money.  It can be a way to find the best home for the item.

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The one remaining tropical disturbance in still down by the West Indies, but moving generally towards the Treasure Coast at this point.

We have a small surf on the Treasure Coast.  It might increase in a few days.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@Comcast.net.

10/10/14 Report - Subtropical Storm Fay and Two Other Weather Systems. Heavily Encrusted Objects. Ancient Greek Shipwreck.

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



Fay and Two More Disturbances.

It was a beautiful morning.  The breeze was very nice.

The big news today is subtropical storm Fay and two other disturbances. 

Fay is out in the Atlantic.  The predicted path of Fay shows her heading into the North Atlantic and away from Florida.

There are two other disturbances to the South and East of Fay that might be heading this way.

Very often we get a good beach ripping storm in either October or November.  We'll have to wait and see what happens with these two disturbances.

Today we had a two-foot surf.  The surf is predicted to increase up to about four feet by Monday and then decrease again.   We'll see how that turns out.

We're also finally getting a negative low tide.

About five or six years ago we had a very good October storm that washed out a good number of cobs.


Sometimes it isn't easy to decide if you want to clean a coin or artifact.  Sometimes it is the visible wear and tear that shows an item's age and makes it more interesting.

As I was browsing the most recent Sedwick Coins online auction, I was noticing how some auction lots showed evidence of years in the ocean.

Some auction items were almost covered by conglomerate or crust, while others showed just a touch of something.

Here are a couple heavily encrusted items from the auction.  I posted the link the other day.

Gold Ring Heavily Encrusted.
 

Heavily Encrusted Stoneware Bottle
 

Here is an article about items found on an ancient Greek shipwreck.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141009163757.htm

Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@Comcast.net