7/14/18 Report - More Treasure Coast Cobs and Monograms for Comparison.

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

Mexico Half Real Treasure Coast Find 

The last few days I've been showing some cobs from a May 2013 hunt.  Here is one more Mexico half reale from that hunt.  This one is about the same size as the one I showed yesterday, and also shows a fairly nice monogram.

Yesterday I also mentioned paying attention to any patina or encrustation.  If you compare this one with the one I showed yesterday, you'll notice that they have very similar pieces of shell adhering to the surface of the cob.

Philip Monogram on Same Mexico Half Reale

Unfortunately this one doesn't show the assayer mark like the one I showed yesterday.

I'll put them side by side.

Two Half Reales From the Same Hunt.

The two cobs have nice monograms and were found during the same hunt at John Brooks beach.  I chose to show cobs from this hunt primarily because of these two nice monograms.  I'm glad I had them labeled so I know where and when they came from.

The assayer mark is missing from the one on the left, but you might be able to see a piece of the M mint mark to the left of the P.  They seem to be similar, yet there are differences.  The one on the left has a big dot under the loop of the P, for example.

So far I've shown the half reales, which I like, but here is another cob from the hunt that is a bit bigger.

Mexico-Minted  One Reale

Shield On One Reale.

Instead of a monogram, the one reale shows part of a shield.  Ths one is still covered with encrustation.

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There is a good high and low tide today.  It would be a good day for some shallow water hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

7/23/17 Report - Capitana's Mexico Escudo Find: A Closer Look. Turning Failure Into Success.

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

2-Escudo Found by Grant of the Capitana a Couple Weeks Ago.

I thought I'd take a closer look at the shield design on Grant's recent find today.  Unfortunately it does not show either the date of the mint mark or assayer initial.  It does show the denomination (II ) to the right of the shield.

When I first looked at it, I thought it would be a 1714 escudo.  After taking another look, I see at least one thing that makes me think I was wrong and that it might actually be a 1715 escudo. There are a number of signs that might help you determine the date.

The following illustration shows the design elements for a 1713 escudo.

Design Elements For A 1713 Mexico 8-Escudo
Source: 1977 Bowers and Ruddy auction catalog.

Notice that the middle panel does not cover the lower castle that appears in the upper right quadrant.

Below is the shield for a 1714 Mexico escudo.

Design Elements For A 1714 Mexico 8-Escudo
Source: 1977 Bowers and Ruddy auction catalog.

The middle panel now covers the lower castle entirely.  That suggests that the escudo is later than 1713.

There are a number of variations on the 1714 design, but they are mostly smaller things such as ornamentation around the denomination indicator.  Sometimes GRAT appears where other times the date is displayed.  That is another variation.

Below are the design elements for a 1715 escudo.  Take a close look at the shield.

Design Elements For A 1715 Mexico 8-Escudo

Source: 1977 Bowers and Ruddy auction catalog.

The red arrow points to what I missed before and why I now believe that Grant's find is a 1715 escudo rather than a 1714.  There are 2 rather than 3 fleur de lis there.  That is what I missed before and what makes me think it is 1715 instead of 1714.

 I can't see some of the other elements on the real escudo.  That is typical, but my opinion now is that it is a 1715 escudo.

I'm no expert on these things and there might be other things I'm missing, but you might benefit from looking at these designs and realizing that there are a lot of clues to the identity of a cob even when it does not display the date or other information.  It might take an expert to identify them all, but it is always interesting to take a good close look at your finds.

If I'm still wrong about the date, I hope you'll let me know.

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Almost anyone can deal fairly well with success.  You celebrate, congratulate yourself and feel good about yourself and whatever is going on.  Maybe you don't learn as much from your success as you could.   Maybe you give yourself a little too much credit and don't acknowledge all the factors that led to success.

Despite the pitfalls of success, it is usually even more difficult to deal with failure - especially a lot of failure.   How you react to failure can be extremely important.  It is during the difficult times that you can learn a lot about the task and about yourself. As Thomas Edison said, “I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.”   (I don't know if he really said that.  They say he did, and it is a good thought anyhow.)

When you're not having success, strive to learn something from it.  Make use of the time and the experience.

I recently watched someone having trouble with a job.  He was having trouble doing something he had done many times before.  He became upset, and ranted and cussed.  The more emotional he got, the more mistakes he made.  He got stuck in a self-defeating spiral.  The more trouble he had, the more upset he got, and the more mistakes he made.

How you react when things aren't going well is very important - maybe more important than how you react to success.  Don't get to emotional.  Look at the situation analytically and see what you can learn or change.

Thomas Edison also said, “Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”   There were a couple of 49ers that had no success.    They finally gave up and were headed home when one of the discouraged miners shot himself.  On that spot a large nugget was discovered by his partner who was digging a hole for the burial. He retired very wealthy.  ( I wish I could remember the names of those fellows.  Maybe one of you can tell me their names.)

If you are not an eternal optimist, you have one strike against you.  You'll have to work harder to keep yourself encouraged and moving ahead.  If you are afraid of work, you have another big strike against you.  Edison also said, “We often miss opportunity because it's dressed in overalls and looks like work."  

There are other factors, but if you want it bad enough to work hard and stick to it, you have a very good chance of success.  Don't give up  when things aren't going well, but make it a time to learn and grow.

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Regarding the ring inscription that I asked about yesterday, I received a number of replies, first from Bill A., saying that it referred to a date.  All agreed that Dic 22/87 probably was Spanish for Dec. 22, 1987. Thanks to all for the help.  

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I enjoyed watching the commissioning of the USS Gerald R. Ford yesterday.

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No big changes in beach conditions to report.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/29/15 Report - Mystery Solved. Bogota Escudos: New and Old Finds. Real Eight Co. Changes For Erika Forecast.

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

Another Group Of Recently Discovered Escudos

This grouping shows some escudos from Bogota, Columbia.  There are two signs that provide clues.

On the cross side of some of these, you see a design feature that some have refer to as "scissors."  I can see why they refer to it that way.  They do look a little like scissors, but not a whole lot.  That mark appears in each quadrant of the cross.  The scissors, are just a distinctive type of rendering of one type of Fleur-de-lis.  On some escudos they appear much larger than on others.

On the other side of the escudo, in the upper right quadrant of the shield, where Naples and Sicily is represented, you see two dots instead of two birds.  That is also a tip off.

You might remember how I was surprised to see lions and castles of Leon and Castile in the upper right of a shield that I pointed out yesterday.  I thought that was unusual and possibly an error.  It was not an error.  Well, it wasn't an error on the cob.  It was my error.

That is what you see on some of the shields of Bogota escudos.  I hadn't seen that before, but found it listed in an old auction catalog in which a lot of Kip Wagner's escudos from the 1715 Fleet were being auctioned.

Illustration From Bowers & Ruddy 1977 Auction Catalog.

In the illustration from the auction catalog shown immediately above, the Naples and Sicily symbols are in the upper left of the shield, and the Leon and Castile symbols in the upper right.

I'm only aware of 2-escudos and a few 1-escudos from the Bogota mint, and no other denominations. The auction listed 75 2-escudos from Bogota and five 1-escudos.  The catalog shows many more escudos from other New World mints and is a very good reference source.

There were eleven different shield designs for Bogota escudos illustrated in the auction catalog.  Two had the Sicily and Naples symbols on the left side of the shield rather than the right.  So it was not an error or anything like that, just a design that I didn't know about and didn't remember seeing anywhere before.

It was in the early sixties that the Real Eight Company found the famed "carpet of more than 1000 golden dubloons."  They hit big again in 1974.

Most of the Bogota escudos sold in the 1977 auction averaged around $150, which adjusted or inflation would be just over $600 in 2015 dollars.  The price of gold that year averaged around $150 an ounce.  I think you would actually expect to pay something more like $2000 for similar escudos today.  That gives some historical perspective to the money aspect.

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Different subect: I feel a duty to provide the following warning.

Hurricanes are dangerous.  I don't want you to take the danger too lightly.  I don't want a hurricane.  I just want a storm that stays out at sea and churns up some waves.

Hurricanes do too much damage.  And people die in hurricanes.  I'd have to be a raving fool to want that.

Many of you have been through hurricanes.  Some who have been through a hurricane have been on the out skirts where you didn't get the full force.  I want to tell all of you, and especially those of you who plan to come in from other areas, (I've heard from a few that plan on doing that already) don't drive into a hurricane.  It is not a party.

They do a good job of forecasting these things anymore, but they are not totally accurate. Make sure you know what you are doing.  Don't do anything stupid.

You never know what you might be getting into.  There can be downed electric lines, blocked roads and closed bridges.  If we get much of a hurricane, you might not even be able to get to the beach for a few days.

I don't want to unnecessarily alarm anyone by saying that all or any of that will happen this time, yet it could.  Storms can do strange things.  They can take unexpected turns.

Play it safe on the beach too.  If you haven't been in a big hurricane before, you simply don't know what you might be getting into.  When the surf is high and the waves big, you might not be able to get on the beach anyhow for a few days.  The bridges will be closed.   And it will be too rough and dangerous to get down on the beach anyhow.  Wait until it is safe.

Some of the best beach finds have been made days after a storm.  People who have made really big beach finds have told me they thought they were too late and it was all over.  But that is when the big find was made.

Even after the water has gone down some, a big wave can easily catch you unprepared and sweep you off your feet.  It can be very dangerous.  Trees and other large debris can be washing in an out in the surf.  You can lose or have your equipment damaged.  I've known more than one person who was experienced with rough weather detecting that lost a detector or scoop to an unexpected wave.  Don't take this too lightly.  Err on the side of caution.  It isn't worth losing your life.

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In support of the above, I received this message from Robert H.

You are 100 percent spot on. Those treasure coast barrier islands could be completely submerged under water with a full moon and big tides that were predicated the storm surge is what mainly kills people. As a survivor of one of the worse hurricanes being Andrew and being right in the heart of the storm many were lucky the storm surge wasn't any higher. I know certain areas did see that 15ft rise in sea level but I think most all were evacuated from those storm surge areas in advance thankfully. In all reality we were extremely lucky to survive that storm. If it slowed down and lasted another hour or two with that intensity many more lives including mine could had been lost. Would hate to think of any fellow Detectorist going to wait it out in there car right there ocean side and get swept in the ocean or the ocean swallows them and there car.

Thanks for sharing Robert.

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There are two changes with the forecasts or Erika.  The track has moved more south.  She is now expected to land down at the southern tip of the penisnsula, and she is expected to remain a tropical storm rather than developing into a hurricane.

Predicted Track of Erika As Of 8 AM 8/28

The surfing web sites are now predicting only around a five foot surf now.  That means that it might not move much sand or stir up much of anything on the Treasure Coast.

Keep watching for any additional changes.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/14/13 Report - Design Features of 1711 - 1713 Mexican Escudos and Beach Conditions

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

Type of Cross Shown on 1711 - 1713 Mexican Escudos.
Illustration from Cobs, Treasure Coins and Pieces of Eight
 \\\by Sewall Menzel.

Yesterday I showed a photo of a one-escudo found by one of this blog's readers.  Today I'll examine some of the features of cobs like that.

First, 1711 - 1713 Mexico escudos displayed a cross with "crosslets" at right angles to each arm, as opposed to the box-ended cross of immediately preceding years.  See the illustration here as compared to the photo of the one-escudo that was submitted.






  

One-Escudo from Yesterday's Post.

The date of this cob, partially shown on the other side of the cob, is 1711.

The design of the cross we see here seems to match that date period.

I'm certainly not a cob expert.  I just pass along what little I've learned from good resources and experience.

If I got any of this wrong, feel free to correct me.

Shield Design For 1711 - 1713 Mexican Escudos.
Same Menzel Source.

Escudos of this date and mint show the OXMJ mint mark and assayers initials, and the Bourbon arms covers most of the lower-right castle.

The date, as you can see, is displayed at the upper left corner of the shield.  And the denomination to the right of the shield.  This particular illustration shows VIII, indicating the illustration is for an eight-escudo rather than a one-escudo.

Here is the photo of the one-real that I showed yesterday.  The shield matches up well.

You can not see the denomination to the right of the shield on the one-escudo, but you can see the partial date at the upper left corner of the shield.

I got out to the beach this morning finally.  The wind was blowing out of the South.  Here is one of the better looking spots that I saw.  The cut in front was about two feet at the highest.

I stopped at another beach, which had no cuts at all.

The front of the beach had a lot of shells that were covered by sand a little sand.  That hasn't changed much for a few weeks.

I'm sticking with my 1 (poor) beach conditions rating.  I think that is what it has been since December and maybe the last week or so of November.

Conditions are poor, but still better than summer conditions.



Here is the fascinating account of a fellow that was saved after spending 60 hours 100 feet underwater in a sunken tug boat.   Amazing!

I think I would have died.  The survivor found the Psalms to be a very present help in a time of trouble.

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/December/VIRAL-Man-Attributes-Miracle-Survival-to-Psalm-54/


Unlike most big web sites, I'm not selling, advertising or promoting anything here.  Just a reminder.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

2/15/13 Report - Seventeen Wagons Full of Lost Treasure, Newspaper Archives & Mystery Shield

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

Dug Shield for Identification.
Photo submitted by James F.
See more on this below.

Sherman filled wagons with gold and silver as he swept through the South on his famous march to the sea.  In  1889 a North Carolina newspaper wrote about the quest of a citizen of Charlotte who tried to find that treasure.

If you like history, you'll love this.  The North Carolina archives contain digitized newspapers going back to as early as 1751.   That provides an excellent research tool and it provides hours of entertainment for anyone wanting to read history in the language and style of previous centuries.

Just browsing through those newspapers, I read about the shipwreck of the Albion and the Central America, read about thefts, accidents, gold mining and prospecting, financial transactions and treasure hunts.

As one example, here is the beginning of the article that I found in the June 13, 1889 issue of The Carolina Watchman, page 3.

Excerpt from 1889 newspaper article.

You might want to look up that article and read the entire story.

The articles in the archive can be searched using key words.  The word "gold" is highlighted in this excerpt because that is the keyword I used in my search.

I find it much more interesting to read history as recounted closer to the actual occurrence rather than summarized in some later book or source.

You can also look at the ads etc.  The digitized newspaper archive seems to go back to 1751 so there is a lot to look through.  

I can't promise that you'll find exactly what you are looking for but I can pretty much guarantee you'll find a lot fascinating stories and details.

You can see how this resource can provide a lot of good detecting leads.

Although this particular collection is from North Carolina newspapers, the news covered is global as well as local.

You can also find old local newspapers online.  I was just reading a 1906 Fort Pierce newspaper, for example.  There was a lot of fun too.   Just search digitized newspapers and enter the name of the locality you are interested in (Fort Pierce, for example) and I'm sure you will be able to find it.

Here is a link that will allow you to search the informative North Carolina archives that provided the story on the treasure hunt for Sherman's treasure.

http://www.archives.ncdcr.gov/newspaper/search.html

You don't get free information like that everyday.  That will provide you with tons of reading and many detecting clues.  All free.


I posted a photo of a dug shield above.  Your probably wondering where it came from.  You are not alone.


It was dug by a member of The Central Florida Metal Detecting Club in a very old park just off a river in Sanford, Florida.

It is about 2" wide by 3" long.  The photo was submitted by James F., who enlarged and filtered it using Photoshop to try and bring out more detail.  Here is that image.

Filtered Image of Mystery Shield.

Let's put our heads together and try to figure out whatever we can about this find.  Notice the arms or legs of the figures standing up facing he triangle figure in the bottom field.  There seems to be something sitting on the triangle, over and under it.

Let me know what you think.  I'll post clues as I get them and we'll try to solve this.  



Besides the rain that lasted most of the day yesterday, in the afternoon the wind switched and started blowing in from the northeast for a while.  Pretty stiff wind.  I suspect there was enough to stir a little sand.

Friday and Saturday the surf is expected to be 1 - 2 feet, and then will pick up to 2 - 4 feet for a day or two.
Of course I don't expect any real improvement in beach detecting conditions from that.

Low tide will be between 5 and 6 o'clock.

One more thing.   Tonight (Fri.) you can watch an unusually close asteroid fly by the earth streamed live from an observatory starting 4 PM.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/clay-center-observatory

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

7/4/12 Report - 1715 Fleet Beach Cob

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

2-Reale From Treasure Coast Beach

Here is a 2-reale that was found on a Treasure Coast beach.

You can clearly see the center of the shield and to the right of that you can see the "2" indicating the denomination.


This photo was taken through the cellophane of the coin holder so it is not as clear as it could be. 

The  more you know about cobs, the easier it is to identify and locate important design features.

In the center of the shield you can see the Bourbon crest containing three fleurs-de-lis.

That means that even though you can't see either the date on the cob, or the mint mark and assayer initial, that would appear to the left of the shield, you still have enough information to narrow down the date of the cob to 1702 to 1710.  That would be a common date for 1715 Fleet cobs.  And this cob was found on a 1715 Fleet beach.

To the right is an illustration of the Bourban design as shown in Sewall Menzel's book, Cobs, Pieces of Eight and Treasure Coins.

You can see the difference between the Bourbon design and the Hapsburg design (1679-1701), shown here for comparison (Also from the Menzel book.)

There are a lot of clues to the identity and date of cobs even when you don't find a lot of detail on your cob.

As I've said before, I personally like half reales.  I like the monograms.

Half reales usually don't show much, but you can often tell a lot from what you can see.

Maybe I'll get into some of the variations that provide good information on half reales some other day.

Hapsburg Shield Design

The weather is hot and it is the fourth of July.  You can expect a good number of beach goers and therefore recent drops on the beach and in the water.  Unfortunately it also means a lot of sparkler wires and other fireworks trash.

The seas will be calm for at least a couple of days.

There is a full moon, but under the circumstances, it is hardly worth mentioning.


Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net