4/4/19 Report - Thoughts and Theories On The Gold Mystery Object. Beach Reports. More Beach Renourishment.

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

Gold Spoon
Picture submitted by Joe D.

I received several emails concerning Terry's recent gold find.  All were excellent, and the nearly unanimous consensus is that it is a Native American decorative item (one person used the specific word gorget) made from shipwreck or Spanish gold.  Coins were mentioned most.

The bowl of the spoon in the picture above bears a remarkable resemblance to Terry's holed gold item.  There is the possibility that the gold mystery item was not made from a coin, but maybe something else, like a bar, spoon, religious item, nuggets or whatever. 

It wouldn't take much to convert the bowl of the spoon.  Even if you don't accept the idea that the item was made from a similar spoon, the spoon does suggest the idea of other possible sources.

Dan B. suggested weighing the object to see if it's weight corresponded to that of an escudo.  Terry's object weighs 4.1 grams, which is less than the weight of a 2-escudo.  A piece of the item is missing, but I don't think that is enough, but maybe it is.   Investigating the weight was great idea, but it turned out to be inconclusive in this case.

Joe D. also mentioned that the shape of the holed item looked very much like a fishing spoon and the possibility that it might have had a more practical use.

A couple people were interested in the smaller item that looked something like a roofing nail in the photo. 

I appreciate all of the ideas submitted, and found each and every one worthwhile.  It is important to be open to alternative explanations.  Some will be eliminated, but you can benefit from getting all the ideas you can and thinking it through. 

What we know now is that the gold item was found on the same stretch of beach as an old sounding lead, lead sheathing, and another small piece.  As found, the items might be taken to suggest the presence of a nearby wreck.  If I generalize from what I've read from people, the consensus seems to be that a piece of gold (possibly a coin) was discovered by a native (quite possibly Ais, as was the opinion of one archeologist), which was hammered into an pendant, and then subsequently lost in the same area.

Now we can start to think it through.  How likely does that seem, and are there other reasonable scenarios?  For example, would it seem more likely that found or salvaged gold would be carried away before being reworked and lost?  

Alternatively, if an item reworked by the local natives was indeed lost at the same site where the gold was found, how might that happen?  I'm sure you can imagine some reasonable scenarios?

Maybe the natives returned to the wreck site on multiple occasions to see what they could find..  Maybe they even had a camp there.  That idea provides a possible direction for future research.  If they returned to the site often or if they had a camp at the site, then you might expect to find more evidence of their presence - perhaps shards in the nearby dunes.

Of course there are a variety of other possibilities.  Maybe the item was manufactured by someone other than local natives, even though that seems to be the favorite theory.  Maybe it came from South America or wherever the hypothesized ship came from. Or maybe the native was on the wrecked ship.  Just a little brainstorming.  Or maybe the gold in the item was given as payment for salvage work.  That might seem like too much unless it was given to a leader for providing a crew of salvage divers.  

Terry and others mentioned that we may never be able to say much more about the item, but if you think it through, develop some theories and hypotheses, you might eventually be able to answer some of the remaining questions.  And in if you are like me, you will enjoy the problem-solving process and learn a lot as you work through it..

The find is great, but it is the story that makes it meaningful, and the process that makes it fun. 

Before closing, I want to report one more thing people said to me in the emails about the mystery item.  They said Terry is a very fine fellow.

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Joe D. reported that both Jupiter and Hobe Sound beaches are being renourished, as shown below.

Hobe Sound
Photo by Joe D.

Jupiter Inlet
Photo submitted by Joe D.

Another frequent contributor sent in the following report last night.

Riomar, Turtle Trail and Seagrape today looked to me like a lot of the sand that left recently is back. Some old broken posts that were 8 inches out of the sand are now covered...

Riomar had a lot of seaweed and the old cuts were knocked down, there were  few short cuts at the bend but were smooth and mushy in front. Targets were few and mainly just can slaw.

Turtle trail, lots of new seaweed and no cuts, scallops or other features. Aluminum high on the beach and a few iron chips low on the beach.

Seagrape was the same to the north but did not go south of the crossover.

Did not take pictures today as it was just sand and seaweed.

Thanks to everybody for the ideas and reports submitted.  Much appreciated.

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Thanks also to those who expressed appreciation for this blog.   It is encouraging to me.

The Treasure Coast surf will be only about two to three feet for a few days.

Happy hunting
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

5/13/14 Report - Reasons to Explore Zinc Penny Dip, Santa Maria Found, Bell of the Santa Maria, Space Race Archaeology

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



Pile of Recently Dug Corroded Coins.
 

Some think the wreck of Columbus' sunken flagship, the Santa Maria, has been found just north of  Haiti.  Permission is being sought to conduct an extensive archaeological survey.

Here is the link for more of that story.

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/santa-maria-found-wreck-may-be-columbus-sunken-flagship-n103766


The bell of the Santa Maria, if that is indeed what it is, has been the subject of a battle between Portugal and Spain going back to 2003/2004.   The bell was supposedly being returned to Spain from the New World when the ship carrying the bell sank in Portuguese waters.

Spain claimed that the bell was stolen from them when it was recovered by a diver, and the bell was returned to Spain in 2004.  I haven't seen anything more recent on that. 

It seems there are questions not only about who should own the bell but also if it is indeed the bell of the Santa Maria.  That might be why there appears to have been no resolution to the issue, at least not that I can find.

Here is a link from 2004.

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/5257041#.U3GQGSDD8VQ

The story of the bell is old news but I never found out what finally happened to it or if it was proven to be the bell from the Santa Maria.



Archaeologists are surveying the deteriorating structures of the early days of the Space Race at Cape Canaveral.

http://archaeology.org/news/2101-140512-cape-canaveral-space



Above is a pile of coins recently recovered from the water.  It isn't hard to tell that they were exposed to salt water.  

That is the kind of thing you'll often find between a sand bar and the beach when the dip still contains too much loose sand and shells.  Most better targets will be deeper in a location like that.

You'll also notice some green encrusted coins in that pile, and a little junk flag pendant in the middle.

The pennies are not worth the effort, but they can provide important information.  These pennies were not recent drops but had accumulated and been sifted and sorted.  These pennies told me that there was a good bit of activity in that general area and as a result things were lost nearby in good numbers.  That is good information.  The question is then, how much deeper or in which direction would you need to go to get out of the pennies and into concentrations of better items.

Besides the information they provide about other possible targets, another reason to not ignore concentrations of finds like this, is that there can be better items in with the pennies.

Dips that contain loosely packed sand and shells and zinc pennies often also contain things like watches.  This one did - two in fact.

Most importantly, this concentration of pennies told me that better targets were probably nearby and, most likely, in good concentrations.  The better items would be deeper and perhaps off to one side or another.  If I was able to use a blower in that area to remove the loose sand, I'm certain a good number of better items would have been found.  As it was, I couldn't move the necessary amount of sand and am waiting for Mother Nature to do the job.  It might happen or it might not.  It depends upon which direction the sand moves.  In any case, I know there is one very promising spot if and when the window finally opens.

Junk Flag Charm.

I'll clean up the watches and get a photo of them.  Both seem to be in good working order.

The pennies went through a quick tumbling to remove some of the crust and corrosion.

I'm actually more interested in what is under all of the remaining sand.

Anyone recognize the flag right off?


On the Treasure Coast today we are near a full moon and the tides are more significant again.  The wind, however, is pretty directly out of the East, and the surf is up a little, to around three or four feet.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net