2/6/20 Report - First Silver Ring Beach Find Certified To 1715 Fleet Wreck. Complexities of Artifact ID and Distribution.

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

Appearing in the Vero News (See link below).

First silver ring certified as coming from a 1715 Fleet wreck.

The find was made in December close to Vero South Beach by Jeff Emlet, as reported in Vero News.  Emlet took the ring to be inspected by West Bay Trading Company who certified the ring as being from the 1715 Fleet.  The article says it is the first silver ring certified as being from the 1715 Fleet.

Here is the link.

http://veronews.com/2020/02/05/ring-could-be-ancient-artifact-from-sunken-1715-spanish-fleet-experts-say/

As you know, I've posted photos of heavily corroded silver rings found on Treasure Coast beaches in the past.  The salvage diver that, as far as I know, has been salvaging treasure on the Treasure Coast longer than any other living soul and who was awarded the Life Time Achievement Award by the Mel Fisher organization, was reported as saying NO silver rings have ever been found on a 1715 Fleet shipwreck site.  You can not find a more respected source than that.  On multiple occasions I discussed that observation with the fact that terrestrial Spanish-colonial  archaeological sites of the same general period have produced silver rings and the number of beach silver ring finds of uncertain date.  I would not be shocked if this ring did come from a 1715 Fleet wreck.  According to the article, it certainly appears to be the first silver ring documented as coming from a 1715 Fleet wreck.

Congratulations Jeff!  Super find!

I will add that it is also not uncommon for early 19th century coins and objects to come from that beach.   I've dug those myself and remember years ago showing one heavily corroded silver ring from that area to the archaeologist at the Mel Fisher museum.

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DJ sent me a link to a very interesting thesis: THE DISH RAN AWAY WITH THE SPOON: REVISITING UNPROVENIENCED FOODWAYS ARTIFACTS FROM THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY SPANISH FLEET SHIPWRECKS  by Olivia L. Thomas, November, 2017.

The Thomas thesis presents the following table table from Method and Theory in Historical Archaeology, by Stanley South, Academic Press, Inc. New York , 1977.

Notice that kitchen items, for example, were roughly 22 to 35% of the artifacts found at the sampled terrestrial sites, while only 1.4 to 8.4 percent of the artifacts were arms.   I think there is a tendency for detectorists to think of certain categories before others that would be just as likely or even more likely.  I was talking yesterday about the tendency to think of weapons early and perhaps before other more likely but more mundane categories.

Here is an excerpt from the Thomas thesis referring to an additional study subsequent to the South research.

 Russell K. Skowronek’s (1982) Master’s thesis, “Trade Patterns of Eighteenth Century Frontier New Spain: The 1733 Flota and St. Augustine,” applies South’s frontier pattern to ships and shipwrecks by comparing material culture from several ships of the 1733 flota to terrestrial frontier sites. Skowronek utilized similar quantitative analysis in his study based on the pattern and methodology set forth by South (1977:88-100). Skowronek acknowledged the filters and scramblers of the sites including natural elements and the extensive salvaging operations that took place on the shipwrecks of the 1733 flota, both by Spanish shipwreck survivors and modern treasure hunters, and disseminated information by looking at the assemblage of material culture as one whole data set, instead of each ship as an individual set (1982:167-169). He stated that “a simple look at a single site…might give a biased view of the fleet…only by looking at the data as a whole or by reopening excavations on sites with smaller counts of artifacts might these biases be corrected” (Skowronek 1982:168). Skowronek’s (1982:171-172) study ultimately revealed that: …the fit with the Frontier Pattern is somewhat better with matches in all groups but Kitchen and Architecture, the largest percentage groups…the 1733 flota…and the Frontier Pattern is almost perfect…rather than view ships simply as “floating communities” and the all too “stable” implications of such, seagoing vessels should be seen as “floating frontiers.”

His conclusions were based upon the similarities between South’s artifact pattern ranges and the
ranges seen within both the 1733 flota and terrestrial St. Augustine collections, which are shown
below in Table 2.

Once again I got caught trying to stuff the bobcat into a soup can. There is too much here to unravel in one post. I'll try to do that better in the future.

You will notice however that compared to the approximately 1.5 to 8.5 percent of artifacts being in the "arms" category as reported for terrestrial sites sampled in the South study, the Skowronek table shows artifacts from the 1733 flota being higher (nearly 12%).  Nonetheless, kitchen artifacts are still much more common than weapons for both the terrestrial and shipwreck sites.

I've discussed in the past several reasons why artifacts salvaged from submerged shipwreck sites might differ from those found on beaches.  I won't go over that all again now, but among other things, we have to remember that a lot of things happened on the beaches later, including the contemporary salvage efforts, so items found on neighboring beaches could also come from those later efforts.  That is one hypothesis that I've entertained for some of the reported discrepancies.

A good long discussion is warranted here, but I'll have to try to get to it some other time.

Here is the link to the Thomas thesis for additional detail or clarification.

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/e354/410e87198656d2ce88a35b19acdaee9beecb.pdf

Thanks to DJ for the link.

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Looks like we'll have a bump in the surf around Sunday and Monday.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

Here are yesterday's Turtle Trail and Seagrape photos.  Thanks to DJ.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/13/20 Report - Beach Conditions Deteriorating On Some Beaches. Photos of Finds.

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

John Brooks Beach Near Low Tide Saturday.

The first and main thing I want to say today is that the beach conditions of the South Hutchinson Island beaches that I checked are deteriorating.  The surf is decreasing and the beaches are building.  I suspect the same thing is happening at the other beaches, especially any of those that were freshly cut on Friday.  I'm therefore dropping my beach conditions rating back to a 1.

This is the third time that the stretch from the condos to John Brooks has had five or six foot cuts in just a few weeks.  Frederick Douglass and the beaches immediately to the south were not cut nearly as much in that time period.

The two following photos show the sand that extends out in front of the beach.  That is where the sand from the cut ended up.

John Brooks Beach Sunday.

John Brooks Beach Sunday Near Low Tide.

You can see the sand that extends out in front of Frederick Douglass beach below.

Frederick Douglass Beach Sunday Near Low Tide.

Frederick Douglass Beach Sunday.

You can see a bit of a bar in front of Fort Pierce South Jetty beach now too.

Fort Pierce South Jetty Beach Sunday.

Fort Pierce South Jetty Beach Sunday.

All three of those beaches have a pile of sand in front of the beach.

I think Fort Pierce South Jetty beach is now back farther than it was the last time they renourished it.  Expect that beach to be renourished again before long.  They just keep pumping the money onto that one.

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Terry Shannon wrote of a good day he had back around the beginning of the year and sent some photos of his finds.

Finds by Terry S.

Here is what Terry said.

… I found a modern 14 k ring, a bunch of coins all greenies, sinkers and then what I believe is ship wreck stuff pictured above. A small musket ball, a latch hook, a large bronze square nail that they converted to a rivet and some smaller old square nails. What I think is interesting is the silver ring.  This is the silver band when I found it and after cleaning.

Silver Ring Find Before and After Cleaning.

Find and photo by Terry S.

The ring cleaned up well and looks nice but it had to be lost a long time to have eaten up to this extent, the inside of the ring is as rough as the outside and it was very thin. I sent a picture to an expert and asked if it could be a ship wreck ring. He said definitely modern. My point is that it is often hard to determine what you have at times. 

Thanks for sharing Terry.

Terry also sent a photo of a half reale, which I plan to show as soon as I get around to it.   I also have some interesting recent finds from other people to show, but I'm getting tired now and will have to pick that up some other time.

For now,
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/9/20 Report - Beach Conditions on the Treasure Coast With The Increasing Surf. Ring Find with Marks For Analysis.

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

Marks on Ring Found by Duane C.

Photos by Duane C.

I have a lot of beach conditions reports today, but I'll start with Duane's ring.  Here is what he said.

Found an old crusty silver ring the same day I dug a 1854 seated dime on a northern beach. The ring is stamped vertically and has no 925 or sterling marks. The makers mark appears to be a wreath with a crown on top circling two cursive letters inside. I found another picture of one online no ID. It maybe similar to one used by Premium Designs. That trademark has been bought & sold over the years by different companies. Last used 2016. I believe this has been around a long time. Wreaths are used on foreign coins as well as the crown. Possibly European origins? No purity marks?

Thanks in advance to anyone who may be able to help with the possible time period.

Duane

Ring Found by Duane C.

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I took a look at several beaches this morning.  The surf was building but coming too much from the east/southeast.

Starting on South Hutchinson Island, here is Frederick Douglass beach.

Frederick Douglass Beach Thursday.

Frederick Douglass Beach Thursday.

I didn't bother to stop at John Brooks. but I took a look at Fort Pierce South Jetty to see what it looked like.  It had eroded a lot since I had been there last, but a lot of sand washed in very recently.

Fort Pierce South Jetty Thursday.

I stopped by Turtle Trail.  Three or four detectorists were already there.

Turtle Trail Thursday.

The little cut and shells that were there recently had disappeared.

Turtle Trail Thursday.

There were two Ocean Rescue trucks at Seagrape Trail.  The entrance was closed.  I suspect that was only a very short-term closure.

Wabasso Beach, however, is closed Jan. 6 - January 20.  Gates were closed and a big orange sign stated the reason.  I should have read that but didn't.

There were a couple detectorists at Amber Sands.  That beach had eroded back since I was last there, but still it was just renourishment sand covering the surface.

Amber Sands Beach Thursday.

Amber Sands Beach Thursday.

North of Amber Sands there was road construction up past McClarty.

There was a lot of traffic in the Vero and Fort Pierce areas today.  I guess it is tourist season.

Overall, I didn't see anything to get excited about today.

Even though the surf is supposed to increase, it looks like we are going to have east/southeast wind all of that time.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

Help Duane figure out the age and identity of his ring.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

7/18/18 Report - Old Silver Ring Stolen. Test of Metal Detector On Silver Coins.

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

Stolen Ring Thought To Be 1700s Era.

I decided to do a little test using the Garrett Ace 250.  I'll use other detectors in the future, but decided to start with a common and inexpensive model.

For test objects I decided to use coins that were close in size, weight and composition to Spanish reales.  I used a silver dime, quarter, half dollar and peace dollar - all of 90% silver.

The diameters were 17.91, 24.26, 30.6 and 38.1 millimeters, which is close but not exactly like one, two, four and eight reales.  Just as an example, the silver dollar is 38.1 mm and the eight reales would be about 38 mm.  Pretty close.

The weight of the silver coins is 2.59, 6.259, 12.59 and 26.73 grams.  Again, that is close to the weights of the Spanish colonial one, two, four and eight reales, which varied to some extent for a variety of reasons.

The diameters and weights of the coins used in the test are highly correlated.

The vertical scale is diameter in millimeters and the horizontal scale is weight in grams.

The correlation is naturally high, but as you can see the relationship between diameter and weight is not linear.

The similarity of the modern coins and Spanish colonial coins in both size and weight is not accidental - the American coinage being pretty much based upon the Spanish.

I did what I would call a ground test in an area with virtually no mineralization but some amount of ambient electrical interference.

Coins were placed on the ground and the height of the coil that continued to produce a good steady signal was measured.

The dime was detected at approximately 7.5 inches, the quarter at 8.0 inches, the half dollar at about 8.5 inches and the Peace dollar at 9.5 inches.

Depth approximations were not highly precise.  Results were also specific to the location and environment.

Depth detectected relative to coin weight.

Depth detected relative to coin diameter.

Coin weight and diameter are highly correlated, which makes it difficult to tell which is most important, but I have previously found and stated that surface area is more important than the weight of the object in determining how deeply a coin will be detected.  The surface area of the coin, however, is not as important as the presented surface.  By that I mean a coin with a large diameter, if tilted or on edge will not have as large a surface area relative to the position of the coil and therefore will not be detected as deeply.

Given the number of variables and the lack of precise measurements, the results should be taken as only approximations.

All-Metals mode and maximum sensitivity was used during the entire test.

Spanish cobs are all so different that I thought the silver U.S. coins would be more useful as test objects and allow more comparisons and generalizations.  Beach recovered Spanish cobs are all of different sizes and shapes.  As I've reported, they can be less than half the minted weight and are of different shapes.

It should also be noted that the depth was measured when the object was under the center of the detector coil at near optimal sweep speed.  When the object was closer to the edge of the coil, depth was less.  And if a less optimal sweep speed was used, depth would have been less.

I've commented at length on the limitations of both air and ground tests.

In the future I will be conducting more tests with other metal detectors.

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I received an email reporting the above ring stolen during a club meeting.  The owner would like it back.

That, by the way, is another good reason to keep good records on your finds.

Most detectorists go out of their way to return lost items, but like with any group of people, there are some bad apples that spoil it for everybody.

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A lot of people are still reading my old Cooper's Treasure posts.  I don't even watch it.

There is no tropical cyclone in the Atlantic.  The surf is up a foot or two.  The tides are still pretty good, but lessening slightly.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

11/16/17 Report - Cache of Silver and Gold 12th Century Coins. Nice Old Ring. Beach Sign. Clad Coins.

Writen by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeacesreport.blogspot.com.

Signet Ring Uncovered Along With Coin Cache
Photo by Alexis Grattier
See link below.

More than 2,000 silver and gold coins from the 12th century were found buried in the rubble as the archaeologists were digging the ground to try and identify the corner of an infirmary that was once situated at the abbey, said the researchers from University of Lyon II and France's National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS)....

Cache of Coins Uncovered.
Source: See link below.

The medieval loot included 2,200 deniers (or pieces of silver) mostly issued by Cluny Abbey itself as well as 21 gold dinar coins, originally from the Middle East which were stored in a canvas bag... 

Gold Dinars Recovered with Coin Cache
Photo by Alexis Grattier
See link below.

Here is the link to read more about that.

https://www.thelocal.fr/20171115/medieval-treasure-trove-discovered-by-archaeologists-in-france


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Joe D. sent the following message and find photos.

Just returned from my semiannual trip to Georgia to visit family! Of course I had to throw in a little detecting while there! On the last day ( yesterday) in my last few minutes of detecting some old torn down house lots, I found a nice silver solitaire about 5 inches down! Got confusing signals, but dug anyway! It was near other metal of course! And I was lucky to find it at all! Here's a before and after polishing! I will have to get the stone tested, but the ring says sterling! Looks to be pretty old! Also found some wheaties and some other interesting house stuff! 

Sterling Silver Ring Find After Cleaned.
Find and photo by Joe D.

Same Ring as Found by Joe D.

 Joe also mentioned a show on Netflix called "Detectorists." He said, "It's from the BBC! So English humor, but there are 2 seasons and it's pretty good! Don't know if you have heard of it, but it's not a reality show! Worth a look! Takes a few episodes to get into, but I think you will appreciate the finer points of the story! I bing watched the first season already!"

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Darrel S. dug up the following sign on the beach a few days ago.  It reads "Stay Off Dunes."

Find and photo by Darrel S.

Darrel said the parking lot at Turtle Trail was full yesterday while the lot at Seagrape was empty.

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Tuesday I detected less than an hour, which I think was still the most that I had a chance to do all year.   No serious detecting or anything, just a little quick entertainment.   I mentioned that there were coins on the beaches of South Hutchinson Island.  Here is what i found with my little light-weight Ace 250.

Coins and Crematory Tag Found Tuesday.

Couldn't tell what the crematory tag was until I got it cleaned.

Looks like we'll have a few more days or three to five foot surf.  I'd say beach conditions are still what I'd rate as a level 2.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/24/17 Report - Hurricane Aiming At Texas. Intertwined Ring. Silver Rings and the 1715 Fleet. New Blog Poll.

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

Texas Might Get Hurricane Harvey
Source: nhc.noaa.gov

Looks like Harvey became a hurricane and will hit Texas.  As you can see from the map, there is another area off the West Coast of Florida to watch, but it will probably not become a cyclone anytime soon, but it might bring us some more rain.  It probably won't do much more than that.

We still have some good tides along the Treasure Coast, but the surf won't be much for at least a couple of days.

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Intertwined Silver Knots
Submitted by Al C.

Al C. sent the above photo of a ring he found along with the following eamil message.

A while back you talked about silver rings not being found on the 1715 wrecks much. I found this years ago right near the stairs that used to go up to the old Chuck’s Steakhouse building. There was a tropical storm going by at the time. I cant remember which one, but that same day I found a couple ½ reales in the same area and no junk to speak of. There are no markings at all on this. Just thought it might be something of interest if that subject ever comes up again.

Thanks for your picture and email Al.

Those kinds of rings have been made and used for a long time.  It could be old.  It is similar to a design known as  the Trinity Knot, which, according to Wikipedia was "designed to honour the Mother, Maiden ad Crone of the Neo-pagan Triple Goddess, which represents the three life-cycles of a woman in relation to the phases of the moon.  In modern times, it has come to represent the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.."  I've also seen similar rings referred to as a Celtic Trinity knot.

Similar intertwined rings are still made today.  You can find quite a variety on the internet.   I've seen them and found intertwined rings with both two and three loops.  I think they are sometimes referred to as Russian rolling rings.  In mathematic terms such a ring might be referred to as a Borromean ring (See Wikipedia again.).

Intertwined rings can't be dated by the design alone.  Similar rings have been used from ancient times to the present.  You certainly might expect a modern silver ring to be marked.  Al's is not.

One of the top 1715 Fleet treasure hunters, who undoubtedly knows as well as about anyone in the world, says that silver rings are not found on 1715 Fleet wreck sites.  Kathleen Deagan, in her book Artifacts of the Spanish Colonies of Florida and the Caribbean 1500 to 1800 does show a silver Claddagh ring, which in her book is said to be from the 1715 Fleet.  It could be from the 1715 Fleet, but you can't be sure of that without additional evidence.  Context is not always enough.  It wasn't long ago that I showed a 1968 class ring found by a Capitana diver searching the 1715 Fleet this year.  Obviously it wasn't from the 1715 Fleet.

My personal conclusion is that there might be a few (very few) silver rings from the 1715 Fleet, but they are evidently rare.  Deagan's book shows many more copper alloy rings from the colonies, along with gold rings and numerous rings made of other substances, including glass and jet.  Only a very few are silver.  One silver ring that Deagan shows is from a mission site.  Although it appears there are some examples, it seems to me that the vast majority of rings in Spanish colonial America were not silver.

There is still a lot left to learn.  That is part of the fun of it all.

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I heard that after reassigning a sports announcer named Robert Lee who was going to work a Virginia game, they are now going to remove a duck named Donald from all the parks.  Just kidding, but that isn't much more crazy than the Robert Lee thing, which is real and was followed by a decrease of more than a dollar per share for Disney stock.  No wonder ESPN is going down the drain.

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I posted a new poll on the blog.  I hope you'll respond.  We'll find out what kind of detector people are using these days.

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I also heard from people that were glad to see the YouTube videos that I made.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/6/16 Report - Mystery Find Analyzed and Identified. Orichalcum Ingots, Why I Do This. Land Finds. New Weather Disturbance Near Florida.

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

Previously Posted Unidentified Find 
Photo submitted by Bernie C.

In my 6/24/16 post I reported on the above find made by Jason F. and commented that it might be tumbaga.  The item has been analyzed and was found to be 61% copper, 38% zinc and 1% gold. Now we know what it is made of.

Bernie C. sent me a link to an article describing a 2,600-year-old shipwreck on which was found 39 ingots of orichalcum.  Take a look.  Those ingots look very similar to the newly found Treasure Coast piece.

Shipwreck Ingots of Orichalcum.
Source: Daily Origins article link below.

That shipwreck was found in the Mediterranean, but similar ores are found in Latin America. Copper and zinc are often associated in nature and alloyed to make brass.

Back in the day this ore was valued second to only gold.

Here is the link for the article on the 2,600-year-old shipwreck and orichalcum.

http://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends-europe/orichalcum-legendary-metal-atlantis-or-just-common-ore-003318?nopaging=1

Questions remain.  How did this item get lost on the Treasure Coast?

You never know when the next interesting find will be made or what it will be.  The find is just the first step towards learning the story behind it.

Congratulations to Jason F. for making this exciting find, and thanks to Bernie C. for reporting it to me.

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Shortly after starting this blog, someone asked me why I did it.  I don't post ads or sell anything.  I don't promote myself.  In fact, I do my best to keep myself anonymous.  I don't get money for clicks of views, and I don't take financial contributions, although there have been offers.  So why do I do it?

I do it because I enjoy learning and sharing what I learn.  I do it to promote the hobby that I've enjoyed, and to help people become involved with history in a way that preserves history.  I do it to share ideas and values that are important to me.

I've done a lot of posts now, have received complaining emails from only three people, as best as I can recall.  On the other hand the blog has received well over one million hits and many times that number of page views.   I receive emails of thanks daily, and I receive many contributions in the form of links, information, pictures and ideas.  That helps me tremendously, and I appreciate all of that.  Despite publishing anonymously, I've made many friends, the vast majority of which I never met. 

I make every decision about what goes into the blog, spend hours in research, which I enjoy, and a lot of time writing, which I do not enjoy as much.

If I quit doing this blog, or if I change this blog in any way, the decision will be made simply because I feel like doing something different. 

This blog isn't for everybody.  Those who come here, come here on their own.  I don't even promote the blog, let alone ask anyone to read it.  I just put it out there, and hundreds of people decide on their own to visit daily.  That is something I like about the internet. Readership is self-selecting.  People make up their own mind about where they will spend their time.  I'm just being me, and so that is what you see here and will see here as long as I choose to do it.  If anyone influences me at all, it is the many kind and helpful people who have become my friends through this blog.

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Not only does Dan B. salvage 1715 Fleet items, he also does some land hunting.  Here are a few of his land finds.  First, is this nice ornate sterling silver ring.

Silver Ring Find by Dan B.
Photo by Dan B.

Below are some more of Dan's land finds including a silver dime, some wheaties and a nice trade token.

More Recent Land Finds by Dan B.

The trade token reads, "Good for trade 5 cents."   Dan says it also bears the number 31549.  If you can provide any information about the token, please let me know.

Thanks for sharing Dan.

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Source: nhc.noaa.gov

We now have a new disturbance up by Apalachicola. I don't expect it to affect the Treasure Coast much.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

5/19/16 Report - 1715 Fleet Silver Ring Shown in Deagan Book. Found Claddagh Ring. Danger of Cracked Rings.

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

Not long ago I talked a lot about silver rings not being found on 1715 Fleet wrecks.  I did a little research and what I saw supported the idea that there were few, if any, silver rings on the 1715 Fleet.

There were, however, silver rings found at Spanish colonial land sites.  That was documented by Kathleen Deagan, a Distinguished Research Curator of Archaeology and Adjunct Professor of Anthropology at the University of Florida's Florida Museum of Natural History and one of the top researchers on the Spanish colonial period in Florida.  

In her book on Spanish Colonial artifacts, Deagan shows a silver ring that is reported to be from the 1715 Fleet.  Immediately below is part of a figure in her book showing the designs of some 1715 Fleet rings.  Notice F.  That one, and only that one, is described as being silver.  

Part of the crown over the heart is missing.

That ring is called a Claddagh ring.  It is very common type of ring, even today.

Here is one legend of the source of what we now call Claddagh rings.

Though there are several legends about the origin of Claddagh rings, the one believed to be most accurate involves a member of the Joyce clan from Galway who sailed to the West Indies, and who was captured and sold into slavery, working for a Moorish goldsmith in Algiers. During his 14 years imprisonment, he learned the goldsmith’s art and created the Claddagh ring design as a tribute to his love back in Ireland. When William III became king in 1650, he demanded that the Moors release all British prisoners. The prisoner Joyce brought back the jewelry design with him, and became a successful goldsmith in Ireland.

And from another source, here is more about Claddagh rings.  (Sorry I forgot the original source of both of these excerpts.)

Claddagh rings became widely known in America after Irish immigrants brought them over, mainly in the 18th century. They remain popular, both as wedding rings and decorative adornments. Many of the rings are now passed down through Irish-American families and heirlooms.

Here is a Claddagh ring that I once found on a Treasure Coast wreck beach.

Claddagh Ring Found On A Treasure Coast Wreck Beach.

I always thought this was silver, but I never tested it because I like the black patina, which is a little sparkly even though that doesn't show in the photo.  I didn't want to remove any of the patina.  I like it the way it is.

Here is a closer look at the illustration of design of the Claddagh ring that Deagan attributes to the 1715 Fleet.  She doesn't give any more detail on the source of the ring.

There are many similarities between the found ring shown above and the ring illustrated in Deagan's book. That isn't surprising.  Claddagh rings are Claddagh rings, and they haven't changed much over the centuries.

There are some differences too.  The hand positions and how the hand holds the heart is very similar on both rings.  The hands on both rings have slightly different cuffs.  The heart and crown is a little different on both rings.

While silver rings are very rare for the 1715 Fleet, there is a documented exception in the Deagan book.

The dug example shown today has no marks on the inside of the band or elsewhere.  A sterling mark or a makers mark can tell you a lot about the age of a ring.

This ring has a great black patina, but one of the most impressive things to me is the carved look. You can see it throughout in person.  In the photo you can perhaps see it best in the crown.

I might break down and clean it and test it to see if I can learn anything more about it.

---

Here is another item with a familiar ring to it.

On 5/10 I showed an encrusted ring (shown below) that I cleaned.  Here it is.

Old Dug Encrusted Treasure Coast Ring

After it was cleaned I could see some serious cracks in the metal.  I put it on just the other day for cleaning and it fell off.  It broke on three cracks and fell off.  If I was doing something when it happened I would not have even noticed it being gone.

The reason I bring this up is to alert you to how easily that can happen.  Any cracked ring can break and fall off at any time, so it might not be a good idea to put new finds on your finger until you have checked for cracks.  I have heavy gold rings with cracks too.  The same thing could happen.

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The first day of the current Sedwick auction concluded yesterday.  The remaining lots will be sold today.  You can view the auction results online as it happens.  They move from lot to lot very quickly.

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Nothing has changed on the beach.  Still a one-foot surf.  Probably more afternoon thunder storms.

Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

11/30/15 Report - Saturday and Sunday Metal Detecting Finds. Old Buttons Found. Big Surf Predicted Next Weekend.

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

Tony's Sunday Finds.

Silver Ring Found by Tony

Tony (Penzfan) sent all of the photos shown above.  Thanks Tony and congratulations on the finds.

Here is what Tony said.

Had a bit of luck this morning at Ocean Front Beach. Pictures show a 4-6 foot cut for about 200 yards. The bottom was very mushy in parts. Did manage to pull a nice .925 ring and some coins from the 60's and 70's.

It looks like there is an old back marked button in that group of finds.  It is right below the pull tab.  That could be the most interesting find.   I'd like to see a closer view of the button and the markings.

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That wasn't the only old button found recently.  Below is one found by Jon M. at a Vero area beach Saturday afternoon.

Button Found by Jon M.

I'd like to see the back of this one after it is cleaned.  There might be some back marks.

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Today the Treasure Coast surf is supposed to be 4 - 6 feet.  The surf will be decreasing the next few days, down to about 2 or 3 feet by Friday.  After that the surf is now predicted to increase up to something like 6 - 9 feet again.  As you know the predictions do not always turn out to be accurate, so we'll have to wait to see if next weekend turns out to be as expected.  In any case, we finally are getting some improved conditions and could see a lot more through the winter.

I'm sticking with my 2 Treasure Coast beach detecting conditions rating for another day. 

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net