11/19/19 Report - Two Lost Rings - One Returned. Shipwreck Skeletons Revealed by Coastal Erosion.

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

Lost, Found, and Returned Ring.

Photo from WPTV.com (See link below.)

(WESH/NBC) - A Colorado woman on vacation lost her wedding ring in the sand of Cocoa Beach, Florida, last week and never thought she'd see it again.

But after posting to social media about the problem, she got connected to Dave Mollison on the Ring Finder's website...

But he combed through the sand in a grid pattern for more than four hours and finally found it.,.,

Here is the link for the rest of the story.


https://www.wptv.com/news/state/man-returns-womans-lost-wedding-ring-he-found-on-the-beach


Thanks to Jorge Y. for that link.

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One reader reported a lost ring as follows:  Please remind everyone that I lost an 18k gold man’s size Claddagh ring at Frederic Douglass Beach, either in the south edge of the parking lot or somewhere on the beach south of there. It’s just a little less than 1/8” thick. It’s my wedding band, so if someone finds it, I’d like it back. It is also not cast as well as the one found - it’s made kind of more like ground and etched from sheet and rounded as needed on he edges.

If you found or find this one let me know and I'll give you the contact.

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Beginning Dec. 1st equipment arrive at Jupiter beach for the latest beach renourishment project.

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Skeletal remains of at least six people, thought to be shipwreck victims from hundreds of years ago, have been revealed by coastal erosion...

Here is the link.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-50445855

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The tides are still high but the surf continues to decrease.

Happy Hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

6/13/19 Report - 2019 Salvage Season Off To Great Start: Gold Reliquary Found. Mel Fisher Days Coming.

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

Bones Uncovered In Dunes

Source: See VeroNews link below.

A skeleton was uncovered in the dunes by a construction company and gold was found under water nearby

The bones are thought to be old, but there were no buttons or any associated artifacts.  The skeleton will be studied before the age is determined.

You might recall we had some discussion in this blog about the relative absence of known 1715 Fleet burials.  This one might or might not be.  Perhaps that will be determined.

Source: Same VeroNews link below.

The 2019 Treasure Coast salvage season is off to a great start.  Back a week or so ago I posted pictures of salvage boats working near Turtle Trail, and some great finds were made.

Most interesting is an encrusted gold object, thought to be a reliquary, found at the Corrigan's site by Maritime Research Recovery's vessel, Capitana, on  June 4th, 2019.

Here is the link for those two stories.

http://veronews.com/2019/06/13/a-week-of-discoveries-sunken-treasures-and-human-remains/

MRR is working under contract with Queen's Jewels LLC.  The Capitana is one of three vessels operated by Maritime Research Recovery, LLC.

Other reliquaries have been found on Treasure Coast wreck sites, including one found some years ago near Douglass Beach.  Here are links for more information on that one, including research by author and researcher, Laura Strolia.

https://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2014/08/83114-report-more-on-1715-fleet.html

 https://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2014/08/81414-report-treasure-coast-gold.html

The Sea Reaper and Seatrepid, also operated by MRR, are also making good finds, including a nice piece of Kang Hsi porcelain and musket balls.

Here is the link to the MRR web site that shows the finds.

https://www.mrronline.com/single-post/GoldReligiousArtifact

Thanks to DJ for pointing that out to me.

The MRRonline web site mentions that the reliquary bears the symbol "IHS."  You will find the same letters on many religious pendants that you will find.

Here is an explanation from the Catholic Herald.

Early scribes would abbreviate the sacred names of Jesus by using the first two letters of the name, or the first and last letters, with a line over the letters. For example, the Greek letters Chi-Rho (which looks like our English X and P) was an abbreviation for the name "Christ." Likewise, I (iota) and H (eta) are the first two Greek letters for "Jesus." Sometime in the second century, the third letter, S (sigma), was added, thereby rendering IHS. These Christograms, such as XP or IHS, served as secret codes, whereby inscribed on a tomb, they indicated a deceased Christian, or on a doorpost, a Christian home. 

If you ever saw Christmas written as Xmas, you might have wondered about that. Some people object to that abbreviation saying that "Xmas" takes Christ out of Christmas, however the X represents the Greek letter Chi, also being the first letter of the name of Christ and having that significance.

Similarly, you might know of the Christian fish symbol that you'll see on the back of some cars.

Ichthus, or in koine Greek, ἰχθύς which means "fish," is an acrostic from “ Ίησοῦς Χριστός, Θεοῦ Υἱός, Σωτήρ “, (Iēsous Christos, Theou Yios, Sōtēr), which translates into English as “Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour”.

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Mel Fisher Days will be July 11 - 13 this year in Key West.

Events will include tours of the Fisher private conservation laboratory.

For more information see

http://melfisherdays.melfisher.com/

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The weather has been good for salvage work but not so good for beach hunting.  I have plans to metal detect an inland site when I get a chance.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/21/18 Report - Haunted Ellis Island 2017 Quarter. Instructions for Creating a Coin Display Plaque. Ancestry Tests and Group Membership.

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

Halloween Coin.

Many people say that Ellis Island is one of the most haunted places in America.

See https://maps.roadtrippers.com/stories/ellis-island-is-one-of-the-most-haunted-pieces-of-american-history.

I saw something interesting when viewing a 2017 Ellis Island National Monument Quarter. Look in the doorway at the top of the stairs.

I don't know how well the above picture shows it, but there appears to be a ghostly skeleton figure in the doorway.

I didn't do any editing or anything.  That is an unaltered photo.

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It seems that the series of posts on treasure displays had the desired effect.  I've heard from some readers who said that as a result of those posts they decided to start organizing and displaying their finds.  I wish I had done that a lot earlier than I did.

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Today I'm going to show my favorite method of creating displays for coins and other small objects.  As you know, there are a lot of things to be considered when mounting coins.  Valuable coins should not be mounted in any way other than encapsulation by a grading agency, but other coins can be mounted if done correctly.

I'm just going to quickly run you through the process of creating a coin display.  I'll give the basic instructions, but skip many of the options and fine details.

For coins that can be mounted, you don't want them to touch other metals and you don't want to glue them or anything like that.  Below is the TreasureGuide method for mounting coins and other small items.

1.  Once you know what coin or coins you want to display, the next step is to select a suitable piece of wood for the project.

Wood Cabinet or Flooring Samples.

Scrap wood or samples like those shown above can be considered.

Those wood samples were given to me by a neighbor who just built a new house.  I don't know why they gave them to me, but I guess they knew I would find a use for them.

2.  Design the layout.  Put the coins or other items on the wood and move them around until you decide how you want them displayed.  See how items show with different pieces of wood.

Five Pennies on a Sample Piece of Wood.

3.  Once you know what wood you want to use and how you want the items laid out, sand, stain, or otherwise prepare the wood.

For this illustration I decided to use a simple piece of scrap plywood and a single Eisenhower dollar.  I didn't treat the wood since I just wanted to quickly illustrate procedure.

Eisenhower Dollar I Chose for the Illustration.

4. Select a drill bit that will drill a hole the size of the coin.

1.5 Inch Drill Bit.

This is the one thing I think you might not have on hand and might need to buy.  You can get a good set of bits like this without spending much money.  They work with any regular electric drill.

A 1.5 inch bit will create a hole that is just the right size for the Eisenhower dollar.

1.5 Inch Drill Bit With Drilled Hole.

5.  Drill the hole.  For a coin, you might not want to drill all the way through the wood unless you want to be able to see both sides.

See how the coin fits the hole.  Try to make the hole as neat as possible.  Sand the hole as needed or desired.

I went through the entire illustration in about 20 minutes from start to finish so I wasn't real careful.

6.  Cut a round piece of soft cloth and place it in the hole as backing so the coin does not rub against the rough wood.

The coin should fit snuggly at this point.

7.  Get a piece of Plexiglas and cut it to the size of the wood.

I had an odd piece in the garage left over from when I cut one for a picture frame.

8.  Drill two small holes in the Plexiglas.  I actually used a Dremel tool that already had a small bit in it rather than changing the bit in the drill.

9 Insert two carpet tacks into the wood through the holes.

Tacks Holding Plexiglas Over Display.

10.  Print a label.  Very nice labels can be used - even gold foil.  I just laid a small sample label on the Plexiglas to give the idea.

As you can see I didn't bother to cut the Plexiglas to size for this illustration.

Arrowheads, shark teeth or any of a wide variety of small objects can be displayed like this.

It is a very good way to display suitable coins.  Display a single object or an entire set.

You can make the display as nice as you want.  I just did a quick and sloppy job for illustration purposes.  I didn't measure one thing - just eyeballed it, and it shows.

The main things I would do differently is finish the wood, be more careful and precise with the cuts, and make a nice label.

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Millions of Americans are using DNA test kits sold online to research their ancestry, either out of simple curiosity or to find answers about their identity.

But some academics warn the craze could reinforce racial stereotypes and divisions...

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/us-craze-for-dna-heritage-tests-may-bolster-racism-critics-warn/ar-BBOCZVx?ocid=spartandhp

I think it will do the opposite.  Most people will find out that they are not entirely one thing or another.  Many people will be surprised by the test results.  Some racists will find out that their ancestry is not so pure.

Knowledge generally does not support stereotypes.  Of course there are real questions about the test and anything can be misused.

On the same subject, I heard that the Cherokee tribal leader that spoke up in response to the Elizabeth Warren claims said that tribal membership requires one to be able to trace their ancestry back to a specific tribal ancestor.  That is similar to the requirements for membership in the Sons of the American Revolution.  To be a SAR member, genealogical records have to show that your ancestry includes can be traced to a specific person who fought in the Revolutionary War.

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The National Hurricane Center Atlantic map shows no activity.

The tides are not as flat as they have been recently.

The increase in surf that was predicted for the Treasure Coast earlier, is now predicted to be only around two to four feet.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

9/15/15 Report - Seven Foot Surf Predicted For Next Week. Screws As Clues. Religious Medallion. Uprooted Skeleton.

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

Sixth Century Christian Medallion.
Source: See link below.

Here is a sixth century religious medallion that was recently found.

It can be difficult to identify items.  We all know that.  But that is part of the fun of it.

Context can help a lot.  As do any markings.  But when you have neither, that is a real challenge.

Beach found items have no real context that you can rely upon.  Even well known shipwreck sites can be mingled with other shipwrecks and items from other times and centuries.

One problem with beach found items is that the corrosion and heavy wear can remove markings and other important features.  Encrustation can also disguise things.  An encrusted religious medallion can look just like a coin until it is cleaned off.  I've made that mistake before.  One old religious medallion was in a bucket of old encrusted coins that were going to be tumbled.  After tumbling, I could see that it was a religious medallion.  An old one at that.  I was sorry I tumbled it.

Make a good effort to identify items before starting with a cleaning method that might do damage.

I personally often have trouble identifying items from the 19th Century.    We don't have big collections of artifacts from the 19th Century sites locally for comparison.  There are definitely some - mostly from old home sites, but we also have some 19th century wrecks along the coast.

Sometimes it is the little things such as the fasteners that can provide an important clue.  For a long time I thought that screws were a modern invention and didn't pay much attention to them.  It turns out that screws have been used longer than I knew.

...screws were widely used in putting firearms together in the early 16th century.  The threads provided a snugger fit that could survive the vibrations from the firing gun.  Screws were also widely used in assembly armor.  When screws are inserted into metal their threads must be fairly accurate in order to fit properly into the receiving threads.  These screws were created by first hammering out a head and shank and then cutting the thread using a die called a screw plate...

Although screws were in use as fasteners by the mid-fifteenth century, factory production of screws didn’t start until the mid-1700’s. 

Here is a link for more about that.

http://info.craftechind.com/blog/bid/301958/8-Little-Known-Facts-about-the-History-of-the-Screw

You can learn to tell the difference between the older screws and modern screws.  The old screws can be a bit irregular, even to the eye.  Although you might not be interested in things like old screws, they can provide a good clue to the possible presence of other older items.

Concerning the medallion at the top of this post.  You don't see any hole or provision for hanging. There are traces of wood on the other side that suggests that  it was attached to something rather than hung. 

“One of the mosaics in the Basilica of San Vitale shows a church altar in a time of service. The altar table’s cover features round medalliions in which the central images are equal-arm crosses just like that of the medallion from Cape Foros."  


Here is the link that that will tell you more about that.  The link also provides the source of the photo and above quote.

http://archaeologyinbulgaria.com/2015/09/11/archaeologists-discover-early-christian-medallion-in-burgos-poros-fortress-in-bulgarias-black-sea-city-burgas/

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An uprooted tree brought up more than roots.  In the roots was the top half of a medieval skeleton.  The bottom half of the skeleton was still in the ground.

Here is the link for that story.

http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/medieval-bones-burst-from-ground-when-tree-topples-150914.htm

I normally check uprooted trees to see if anything was exposed.

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nhc.noaa.gov

Things have been popping up and then disappearing in the Atlantic.  There are two disturbances out there now, both with a 60% chance of becoming a hurricane in the next forty eight hours.

We'll have a bump up in the surf to around three feet on Thursday then it will decrease again.  If the predictions are correct, we'll have a six or seven foot surf next week.

You know how that goes.  Sometimes it doesn't pan out.  If it happens it will be the first surf of that size we've had for a long time.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/9/15 Report - How To Increase Metal Detector Finds By Investigating Marginal Signals. Waterloo Skeleton Of German Soldier.

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

A few days ago I talked about detector coils and what I called the area of target sensitivity and peripheral sensitivity.  I'll add a little to that today.

As I mentioned some coils have good peripheral sensitivity and will detect coins out beyond the area covered by the coil.  One detector I tested consistently produced a signal nearly an inch before the coil was over various test coins.  The good thing about that is that it covers more ground.  The down side is that it makes it more difficult to pinpoint the target without going into a pinpoint mode, and it does not provide good and easy target separation when multiple targets are closely clustered.

But what I wanted to mention today is that any coil will produce partial or unclear signals near the edge of a coil or when a target is too deep or the coil is moving too fast or whatever.  There are times when a less clear signal can easily be confused with noise.  That is more true when you are operating in a noisy environment, whether the noise is due to conditions such as ground mineralization or less than optimal use of the detector.  The more noise you have, the easier it is for the less clear signals produced by good targets to get lost in the noise.

There are actually two major systems involved in all metal detecting.  One is the detector, the other is the person.  Those systems share much in common.  The psychosensory system can be analyzed in much the same way as a metal detector.  Both systems are somewhat adaptable.   Both systems can detect signals in noise to a certain extent.   And both systems can have a good or not so good accuracy rate.

In the same way that a detector can be set up to detect good targets in a noisy environment, a detectorist can focus and learn and improve on how he hears or separates good signals from noise.  You can definitely learn to better interpret your detector's signals.  It takes time, but that is something you can definitely do.  That is one reason I suggest a lot of testing and experimentation with a detector.

Don't depend entirely upon your detector to separate good signals from noise.  Your brain is more powerful than any detector.

Set up your detector to do the best job that it can under the circumstances, but also learn to better understand what your detector is telling you.  That will help you identify good targets that produce maginal signals.

If you run your detector hot, there will always be some noise, maybe slight, but still some noise.  There will always be those marginal signals.  Maybe just the edge of your coil went over the target, or maybe the target was partially masked by junk or black sand or whatever.

My point is that you can probably learn to better discriminate and identify the good signals from the noise.

When you are zipping along and hear a whisper or squeak or any signal that could easily be mistaken for noise, it might actually indicate a good target.  It is a good idea to sometimes stop and check those marginal signals.  That will help you learn to tell the difference.

Some detectors will null (go silent) on targets that are so deep that they are at the limits of what the detector can detect.   I've noticed that especially with PI detectors.  If you will stop and check those slight interruptions in the threshold by taking a scoop of sand out so you can get your coil down another inch or two, you might then hear a good signal from the deep target.  If you are running a silent threshold, you won't hear the null.  

When using what I would call a power-detector, I like to run my threshold up a little higher and carefully listen for very slight changes.  Not so much if I am just doing a quick scan of an area.

If you are in the habit of passing over anything that sounds like noise, stop and double check some of those sounds, you might discover that some of them are actually good targets.  You might cut down on misses by doing that and also by adjusting your detector, but even when your detector is well adjusted, you might be able to make additional improvements by learning to pay more attention to those marginal signals caused by good targets.

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It is very cool but unusual to track a find down to a particular person.

A skeleton found at Waterloo has been identified (without absolute certainty) to be that of a particular German soldier.

Here is that link.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/07/waterloo-skeleton-identified_n_7011508.html

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Conditions on the Treasure Coast beaches remains poor.  It looks like there are at least two weeks of predicted one-two foot surf.  That isn't very promising.  It has been a very slow year so far.  We are way over due for some good erosion.

Welcome to new reader Tony who says he has been detecting for about a year and just discovered this blog.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

11/16/14 Report - 15 Million Year Old Shark Skeleton Found in Back Yard. More Treasure Coast Finds. Erosion Found On One T. C. Beach.

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



A Few More 2014 Finds By Michael E.\
Photo submitted by Michael E.

Here are some more 2014 finds from Michael E.  I showed some of his gold finds from this year a day or two ago.

Congratulations Michael!

Anyone know about the U. S. Customs pin?

Nice Indian Head!









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A complete skeleton of a 15 million year old Snaggle Tooth shark was found in the backyard of a Maryland home.

http://xfinity.comcast.net/video/rare-shark-skeleton-inbackyard/357579843922/Comcast/StrangeVideos?cid=hero_sf_weird


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Typical Treasure Coast Beach This Morning

Here is a typical Treasure Coast beach.  Sand has been accumulating on this front beach lately.

This photo was taken near low tide this morning.

The surf is going to around three or four feet until Tuesday.

I did find one beach that had some cuts.  As you might expect, the erosion was in renourishment sand.  One poor turtle was tricked by that and the eggs were being uncovered.

One to Two Foot Cut On One Treasure Coast Beach This Morning Near Low Tide
 

You can see a smattering of shells and a little black sand.  There were coins and thing below the cut.

Too bad this renourishment sand doesn't seem to hold much of anything any good.

A few older items evidently washed up onto the beach here.




Waves In Front Of The Cut Beach.

One of the most important things I've learned about in recent years is the effect of the trigger point.  I've explained a little about trigger points in previous posts. Maybe I'll expand on that soon.

It looks like the surf will only bump up a foot or two in the next week or so.  Too bad.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@Comcast.net