7/19/20 Report - Unidentified Treasure Coast Fossil Tooth. Historic Backyard Meteorite. Tropical Wave Over Hispaniola.

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

Sunday Morning
nhc.nooa.gov

It is that time of year when storms can quickly form in our area.

A tropical wave located over Hispaniola and the adjacent waters of the southwestern Atlantic is expected to move west-northwestward over the next several days and enter the southeastern Gulf of Mexico by late Tuesday, and then move across the central Gulf on  Wednesday and reach the northwestern Gulf on Thursday...

If the predictions are correct, it looks like this one will not be a big deal Treasure Coast.

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A space rock, which weighs 66 pounds, was discovered more than 30 years ago in a garden in Blaubeuren, in southern Germany. “In 1989, a homeowner was digging a cable trench on his property in Blaubeuren, in the German region of Swabia, when his spade hit a rock,” explains the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) in a statement. “Upon lifting it half a meter [1.6-feet] to the surface, he found that it was remarkably heavy.”

The rock, which is a chondrite, or stony meteorite, measures 11 inches by 9.8 inches by 7.9 inches...

Thanks to DJ for the link.    https://apple.news/AmlLMv3YcST2L92_BHwbFmw

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I found this sweet little fossilized tooth yesterday.

Fossil Tooth From Treasure Coast Beach.

After looking through some books, I think it is probably from something in the camel line, but I'd be happy to hear from anyone who knows.

It is small and very sharp.  Obviously not worn down much by wear.  Maybe an unerupted tooth.  

Another View of the Same Fossil Tooth.

On the Treasure Coast beaches you can find things that are hundreds of years old, but also thousands or even millions of years old.

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On your recent post you mentioned folks wanting to keep secrets to themselves and questioned whether or not you should share what you have learned along the way. Personally, I applaud you. I’ve been treasure hunting for nearly thirty years and have learned at least 75% of what I know about beach hunting from you. Mostly I go offshore with my guys to do the known sites of the 1715 fleet, but when the weather is not cooperating I do the beaches.

The reason for me posting this is to say that the Treasure Hunter’s Cookout was started by me 12 years ago because I wanted to get all these secretive hunters to open up to each other. I’ve accomplished my goal as I’ve seen rivals actually team up and create a more friendly atmosphere in the community. I always thought that scenarios like "I have a boat but no divers, magnetometer, sidescan, money, location etc. could cure itself if we all got together, met in a non formal, party like place and get to know each other. It appears to have worked. ...

Thanks much John.  I know your cookouts have been a big success.  Over the years I've received many glowing reports people who attended.  The cookouts have helped many, and the comradery has been a big positive for the treasure hunting community.

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And I received this email from the other side of the Atlantic.

... I have been reading the treasure beaches for years now and appreciate your blog very very much.

Your blog also brings back fond memories of living in southern Florida during the early 90s.

I always enjoy the photos of the beaches posted too.

I am located in Europe for now and mainly detect in central Europe and the northern Mediterranean.

The links about the "Dead water phenomenon" are not directly detector related,

unless you are towing a PI coil on a sled through the sea of course ...

With kind regards from across the big pond, Bjorn

https://phys.org/news/2020-07-dead-water-phenomenon.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzcgAshAg2o

I can tell from the Google stats that the blog is read overseas, but it is always nice to get an email and links for study. 

I'll be studying the links more thoroughly.   It is always good to add to your understanding.  You never know how it might help something fall into place.

Thanks Bjorn.

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The new blogger editor is slow.  I should make a transition to the new blog before long.

It looks like the Treasure Coast surf will remain in the two or three foot range for about a week.  We'll have a bit of a negative tide.

Happy hunting,

TreasureGuide@com.

9/24/19 Report - Using Target ID Numbers. Three Tropical Storms. Green Cabin Wreck Coin.

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

Three Tropical Storms.

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

Now we have three tropical storms in the Atlantic: Jerry, Karen, and Lorenzo.  None are supposed to come our way.  Also there is a little system down by the Yucatan.

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It appears that the Mexican reale found after Dorian and said to be found near the Disney resort came from the Green Cabin wreck - the 1618 wreck of the San Martin.  I think that is what the certificate issued by the West Bay Trading Company says.  It also must say that the coin is from the late 1500s.  I can't really read it all.

Coin Certificate

Photo submitted by Kenneth T.

Somebody recently asked me how to get an artifact certified.   I didn't know that the West Bay Trading Company issued certificates, and I still don't know if they would certify a dug artifact.

Many of the certificates of authenticity that you see on eBay or similar sites are made by whoever is selling the item and are worth no more than the reputation of the person or company that issues them.

You might remember that I mentioned people parking along the road and going to the beach between Wabasso and Seagrape Trail right after Dorian.

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I've been informally field testing the target ID readings on the Equinox metal detector and trying to determine the usefulness of the numbers. I have concluded that you can NOT safely decide whether to dig or not just on the basis of the ID meter readings - at least not if you do not want to miss something good.  The readings do seem to provide some information though.  I am still very much in the dig it up and look at it camp, but I also understand that some people hate to dig trash and aren't bothered by what they  might have missed.

Joe D. has commented on the usefulness of using the signal tones of the Equinox, and I've observed that you can really reduce the amount of junk (defined as non-coins) you dig by using the tones alone.

Here is a section from the Equinox Manual, which you can find online.

Source: online Equinox manual.

Notice that "Aluminum, Gold" is in the 11 - 20 range, which is also where you'll find nickels, pull tabs and bottle caps.  Also tiny gold nuggets, gold nuggets and larger gold nuggets range from close to 1 up to about 30.  That is a huge range and very much agrees with some YouTube videos showing that gold rings can show up almost anywhere on the scale.

Providing some information (in other words, increasing the probability of a correct ID) the ID numbers can be more useful when combined with other sources of information.

Lets take one other source of information - information about the site itself.   Targets are not randomly distributed, and you can make good use of whatever information you have acquired about a site.  For example, many sites have one or two prominent types of junk.  It might be nails or pull tabs or bottle caps.  But that information, when combined with the target ID numbers can be useful.

Lets say you are finding a number of bottle caps of a particular type.  They might show as a narrow range of target ID numbers -  lets say 21/22, for example.  Some pennies will produce those numbers too, but pennies are of low value, so it is no big deal to miss some of those.  After you have found a few bottle caps showing as 21/22, and you conclude you are in an area where those types of items are common, the probability is greater that when you do not dig a 21/22 item, that you will be missing a bottle cap, or at least something not real valuable.   The likelihood of a correct rejection has been increased by combining your the target ID number with your knowledge of the most probable targets in that area.  Furthermore, if you can gain additional knowledge from the audio signal, such as a dual tone, which you can get with some kinds of bottle caps.   That additional information can also help you increase the probability of a correct target ID.

There are a variety of other types of information that you could and perhaps should use, but I could go on for a very long time about that.  The point is that combining different types of sources of information can help you improve your target ID and improve the probability of a correct dig or reject decision.  Notice that I said "probability."  You won't be completely accurate every time.  There is still the possibility of making a big mistake.  How comfortable you are with that will have a lot to do with your strategy.

Unfortunately I've forgotten most of what I once knew about probability theory and statistics so I can only talk about this in general terms now.

Knowledge of different sites can be very helpful.  You have closer to a random distribution of targets in the dry sand, however the distribution in dry sand is still far from random.  More targets will be lost where there is more activity, such as volley ball courts, and of course, there will generally be more targets where there are more people, and the targets will be more valuable where there are more wealthy people, and there will be more gold where people from certain cultures assemble, etc., etc.

In the wet sand the target distribution is determined more by the forces of nature.  Of course human and socio-cultural factors are also involved, but there are definite patterns that can be discerned.  I've talked about those a lot in the past.  The bottom line is that you can improved your pre-dig target ID by using a variety of sources of information.

One additional note: although I'm talking about the Equinox, you can generalize to other similar metal detectors that provide target ID numbers.

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The surf will be decreasing for a few days.  That can allow you to get out into ground that you haven't been able to metal detect for a while.

Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

6/21/17 Report - Tropical Storm Cindy To Make Landfall. Laws For Turtle Season. Sword Found. Old Jewelry Find.

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

Turtle Nesting On Treasure Coast.

The turtles are nesting.  I took this photo a few days ago and forgot about it until someone wrote and asked me about turtle nesting season.  I don't think it is too complicated.  Just don't dig in the nests or disturb the turtles.

Most of the nests are marked, so if you are a snowbird or don't know about that, there are stakes that mark many of the turtle nests.  New nests you can clearly see.  Penalties can be serious.

Florida state law provides protection against taking, possessing, disturbing, mutilating, destroying or causing to be destroyed, selling or offering for sale, transferring, molesting, or harassing any marine turtle or its nest or eggs at any time.

Federal law provides even greater protection (and criminal penalties as severe as $100,000 and a year in prison) if you “take, harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, or capture any marine turtle, turtle nest, and/or eggs, or attempt to engage in any such conduct.”

Here is a link.

http://thecotas.com/2012/01/sea-turtle-nests-protected-by-state-and-federal-law/

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Medieval Sword Discovered in Peat Bog.
Source: See ScienceInPoland link below.

Completely preserved medieval sword from the 14th century has been discovered at a peat bog near Hrubieszów. The finder donated the artefact to the local Fr. Stanisław Staszic Museum. "This is a unique find in the region" - said Bartłomiej Bartecki, director of the museum...

http://scienceinpoland.pap.pl/en/news/news,414626,lubelskie-medieval-sword-discovered-at-a-peat-bog.html

That would be a fun find.

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Some 2,500 Israeli pupils and volunteers from Modiin-Maccabim-Re’ut participated in an archaeological excavation in their own community, coming away with a new sense of history — and a treasure trove of 900-year-old Crusader-period jewelry...

Source: See TimesofIsrael link below.

I've been talking about jewelry and some ways to identify the date for them.  Here is some old jewelry.  Some of it is not very different from what you might find on a Treasure Coast beach.

Here is the link for more about that story.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/school-pupils-help-find-900-year-old-crusader-jewelry-trove/

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I have a lot more to post, but I'll wind it up for today.

With the hurricane season becoming active already, you'll want to keep up on the latest tropical weather activity.

Tropical Storm Cindy is about to make landfall near the Louisiana/Texas border.

It looks like Bret has disappeared.

That's all for now.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

9/16/16 Report - Three Tropical Storms Plus Now. Padre Island and Emanuel Point Shipwreck Study. Fossils.

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

Julia has become a tropical storm again.  It is lingering off of South Carlina and it looks like it is bringing some northeast winds to parts of North Carolina, South Carolina an North Florida.

That is the kind of thing I'd like to see happen off the Treasure Coast - a storm that sits off shore and churns for a while.

We now have three tropical storms, two depressions, but no partridge in a pear tree.

Karl is expected to become a hurricane, but is expected at this point to move to the north before long.  I've made the observation before that when they get strong that far away they tend to move north into the Atlantic.

Another depression is about to come off of Africa.  

It is pretty busy out there.

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You might enjoy this fossil slideshow.  Just some very neat fossils.

http://animalmozo.com/2016/09/03/24-insane-fossil-discoveries

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I found a paper on the Padre Island and Emanuel Point shipwrecks.  Simplified, the hypothesis is that the pattern of ceramics on a wreck site can help you determine something about the type of ship was involved.  There were however some other details that you might find interesting, for example the following illustrations on early salvage techniques.

I suspect that there will be differences between deep and shallow water wrecks and some other factors.

Dragging for a Wreck.
Source: Arnold, 1979.

Salvage Divers Following Chain Down To Wreck.
Source: Arnold, 1979

The source of those illustrations is the following.

Arnold III, J. Barto, 1979.  Documentary Sources for the Wreck of the New Spain Fleet of 1554, David McDonald, translator. Texas Antiquities Committee Publication, No. 8, Austin.

You might find the study of the wreck sites, ceramics, etc. interesting.

Here is the link.

http://etd.fcla.edu/WF/WFE0000406/Sorset_Scott_Ryan_201306_MA.pdf

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The World Health Organization found that the United States ranks third (behind India and China) in most depression, anxiety and drug and alcohol abuse.

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Promoting interest in Florida archaeology.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

6/4/16 Report - New Cyclone Likely To Form In Gulf. Jetons: Reckoning Counters or Game Pieces.

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

Tropical Storm Bonnie and One Newer Disturbance.
Source: nhc.noaa.gov.

Tropical storm Bonnie is now headed east into the Atlantic, but there is a new disturbance down by Yucatan that has a 70% chance of becoming a cyclone in the next 48 hours.  It could hit the Florida West Coast in a few days.

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Jetons were token or coin-like medals produced across Europe from the 13th through the 17th centuries. They were produced as counters for use in calculation on a lined board similar to an abacus.  They also found use as a money substitute in games, similar to modern casino chips or poker chips.  Thousands of different jetons exist, mostly of religious and educational designs, as well as portraits, these most resembling coinage.  (Excerpt from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeton)

Jetons have been found on Spanish colonial sites including St. Augustine.  Most were made in cities we now associate with Germany.  Nuremberg being one.

Here is a site showing how jetons were used as reckoning counters.

http://www.chicagocoinclub.org/projects/PiN/juh.html

The jeton shown above is from a Ph.D. dissertation by Kroum Nickolaev Batchvarov.

Here is the description of that jeton.

Token KT101 has an irregular shape and was struck slightly off center of the brass blank (fig. 80). On the reverse of the token is depicted a ship, viewed from the port quarter. The depiction is highly stylized and appears to illustrate a two-decked warship. It is surrounded by the motto Plus Ultra (Further Beyond) of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Subsequently, this also became the motto of Habsburg Spain. According to mythology, the Pillars of Hercules (Straits of Gibraltar) bore the warning Nec Plus Ultra or “nothing further beyond” to prevent sailors from falling off the earth. The adoption of the modified motto by Charles V was meant to state a commitment to going further than 252 any before him. The association with the Pillars of Hercules is probably the connection between the motto and the ship depicted on the token. The obverse contains a sun face, moon and stars. Around the periphery is inscribed “E. L. S. Lauer RECHEN PF.” The first stands for Ernst Ludwig Siegmund Lauer, the manufacturer of the jeton. Lauer evidently was born in 1762, started work in or about 1783 and retired in 1833. It appears that he died as late as 1845. The second part of the inscription is to be read as rechen Pfennig, or “accounting token” in German. It appears that Lauer struck large quantities of this type as they frequently appear on internet auction sites. A Lauer jeton was also found at Corinth in Greece, but as the article did not include an illustration of it, I cannot be certain that it is identical to KT 101.255 Fig. 80. KT101 An accounting token struck by Ernst Lauer. 

Below is the source link.  The title of the dissertation is The Kitten Shipwreck: Aarchaeology And Reconstruction Of A Black Sea Merchantman.

It is a lengthy dissertation.  A number of nice artifacts are shown near the end of the dissertation. Take a look.

Here is the link.

http://nautarch.tamu.edu/Theses/pdf-files/Batchvarov-PhD2009.pdf

It takes a while to load.

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Warren D. Who Returned Lost Necklace to Tourist.
See yesterday's post.

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The surfing web sites are predicting a very flat surf on the Treasure Coast for the next week or two.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/13/14 Report - Hurricane Gonzalo Now. Dumfries Hoard. Largest Ancient Shipwreck. Prime Meridian.

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

Source of photos:  See BBC link.

The Dumfies Hoard consists of around a hundred Viking items from the ninth or tenth century and is worth about six figures.  The hoard was found by a detectorist in Scotland.  

There's material from Ireland, from Scandinavia, from various places in central Europe and perhaps ranging over a couple of centuries.

Shown here are a couple of the items from the hoard, a silver vessel and a ninth or tenth century cross.

The BBC report describing the hoard praises the responsible behavior of the detectorist.

Here is the link.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-29582866

Thanks to Iowa Steve and Mike F. for submitting the link.








The largest ancient shipwreck ever discovered has produced hundreds of artifacts including a bronze spear.  The deep-water wreck is from around 60 or 70 AD.

Here is the link to the article.

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



Here is an interesting fact that can be very important if you are doing research to locate old shipwrecks or treasures.

If you are reading an old treasure or shipwreck map, the longitude might not make sense.   Did you know that longitudes were not always based upon the Greenwich prime meridian?

Today maps use the meridian running through Greenwich England as the prime meridian ( 0 degrees longitude).   The Greenwich meridian was adopted as the prime meridian in 1851.  Before that other meridians were used as the prime meridian.  That means if you don't know what prime meridian was being used at the time, longitude readings can be off by thousands of miles.

It seems that the Atlantic has finally come alive.  Now we have two tropical storms, Fay and Gonzalo, and one other disturbance coming.  [Update: Gonzalo is now a hurricane.]

It looks like Gonzalo will skirt the West Indies and head north into the Atlantic.   We'll have to keep an eye on the other disturbance too.

We are supposed to have something like a 3 - 5 foot surf today, then decreasing a foot or so for a few days and then maybe a 4 - 6 foot surf by Friday.

You can see a seasonal change going on.  The surf is picking up.

I'll do a little scouting to see what is happening on the beaches and hope to get some photos.


I hope you studied yesterday's video.  It shows that the sweep angle definitely affects detector signals.  That is one of several reasons why you can go back over well hunted ground and continue to find targets.

A bent or angled buried object will also give various signals depending upon exactly how the coil goes over it.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@Comcast.net

9/10/13 - We Have Two Hurricanes Now & Baguette Diamond Rings

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

Not too long ago I talked about how this hurricane season was predicted to be a busy one.  It has not been busy so far this year.  Quite the contrary.  It has been unusually quiet.

I also talked about my best detecting months on the Treasure Coast,   They do not correspond.  Hurricanes and tropical storms, while sometimes very productive, are not required for old things to show up on the beaches.  In fact, all you need is a northeaster that sits off the coast and sends in waves for a period of time.  That can be just as productive as a hurricane.

You can see from the above chart that the peak number of hurricanes and tropical storms in the past has been right around September 10, then it declines.

The distribution is skewed to the right.  In other words there seems to be more storms after the peak than before it.

One thing you can see from this is that there is still a lot of hurricane season left.  Both September and October have produced a good number of hurricanes.

A series of storms might be more productive than a single storm or hurricane, especially if they continue to move sand in a similar direction.

The hurricane season has suddenly changed though.  Gabrielle has reformed and became a hurricane.

Humberto is the new hurricane that just came off of Africa.  Both are probably headed north or into the Atlantic.  And we still have that one area down in the Yucatan that could possibly form.

Yesterday I mentioned the four factors that affect the value of a diamond; cut, clarity, color and carat weight.

I've heard a lot of advertisements on TV for "brown" diamonds recently.  That doesn't sound particularly good to me, but it seems that brown diamonds are fairly popular now.

As I was saying yesterday, diamonds are cut in different shapes.  Today I'll talk about baguette diamonds.  Baguettes are basically long somewhat rectangular cut diamonds.

Baguette diamonds became popular in the 1920s and 1930s.  Of course not all baguettes are that old.  Some are brand new.

I used to call those such as the one I'm going to show below a piano diamond, but I do not think it really is.  Piano diamonds that I've seen recently look like they have the black keys too.  They really look like pianos.

Several things affect how good the cut of a baguette diamond is.  Those factors affect how brilliant the diamond is.  They include the width and depth of the stone, the symmetry, and the alignment of the diamond's facets and the polish.

Clarity refers to the diamonds blemishes and inclusions.  Inclusions, I mentioned yesterday.  They look like little black spots in the diamond itself.  Blemishes can be irregularities on the surface, both natural and made during cutting.  Blemishes and inclusions can affect the brilliance of a diamond and how much it sparkles by interfering with the transmission of light through the stone.

A skilled stone cutter will cut the Baguette to give the most beautiful lustre, transparency, refraction and dispersion of light.  All of that can be difficult to evaluate unless you are experienced. 

I suspect that a lot of people don't get what they should from the diamonds they sell.

Baguette Diamond Ring Found With Metal Detector.

This ring, like yesterday's, this ring was found in a dip in shallow water.  I think I've shown this particular ring before.

There are a couple of diamonds missing from this ring.  They could be replaced to restore the ring.


On the Treasure Coast the surf is 2 - 3 feet.  There is a lot of sand to move.   I didn't see any cuts on the beach this morning.

I'll have some photos of that later.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net