5/2/19 Report - Trough Now Off Florida Coast. Gold Cross Ole Timer Story. Changes. A Correction.

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

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

It isn't hurricane season yet, but NOAA is already reporting a trough developing just off the Florida coast.  If you noticed the wind yesterday, you were observing the effects of the trough.

https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/gtwo.php?basin=atlc&fdays=2

A surf of three to five feet was predicted for last night and this morning by MagicSeaWeed.com.

Forbes.com says, Isn't it a bit early for the National Hurricane Center to be issuing outlooks? The Atlantic hurricane season typically starts on June 1st. The peak of the Atlantic hurricane season comes later in September when ocean temperatures are quite warm, and atmospheric wind shear is relatively low. Storms forming on May 1st are quite rare as indicated in the figure below. However, they are not unprecedented as I have written previously in Forbes.

A 2016 blog by the American Meterological Society said:

In the past decade, half of the Atlantic’s seasons had “preseason” storms. In 2012, two storms—Alberto and Beryl—were named before the season officially started. And last year, Ana formed east of Georgia on May 7. Granted, it was initially a subtropical storm, a hybrid with both tropical features and features of midlatitude cyclones. But waters were warm and Ana became fully tropical in just days, and moved ashore in South Carolina on May 10...

Here is the link for more of that article.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/marshallshepherd/2019/05/01/its-may-1st-the-national-hurricane-center-is-watching-something-near-florida/#2a1c4a8a3c54

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Below is a story from Sebasstian Steve describing events that occurred around thirty years ago.

So the word "Tumbaga" reminded me of a day I went detecting down on the beach about thirty years ago,  down at the "Cabin Wreck" just south of the McLarty Museum.  It had blown real hard for a couple days, but the day I arrived there on the beach, it was an absolute "bluebird" day (as we used to say up on "The Lakes" on near perfect days weather wise)  The sky was clear and sunny blue, the ocean calm, calm, almost like a mill pond, with just a little tiny ripple rolling in.  

But you could however easily see what the heavy surf had done.  A hard cut, maybe four feet, and those big, erosion control bags are --right in front of Kip's Cabin-- if you know which house it is.  THAT IS THE GREEN LIGHT...when you see those big green or blue bags showing above the surface of the sand!  And there was __ A LARGE AREA OF THEM SHOWING__......not just a few square feet peeking out of one.

I was using my U/W diving detector that day on the beach... a Garrett Sea Hunter model.  Nothing fancy or powerful.  And I guess you could say all the myths were broken that day... a beautiful, calm day, no rain or foreboding weather, no wind whatsoever, and mid-afternoon.  There was no rush whatsoever....the good ole days.  And nobody else around...they all probably came and went with the morning tide.

As after a "grueling fifteen minutes" of detecting, I was about 4' out from the dune line.  And I got a good reading, nothing big or unusual about it, but strong enough to know it was quite shallow a target.  And so I took a scoop out, where I could have twitched it out with scrapping my fingernails down under the surface a few inches.  It could not have been down over 3 THREE INCHES.  I thought to myself..."Gee...any old machine would have found this!"

And what I held in my hand was a thin and delicate gold cross.  About 3-4" tall.  Without a doubt...straight in from the wreck.  As fresh as fresh can be.  Like a piece of bakery...still warm from the oven!  A sweet little double arm cross, that was poured out of Tumbaga gold according to a jeweler.  He was using the term in more of a generic way, to mean a lower than normal carat gold.  He thought 10-12 karat.  You could see the slight hollowed out area on the rear of the cross where the pour was.  But the face of this gold cross was very pretty, with The Virgin Mary holding Her Hands together as if in prayer.  She was standing up on a pedestal.  Quite pretty, and in very good condition.  Not worn or bent in the least.  A duller matt like gold tone on the front, and a very shiny gold in the rear pour area.  Seeing the rear gold pour, you would of thought pure gold, it looked like a molten puddle, shining as bright as the sun!  You knew immediately that this cross was gold.  (The McLarty Museum has in their collection from Kip Wagner, a similar cross).

It must of come from deep under the sand, or still tacked on a chest board, because to make it ashore without bending this thin gold cross was quite amazing!  Now I'm thinking it was on a chest of some sort, treasure or otherwise, or church papers chest, as the rear of the cross had two little "tangs" angled downward, so as to be able to gently drive this cross into a soft wood lid on a chest. (The treasure chests of the 1715 Fleet were made out of cedar).  Plenty soft for this type of application.

I actually did not have a safe place to put it in...while I continued detecting.  Had I stuck it down in my pocket, it might of easily got bent.  So I laid it on a large tree branch that was sticking out of the "wall cut".  It sat on there for another couple hours, while I continued detecting up and down the beach.   

Another detectorist arrived about an hour later, and I pointed it out to him.   Like... "That is my gold cross over there on the tree branch...you can look at it, but don't take it."  That's all...a different time and place.  Now how do we get the "Real" treasure back again ???  Words like "Trust" and "Admiration" come to mind.

God Bless All Who Read These Words.  

Sebastian Steve

PS:  If you would like to be detecting on the exact correct spot I speak about here....just contact me during a good blow.  I will take you there right after the storm abates.  What's the catch?  This ole boy ain't well anymore, and you would need to carry my detector for me...both ways!  I remember in my 20s or 30s, I would have jumped on such an offer...just to listen and learn.  But as I said...sadly we now live in a different time and place.  Here's proving me wrong...772 713-0965... leave message. (Storm times only please).

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Times have indeed changed, but I think that most detectorists will go through changes if they stick with it long enough.  I know I have.

I don't look at treasure hunting the same way as I did a few decades ago.  There was a time when I was much more driven.  Like a lot of people at that time in life, I wanted to know how much I could accomplish.  I tested myself, and I found that out.  I learned what it would take for me to metal detect professionally, and I found out that I probably didn't want to.  For me, that seemed to take some of the fun out of it.  I didn't want to depend upon detecting for an income, yet for a short while when I was between jobs, I was able to test it out.

Over the years and decades, the find became less important to me.  No single find is worth risking life or limb.  There are always more finds to be made down the road.  That is the way I see it now.

Finds in general are less important to me.  I'd rather fail to make a good find than fail to make a good moral decision.  That is what determines the kind of person I am, not the finds that I make.

To cut it short, I've changed over the years, and how I look at metal detecting and treasure hunting has changed as well.  Different things are important to me now.   If you've been at it a while, you can probably look back and see how you've changed too.

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I have a correction to make.  A couple days ago I posted an item found by Terry S. and mistakenly called it a copper ring.  In fact, it is a bracelet.  I wanted to make that correction and get some more ideas on the find.

Here are the photos again.

Three Views of Copper Bracelet Found by Terry S.

Photos by Terry S.

Let me know what you think of this item.  Any thoughts?

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I just received an email from a professor in a New York university asking permission to use one of the beach dynamics illustrations I used in this blog.  I'm always glad to help the educational community when I can.

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Live bidding begins on the current Sedwick auction at 10 AM today (Thursday).


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

5/22/18 Report - Singing in the Rain. San Jose Shipwreck. Tropical or Subtropical System Development Possible.

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

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

As I recently mentioned, it is the time of year to start watching for tropical storm development.  Here is what is causing our rain and will possibly cause tropical development.

Special Tropical Weather Outlook
NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL
745 AM EDT Tue May 22 2018

For the North Atlantic...Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico:

1. A broad surface low centered just east of Belize is producing a
large area of cloudiness and showers extending from the northwestern
Caribbean Sea across Cuba into the Florida peninsula.  While strong
upper-level winds and dry air aloft are expected to limit
organization during the next couple of days, some gradual
subtropical or tropical development is possible late this week while
the system moves slowly northward into the central or eastern Gulf
of Mexico. Regardless of development, locally heavy rainfall is
possible across western Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and much of
Florida during the next several days.  For more information on the
heavy rain threat, please see products issued by your local weather
office. The next Special Tropical Weather Outlook on this system
will be issued by 800 PM EDT.
* Formation chance through 48 hours...low...near 0 percent.
* Formation chance through 5 days...medium...40 percent.

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Source: See FoxNews link below.

And here is a new article on not so new news.

An autonomous vehicle was used in 2015 to locate a Spanish galleon that sunk 300 years ago off the coast of Colombia with $17 billion in treasure, the research team that helped in the discovery said on Monday.

The San Jose, which was considered the “holy grail of shipwrecks,” was located with the help of an underwater autonomous vehicle operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. The institution said it was holding the discovery under wraps out of respect for the Colombian government...

Here is the link.

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2018/05/22/autonomous-vehicle-helped-locate-holy-grail-shipwrecks-off-colombia.html

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I don't know if the rain prevents you from detecting or not.  Rain can be a pain if you don't have waterproof gear, but for the treasure hunter, rain can be a good thing.

Rain causes erosion.  It can erode the dunes.  You might also find erosion to some inland sites.  Take a look to see what might be uncovered by runoff.  In areas with good history where you might not even be allowed to detect, you might be able to find uncovered artifacts in ditches or gullies.  And, of course, you might be able to detect things in the soaked ground that you might have missed before.

One thing I always liked about rainy days is the quiet beaches.  I like detecting in the rain.

One of my most memorable sights was when I was detecting in a dead calm ocean in a downpour.  That was an surreal sight.  I couldn't see but a few feet out.  It was eerily quiet.

Its not too late to take advantage of the rainy days.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

PS: If you have a roof leak, try Flex Seal spray.  It is easier to apply than roof tar, but you can't spray it through puddles, so you need to get rid of any puddles first.

Rustoleum and other companies have similar products that might be a bit cheaper. 

You can probably find metal detecting related applications too.

8/9/17 Report - Hurricane and Storm Threat. Amazing Lightning Video. Detecting Watches and Surprising Metal Detector Responses.

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

Source: nhc.nooa.gov

It looks like Franklin is going to hit Mexico as a hurricane.

The weather way out to the east of the West Indies on the map is the one that the local weather channels have been talking about in relation to Florida.  It isn't expected to develop until this weekend.  It is supposed to stay out by the Bahamas and maybe be more of a threat to the Carolinas. It seems to be heading more to the north now.

We have some new weather shown on the nhc map now.  It is already over the Bahamas but is disorganized and probably won't do much more for us than bring some rain.  It doesn't look like it will increase our surf.

I'm not expecting any significant change in beach detecting conditions any time soon.

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What Happens When Lightning Hits a River
Source: See clip below.

You have to see this.  This is an amazing video.

https://kost1035.iheart.com/content/2017-08-02-what-happens-when-lightning-hits-a-river-watch/#.WYXtO2xYBml.facebook

It appeared to me like the lightning following a small stream or runoff down over the bank and into the river.

Anyhow, really cool video.

Be careful when there might be lightning around.

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Some of my most valuable finds are watches. They are very common finds for me, even when I hunt heavily hunted areas.

You can't depend upon a detector to tell you that you are over a watch - at least not any detectors that I'm aware of.

Watches differ in size, shape and composition.  If the watch is laying with the face flat against the ground or looking up as shown as position B below, you'll generally get a pretty good signal.

If, however, as is often the case, the watch is positioned with the face perpendicular to the ground ( position A in the illustration below), the signal you get will vary a LOT depending upon a lot of variables including which direction you swing the coil.  I made a video that illustrates very clearly that you can get little or no signal when you swing your coil in the N/S direction over a watch that is laying on the ground like the one shown as position A.  It is really striking, and to me, the extent of the effect was surprising.  If I get my video uploaded you'll see it very clearly.

Swinging in the W/E direction and perpendicular to the face of the watch will result in a much better signal.  You might get a double signal as you cross over the watch and band, depending upon a lot of different things, but you'll certainly get a much better signal than when you move your coil in the N/S direction.

As I said, there are a number of variables.  The band can be in a variety of positions. The detector and mode will also affect the results.  I hope I get my video loaded soon.  I think you'll be amazed by what it shows.  I'll quit trying to describe what my video will show.

In the experiment reported above, I used "coin mode" on the Garrett Ace 150.  That might be the reason for the results. I'll do the same test using other modes to see how they differ.  I usually use all metals mode.  That might make all the difference in the world.  I'll see.

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Some people think there is a coup underway in the U. S.

http://www.wnd.com/2017/08/after-the-coup-what-then/print/

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That is all for now.  I'll try to get my video uploads worked out soon.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/18/5 Report - Finally New Developing Tropical Weather To Watch. Civil War Ironclad CSS Georgia Being Raised.

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

We finally have some weather to watch.  This area will most likely become a named storm.

I've been saying how unusual it has been to have such a small surf for such a long period of time.

According to NOAA, a cyclone will most likely be forming in the Atlantic (80% chance).  That is the first in quite a while.

Weather.com says, The month of August is typically active in the Atlantic, averaging about two named storms annually (1851-2014).

It's not very often we go through an entire August without a single active named storm. In fact, the last time it happened was 18 years ago in August 1997. Before that you have to go back to 1961 to find an August with no named storms.

Thanks to goldnugget for initially alerting me to this development.

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I received information on the token I posted yesterday.

The information shown here come from the follwoing numista.com web site.

http://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces69237.html

Mitch King mentioned that the center was punched out when used.  I saw an example on eBay without the center, so that must be right.

I haven't yet seen a date for it though.  It seems to be general purpose and must be modern or current.

Thanks much to Mitch King and Penzfan for the information.

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SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — After 150 years at the bottom of the Savannah River, the armored skeleton of the Confederate warship CSS Georgia is being raised to the surface one 5-ton chunk at a time.

Navy divers who began working in late June to recover cannons, unexploded shells and other artifacts from the riverbed finally started midweek on their last major task — retrieving an estimated 250,000 pounds of the Civil War ironclad's armored siding.

Here is the link for the rest of that story.

http://news.yahoo.com/divers-raise-wreckage-confederate-warship-5-ton-chunks-145026321.htm

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New pictures of amazing new gold finds on the Treasure Coast will be released later this week.  You won't want to miss that.

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We have a slight bump in the Treasure Coast surf today, but not much.  Keep watching for Dan to develop.

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Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/28/14 Report - Million Dollar Eight Reale? Christobal & Three Disturbances. Battle of Blair Mountain. Error State Quarters.

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

Million Dollar Coin?
Source of photo: http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?ca=9a501b2f-1cb3-4254-b702-c38b9ca8b983&c=116708e0-3539-11e3-b96a-d4ae52844279&ch=12520520-3539-11e3-ba6f-d4ae52844279

 

Is this a million dollar coin?  We'll find out this November when it is auctioned by Sedwick Coins in Orlando.

The auction estimate is $500,000 to $1,000,000.

Minted in Mexico in 1538, this 8 reale was found on a shipwreck in the 1990s.  This is one of three known to exist and is considered to be the first dollar-sized coin minted in the New World.  This is the first time it will be offered publicly.

Here is the link for more information.

http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?ca=9a501b2f-1cb3-4254-b702-c38b9ca8b983&c=116708e0-3539-11e3-b96a-d4ae52844279&ch=12520520-3539-11e3-ba6f-d4ae52844279

Three Disturbances and Christobal
Source: www.nhc.noaa.gov

We're certainly seeing more activity in the Atlantic.  Christobal is headed towards Iceland.  One disturbance passed over the West Indies and is heading towards the Gulf.  One is sitting over the Southern coast of Texas, and one is just about to leave Africa.

Padre Island is getting four to six foot waves, building to overhead today.

The 2014 Outer Banks Pro (surfing competition) started Wednesday because the waves were coming in at the head high to overhead range.  

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to pop down on any beach at any time you wanted? 

On the Treasure Coast, if that is where you are, this is the last day of 3 - 5 foot surf.  This weekend it will slack off and get back to a 1 - 2 foot surf.  At least that will give you a chance to get out a little farther where the waves were hitting the past few days.

I'm curious about the path of these next two potential storms.

Source: archive.archeology.org link.

Here is a pistol from the 1921 Battle of Blair Mountain. 

Detectorists helped to locate the position of skirmishes by locating concentrations of bullets and shells.  I don't remember that being mentioned in the article, but maybe it was.  It has been a while since I read the article.

The following link provides a good article on the effort to save the mountain as a historic site, ironically, from mining operations.

http://archive.archaeology.org/1201/features/blair_mountain_coal_activism_west_virginia.html


Coin errors are out there and they can make a big difference in the value of a coin.  I've found a few while detecting.  There are so many possible die errors that it can be difficult to know what to look for.

There are a lot of mint errors on the state quarters.  Here is one article showing a lot of the easily noticed errors as well as a few of the more difficult to detect errors.

http://koinpro.tripod.com/Articles/finding_states_quarters_errorsa_.htm

Source: www.koinpro.tripod.com link above.

Some of these errors make the quarter worth hundreds of dollars.  That is something you won't want to miss.

For example, this 1999-P Pennsylvania state quarter shows the faint image of the opposite side of the coin on both sides.  This quarter is worth about $700.

It is easy to let some good treasures go simply because you don't know about them. 

It can be worth taking a good look at your coin finds and doing some research.







And here is a another web site showing some more difficult to detect errors found on state quarters.  Some of these you really have to know about or you would never notice them.  For example on one you need to know how many trees there are supposed to be.

http://www.blifaloo.com/info/more-rare-coins.php

Have some fun hunting error coins.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@Comcast.net