10/5/19 Report - Rare Gold Coins Being Found on 19th Century Shipwreck. A Variety of Metal Detectors That I've Used Over The Years.

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

Blue Water Ventures has been finding rare gold coins on a 19th century wreck of the Steamship North Carolina off the South Carolina Coast.

Thanks to Dean R. for the lead on this story.  You'll find it mentioned in several sources.  Here are three links.

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article235661717.html

https://rarecoininvestor.com/2018/11/05/divers-searching-for-extremely-rare-gold-coins-on-1840-shipwreck-off-south-carolina/


https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/blue-water-ventures-international-and-endurance-exploration-group-announce-first-day-success-on-steamboat-north-carolina-1028570511

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I was trying to remember the metal detectors that I've used over the years and thought I'd make a list beginning with the first one I ever used and putting them in order, but I doubt that I got them all and I probably don't have every one in the correct order.

Radio Shack metal detector.   Back in the 60s probably.  Don't remember what it was called.

Whites CoinMaster.  It was purchased from a Sears Roebuck catalog and returned for some reason after some useage.

Fisher Aquanaut 1280.   My first submersible and the metal detector and the detector I was using when I got on the gold trail.

Tesoro Royal Sabre.

Tesoro Silver Sabre.

Garrett Pulse Induction submersible.  I don't remember what that one was called either,  I didn't keep it very long.

Steve Noga modified submersible Nautilus metal detector.  I think I had three of those.

Herb MacDonald Aquasound metal detctors.  Very similar to the Noga metal detectors. They were also modified Nautilus detectors in a Ikelite case.

Tesoro Stingray.

Minelab Excalibur.

Minelab Sovereign,

Whites PI Surf.

Garrett Ace 250.

Garrett GTX.

Minelab Equinox.

My most productive detectors were the Noga and MacDonald modified Nautilus detectors, which were great beach and underwater detectors.

Most of those detectors were pretty good at doing something.  I used some of those a lot and others only a little.

Some of the later detectors were also very good, but it was when I was using the modified Nautilus detectors that I was detecting the most and finding the most.   I lived in the Fort Lauderdale area at the time,  and between consulting jobs and university teaching, I was able to hit the beaches pretty hard.  I was doing 20 to 30 pieces of gold each month on average without going all out.   As I recall, I was at around 130 pieces of gold one year and had more months to go when I lost track of my records. 

I might comment on each metal detector some other time.

If the Radio Shack detector was a better metal detector, I would have started to metal detect more seriously a decade or two earlier.

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MagicSeaWeed.com.

Looks like we'll have some nice surf Sunday night and Monday morning, but it looks like the wind won't be favorable.

The tides are more moderate now.

It isn't unusual to have a good storm in the fall.  We can still hope.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/28/18 Report - Metal Detectors I've Used Over The Years And My Impressions of Them.

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

 Today I'll give my history and progression with metal detecting, including my impression of the various detectors that I've used.  

The first metal detector I used was a Radio Shack metal detector that my grandmother bought a long time ago.  I would guess it was in the 1950s or something.  I can't remember how old I was, but she got it and we went out to her childhood home where not much more than the stone chimney was left standing.  I recall finding some relics - but only iron and bigger things.  As I recall, correctly or not, that metal detector wouldn't detect a coin.  Maybe we didn't know how to use it.  I'm very vague about all of that now.

Years passed and I moved to Florida and bought a White's metal detector out of a Sears Roebuck catalog.  I took it to Hollywood beach and found coins.  For some reason I returned it.  I thought, again correctly or incorrectly, that something was wrong with it, but I had found enough that I was hooked.

I think my next metal detector was a Fisher Aquanaut 1280.  I found a lot with that metal detector and eventually moved from targeting coins to targeting jewelry.  I found my first ring at Hollywood Beach in the wet sand with that detector.  My parents were visiting and I took them out to show them the metal detector and quickly found that ring.  They were amazed.

That was the metal detector that got me into shallow water detecting.  It was also the metal detector that I was using when I learned the down side of discrimination.  I turned down the discrimination and started finding more small gold rings.  Discrimination on that metal detector was set by using a single knob.  There was no notch or target ID.

My impressions of the 1280 are very favorable.  I found a lot with it.  It was very reliable.  I sold it years later for almost what I paid for it new.  It paid for itself in face value coin finds in the first year.

I did have trouble with one thing on it at first.  The arm rest holder was plastic.  I broke the plastic arm rest about three times in short order and then they replaced it with a metal one.

Around this time I tried a Garrett pulse induction metal detector.  I used it a few times and noticed how hot it was to iron.  I didn't find much gold with it and thought it wasn't working well.  After getting it looked at, they said there was nothing wrong with it, and I decided to sell it.   Now I think I just didn't understand pulse induction metal detectors back then.

I got a Tesoro Royal Sabre while I was still using the 1280.  It had some interesting new features.  One was notch discrimination.  Another was what they called surface blanking.

I used the Royal Sabre mostly as a backup and on junky dry sand sites.  It was not water proof and didn't work very well in wet sand.  It worked well for years, and they had what they advertised as a life-time guarantee, so it was repaired a couple of times under warranty.  However, as I've said before, the advertised Tesoro life-time warranty is not really a life-time warranty.   When they declare a detector obsolete, they no longer will repair it.

Somewhere around that I got a two-box metal detector.   It was a Fisher Gemini something or other.  I used it some, but not much.  The best thing it did for me was find my septic tank.

At some time I got a Tesoro Stingray as a back-up for water detecting.  They didn't have it grounded right and I sent it back to them about three times without being fixed.  They eventually sent me one that had a fix.  They said it was "Jack's detector."  It worked right, so I kept it, but the fix eventually came back to bite me.  After a few years, when I sent it for warranty repairs they said it had been modified so was out of warranty, even though they were the ones that modified it.   The Stingray that one that they originally sent me never did work right.

My impression of the Tesoro detectors is that when they were right they worked ok.  They were good on small gold and I liked the notch and other features, but I wouldn't buy one today considering the type of detecting I do, and the fact that they did not honor their advertised "life-time" warranty.

My Tesoro detectors were always more of a back-up or special situation detector for me anyhow.  My wife used the Royal Sabre occasionally.  It was light and had a fast response.

I basically transitioned from the 1280 to a modified Nautilus that was modified and put in a Nikolite case and sold by Steve Noga.  That was my favorite metal detector and I found a lot with it.  That was also the time when I did my most intense and productive metal detecting, mostly in South Florida.  That was sometime in the 1980s and 1990s.  I was hitting it heavy then and doing very well.

After I got my first modified Nautilus from Steve, I used it about two or three days and called him up and asked me if he'd give me a deal on a second one.  If anything went wrong with that one, I wanted to have another one ready as a back-up.  That was a great detector for what I was doing.  It nulled on iron, so you could tell that an iron object was there, but you didn't really get a signal from iron.  Really good and deep on small gold.

I found a small hollow gold bead at Turtle Trail one day that I could barely see in the course brown sand even after I threw it onto my coil.  I moved it around on the coil and the detector would respond, but I still had a hard time seeing it.

I don't know what happened to Steve, but Herb McDonald then made a very similar home-made detector that I used after that.  Very similar, but involved more tuning.  Herb is deceased.

After that I used Excaliburs and a Minelab Sovereign detectors.  They were decent.

I also tried a White's Pulse, but was never impressed by it and didn't use it much.  The plastic parts broke down a lot.  I don't think they were made to stand up to Florida heat and sun.

My most recent detectors are a Garrett Ace 250 and a Garrett ATX.  They are at opposite ends of the spectrum.  The Ace is a light little inexpensive detector with some discrimination and target ID.  For the price, very good.  The ATX is more expensive, but very good sensitivity.  It is not for most people.  It is heavy, detects deep, including on small iron, and takes a good while to master.  It took me a long time to learn to use it well.

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The surf this weekend is down around two feet.  It will just be a foot or two higher next week.  Not much change.

Enjoy the Treasure Hunter's Cookout today.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

5/22/17 Report - Learning From Treasure Hunting Yesterdays. Ransomware Hits One Operating System. Beach Update.

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

My first metal detecting was way back, but unfortunately I can't figure out what decade it was. I don't think the detector we had would detect a coin. My grandmother bought it. Maybe we didn't know how to use it. I'm very vague about that now.

I do remember that we went out to an old homestead where there was not much more remaining than a chimney. It was where she lived a short while as a child.  We found some things. I remember finding a horse shoe.  Too bad we didn't know what we were doing at that point.  It would have been nice to pick up some nicer things from her childhood.  Maybe that is what she was hoping.

I think it was the limitations of the detector that discouraged us from continuing, but it might have been our lack of knowledge that was the problem. It wasn't until years later (again, I can't figure out precisely when that was) when I was living in Florida and got a decent metal detector. It was a White's detector that I got from a Sears catalog. I started detecting the Hollywood Florida beaches, which were close to where I lived.

My coin finds increased quickly.  Every week it seemed I found more.  I remember detecting under a beach walkover one night and finding a big bunch of coins.

For some reason I returned the Whites detector to Sears, and I went to Pot O Gold, which was near the Fort Lauderdale Airport and bought a submersible detector.  It was a Fisher 1280 Aquanaut.   That detector turned out be be a good detector.  It was very reliable and effective.

I don't know which detector I was using, but it was either the Whites or the Aquanaut because I know it wasn't very long after I started detecting when I found my first ring. It was a silver skull ring by the water's edge near the main lifeguard station at Hollywood beach.

 I've said before how I found a lot more men's rings early on with the Aquanaut until I learned to turn down the discrimination, then I started getting more small ladies rings with diamonds or other gem stones.

My next detectors were made by Steve Noga.  They were modified Nautilus detectors.  Super detectors.  By that time I was finding a lot of gold.  The first one I got from Steve, was so good that after using it a couple of days and finding a lot of gold, I called him up and asked him if he'd give me a deal on a second one just to have as a backup.  He gave me a deal, and I bought the second.  I don't know what happened to Steve.

My next detectors were also modified Nautilus detectors, made by a fellow whose name I can't remember right now.  He lived in Margate.  I know he is now deceased.

I had left my consulting job and was teaching at a University in South Florida.  In between jobs I detected a lot and proved to myself that I could do well enough to make a living by detecting.  I didn't do that though. University teaching permitted a lot of time to do some metal detecting.

Since I got the Aquanaut I mostly did water hunting except when the water was too rough.  I had a long list of places that I liked to hunt, both in the water and on the beach.  I also did some parks - especially those that had swimming holes.  

At some point, maybe thirty years ago ( I don't know how many years) I started to make an occasional drive up to the Treasure Coast to try to find 1715 Fleet treasure.  It took a while.  I made a number of trips before hitting it right.  I got pretty discouraged before I managed to come when the beaches were producing, but kept at it.  

I had already found an 18th century escudo in South Florida, but was having no luck with the Treasure Coast.   Eventually I got my first piece of shipwreck silver on the Treasure Coast, then years later moved to the Treasure Coast.  I guess I've lived on the Treasure Coast over twenty years now.

The original purpose of starting this blog came from the wasted trips I made to the Treasure Coast.  I started out posting my Treasure Coast Treasure Beach Conditions Ratings so people would be able to find out about the Treasure Coast beach conditions before deciding if it might be worth making the trip.  I had made a lot of wasted trips, not knowing what the beach conditions were and thought that would be useful information.  So that was the beginning of this blog.

I didn't write this just to tell you more about me.  I hope there are some useful hints in it.

First, if you are going to begin metal detecting, you don't need the most expensive detector in the world, but you do need one that is capable of finding the types of things you want to find.  Visit a shop and get a demonstration.  Make sure you know what your detector can find and the basics of using it.

I've detailed in many posts how important it is to understand your detector.  I've also told how you can experiment with your detector to learn how to understand it better.  Do a lot of air tests and ground tests with different types of objects in different environments.  Adjust the settings and see how that affects the response.

You can expect to progress with both the quantity and quality of finds.  You should continue to learn and improve.  There will be dry spells, and some might be long, but overall you should continue to improve.

To keep making finds you'll have to adjust from time to time.  It is always good to try new places and new techniques.

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FRANKFURT, May 18 (Reuters) - Two-thirds of those caught up in the past week's global ransomware attack were running Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system without the latest security updates, a survey for Reuters by security ratings firm BitSight found.

Did you know that you can communicate over an international computer network without using the internet.  You can.  Back as far as the 1970s I was on an international network of Cyber super-computers that were not connected to the internet.  The hardware and software was completely different. The whole world wasn't on it, of course - just the relative few that had access.

 It amazes me that such high level people in our government have been communicating on such an insecure system.  The internet has become the public park.  Some of them are good and some not so good, but you never know who might be there or what might be going on.   If I wanted to communicate information that was critical to our nations security and had the resources, I would not be using the internet.  I assume there are levels of our government that use more secure systems.

I don't think it would be a bad idea for any large organization wanting to protect its data and operations to have a separate network system for sensitive functions.

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Darrel S. has given updates on a variety of beaches the last few days.  Here is a new update from Darrel for today.

Beaches about the same. Low was around 11:30am. A lot more beach being exposed as we head into summer tides. It was glassy early, but wind picked up by the time Sun rose. Thought I saw one of the salvagers heading out earlier, but did not see anyone out.

Randy and I were the only detectors out. I had several shell hunters thanked me for sending in the images. That makes me feel better that people appreciate the effort...

Thanks for the report Darrel.

Happy hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/2/14 Report - Pre 1900 Beer Bottles Found On Treasure Coast. Bottle Research Links. When To Not Discriminate. Bertha Closer.

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


Pre 1900 Beer Bottle Find.

I've been doing a lot of detector tests lately and haven't mentioned other types of treasure much.  I did show some stone tools a few days ago, but that was the first for a long time.

Today I'll show a couple of 19th Century beer bottle finds.

The one shown to the left, as well as the one below, has an applied lip.  Both date to around the end of the 1800s.

The top arrow on this picture points to a seam where you can see the lip was applied. 

The middle arrow points to an elongated bubble in the glass (you can see it faintly in the photo), and the bottom arrow points to a vertical mold seam.

These things indicate a probable early date, but the bottom tells the story.

The bottom of the same bottle is shown below.

Notice the mold seams on the bottom.

It reads I. G. CO. L.  16.

That might not tell you much, but fortunately there are some very good sites that will help you find out what that means.

Here is a great web site on the marks used by bottle makers.

http://www.sha.org/bottle/makersmarks.htm

If you look up I. G. CO. L., you'll find that it indicates that the maker is the Ihmsen Glass Company Limited of Pittsburgh, PA




Bottom of Same Bottle.

Here is a small part of what the web site says.

The Pittsburgh directory listings show this company included the "Limited" in their name from 1878 to c.1896.

... Bottles bearing this mark can definitely be attributed to this company...

So we now have a good idea about when and where it was made.  The same web site has much more detailed information on the company. Like I said, a great web site about bottles!





The following beer bottle was also found on the Treasure Coast but was made by another company around the same time period.

This bottle is very much like the one above.  It has an applied lip and the same type of mold seams.  The biggest difference is the color and what is embossed on the bottom.

Another Pre-1900 Beer Bottle Find.

Bottom of Aqua Bottle.

The bottom of this one reads A B G CO. 8.

What do you think that means?

Anheuser Busch?

Nope.  It is Adolphus Busch Glass Co.

The date range would be 1886 to 1893.  

There you have two very similar beer bottles made around the same time that were found on the Treasure Coast.

You can explore the following web site for much more detailed information on this one too.

For the main page on bottles, use the following link.

http://www.sha.org/bottle

This is a great site, which I just added it to my reference link list. 


As I said yesterday, I used the Whites Surf PI Dual Field at the beach.   When I read the reviews on this detector, everybody says don't use it in the dry sand.  I have used it in the dry sand and used it in the dry sand some yesterday.

You know how I am about discrimination.  I preach against it.  I'm not saying that you should never use it, but it is used way too much. 

Some people run around using discrimination when there is nothing to discriminate.  Yesterday when I was in the wet sand - there was not a thing but coins, two rings and a fork.  There was no junk.  No pull tabs.  And no bottle tops in that wet sand.  That place is usually has tons of junk.  It wasn't there yesterday and I wouldn't have know the difference if I automatically used discrimination.  I wouldn't have found out that the beach conditions were different than normal there. 

At least start out without using discrimination.   You'll see what if anything there is to discriminate, and then you can decide if you need to discriminate.  And you'll have a better idea of what is or isn't  there. 

I use junk to tell me about beach conditions.  Junk can provide very useful information, and it can help you find where the good stuff is.

The PI Dual Field has no discrimination.   But don't decide to never use that detector in dry sand despite what everybody says.  Some beaches, even in the dry sand, don't have junk - at least not enough to worry about.   Some beaches have been cleaned up very well, but by using your PI you'll be able to detect the deeper items that others have missed. 

You'll never know where you do or don't need discrimination if you always run use it.  Don't assume that you always need it.  Check first.  You just might not need it.

One more thing.  You can learn to identify many targets by sound if you don't use discrimination all the time.   Like they say, "A brain is a terrible thing to waste."

NOAA Image.

Tropical storm Bertha is getting closer, but still looks like she'll stay far east of us.

On the Treasure Coast today the surf is up a little to around 2 or three feet.  It was higher in he evening yesterday.

I'd sure like to see some serious sand get moved.  There is so much of it to be moved.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@Comcast.net

7/27/14 Report - Treasure Beaches Report Readers Make Metal Detecting Finds Around the Country and Around The World

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

I feel like I gave you a lot of very good information in my last two posts.  There is a lot to digest there.  Today I thought I'd give a lot of good finds to look at.  The following were all found by Goldnugget on a North Carolina beach.  Wouldn't you like to have a spot like that?

All of these finds and photos were by Goldnugget at the same beach location.

He was using an Excal.
























Not only do people from other states read this blog but also some from other countries.

Once I wrote about the floating coil on my Whites Dual Field.

Ron J., from Germany wrote recently to say that you can purchase weights for that  coil when you want to use it underwater.  Whites also has a weighted coil that goes with the detector.  It is your choice at purchase.

Ron also said,  I will return to the Treasure Coast in October.  Thanks to your ideas about research. I found in Stuttgart Germany a  "Schrebergarten" (garden plots rented from the city) that had been removed last year. Today I hunted there and found a metal badge from the  Deutsche Turn Fest Stuttgart 1933.  I  put that into Google and there are many photos of the of the event in the form of old post cards for sale. Very interesting photos showing what was going on here with the NS movement.   Also on ebay there is the same badge for sale in good (looks new) for around 11 euros.  The wife and I had a very pleasant afternoon learning some of our local history.  All thanks to things I learned from you.  Can't wait to get back to the BEACH!      Metal detecting brings a lot of people to the Treasure Coast, not only domestic but international as well.  It can be a family activity and gets people interested in history and archaeology.  It is a shame that so many government officials that don't understand the many benefits don't support it. There is nothing significant going on in the Atlantic.   On the Treasure Coast we'll have more smooth seas and no improvement in beach detecting conditions. I think the two most recent posts were very useful.  If you agree, let me know by using the G+1 button below those posts to Like them. I plan to do more similar tests.  One will be on detecting cobs. Happy hunting, TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/9/11 Report - Whites Spectra & IDing Titanium

Whites Spectra v3i.

Here is a nice review of the Spectra. I'm not doing this to give Whites free advertising, even though they are getting it. And I'm not one that puts a lot of emphasis on having the very deepest or best detector. In my opinion, there is no best detector. Some detectors are better than others for specific purposes.

The Spectra is undoubtedly a very good detector, as are most detectors made by the major manufacturers. Just like the others, it has its strengths and weaknesses.

If you are narrowly focused on finding old Spanish shipwreck treasures on a beach, this detector might not be the best choice. All of the fancy target ID stuff would be a waste a lot of the time.

No detector is going to tell you that the big piece of iron you are detecting is a cannon ball or shipwreck spike. If you are hunting old shipwreck items, you usually will want to dig everything.

As the reviewer said, the target ID is not perfect. Target ID is never fool proof. And you simply can't expect a detector to recognized the wide variety of targets you might dig on a shipwreck treasure beach.

If it wasn't hard enough for a detector to correctly identify the wide variety of items, some items will be bent, broken or stuck to other items. That makes target ID very difficult.

For shipwreck treasure hunting, a waterproof detector can be helpful. You can get hit by an unexpected wave or caught in a rain storm. I've even known one person that lost their detector to the sea on a rough day.

Here is the link to the review I am talking about if you are interested.

http://doodlebugs.hubpages.com/hub/Review-Of-The-Whites-Spectra-V3i-Metal-Detector

I suspect this would be a great detector for picking through trashy areas such as urban grass parking lots or parks where you don't want to dig any more holes than necessary.

Don't waste your money unless you need the capabilities you are paying for. Select your detector according to what, where and how you want to hunt. Remember, all detectors have their own specific strengths and weaknesses and will be better suited to one type of detecting rather than another.


If you've ever dug up a piece of metal that looks something like melted aluminum on a Treasure Coast beach, it could be titanium from a rocket or maybe the space shuttle Challenger disaster.

Here is a link to a web site that tells how to identify titanium.

http://mrtitanium.info/2008/03/17/how-to-tell-if-a-piece-of-metal-is-really-titanium/

As you might know, titanium is also used to make inexpensive jewelry these days and is much less expensive than platinum, gold or silver.


By midnight 8/8/11 gold finished at over $1751 per ounce. It is up again today.


A 2000 plus year old sword, still in its hilt, was found with some other artifacts in a drainage channel in Jerusalem.

Here is the link if you want to read that story.

http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/History/Early+History+-+Archaeology/Artifacts_destruction_Temple_8-Aug-2011.htm

Even small creeks and channels can conceal treasures.


Treasure Coast Beach Forecast and Conditions.

Emily has developed again. This time though, she is out in the middle of the Atlantic and no apparent threat to return to the mainland US.

The wind is out of the west and the ocean is very calm. No change to detecting conditions on the Treasure Coast.

I took a quick look this morning and saw that there are till basically two types of beaches right now. Some have a low flat wide low tide zone, and some have a front beach with a mushy front that slopes steeply down to the waterline.

I would focus on those beaches with a wide flat low tide zone. Some still have a number of metal targets, especially if you walk a distance from the parking lots. Some beaches also have some nice shell piles where you might be able to find lighter targets, such as fossils, sea glass or pot shards, if you are interested in that sort of thing.

On some of the beaches you'll some find metal targets between the shell piles and the water line.

It seems that the wide low tide zones are composed of layers of shells covered by fine hard-packed sand. It doesn't make for easy digging.

I only did a quick sample where I stopped today and dug some pieces of copper sheeting. I left some targets simply because I didn't have time to dig them all.

Anyhow, there are still some shipwreck items to be found on the beaches even if they are scattered and are not high value targets. You never know what might pop up.

Use rocks and other stationary items to indicate where the sand is moving.


Happy Hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net