9/2/13 Report - Big Finds on Treasure Coast !!! Eight Gold Chains and Four Gold Coins!

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

Gold Chains Just Found Off Treasure Coast Beach
Derived from photo submitted by William M.

You probably all know about the gold escudos discovered earlier this year by Greg Bounds and the Capitana crew up at Sebastian.  I posted about that in my 7/16/13 post and earlier. 

Here is the BIG news for today!

The guys working the Nieves site have been doing very well this year too, making a good stream of finds including coins and artifacts.  Some of those have already been posted on the internet.  Most recently, I'm informed by William M., that 3 Lima eight escudos 1 Bogata two escudo, and perhaps most impressively, 8 gold chains, four of which are whole, and one low Carat gold ring, have been found. 

Those finds, as I've been informed, have been from the northern end of the  Nieves site up near the area where a virtual carpet of gold was found in the old days.  That general area was referred to as the "gold fields" because of the carpet of gold coins that was found there back a few decades ago. 

Congratulations guys!

I have a photo of the gold chains that would blow your mind.  Above is just a small sample.  I suspect that the local media will pick up this story. 

That reminds me of all of the times in the past that I've heard people say that it has all been found.  People have said that about the water wreck sites as well as the beaches.

There are definitely cycles.  There will be long dry periods and then all of  a sudden a bunch of great finds.  That is just the way it is. 

I've definitely seen a lot of changes along there.   There was a time back maybe 15 or 20 years ago when the beach was cut back to very near the condos to the north.  That was before they removed all the Australian pines.  Now the beach is way out up there.

There was at one time a line of tree stumps along the water line there.  I suppose they are under sand now.   And there was a concrete foundation uncovered near the water line when the beach was cut back.  It is undoubtedly under the beach now too. 

It goes to show once again, there is always some place to hunt and something to find.  And when conditions aren't right one place or for one thing, they'll be right some place else.   While the beach hunters on the Treasure Coast have been having a difficult time this summer, the salvage hunters have been doing very well. 

The beach conditions along the Treasure Coast have been poor.  Too much calm weather.  Too many southeast breezes.  Yet the same conditions have allowed the salvage crews to put in some very good time in the water off the Treasure Coast. 

I've been talking mostly about modern jewelry hunting lately because it has been hard to find old stuff on the Treasure Coast beaches under current conditions.  I did however recently mention a lot of of sites down south where you can hunt in the water most of the time, winter or summer.  Those shallow water areas that I described are surrounded by very shallow water and seldom get too rough to detect in the water.

While a lot more jewelry and good stuff is found in the water than on the beach, you can do quite well on the beach too.  It takes longer for the same number of gold items, but there are definitely times to be on the beach.   For example, my last Rolex find, which was not very long ago, was on the beach in the dry sand.

Unfortunately I don't recall exactly, and I did have it figured accurately from my records at one time, but my numbers said that you'll find a lot more gold jewelry in the water than on the beach in the same amount of hunting time.  However!  There are times to be on the beach.  And I'm not just talking about the times when conditions make it almost impossible to work the water.  There are times when I would definitely not pass up the beach to jump into the water.  Of course, you can do both.  But be on the lookout for those hot spots on the beach that should never be missed.  And there are some spots on the beach that I would never pass by without taking a sweep or two.

As you probably know if you've been reading this blog very long, I'm big on taking a look at different spots and doing a little sampling.  I'll look at the beach and I'll look in the water and maybe take at least a few sweeps to see what is going on.   Sample and evaluate different areas, and then spend most of your time where things look most promising.

You'll miss some things for sure.  You'll miss things in the water and you'll miss things on the beach.  There isn't enough time to do it all and get it all.  You have to make decisions.  It is a matter of probabilities and how to spend your time most efficiently.

I recently gave you a list of about fifteen or twenty contiguous sites.  You can go by various sites, passing up the less promising ones until you find one that appears to be one of the more promising.  And you don't have to quit scanning in between.  You never know what you might discover or learn in between.

Yes, on average the water will produce a lot more gold, but that is on average.  I wouldn't totally pass up the beach though.  Some outstanding finds come from the beach, including the dry beach.

Rich women aren't as likely as men to do somersaults and cart wheels in the water.  They are more likely to take off jewelry while applying sun tan lotion or oil by a beach chair.  And even though men lose some real bling, some of the highest quality diamonds are actually on women's rings.  Some rings that are huge and covered with diamonds aren't as valuable as a less impressive looking  high quality solitaire diamond.  Quality is important with diamonds.


There is now one low pressure area approaching the West Indies that has a 40% chance of becoming a cyclone.  That one is definitely worth watching. 

On the Treasure Coast this Labor Day the breeze is from the south and the surf is down around one to two feet.  That makes the water fairly easy to hunt.  OF course along the Treasure Coast I don't need to remind you can't detect in the water in the salvage lease areas.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

9/1/13 Report - Conglomerate, Artifact, Detecting Rock Star, Massacre, Tools for Immigrants & More

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

Find and Photo by William M.

Iron artifacts are still being found on occasion.  Here is one found by William M.



So you have a kid or know somebody who thinks detecting isn't cool!  Here is something interesting.

http://xfinity.comcast.net/slideshow/music-rockstarhobbies/13/

Surprising to learn that a one-time Rolling Stone is now an avid detectorist.


The Dare is surveying over 6 square miles a day in the search for the Lost Merchant.  Live video streaming will resume on the Fisher site when they start diving there again.


Do you know what was the deadliest clash between the U.S. government and its own citizens since Wounded Knee?  It  resulted in the death of many men, women and children. 

http://news.travel.aol.com/2013/08/28/branch-davidian-compound

I don't think the Indians were citizens at the time of Wounded Knee, but that might not be the implication anyhow.

It is hard to believe the Davidian massacre occurred 20 years ago. 


Here is a fascinating conglomerate from the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources as presented in the recent issue of popular archaeology online.   They have a very good article on pirate shipwrecks, and a supplemental article on conservation.

Conglomerate From the Wreck of the Queen Anne's Revenge
North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources as
presented in the most recent issue of Popular Archaeology.

I continue to learn from genealogy research.  I found it interesting that those arriving from Germany in the late 1700s were given tools.

Here is one of the many listed examples.

Andreas Volck , aged 30, husbandman and vinedresser; his wife, Anna Catharina , 27; their children, Maria Barbara , 5; Georg Hieronymus , 4; Anna Gertrauda , 1.--He received 1 cross cut saw, 1 smoothing plane, 1 whipping saw, a set of gouges, besides several pieces more.

That makes a lot more sense than welfare to me.  The return on the small investment in tools would be huge as these people would use the tools to build homes and homesteads or create useful items.


The two weather systems that I've been watching in the Atlantic have changed.  The first, which is nearing the West Indies, now has a 10% chance of becoming a cyclone, while the one coming off of Africa also now has a 10% chance of forming into a cyclone.

8/30/13 Report - Classifying Specific Beach Detecting Areas, Detector Coil Selection & More

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

Here is the National Hurricane Center Map showing two systems in the Atlantic right now.  The first (yellow) has a ten percent chance of becoming a cyclone, while the orange one has a forty percent chance of becoming a cyclone.

We'll keep an eye on both of those.

On the Treasure Coast, nothing but 1 - 2 foot surf for a few more days.

The Labor Day weekend might bring a few more people out to the beach.




I used the illustration below a few days ago.   This is an area that I simply selected for illustration purposes. As I said before, my observations on this area are out of date, but that doesn't affect the general principles that I want to illustrate today.  Remember the observations are some years old and things have changed since then.


You won't necessarily find things exactly as I'm describing them today if you visit these locations.   I know for certain that some spots have been altered by construction projects as well as nature. The same strategies and techniques that I'm illustrating are applicable any time and anywhere though, including on the Treasure Coast.

As I mentioned before, spot 1 was a good jewelry spot, whereas spots 2, 3, 4 and 5 were places where you could find old coins when conditions were right.  The shallow water off of spots 2 and 5 also produced some small amount of modern jewelry.

At the upper left, you see a causeway leading to the key.  It was common, and I'm sure still is common, to see people detecting along the left side of the causeway.  That area was never a favorite of mine even though modern gold could be found there on occasion.  The area had a lot of junk and the targets there were on average not real high quality.

The area between spot 1 and 2 also had a few scattered targets back in the day, but nothing like the concentrations found at the well defined areas at spots 1 and 2.

Between spots 3 and 4 was a mucky mangrove area that was difficult to access.  Targets there were very scarce also.

Between spots 4 and 5, could be found some modern coins and gold.  It was, how should I say, a nude beach, that attracted some, but not high a high density of sun bathers.  Targets were generally sparsely scattered.  Shallow water hunting along there would also turn up a few gold items, but very few.  Not as many as along the causeway and much less than spot 1.

As you walk south from spot 5, you would come to the main park swimming area, which was relatively heavily hunted.  Targets were generally spread thinly out over a wide area, but you could often find some gold there.  That was due to both the fact that the area was frequently hunted and nature of the beach.  You could usually find some coins and a piece of gold or two.   As an example, I remember one day I went there when I was sick as a dog and didn't have much energy but felt like hunting anyhow and made a loop out through the area and hit one nickel and one class ring.  I didn't stick at it long simply because I didn't have the energy.  But that is the type of place it was.  Few scattered targets but usually some gold.

As you continue south and out of the park, the first area was pretty barren.  Not many swimmers, but a lot of growing sea weed.

The next spot worth checking would be in front of a condo.  Enough swimmers there to produce something on occasion, but not frequently.  One thing to note:  Condo beaches do not produce as much gold as tourist beaches.  Condo owners often leave their valuables in their condos.  Tourists aren't as likely to leave their valuables in their room and aren't as familiar with the dangers of frolicking in the waves with their valuables on.

The next spot was in front of a beach hotel.  It was a good small well-defined swimming area that often produced good quality finds.  That area was hunted by other detectorists but not a lot like the park swimming area or other heavily hunted areas.  Just beyond that was a good beach area with volley ball courts and a recreational area that produced good items.

Continuing in the same direction a short distance you would come to a beach club where there was a life guard and a fair number of swimmers.  For some reason that one produced some coins but very little gold.  It was a place where I would have expected more.  I guess beach club members are more like condo owners than tourists.

There was then a rather barren area with few good targets until you came to the State Park.  The first swimming area produced some jewelry on a regular basis, but not high quality.

Continuing in the same direction until you come to the heavily used beach and picnic area near the old light house, that beach produced quality finds on a regular basis.  The beach was narrow and most swimmers stayed in the shallow water.  A good number of quality gold finds (not the very highest quality, but good quality) were common there even though a good number of other detectorists hit that spot on a regular basis.

I did not mention today the spots that produced older items other than coins in this listing.  There are a couple of places along this stretch where artifacts have been found.

My intention was not to point you to specific detecting sites.  My point is that every area along a beach will have its own characteristics.  You should get to know what every area is likely to produce in terms or quantity and quality of finds, if it is detected by others frequently, what good, poor and average conditions look like at each spot, and how it is likely to change with changes in the weather.

If you know an area like this, you have a lot of choices.  I talked about the decision making process in the past, which considers both the frequency of finds, the average quality of finds, and current conditions.

One real advantage of a stretch like this is that you can scan a lot of different sites relatively quickly and pick out the ones that you want to pass up or focus on.  Some can be scanned from the car as you pass by.  When one site is not producing, there are enough sites that some probably will be.   They face different directions and when some look poor others will be good.

You can check the secondary or tertiary sites while you are in the area or moving between primary sites.  It usually doesn't take long and it can add to your finds while you are in the area.  It can give you additional options when the site you intended to visit doesn't look good.


I guess I owe a bit of an apology to Whites.  Michael H. wrote in to say that Whites has a non-buoyant coil for the Dual Surf PI.  You should make sure you have a coil that isn't too buoyant before getting any detector that you plan on using in the water very much.  Personally I generally like a detector that works reasonably well for a variety of situations even though I will use special purpose detectors on occasion.

Above I talked about a series of contiguous sites that include both water and land sites.  If I see a water site that where the water looks good, I want to be able wade out into the water.  And then if I see a spot on land that looks good, I want to be able to wander back up onto the beach without changing equipment. 

One of the things that makes the weight more of an issue is the size of the coil.  To make a larger coil neutral-buoyant would require more than it would take to make a smaller coil neutral buoyant. that A lot of weight added to a larger coil would make it less buoyant obviously, but also heavier for land.

Of course you can select different coil sizes for most detectors too.  I usually prefer a smaller coil over a large coil.  First, I've never found large coils that much of an advantage in most situations even though I've used 14 inch coils as well as two-box detectors.  Overall, I've been more successful finding gold using smaller (not real small) coils, and my detecting style does not generally place a high premium on getting the absolute last smidgen of depth.  And when the situation does occur that I want to go for maximum depth, I can switch detectors.  I also like being able to get a smaller coil in and around bushes and other obstacles.

That brings up some issues to consider when purchasing a detector.  Think about the size and buoyancy of the coil.  I have a number of detectors that I will use for different situations, but generally prefer something that is flexible and does a decent job for a broad range of circumstances.   When I go out and go past a series of sites like those I talked about today, I don't want to have to take a different detector for each different site, nor do I want to have to switch coils or whatever.  That is partly my style.  Your detecting style might be different.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/29/13 Report - Water Spout, Sea Weed, Recovering Targets in Strong Currents & Tropical Waves

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

Really Amazing Photo of Water Spout Off of Pepper Park
Photo submitted by Michael E.

That is a great photo Michael.  Thanks for sending it in.

That is one of the things about being out there on the beaches.  You'll see some beautiful and amazing sights.

I wish I had photos of some of the things I remember seeing.


I was using a White's Dual Surf PI this morning.  It is not my primary detector, but I do use it occasionally, depending upon the conditions and what I am trying to do.

I seldom complain about detectors because they all have their weaknesses and strengths, but one thing I really don't like is the very buoyant coil on the PI, which in my opinion is ridiculous.  You'd think it was meant to be a life preserver.

Anyhow, I've mentioned the buoyant coil before.  Some people add a sock full of sand or something to weigh it down.  It is bad enough in calm water, but it was really a nuisance today because I was working in a strong long shore current, and not only did it want to lift, but the current wanted to take it.   That was really a pain when I was focused on digging a target under difficult conditions.

Where I was the current was fast.  When I first got there and took my first look, it looked like the water was high, but it wasn't - the sand was low.  The current had moved a good bit of sand narrowing the beach.  There was a steep drop off (not actually what you would notice as a cut) in the water at the front of the beach.  Good targets were found on the face of the sloping drop off and just below.

I thought I'd mention a few things I do under those conditions when recovering targets.

When you dig into the sand, tilt the front of the scoop up and shake it so that the sand settles down into the bottom of the scoop more.  Otherwise when you lift the scoop up the top layer of sand and possibly the target will be lost, especially when the current is rushing by.

Sometimes you'll want to face the slope or cliff as you dig into it.  Things will tend to stay in the scoop better that way.

When the currents are strong, you might want to face the current so that the current will be pushing into the scoop instead of across the scoop or from behind it.

Place your coil down the slope or down current from where you are digging, so that a target that rolls down the slope or falls off with the current will have a good chance of being heard.

If visibility is good, watch carefully for signs of the target as you dig or lift the scoop.

If you lose a signal as you dig and you think you might have moved the target so it is either deeper in the hole or now on edge, foot fan and then scan the hole again.

Sea Weed in Shallow Water.

I've mentioned before how sea weed accumulating on a beach can be a bad sign.  It can also be a bad sign in shallow water if it is washing in.  On the other hand it can be a good sign.

It can be a good sign in the water if it is live.  Or in the water it can be a good sign if it is being caught in a low dip that had recently been created but hasn't yet filled.  That might happen just after a change in the currents.

Dug Gold Band.

There are now a couple of tropical waves in the Atlantic.  There is some chance they will form.  I'll keep an eye on those.

Low tide was just after 9 AM this morning.

The surf is only 2 or less feet.  It looks like that will not change for a few days.

The low tides have not been real low lately.


I did something other than continue my series on secondary sites again today.  I think I'll probably get back to that topic tomorrow.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/28/13 Report - Beach Erosion, 1860 Shipwreck, Canadian Coins & Nugget Ring

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

Typical Treasure Coast Beach This Morning Near Low Tide.

I haven't been out to the beach very much lately, partly because of a foot injury.   I went out this morning to take a look.  It wasn't very exciting.  It was pretty much what I expected, with one exception.

I did find one spot where there was about a four foot cut, and not in renourishment sand.  The cut didn't run far.  The slope in front of the cut was mushy.  Nearer the water the sand was more firm.

Below is the cut that I found.  It ran maybe a hundred yards or less.  I think it probably occurred yesterday morning when a local thunderstorm came through.  Local storms can cause enough waves to create some erosion.

Cut on Treasure Coast Beach This Morning.

This cut is not in replenishment sand, as most of the cuts are these days.

This erosion was at a place where the shoreline projected out into the water as illustrated by the blue lines in the picture below.

Erosion at areas of the shoreline like that shown by the red area above will be more productive than erosion at places that project into the water, such as that shown by the blue lines.  The cut shown in the photo above was at a place like that area illustrated by the blue lines above.  It appears that the shoreline was in the process of being straightened out a little.

Also notice the sea weed in the photo above.  I  talked about sea weed a little yesterday.  Here it shows that some small amount of filling occurred since the cut was created.

There is nothing like being out there.  There is no substitute for actually looking at a beach first-hand and perhaps doing a little sampling with your detector. 

Not only does that tell you if there might be much of anything to be found, but it also tells you how the sand is moving at different places.  That can be very helpful information.  Occasionally you'll be surprised by what you see no matter how much you've learned about how beaches work.

If you are out there looking at the beaches everyday that is a huge advantage.  Most of us don't want to live our lives on the beach though, and we have other responsibilities and other things to do.  We want to cut down on unproductive trips and make the most of our time.

Tomorrow I'll talk about one way to make the most of your time.  It involves really knowing the different spots along the shore.  When you know a lot about a lot of different areas, you can quickly check them out and move on until you find a beach that is really worth spending some time on.

I like to check on the beaches that I think have a good chance of being the most productive, but after taking a look, I often decide to move on to check out another spot without even taking my detector out of the car.   Why spend hours at a low probability spot when other spots might be more productive?  Of course to make that type of decision, you need to know the different beaches, and as I've recently described, you should know the frequency and average value of finds at that spot.  You'll also need to know how to read the beach and how to evaluate the current conditions.  Of course when you estimate probabilities you'll sometimes be wrong but over the long term it will pay off.

Gold Nugget Ring Dug on Treasure Coast Beach

Gold nugget rings were popular back some years ago.  Here is one I think is a little strange.  Only a small part of it looks like a nugget.  I don't know what that is about.


The wreck of the Robert J. Walker, a steamer that sank while returning from surveying the Gulf Coast in 1860, has been identified, in part from the unique square port holes.

http://www.livescience.com/39213-new-jersey-shipwreck-identified.html


We get a lot of visitors from Canada in Florida, especially during the winter.  That means that you'll find a good number of Canadian coins, especially at certain beaches such as Hollywood Beach, where Canadians tourists have gathered in great numbers over the years.  Anyhow, older Canadian coins can be worth a bit too.

Here is a good web site that gives values and information on Canadian coins.

http://www.coinsandcanada.com/coins-prices.php

I was looking up information on an older dug Canadian coin and discovered this web site.


Even though I was a little surprised by the cut I saw this morning, I was also surprised how little a adjacent beach has changed over the past weeks and maybe even months. 

We're still having mostly southeast winds.  The surf will decrease a little tomorrow, dropping down to 1 - 2 feet.  The low tide won't be real low tomorrow.

For now, Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/27/13 Report - More On Secondary Detecting Sites and Their Surprises & Experimenting to Learn More About Your Detector

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

Here are three beach dug 14K rings of different sizes.  There is quite a bit of difference in the surface area and amount of gold in each of these.

I recommend taking rings of different sizes, putting them on the ground and scanning them with your detector.  Listen to how much different the signal is for each ring.  I highly recommend practicing with your detector like that.  Move your coil different distances above each ring.  Notice at what depth each drops out.

Then vary the settings on your detector and observe the results.  Increase and decrease sensitivity and notice where each drops out.  Increase and decrease discrimination and see how that affects the signal at different distances.

I think people do not do enough of this kind of thing.  It is a good way to learn how different detector settings affect the results, it is a very good way to learn what your detector is trying to tell you.  Of course the results will not be exactly the same under different situations in the field, but you will still learn a lot about how to use your detector.  I'll bet a lot of you find out that you might have been missing items like the very thin ring because of the settings you use.

This experimental method is much better than simply using the factory settings or doing what someone else says.




Now I want to recap some of the main points that I discussed concerning the four old coin spots that I talked about two days ago.  Those old coin spots are very much like the shipwreck coin sites of the Treasure Coast.  They appear when conditions are good and disappear when beach conditions are not good.  They primarily produce a particular type of target that comes from an older source even though targets from other sources as well as more recent losses can sometimes be mixed in.

Deciding if you want to spend time on spots like these old coin spots ,might include several factors such as the expected quality or value of finds, the expected frequency of finds, and other possible risks or costs such as the time risk of missing out on other promising sites, but with this type of site the most important factor is the beach conditions, which can cause the probability of finds to vary from near zero to very high.

Another important characteristic of those four coin spots is how quick and easy it is to check those sites.  You could quickly take a look to see if they might be producing or not, and it would be quick and easy to check out the well defined area with a detector, and if producing, do a good job of cleaning out most targets before moving on.

As a result, sites like this are good supplementary detecting sites, or when higher quality sites are not producing for one reason or another, they can become your first choice.  When better sites are producing these secondary sites can wait.  There is little chance that anyone else will clean them out, although there is the danger that conditions might deteriorate.

You can see that the decision making process to maximize the value of finds can be more complex and precise than simply always checking out your same old favorite spots or some simple-minded site rotation strategy.

The primary value of these old coin sites is that they can supplement other hunting when you are in the area or passing by or when you are waiting for a tide change or something before hitting higher quality sites.

Much of the above discussion assumes a goal of maximizing the monetary value of finds.  That might not be your only goal.  Some people simply like old coins or some other type of target and like to find those types of targets even if they are not the most valuable.  Some people also just like to explore.

One thing to remember about these old coin holes is that they also occasionally produce surprises.  And some of them are associated with other locations that produce other types of targets.

For example, near spot 2 there was and still is a series of groins in the water opposite the dunes.  The shallow water seldom produced jewelry of the age of the coins.  I believe that any older jewelry, if there was much to start with, which would probably not have been expensive anyhow, was probably pulled into the deeper water that rushed through the cut just off the beach.  There was however an occasional more modern gold item that was found in the shallow water there even though very few people visited that area during the period that I was detecting the area.  Nobody that I ever saw detected that area and so if something was lost there it stayed there until a storm came along to pull it down into the deep water.  One of the good things about areas like this is that they don't get cleaned out on a regular basis.

Spot 1, the modern jewelry hole that I talked about the other day, was like that too.  In my estimation, there wasn't a great deal of jewelry lost there, but it would accumulate for a while without being cleaned out.  Again, that is the good thing about finding your own little spots, as hard as that might seem.  You can let them accumulate and clean them out pretty much on your own schedule.  I know that is difficult today, but it can still be done.  There are good stretches that almost nobody detects.  You do have to do what I've been talking about - not following everyone else but taking time to explore and find those areas that aren't heavily hunted that do produce under certain circumstances.

I mentioned the other day that genuine treasure chests have been discovered not far from these locations.  Other old artifacts have also been discovered in the past down around there.  When you are out in an area with a long history, you never know what might pop up.  That is another reason to go out and explore a little.  Sometimes these types of coin spots are simply a part of the mix that keep it interesting while you are looking for other things.

I should remind you that some of these sites have changed in more recent years.  A lot of construction was done on Virginia Key.  The white sand dunes were flattened and removed, as one example.   That does not change the general principles that I am illustrating.  My intent was not so much to give you specific locations but to illustrate general principles that can be applied anytime and anywhere.


There are no storms right to watch right now.  This morning some heavy showers came around Fort Pierce near low tide, which was just after 7 AM.  They didn't last long.

The surf is running about 2 - 3 feet today and will decrease a little for the next few days.

We've really had a couple of years with very few periods of good cob hunting along the Treasure Coast.  Things come and go in spurts.  I'm expecting this long dry spell to end some day.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/26/13 Report - New Named Storm, Blackbeard's Ship, Hurricane Season & Detecting Newly Moved Earth

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

Sea Weed Beach.
Photo By Michael E.

Here is a beach photo by Michael E. showing a beach covered by a lot of sea weed.  As I've said in the past, sea weed indicates that light materials are washing onto the beach and conditions will generally be very poor.

Beach conditions have been poor most of this summer on the Treasure Coast.  It has been a long period of continued small surf and mostly southeast winds.

I changed my mind on what I was going to post today because I got some emails and some links that I wanted to post.

Below I posted a link to an article on how this is the slowest beginning to any hurricane season on record.  That isn't what they started out predicting this year, but it isn't over yet either.


I was going to continue with the stream that I've been posting on about site selection.  I felt like taking a bit of  a break from that today though, especially since I got the following email from Bill P.   It provides a good reminder.

I'll continue with my previous series of posts tomorrow.

Here is what Bill P. said.

Your post about old coin concentrations reminded me of a modern beach site that unexpectedly gave up a couple handfuls of early 1900's US coins. Not long after becoming addicted to metal detecting, I was walking from my car in the parking lot to the beach where I'd only found modern coins and jewelry. This was a very popular busy beach. I had turned my machine on at the car and as soon as I reached the sand I lowered the coil and immediately got a loud, large target. I kicked the sand and out popped a 1918 Walker half just below the surface!! Somebody must have dropped this recently because this beach gets hammered daily. I took another step and picked up another old silver coin, no way!! These were so out of place I thought someone was playing a trick on me. I looked around to see who was laughing and pointing at me but no one was there. Then I realized that the city had recently installed outside showers for the swimmers to rinse off after swimming. They were positioned a couple hundred feet apart but they had dug a trench to bury the water lines between them. I was detecting the area where the deep sand was dug up and placed during construction then backfilled. If I remember correctly (I didn't keep records), I found over 50 old coins and most were silver. I later found out that that area once had a concession stand right on the spot where the old coins were found. Unfortunately, it was next to the parking lot and the city wouldn't allow any "deep" digging around their new plumbing. It goes to show a little luck and research can put valuables in your pocket, but in this case, the research was after the fact. -Bill

Bill's story does relate to what I've been talking about.  At some locations on the beach there are layers of sand where older coins reside.  On the beach we wait for mother nature to do the construction work and bring the old coins within detecting range.  That is why those holes on the beach like those I've been talking about appear sporadically rather than continually.  Mother nature will uncover the hole, or more likely part of the hole, and then cover them again, maybe later uncovering others.
 

Those types of old coin holes will be missed by detectorists who do not explore new areas and who are not at the right place at the right time.  It helps a lot to be able to look at a beach and know by looking if an area is worth exploring or not.   
 

I always check out newly exposed dirt in older areas unless I have a higher priority detecting site at the time, in which case I'll return at another time to the area where the old dirt has been exposed.  One time that comes to mind is when I was driving from one beach to another and noticed where recent construction had taken place on Miami beach.  I forget exactly what they were doing, but there was a long trench that was recently dug between the road and the beach.   When I saw that, I pulled over, parked the car and took a look.  It didn't take long to start finding old coins in the newly disturbed dirt.  I think the first signal was a Buffalo Nickel.  Be vigilant for those types of opportunities.  It doesn't take long to notice construction like that, and it doesn't take long to check it out.  There is little down side, and I always like to know what might have been exposed.

More artifacts have been recovered from the wreck of Blackbeard's ship.  They are hoping to recover what the can before some big storm comes along and scatters or destroys things.  Here is the link to that story.

http://charlotte.news14.com/content/news/coastal/698823/divers-uncover-more-artifacts-from-blackbeard-s-shipwreck-site

This link was submitted by Christopher P.  Thanks Christopher!


Here an article about this being the slowest start to a hurricane season on record.

http://stevengoddard.wordpress.com/2013/08/24/slowest-start-to-a-hurricane-season-on-record/


On the Treasure Coast the surf is running about 2 - 3 feet, as has often been the case lately.  It won't change much real soon.

There is a named storm, Fernand, which is over the coast of Mexico.  I don't expect it to come this way.

From the charts I wouldn't expect a real low tide today.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net