3/10/15 Report - Mystery Object Might Be Inscription From Crucifix. 233 Coins Detected In One Spot.

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



Item Found By Todd G.

I didn't know what I was going to post today.  I had a bunch of random thoughts, but nothing was coming together.  One topic was partially developed in my mind but it wasn't ready for posting.  I'll put that off to some other time. 

I received an email from Todd G.  Here is what he said.

 

I have been following your blog for several years and was on my annual trip to Florida a little over a week ago when I found this small metal bar where beach restoration is going on near Pepper Park beach, just north of Turtle Trail.  I took it to a coin dealer who said he has seen them before, but he only handled US coins and had no real knowledge of what it was.  Is this just a random item someone may have lost more recently, or could it have been from a shipwreck?  It was laying at the bottom of a 5 foot cut, near the wall of the cut, where a bulldozer had gone though and moved sand to create the cut.  It has not been cleaned other than with a brush and clear water.  It is heavy for its size and a magnet will not stick to it.  I found it with a new XP metal detector and am not familiar with the meaning of the numbers on that machine, and will have to check it out with my Minelab to see what kind of metal that unit believes it to be.

An acid test kit is a good idea for everyone, but you probably wouldn't have it along when you travel.  You can always stop into a pawn shop.  They'll usually test for gold and silver.   If they use the old acid test method, you might not want them to do a rubbing, but most use test pens these days.

Concerning the letters, I'm not certain but it sure looks like INRI.   That isn't a numismatic term or designation, it is religious.  Many depictions of the Crucifix will have those letters on a plaque above the head of Jesus.

 

 The Bible, John (19:19-20), says, "Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, 'Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.' Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek." 

Latin for "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews" is "Iesvs Nazarenvs Rex Iudaeorvm" and the acronym for this title is INRI. Latin uses the letter "I" instead of the English "J", and "V" instead of "U" (i.e., Jesus Nazarenus Rex Judaeorum). Translated to English that would stand for "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews."

That is a very appropriate find for the time of the year.  Good Friday and Easter are not far away.

I'm not absolutely sure those are the letters, but it sure looks like it.   And I can't say how old it might be.   Did it

break off of a Crucifix?  I don't know.  It doesn't have the characteristic dark color of old silver.

What do you all think?  Let me know. 

 

I did a post a few weeks ago on a variety of old items that were found in renourishment sand.

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233 of Coins Found Here By Joe D.

I received the following email from Joe D.

Started off the week with a bang! Had another search "First" for me; most coin's found in one spot!!

This morning, I tried another one of my "drive-by's"! A large empty lot near the city where old homes and buildings were torn down several years ago! I gravitated toward the large trees first, as I usually do at empty lots and parks due to the shade and potential finds they provide! Under the third tree I went under, there was a small round clearing under a lower part of the canopy about six foot across! It looked to me like a "camping" area for a homeless person, but did not have a lot of trash nearby as is typical in my area! (See pictures) When I swung my coil through the area, I got a lot of confusing chatter like aluminum coleslaw and many other "good" sounds! Upon bending down, I could see several coins on the surface! Using my pinpointer, I recovered these and found others partially buried and continued to expand my search area! Eventually the area spread to about 15 foot across! I had set my detector down and was using just the pinpointer for about 40 minutes! I finally resumed with my detector after the signals became more scattered and buried! And the total; (Drum roll please!!) 233 COINS!! $15.11 total! cents thru quarters, dated from 1943 to 2013! Most were newer ( only one wheat😢) but many were from 60's, 70's and 80's! Found from the surface, to about two inches deep! Very little trash among  coins other than a handful of foil gum wrappers and a few aluminum can pieces!

Sorry if this was a little long-winded, but had a lot to explain! Also, it was interesting to note the difference in the corrosion amount among pennies of different decades! But I will leave that for another entry!

That is one big spill!  Reminded me of a time when I found bunches of quarters on the surface the day after a carnival pulled out.   It was where a ticket booth was and it looked like rolls of fresh quarters broke and were left.

This spill appears to have been made over a long period of time though.  It could have been a gathering site for some type of penny pitch game or something, or maybe Voodoo or Santeria.  I've found some of those.  One time a circle of pennies was found around a dead bird.

What do you all think caused such a concentration of coins?  Let me know.

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On the Treasure Coast it looks like we're stuck with a small surf and southerly winds for a while.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@Comcast.net

3/8/15 Report - Discussion Of How Coins Sink In Soil. North Wind Saturday But Little Erosion.

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

Treasure Coast Beach Saturday Morning After High Tide

We had some nice North winds Saturday morning, but it turned before noon.  Around noon it was coming from the East.  The result was no erosion to speak of.

Here are two pictures.  I didn't get the best pictures, but I think you can see some decent waves but no erosion.

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A few days ago I asked people to send their ideas about how coins sink in rich soil.  I received a good number of thoughtful responses.  Instead of simply summarizing those emails I decided to post many of them as they were sent.  You might benefit from any or all of them.  There was a very consistent theme.



Beach Saturday Morning After High Tide

Troy T.  sent the following email.

Thanks for the great daily blog. I live on the other coast in Tampa but I like to know what's going on over there regardless. I especially love reading your thoughts on target depth and movement and the other technical aspects of metal detecting.
 

My puzzling experience was when I found an 80's quarter close to a river under about 8" of dirt laying directly on top of a thick layer of clay.  I cut an unnecessarily large plug and the moist soil and the clay separated nicely with the coin in between. I was dismayed to see that a modern coin would be so deep but then I realized that when the river rises to that point the ground becomes a slurry and due to the clay the water has no where to go. A heavier coin like a quarter could, in the right circumstances, work its way down to the clay layer over a relatively short period of time.
 

Thanks again for the great reading and I would love to see some guest reports featured from my side of the state.

I will post reports from the West Coast of Florida, but since I'm not over there very often will depend upon such reports being sent to me via email.

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Chris S. said,

I've had experiences such as Joe D. In my case, I was in an area close to a river that floods during hurricanes and such. I was digging state quarters at 9 inches and no silver to be found that should be there. Attributed that to the silt that builds up over time. Of course the opposite could become true under the right circumstances. Let's see what some others have to say.

I should have stated that the coin may not be sinking as much as soil being placed on top. Rich soil as Joe is speaking of would be a common byproduct of a flood.

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Robert H. said

I mostly beach hunt and rarely park or land hunt. One thing I've considered why coins sink so quickly is in parks or land sites is when we get a nice down pour and the ground is very saturated or flooded with standing water. I've come across very deep modern coins 5 to 7 inches down and was always thinking how could modern coins sink that fast? Well my main thought is hard down pouring rain and flooding turns the dirt into muddy soup. Guess where the coins will settle? At the bottom of that soupy mess. That's my thought.

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William M. had the following to say.

The first thing that comes to my mind is why is the soil so rich? How was the lot cleared originally? Was it root raked? box bladed?.. was the tree and other wood material mulched on site?... I believe there's something different going on there and it's not coins sinking fast because of earthworms.. sounds like really bad drainage at very least it may have been a marsh of sorts at one time.

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Russ P. said, Here are my thoughts:

 

I've certainly spent a lot of time thinking on this issue.  It is, I believe, a complex one with many factors at play, similar to thinking about where a coin might be found on the beach.

Instead of thinking about a coin "sinking", I come at the problem from a  slightly different perspective and that is the position of the coin relative to the surface.  This is an important distinction because often there are two major forces at play:  those factors that cause a coin to actually sink and those factors that lead to additional soil or debris on top of the coin.  There are many factors contributing to each of those forces, but I'd like to briefly mention a general observation.

In my opinion, in rich soil the factors leading to soil creation, thereby adding soil to the top of the coin which causes relative "sinking", is the predominant factor at play.  Several observations have supported this hypothesis through the years.  First, if one looks at sidewalks in old areas or leading up to old houses, they often look like they were dug out, almost a slight valley between berms on either side.  Years of mowing and grass clipping has increased the height of the ground on either side of the sidewalks.  As one moves a few feet to either edge of the sidewalk the difference can be easily 4 inches or more.  Human activity accelerates this phenomenon.   In well-manicured lawns with St. Augustine grass the difference is even more pronounced.   Second, finds discovered after concrete pavement is removed are often very near the surface, even those those finds may be extremely old.  This suggests to me that those finds remained in a very stable position from the moment the pavement was poured.

There is a question that I don't have an answer to yet that I would like others opinion.  In typical Florida conditions, do coins or other objects eventually reach a stable point where they don't sink any further?  It would seem to me that, with soil creation, objects would continue to "sink" indefinitely, but now, based on some experience, wonder if there is a typical depth that essentially is a steady state, above which soil creation and possible soil destruction (if it exists) is balanced.  I've done some recent sifting which seems to suggest that possibility.

Hope this helps.  It would take quite a long blog entry to tackle this issue in a comprehensive manner!

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Bill H. said,

In Michigan where I normally hunt in summer, it is generally thought that coins drop at least an inch for every ten years time.  This takes into consideration the creation of new 'dirt" in the form of rotting leaves and grass clippings and the gradual drop in soft dirt.

There are so many factors,however, that I  don't think there can be any one rule. Tree roots can bury or lift up old coins. Adding top soil can bury them deeper for sure. Roto-tilling a garden/lawn certainly can either raise up or lower coins. I have found 1980s coins at 4 inches and 1800s coins an inch down. The clay/stone base also obviously plays huge.

But if you give me an old farm house without any of the above, I'd expect an inch every ten years down to about 4-5 inches, then after that  perhaps an inch in 20 years. The drop seems to slow down the deeper they go. I used to keep accurate records and on virgin land this was the rule. Then I decided that hunting was much more fun than record keeping and I just go for it.

Thanks for the great site- I have hardly missed a day in three years.

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When I originally received an email asking how fast coins sink in rich soil I responded that it might not be so much a matter of coins sinking as it is a matter of the coins getting covered or buried.  That is a theme you see in many of the emails I received too.  The person who asked the question wrote back and said that seemed like it could be the case.   He then mentioned that the area in question was under a banyan tree.

Much of what you read would seem to suggest that coins simply sink in dirt over time.  It often sounds like it is a very passive process that requires little or nothing more than gravity.  I believe that that when coins sink in soil it is a more active process. 

In this blog I've reported on experiments that show how coins sink in sand.  I've shown that coins simply laying on sand that does not move do not sink.  Gravity alone isn't enough.  The sand has to be moved.  I'm convinced that the situation is similar for coins in soil.

I'm not saying that coins do not sink in soil.  I'm only saying that much or all of what appears to be sinking is actually a process of covering or burying.  I know that may be nothing more than semantics to some, but I am making a distinction.   In other words, when things sink (work their way down through existing material), there is something at work besides gravity - something that agitates the soil in one way or another.  The emails posted above mentioned various processes such as rain, floods, root growth, worms, etc.

William M. asked an important question when he asked what made the soil so rich.  In this case it appears that one thing is rotting leaves.  William also listed a variety of other things that could happen to the soil.

I was surprised that people emphasized the burying process so overwhelmingly. 

The observations of Russ relative to the sidewalks were helpful.  One of those, the observation that items under concrete do not seem to sink much, is thought provoking.  The soil under a sidewalk would be prepared before the sidewalk was poured.  A sidewalk would be poured on a packed hard base.  Besides that, the sidewalk itself, would protect the ground under it against other forces such as rain.

The idea of a slowing rate or limit on sinking (if that is what you call it) is also interesting.   Even at one inch per year, it is what I would call a slow process - too slow for me to conduct good field experiments.

On a beach coins can disappear very quickly.   The tides come and go daily and the sand moves a lot.  It can happen fast - even while you watch.

As you know, I occasionally do detect up north.  I've told about a few of those hunts in this blog.  One place I hunt is heavily wooded and is very hilly.  A lot of leaves, limbs, bark, etc. falls and decays, continually producing new soil.  In depressed areas where decaying matter accumulates I find very few coins.  I've even tried raking the top layers.   Inches can accumulate in a single year there.  I tend to focus on areas where the wind or rain moves the loose material and does no allow new soil to form and accumulate.  An 1829 large cent that I found there was probably less than two inches deep,

I appreciate all of the responses I received.  They were all helpful and thought-provoking.  I hope you now have a more complete understanding of the factors involved and gained some new insight from the discussion.  I did.

Thanks to all who sent responses as well as that one person who  initiated the discussion by asking the question.

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We'll have a fairly rough surf on the Treasure Coast today (somewhere around four or five feet), but I'm not expecting much improvement in beach conditions at all.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net




 

3/6/15 Report - White City Florida History Research. Lost City Found. More On Palm Beach Beaches. Big Surf Next Week?

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



1901 White City Mercantile Building.
Photo source:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mainmanwalkin/7059137399/ 

You might have noticed that a lot of finds that I've been posting lately have come from inland hunting sites.  Research can help you find good old inland sites. 

Several days ago I mentioned JSTOR as a research tool.  Below is just one example of the kind of thing you can find through JSTOR.

One old local community is White City, between Fort Pierce and St. Lucie.  It was settled by Danish settlers in 1893.  Goods were shipped from Titusville on the steamboat "Lillian" to be sold at a store that was built on the St. Lucie River.

A dance was held to celebrate the first birthday of White City on Dec. 16, 1894.  The dance was held at a large pavilion at the picnic grounds.  Every fall the picnic grounds were flooded by the rising river.

There were two ferries across the river - one for passengers and one for horses and wagons. 

Now there are some nice hints.

That information was published in the Florida Historical Quarterly, Vol. 33, No. 1 (Jul. 1954), pp 48-50.  The article was authored by Sandra Lewis, who won an assay contest sponsored by the Florida Historical Society.  Like I said, I found it using JSTOR.

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The past couple of days I've talked about the Palm Beach beaches.  Joe D. sent additional information on that.  Here is what he said.
 

Just read today's post! And saw the video from Jason T. north of the Breakers Hotel! This is one of two types of beach renourishment happening in Palm Beach! As Jason stated, there's a barge offshore pumping to the north side of the Breakers where the beach had disappeared! I don't search there because there has been little to no beach to search! On the south side of the Breakers, at the Midtown Beach is where my pictures have been from! They are trucking in the beach sand there; (different type of sand) and at Phipps Park further south at the other public beach! The North end of the island is mostly intact, but unless you know people who will let you park in front of their house, which is highly unlikely, (residents and police have zero tolerance! and ZERO public parking; SAD!!) then its a city bus, bike, or boat ride to hunt up there!

Just wanted to give a better picture to anyone planning a hunt there! Oh, and buy the way, very little one and two hour free parking at Midtown! And paid parking is FIVE DOLLARS
AN HOUR!! No joke!! "There's only one Palm Beach."

Thanks for the report Joe.

Some of my favorite old hunting spots in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area were places where parking was difficult or expensive. 

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I'll sum up what people have said about how fast coins sink in rich soil very soon.  If you have some thoughts to add, please send them.

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We are having some very nice weather along the Treasure Coast.  Not too hot or too cold.  No wonder there are so many snow birds on the road.

Today the wind is from the North, but not very strong.   Tomorrow the wind will continue from the North but the surf is supposed to increase up to something like five or six feet.  That could possibly do us some good if the angles are right.

Right now the surfing web sites are predicted a big surf (10 feet) for the thirteenth.  As I always point out, there is a good chance that won't happen, but I hope it does.  The next few days should give us some idea.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

3/5/15 Report - Palm Beach Beaches And Renourishment. Nice Old Coin Spill. Mystery Item.

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

Photo by Joe D.

Yesterday I posted an email from Joe D. talking about beach conditions in the Jupiter and West Palm area. I forgot to post the picture he sent. Here it is.

Joe also asked about how fast coins sink in rich soil.  I started to collect what people have to say about that and will post a summary in a future post, so don't forget to email me your thoughts on that.

I also received an email showing a mystery object.  Below are a couple photos of that item.



I received the following in an email from Jason T.

Hello Treasure Guide!  Thanks for your daily blog!  Good reading ! Check it everyday.  Saw your last post . Thought you may or may not be interested in a YouTube clip. It shows palm beach north of breakers hotel . Sand being pumped from ship offshore. A lot of gray sand with patches of shell matrix mixed in. The gray sand is extremely fine  compared to the peach in color natural coarse shell sand. The Gray sand is so fine it doesn't even take a swell to erode it. It flies away in the wind !!!  It certainly doesn't help for metal detecting...

Here is the link to the YouTube video.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bX-ekUN7xOE

Thanks Jason.
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Dan B. hit five nice coins in one little tight area.  Here is what he said.

Went out to test some new headphones and revealed 3 wheaties, a 35buffalo and my first barber quarter 1903 all touching each other.

Here they are.

Three Wheats, One Buffalo and One Barber Found Together.
Photo by Dan B.

 

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Here is a mystery item from Russ P.

 Looks like it might be a letter opener.  It was found with items dating to the early 1900s.  I would say it looks like that would be the right time period.

Here is the kicker though.  There is a hook on the back front end of the blade.  See the photo below.

That hook-like thing would pretty much destroy its function as a letter opener


What do you think it is.  If placed on end it stands up nicely with the point pointing up.

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On the Treasure Coast tomorrow we're supposed to have something like a three foot surf.  The wind is coming out of the South but is supposed to switch around tomorrow.  This weekend the wind is predicted to be from the North, and a higher surf is predicted -  something more like five or six feet.

That could possibly cause a few cuts.  Depends upon the timing etc.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@Comcast.net

 

3/4/15 Report - Lead Leads To Gold. $4.8 Million In Gold Bars Stolen. Sunken Japanese Warship Found? Sinking Coins.

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


Japanese WW II Warship
Possibly Discovered by
Apple Co-founder Paul Allen.
Source of Photos: see aol.com link.

Japanese Warship?

What do you do after founding one of the most admired and successful American tech companies and earning millions of dollars?  That's easy!  Go treasure hunting.  

That is what Apple co-founder Paul Allen did.  Here is the link for the rest of the story and more photos.

http://www.aol.com/article/2015/03/04/microsoft-co-founder-says-he-found-sunken-japan-wwii-warship/21149409/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl2%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D622391

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I received the following in an email from Joe D.

Our beach conditions in West Palm have been just as poor as the Treasure Coast. The renurishment projects have hit full swing in Palm Beach and Juipiter! In Palm Beach the sand is going out as quick as they haul it in, and making a secondary beach at low tide! But much of it is mushy and useless to hunt! The primary low tide area has had a lot of shells though with lots of iron, sea glass, and old worn brick pieces, but few coins! Could be that I have become too comfortable with my smaller coil and am not going deep enough! But I have had good luck this week using it on old vacant lots and small park areas! Today I hit several areas that I like to call "drive-by's" that I have made mental notes of in my daily travels. Some I only quick-scanned! The small roadside parks won out over the vacant lots today! The second park I went to produced a nice working watch on the first swing! That's the first time I have hit something good so quickly! 

I have a question that I would like you and your readers to try and help me solve! In your expert opinion, in very damp rich soil, how deep will coins sink with the constant action of earthworms? I have been finding that in a few of the places I hunt, the relatively modern coins are much deeper than they should be! And older coins that should be there are all but nonexistent! ( too deep??) And I know for a fact that these places have had NO fill added to create this challenge!

Thanks much for the beach report Joe! 

On Joe's question concerning how fast coins sink in rich soil, I want to see what you all have to say.
Send me your thoughts.  I'll gather everyone's thoughts and give a summary in a few days.

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Here is an interesting story.  275 pounds of gold bars worth 4.8 million dollars were stolen from an armored truck after the truck reportedly had mechanical difficulties along I 95.

Here is the link of the story and also the source of the photo.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/03/gold-bars-stolen-armored-truck-heist-4-million_n_6789870.html


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Not long ago I mentioned he Magruder and Dare heading back to the Margarita site.  Rough weather sent them back to port, but before returning they found an encrusted object, musket ball, pot shards and various ballast stones.
 

If you've been reading this blog very long you read when I said that gold rings are sometimes found with lead sinkers.  I just read that Mel Fisher always said,“Lead leads to gold!”  I hadn't heard that said by anyone else before.

One time that sticks out in my mind was when I was digging a hole in shallow water.  The first three dug objects were one-ounce round sinkers.  The fourth was a one ounce 14K gold class ring.

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Thanks for the emails.   Send me your thoughts on how fast coins sink in rich soil.

It looks like we'll be stuck with something like a three-foot surf for a  while.  The wind will be from the South for a couple of days.  Not very encouraging.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@Comcast.net

3/3/15 Report - Two BIG gold Metal Detector Finds! The Will To Discover!

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



87 Oz. Gold Nugget Found Using Minelab Gold Detector.

I received these first two photos and the information about the gold nugget find via email from Nicole D. of VineSprout Public Relations.  The nugget was found using a Minelab gold detector.



Michael Brown
Finder of the 87 Oz. Nugget

Here is what Nicole said.   I'd like to share some exciting news with you. Australian gold prospector Michael Brown has uncovered an astonishing 87-ounce solid gold nugget during a prospecting expedition in Inglewood. gold prospector Michael Brown has uncovered an astonishing 87-ounce solid gold nugget during a prospecting expedition in Inglewood. Discovered in six inches of ground with a state-of-the-art Minelab detector, Brown’s find is estimated to be worth over $130,000 AUD. Please find the press release and images attached. Let me know if you would like more information...   




That is one huge nugget.

If you could do it, and you can't, it would be an interesting experiment to go back and see what the cheapest detector would be that would detect the same nugget under the same circumstances.   Of course you shouldn't hold your breathe while waiting to find another nugget like that.

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7th Century Gold and Garnet Pendant
Source of photo: see link.

Here is the second big find.  It was discovered in a field along with other items.  It is thought to be among the most spectacular artifacts ever found in the region.

It is made of gold, which has cells that are inlaid with garnet.

Click here for more photos and more of the story.

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I received an email from Kenneth H. about the carved gorget  that I posted yesterday.  Here is what Ken said.

Hello TG dropped a line to state the image on the photo is not half fish/half cat. Must consider geography and natural wildlife where such artifacts are found. That image you posted, most likely, is a beaver (although the head appears to be more like a wild hog). The tail is a bit small in proportion though. I back that up with 30 plus years experience in archaeology. More importantly, I always enjoy this blog and your untiring efforts to maintain it. Your contribution to Florida Archaeology, Florida History and Florida Treasure Hunting is appreciated by many. -- Yes! I dare to combine all three together because all are fueled by the same drive. That is, since the Paleo era, man was born with the will to discover. No pen strike in a book of laws can ever change it...

Thanks Ken! The kind words are especially appreciated coming from someone who has done so much in the field of archaeology.  And thanks for highlighting the basic unifying drive behind all of this.

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It looks like we are stuck with something like a 3 - 5 foot surf and predominant East winds for several days.

Happy hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

3/1/15 Report - Saturday's Wind Did Nothng Good For the Treasure Coast Beaches. Neat Shell Gorget.

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

Yesterday was a rainy windy day from beginning to end.  Unfortunately the wind was from the East.  I went out this morning to check out the beaches.  The wind didn't do anything good.

One beach (shown in the photo) had some rounded scallops.

Some beaches showed the remains of old cuts.  Some of those types of beaches had wide flat front beaches but were filling.  

There are very few targets out there along the Treasure Coast now.  The beaches are as clean and over-hunted as I've ever seen.  There are very few easy targets.  I suspect a lot of people will get discouraged.

I saw a few guys wandering around with detectors.

One beach had only shredded aluminum junk.  As I've said before, many beaches have only one or two types of junk.  This one had only shredded aluminum - no iron, bottle caps or pull tabs.  That tells you that some one has been detecting that site heavily and only discriminated thin aluminum.

Take notice of that type of thing.  If you do find anything at a beach like that, except for things just dropped, the best chance is for small gold that might be discriminated out with the aluminum.

Like I said, you can tell what others have been doing or not doing at a beach, and you can adjust accordingly.

One thing I'd say today is that instead of sticking to the same old over-hunted beaches and doing the same thing over and over with no success, you might want to spread out and try some different sites and strategies.

When will we ever get some good erosion?  It has been a very slow winter season, and it is nearly over.  Then we'll have to wait for some summer storms.

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Shell Gorget
Photo source: wvxu.org link.

Contractors digging a trench for a fiber optics box found human remains and a neat carved shell gorget.

Here is that link.

http://wvxu.org/post/rare-native-american-artifact-discovered-newtown

On the Treasure Coast from time to time people looking for shells on the beach find arrow heads or shell tools or artifacts.  Keep your eyes open.

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I mentioned the ATX detector a few days ago.  One reader who does a lot of water hunting down South gave up on the ATX because the stem locks kept getting filled with sand and froze.   Seems to be a weak spot on that detector.

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That's all for today.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@Comcast.net