4/7/16 Report - Odyssey Marine Exploration Business. Important Artifacts From Tortugas Shipwreck.

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

Source: http://www.shipwreck.net/documents/OMEPapers37.pdf

I haven't mentioned Odyssey Marine Explorations for some time.  They went through a period when they had a lot of financial losses and the price of their common stock plummeted.  That changed. OMEX stock recently went from around $3 per share to over $9 per share.  You don't often see moves like that.  I won't go into a complete analysis, but here is what they say about the shipwreck part of their business.  They are also into deep-sea mineral exploration and mining.  The following summary is from http://www.odysseymarine.com.


In the fourth quarter of 2015, a third-party company contracted Odyssey to recover cargo from a shipwreck located in the Mediterranean Sea. Odyssey recognized $3.0 million of revenue in 2015 for these services. The recovered cargo is the property of the contracting party and was not part of the Monaco transaction summarized below.

On December 10, 2015, Odyssey sold certain intangible and tangible assets primarily related to its shipwreck business to Monaco Financial, LLC and affiliated entities for aggregate consideration of approximately $21.0 million. The company's shipwreck database and research library was acquired by Magellan Offshore Services, Ltd. ("Magellan"). However, Odyssey retained its vessel, equipment, tools, and specialized offshore team members. As part of the Monaco transaction, Magellan agreed to exclusively hire Odyssey on a "cost plus" basis for any shipwreck search and recovery projects conducted in the next five years. In turn, Odyssey agreed not to compete with Magellan in the shipwreck search and recovery business. Odyssey is also entitled to receive 21.25% of the net proceeds from any monetization of recovered cargo. As part of the Monaco transaction, Odyssey retained four pre-existing projects, including the HMS Victory 1744 and HMS Sussex projects. Magellan may participate in funding the recovery costs of these projects in the future, and will have the right to receive up to 50% of Odyssey's net proceeds, if any.

Monaco Financial, LLC acquired all of Odyssey's remaining coins, ingots and bars from the SS Republic, "Tortugas," and SS Gairsoppa shipwrecks, as well as an interest in the proceeds payable to Odyssey under the Master Services Agreement for the SS Central America project. Monaco Financial also purchased Odyssey's headquarters building and leased office space back to Odyssey.

Seascape Artifact Exhibits acquired Odyssey's artifact collection, exhibits, and all of Odyssey's shipwreck intellectual property and copyrights, including video, photos and publications.

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Odyssey Marine is a company that produces a lot ov very good research.  One paper examines a couple of plates found on the Tortugas shipwreck.  At the top of the page is a photo of one of those plates.  Here are two paragraphs from a paper about those plates produced by Odyssey.

Given the Tortugas plates’ specific imagery and chronological context, it is plausible that their presence on the Buen Jesús merchant vessel in early September 1622 archaeologically reflects the presence of administrators or missionaries of the Sacred Congregation of the Propagation of the Faith returning to Seville on this Tierra Firme fleet ship. In this historical hypothesis their personal belongings stowed on an Americas-bound vessel earlier in the year would have included two plates freshly thrown under papal commission. Of humble service, albeit highly appointed, one might imagine that a single plate would have sufficed per individual. 

The two examples recovered from the Tortugas wreck could suggest the presence of two such missionaries gracing the ship’s deck. Within this context it is relevant to recall the other select religious artifacts found on the wreck, which included rosary beads, a Virgin Mary clay figurine, a brass medallion dedicated to St. Catherine of Sienna, and two Seville Blue on White bowls painted with ecclesiastic inscriptions, of which only the letters ‘CAR’ written above ‘MO’ are preserved on their interior roundels (Stemm et al., 2013: 82-3, 96).
 

This is a great example of how much an artifact can tell if it provides some clues and thorough research is done.

Here is the link to the paper if you want to read more.

http://www.shipwreck.net/documents/OMEPapers37.pdf

 I do highly recommend reading this excellent paper.  You will learn more about the markings, symbolism and the history of the times.

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The weather is beautiful today for anyone who wants to visit the beach.  I'm not expecting any improvement in beach detecting conditions though.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/6/16 Report - Beaches Around The Treasure Coast This Afternoon.

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

It was windy last night and this morning as the cool front came through.  I wanted to get out to see what the beaches looked like but didn't get to until this afternoon.  Here is what I saw.

Frederick Douglas Beach This Afternoon Near Low Tide.

Frederick Douglas looked interesting - more interesting than shows from the photo.  For one thing, between the peaks you see here, there were cuts in between.  The cuts were unusual.  I don't remember seeing cuts just like that.

The front beach was relatively firm, and the cuts up around the bend were not spaced like the ones shown here.

I'd say beach conditions definitely improved a little here, but maybe not enough to find cobs - at least not in numbers.

Pepper Park This Afternoon Near Low Tide.

No cuts here.  And the beach front was not low.  The only good thing about this beach is the dip in the shallow water.

Two Detectorists At Pepper Park.

 One of these detectorists had a Garrett Ace.  I heard him say he found eleven cents.  I think the other fellow (bending down) had a Bounty Hunter.

Turtle Trail Looking North This Afternoon

The Turtle Trail beach had features that looked very much like those of Frederick Douglas.  It was surprisingly similar.

South of Turtle Trail This Afternoon.

This is the area that was producing back at the end of 2015.  Notice that the blue bags are not showing.

Area North of Seagrape Trail.  

Not much interesting around Seagrape Trail.  However, the front beach was firm.  It was similarly firm around Turtle Trail.

Digger North of Seagrape Trail.

This detectorist was digging one big hole.  I've seen other people trying to remove the same item over the years  So far none were successful.  Maybe this guy will be.  If he does dig it up, can he carry it away.  Maybe.  I once carried a fairly large anchor a long distance.  I wouldn't do it today.

There it is.

Thanks for your responses on the blog poll.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/5/16 Report - Lawrence of Arabia's Bullet. Sifting Temple Mount Dirt. 2 Million Copper Coins Found.

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

It wasn't too long ago that I did some posts on how every artifact has a story.  Here is a very good example about how one bullet confirmed an important story.

A bullet fired by Lawrence of Arabia during one of his most famous acts of guerrilla warfare has been discovered in the Arabian desert by a team of archaeologists, led by the University of Bristol, confirming the accuracy of Lawrence’s own account of the attack in his war memoir Seven Pillars of Wisdom...

Dr. Neil Faulkner said: “Lawrence has something of a reputation as a teller of tall tales, but this bullet – and the other archaeological evidence we unearthed during ten years of fieldwork – indicates how reliable his account of the Arab Revolt in Seven Pillars of Wisdom is.”

Here is the link for more about that.

http://www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2016/march/lawrence-of-arabia-bullet.html

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Just yesterday I was talking about sifting.  Here is an article about an important sifting project.

In 2004, on the western slopes of Mt. Scopus at Emek Tzurim National Park, archaeologists Dr. Gabriel Barkay and Zachi Dvira under the auspices of Bar-Ilan University established a project for sifting the earth debris that had been removed from the Temple Mount. The sifting is funded and operated by the Ir-David Foundation with the cooperation of the Israel National Parks Authority and the research and publication of the finds is funded by private donors through the Israel Archaeology Foundation...

Here is the link to read more about that.

https://templemount.wordpress.com/brief-introduction-to-the-project/

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Anyone need change? TWO MILLION copper coins weighing a whopping 10 tonnes found inside 2,000-year-old tomb

Tomb discovered in Nanchang, capital of East China's Jiangxi Province
It also includes 10,000 gold, bronze and iron items, chimes, bamboo slips
Experts hope it will shed light on the life of nobility from ancient times
The value of the coins is said to be around £104,000 ($157,340)

To read more:


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3311808/Anyone-need-change-TWO-MILLION-copper-coins-weighing-whopping-10-tonnes-inside-2-000-year-old-tomb.html

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We have a beautiful day on the Treasure Coast.  Smooth surf too.  The predictions are for an increased surf Wednesday - up to 4 - 6 feet.

Thanks for your participation in the blog polls.  I have a series planned.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/4/16 Report - Sifting for Treasure.

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

When you metal detect it is not surprising that you find mostly metal.  There are a lot of other things you could find.  Some of those might be interesting or valuable.

I do a lot of eye-balling, both when detecting and otherwise.  As a result I find a good variety of things that are not made of metal.

If you think there might be things worth finding that are not made of metal, you might consider sifting.

Sifting is sometimes done on shipwreck sites.  That can result in finding things like emeralds.

I know of one sifting project that was conducted on a home site recently.  Finds included a lot of vintage marbles.

I've done some sifting in the past.  I once posted pictures of a very portable home-made sifter that I used.  It is easily carried in the car in case it is needed.

Any time you have a good heavy concentration of interesting items, you might try sifting.  You'll discover things that you would otherwise miss.  You might discover stone tools such as arrowheads, wax or clay seals, fossils gems, or even gold that is so small that it could easily be missed by a metal detector.

There were times when I sifted a beach instead of detecting it.  I had a sifter that could be pulled through the sand.  It picked up everything large enough to not fall through the wire screen.  It picked up pull tabs as well s coins and things, but you could easily pick up the coins and good things and dump out the junk.

Sifting can be a good choice when there is so much trash that detecting is impossible.  That can be the case around picnic tables that are surrounded by a carpet of pull tabs, bottle tops, tin foil, etc.

It can also work well around walks, driveways and fences where it is impossible to detect.

Sifting can be done a variety of ways.  You can use water to more quickly wash materials through the screen.

I plan to make a video of a small sifting experiment to show you in the very near future.

If you are a water hunter, a floating sifting screen can be useful.  It is easy enough to make one, and it can be a quicker than using a hand scoop.  The water speeds up the process.

The first fossil that I ever found came up in a scoop when I was digging a target in the water.  I didn't know exactly what it was at the time but kept it until I found out what it was.

You can buy sifters if you want, but they are easy enough to make.

Simple Portable Sifter

This is as simple and inexpensive as it gets.  All you need is four pieces of board and some chicken wire.

The way it is you can roll it up for hiking.

Just two more boards and you can make it rigid.

Add some styrofoam and it floats.  Add legs or a tripod if you wish.  

Remember, if you want to find things there might be methods that are more effective than using a metal detector and picking them up one at a time.

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You might have noticed that I added a poll to the blog.  I appreciate your participation.

I have some more polls planned, but wanted to get this information first.  All responses are anonymous.

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On the Treasure Coast the surf will be smooth Monday and Tuesday.  It is a little cooler.  Very nice weather.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/3/16 Report - Survey of a Few Beaches and Beach Conditions Update.

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

I took a look at some beaches this morning.  The sand on the front beaches had been stirred up a little, but only superficial stuff.

The wind changed and was coming from the north today.  That had an effect.

In the photo above you can see at the top of the picture where the dunes were cut into a little by the high tides not long ago.

In the picture above you can also see a dark strip where there was a little black sand on the recently steepened slope.

This beach is different from the one above.  It is much more broad and there is a lot more flat beach in front of the dunes.

This beach is also mushier than the one shown above.  The one shown above at the top was firm.

The second beach has new mushy sand piled on the very front of the beach.

Here is a view of a beach that in some respects is similar to the second one.

There were both scallops and small cuts like the one shown above on various beaches.

Overall, I'd say the beaches that I saw weren't very promising, although at least one (the one in the first picture) was interesting enough to spend some time detecting.  I wouldn't expect any real good old objects though.

It was such a mixed bag that I would not be surprised if there were some small productive spots somewhere on the Treasure Coast even though I didn't see the..  I would look for areas where there are obstacles to the flow of sand, for example rocks, inlets, etc.

The surf is running about two or three feet now, and the tides are moderate.

The north wind will continue for two or three days, only shifting a little.

I'd expect no significant changes in detecting conditions.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/2/16 Report - Elks Find. New Viking Site Found In North America.

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

Item Found by John C.

John C. found this item, which I assume is an Elks pin or pendant.

The Order of Elks was formerly organized February 16, 1868, in the City of New York. Its full corporate name was "Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the United States of America." Its declared purposes are to practice its four cardinal virtues, Charity, Justice, Brotherly Love and Fidelity; to promote the welfare and enhance the happiness of its members; to quicken the spirit of American patriotism; and to cultivate good fellowship. 

Here is a link about the Elks.

https://www.elks.org/lodges/LodgePages.cfm?LodgeNumber=1625&ID=3095

If you can provide more information on the item such as date or purpose or the other inscriptions, please let me know.

Perhaps someone can provide the meaning of the clock, which is seen on many Elk items.

Thanks for sharing John.

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Tony (penzfan) sent me a couple of pictures of silver rings he found in the surf this week with his new 3030.

Thanks Tony.

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A thousand years after the Vikings braved the icy seas from Greenland to the New World in search of timber and plunder, satellite technology has found intriguing evidence of a long-elusive prize in archaeology — a second Norse settlement in North America, further south than ever known.

The new Canadian site, with telltale signs of iron-working, was discovered last summer after infrared images from 400 miles in space showed possible man-made shapes under discolored vegetation. The site is on the southwest coast of Newfoundland, about 300 miles south of L'Anse aux Meadows, the first and so far only confirmed Viking Settlement in North America, discovered in 1960....

Click here to continue reading that article.

The article referred to "space archaeologists."  That doesn't sound like the most accurate description to me. That sounds more like someone that conducts archaeology in space or that studies old space trash or something.

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Expect a calm surf for at least a few days.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/1/16 Report - Are You All In? No April Fools Here Today.

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

In poker sometimes a player is "all in."   That means that the player put all of his chips into the pot. He might lose it all or win big.

I'm not a poker player.  In fact I've never played poker for money.  I've watched poker on TV, but not lately, yet the phrase has really been on my mind for a few days.  The phrase can apply to things other than poker - things like treasure hunting, for example.

Some people go "all in" when they do things.  I seldom do.  I'm a person that tends to keep a good supply in reserve for a time when I think I really need it.  That was a problem I had with athletics and academics.  I call it a problem because I could have done much better, but I never really put out 110%.  I regret that at times.

Don't get me wrong.  I'm not afraid of effort or work and will go as far as anyone when I set a goal for myself.  One day, for example, I decided I was going to hunt until I got a piece of gold.  I started at sunrise and did't quit until I hit a small gold ring as the sun was starting to go down.  And I've learned to hunt in conditions that some would call impossible, yet I usually am not that committed.

It wasn't until my second season of college football that I realized that most of the guys were working at the sport and I was really up until that time just playing.  I was coasting.  I was known as slow, but decided to try to beat everybody in the forty and managed to beat all of the half backs that I was running against that day. Everybody was shocked when the coach called out my name.  That was an eye-opener for me.  I had enough talent that I had been fairly successful without going all out.  I don't know if that was a blessing or curse.  I suppose it really doesn't matter one way or the other.

To give one person as an example, it seems to me that Mel Fisher went all in.  He paid a high price, but you also know what he accomplished, even though it was a long time coming.

I don't know about most people.  I don't know how committed they are to their career, or to their loved ones, or their faith, or to anything.  I'm not that deep into their lives, but I know that I'm not 100 percent into most things. I'd like to think that my priorities are right but suspect they are sometimes not what they should be.

What I'm getting to, and it most certainly applies to treasure hunting, most but not all of us, are not "all in."  And that is OK, but you can't dabble around a little here and there and expect to have as much of a chance of being successful as someone who is "all in."

There is luck for sure.  It occurs once in a while, like when someone hits it big in Lotto.  There are people who go out and stumble onto a gold escudo on their very first hunt.  I know it has happened, but that is very very rare.

Did you realize that divers on salvage ships don't get paid a salary?  There might be some that get a salary, but those that I know don't.  It is a little like a waiter that works only for tips or a salesman that works totally on commission.  You only profit if and when you are successful.  You don't know exactly how much it will be, or if it will be enough to keep you going.  That is why a lot of people don't do it.  They want something more sure.  They want, and perhaps need, something more secure.

For most people treasure hunting is a hobby.  They have reserves of some sort.  They don't depend upon it for their entire livelihood.  They aren't really "all in."

Not everybody should be all in.  I don't know who should be or when.  I just don't know.

First of all, you have to be yourself.  You have to be that type of person.  You have to do it for the right reason.  You have to be in the right situation.  And sometimes it takes a little luck.

What I want you to do today is to think a little about if you are "all in."  I'm not only talking about treasure hunting, but anything in life.  Maybe family and faith are two important things for you.  If so, are you "all in" when it comes to those things?

I can't say what is important for you.  I don't know you that well.  Only you do.  And maybe you don't even know yourself that well.  All I am suggesting today is that there are varying levels of commitment, and it might be a good idea to consider if you are "all in" on the things that are really important to you.

To those of you who are living your most authentic life, I want to congratulate you, and for those of you who are not, you might want to give it some thought.  Be sure to take into account who you really are and who you really want to be.

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Look for a two to three foot surf for a few days on the Treasure Coast.  There will be a south wind, so don't expect any real improvement in conditions real soon.

Its getting very warm already this year.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net