5/7/19 Report - History and Photographs. Help Us Help You: Check-List. Few Finds. Surf Increase.

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

Circa 1915 Photograph.

The photo above is from about 1915.  The woman with the hat and white feather is Ma Barker.  Just kidding.  Actually the little girl is my grandmother, and the other two women are her mother and aunt.

So what does that have to do with metal detecting.  Well, for one thing, it was my grandmother that got a metal detector and took me metal detecting for the first time.  I don't remember exactly when that was but it must have more than fifty years ago.  That is one thing.

The metal detector, I think, was maybe a Radio Shack.  It would pick up big iron things, like horse shoes, but I don't think it would detect a coin, as I recall.  We went out to a home where she once lived as a child.  It was mostly gone, but the chimney remained.

It didn't catch on with me at the time, probably because of the inability to detect coins.  If I knew then what I know now, I would have had a great time with it even if I could only find iron, and I probably would have gotten a better metal detector before long.

It seems my grandmother's family had a lot of photos taken back then when it was a much bigger deal.  And she kept the photos, as did my mother, so I have a lot of photos, with a some going back to my great great grandparents.  I think it was my grandmother that put names on the back, so I know who most of them are, but the internet and genealogical research has filled in some gaps.

Here is something that was unexpected.

Back of the Same Photo.

Besides the names that are printed on the back of the photo, there is also the name and address of the photo studio, which in this case, was in a casino.  Even though I have a lot of historic information on the city, I had never heard of a casino being in that city.  That was new information for me.

My main point is that you can get good clues from photos.  Sometimes from the front, and even sometimes from the back.

I feel very lucky that my grandmother labeled so many old photos and kept the photos and other old things, and my mother kept them too.

You might consider making prints of some of the photos on your digital devices and safely store them for future generations.  Don't forget to label them.

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I took a little walk last night to do a little eye-balling.  I found more than expected.  I didn't have time to inspect them last night but gave them a quick rinse this morning.

Four New Bottle Finds.

Included are a Mr. Pibb bottle.  See http://www.pibbthug.com/history/.  I think it will look good when I get the moss and barnacles off.

An embossed Dr. Pepper bottle.  Mr. Pibb was created by Coca Cola to compete with Dr. Pepper.

A Titusville Coca Cola bottle.  A few cracks.

And a unidentified blown bottle with bubbles in the glass.  The only reason I picked it up was because of the bubbles in the glass.  There are no other markings on it.

I found more than expected, but nothing as good as I hoped.

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I and many of the readers of this blog enjoy looking at finds and like to identify finds and determine their age, but sometimes critical information is missing.  Here are some things that can be helpful.

Include measurements.  Sometimes a object for size comparison in the photo will do.  Notice for example, the dime included with the photo of the spoon in yesterday's photo.  Sometimes more than one measurement can be helpful.  Weight can also be telling.

More than one view of the object can also be helpful.  Often there is important identifying information on the back of an object.  That is very true for buttons.  The shank and back marks often tell the story.  You might not think something is important, but some small thing might be exactly what someone else needs to make a positive ID.  More views are better than less.

Consider the lighting.  Before taking the photo, check the angle of the lighting to see it brings out the details.

Tell what the item is made of or looks like it is made of.  You might not know for sure, but give your best guess.  

Where the object was found or what other objects were found with it can help too.  Sometimes you won't want to tell where the object was found, but give what information you can.

Things that might seem obvious to you when you are holding an item in your hand might not be evident at all to someone who is trying to work from a two dimensional photo.

You don't have to do all of these things, but you don't want to leave out some clue that might be exactly what someone else is looking for.

Here is a quick check-list (PMOC).

1. Photo(s).
2. Measurements.
3. Observations of Object.
4. Circumstances of find.

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I enlarged the photo of the earring-like object bearing trident and water symbols that was shown yesterday.

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Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

Looks like we'll get a little bump in the surf around Thursday.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

5/6/19 Report - Mystery Find. Old Rat Tail Spoon. Shipwreck Silverware. Silver Coins As Investments.

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

Rat Tail Spoon
Photo submitted by Dan B.

Dan B. has been reading and researching while recovering from surgery.  One of the things he learned is that his spoon (shown above) is called a "rat tail" spoon.  You can see why.  It is because of the supporting ridge that extends part way down the bowl.  Dan says he has found mostly pewter examples.

The rat tail helps date the spoon.  Here is a couple paragraphs from the Queen Anne's Revenge web site.

Of particular interest to us in dating our spoons is the evolution of the spoon during the second half of the 17th century. During this period, the bowl became wider and eventually the join of the bowl to the stem was reinforced with a spinal rib extending down the bowl. This feature is called a rat tail and can be seen not only on the backs of the spoons pictured here, but also clearly in the X-ray.  (See original article.)

All four of the bowls we have at present have the rat tail. Though this detail helps us with a generic dating of the spoon, it is difficult to identify them more specifically as their handle is shortened or missing entirely. Furthermore, we have not determined if our spoons were shortened intentionally  or broken before or during the wrecking of the QAR; however, this modification is a historically and archaeologically documented practice among sailors in the late 18th century. Why? So sailors’ personal spoons would more easily fit within their pockets. Could this be why we find so few spoons – they simply left the ship in the pockets of their respective pirate owners? Granted, its only one answer among many possibilities, but it does make one think how different shipboard life was 300 years ago.

Here is the link.

https://www.qaronline.org/blog/2019-04-03/artifact-month-pewter-spoon

The evolution of silverware is well documented, making it fairly easy to associate examples with a particular time period.  Many items are much more difficult.

That is an interesting example of how shipboard culture results in discrepancies between finds from shipwreck sites and land sites.  There are some interesting unanswered questions having to do with apparent discrepancies between submerged shipwreck finds and shipwreck beach finds.

There was a rat tail spoon from a 1798 wreck listed in the recently completed Sedwick auction with an estimate of between $500 - $700.

A silver fork from the 1715 Fleet was listed at a much lower estimate -  $100.  Tjhere have been quite a few of them found.  They aren't much different from the spoons you use.  Although forks started out with two tines, the one in the auction had four, which it seems became the most common.

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Mystery Item.
Photo and find by John E.

John E. found this item Saturday.

It seems to show a trident over water.

In Ancient Greece, the trident was a symbol of abundance and that’s why it was depicted on coins and talismans to attract wealth. It symbolized the unlimited treasures of the sea.
John thought the item might be an earring.

It looks like an earring to me, except it looks like it would be very difficult to put in.  That part just doesn't look right to me.


What do you think?










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Jacksonville, Florida.

Two teens swept out into the ocean prayed for help. Then along came a boat named 'Amen.'

Eric Wagner said he was taking his boat from Delray, Florida, to New Jersey when he found the teens about two miles from shore...

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/two-teens-stranded-ocean-prayed-help-then-along-came-boat-n1001576

That is a reminder to watch those rip tides.

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I was looking at a Peace Dollar the other day.  It wasn't struck very well.  That is common with Peace Dollars.  Most of them aren't worth a lot.  A lot of peace dollars in average circulated condition aren't worth any more than nineteen or twenty dollars.  I would have expected more appreciation.  Peace Dollars were made from 1921 through 1935, so they are nearly a hundred years old.

As investments that doesn't seem very good.  Due to inflation, a dollar in 1920 is equivalent to about $12.50 in today's money.  So the majority of the gain in the value of your average condition Peace Dollar is mostly just inflation.

If you put a dollar in the bank and let it accumulate interest over the last hundred years, I think you'd have a lot more.  I won't look it up right now, but you can if you want to.

Of course if your Peace Dollar was a rare example or in much better condition, the story could be different.  In MS60or 60+ condition, the values are in the hundreds of dollars, and a 1934 S could be worth over a thousand dollars.

What I'm saying is that you can't just take any coin and put it away and expect it to be a good investment in the future.  Like with so many things, rarity and condition are very important, and if you want to pick a good investment, it helps immensely if you can select those examples that have a good chance of appreciation.

The value of silver has dramatically changed over the past hundred years.  If you are dealing with  common silver coins in average or poor condition, the price will be affected a lot by the bullion value, which varies wildly.

Here is a hundred year chart for the price of silver.

That is amazing to me.  The dollar value of silver has varied from down around $5 up to around $116 per ounce.  If you decided to sell such coins at the peak when the Hunt brothers were manipulating the price of silver, you would have done well.

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The surf will be only one to two feet for a couple of days, increasing some around Thursday.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

5/5/19 Report - Valuable Gold Pendant Beach Find. Gold Coins Found. More On The Copper Bracelet. Trained Marine Animal.

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

Two Sides of Gold Pendant Found on Beach.

Photo by Mag

This is a curious one for me.  I received an email from Mag, who said her son found this pendant "under a rock on the beach in San Diego."  Mag says it was taken to a jeweler who said it was 39 grams of "pure" gold, and the jeweler offered $2000.  That would be very close to the value of the gold content.  Another guy reportedly offered 120K.  I don't know why that would be, but as I was writing this I noticed something.  There appears to be a mark under the ankh.  I can't make it out in the photo, but could it be a Tiffany Art Deco piece or perhaps a work by a famous artist?  It does appear to be a quality piece.

Great find!  And thanks for sharing.

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I got an email from John E. who said, ......a guy that works for me told me he and his wife were looking for shells on Cumberland Island (Georgia/Florida border) after a hard blow back in 2007-2008....lots of great shells , but found 3 gold coins ( irregular shape according to him) under some shells and a "game warden " walked over and told him...."those are the property of the state of Georgia" I will have to take them, and he gave the coins to him. Can this be true?

I mentioned relevant issues and how it could definitely be true.

I know that Cumberland Island is a very historic place, and it could well have been found on state lands or a designated historic or archaeological site.  Also I mentioned the mean high tide line.

Whether the warden's actions were justified or not, it would have been nice if the finder got a photo of the coins and got the name of the warden for possible follow-up.

It is good to have a camera with you.  It can help document situations and help you demonstrate when you are in the right.

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One more person provided some thoughts on the copper bracelet found by Terry S.   Laura Strolia sent me an article which included the following sentence.  ... it is not uncommon for Aztec artist to create generalized deity figures that are based on the likeness of a particular deity and imbued with her characteristics, while not directly representing that deity....  

Attempting to briefly summarize the email and article that Laura sent me, I think it would be fair to say that the copper bracelet might show a stylized deity consistent with an Aztec, Mexican or South American cultural influence.

Here is the link to the article Laura sent.

https://howardnowes.com/gallery/detail.cfm?itemnum=12934

Laura also mentioned to me the popularity of copper arts and crafts jewelry from the 1960s and 1970s.  I've found quite a bit of that.

Thanks Laura.

I did my first post on this topic too soon.  I should have waited a few days.

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Very often my first response to an email or question isn't my best response.  For example, in the case of the gold pendant shown above, I responded to the email before noticing the faint sign of a  mark below the ankh, and I didn't think of the possibility of the item being an antique like those that were popular during Art Deco period.  I also didn't initially think of the possibility of it being made by a famous artist or company such as Tiffany.  I very often regret answering quickly and have to add to or edit my response.  That happened at least three different times this week.

Mag originally contacted me after seeing the gold Cleopatra pendant find that I posted by in 2013.  I had actually forgotten about that.

Yesterday's post on bottles sent me back through a tour of my old bottle posts.  That tour reminded me of a lot of other old finds that I forgot.  I also was reminded of my original intentions for my Bottle Barn site, which I haven't added to in a long time.

Some of the short paragraphs I post take me a long time to write.  One famous author - I forget who now - apologized to someone for writing such a long letter, and explained it was because he didn't have enough time.  It can take a lot of time to boil things down to a clear concise statement.  It is sometimes much quicker and easier to ramble on.

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I just took my first look at the recently concluded Sedwick auction and noticed that many lots went for two, three or more times the upper auction estimate.

The nice Santiago Chile quarter reales did very well, as did the blue and white Ming dynasty china.  Those are just two categories that stuck out to me on my first look.

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Perhaps you saw the reports of the Beluga Whale wearing a harness that turned up around Norway.  The news sources seem to be calling it a Russian spy.

Here is that link.

https://apnews.com/8515d3a6ea4a48dda70583a616beca05

Animals, including marine animals such as dolphins, have been trained for military functions.  I wonder what a trained sea otter could do?  I think he might be pretty good at diving for coins or whatever you trained him to look for.  Just a fun thought.

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It looks like in a few days we might get one day of three to five-foot surf.  Otherwise the surf will be more like two or three foot.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

5/4/19 Report - 15th Century Anchor Found. Copper Bracelet. Vintage Bottles. Backyard Gold Mine. This Is The Year.

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

Source: Mexico News Daily (See link below.)

A search for Cortés’ ships turned up a 15th-century anchor off Veracruz.  Here is an excerpt from the Mexico News Daily article.

This week, that project, headed by archaeologist Roberto Junco Sánchez and anthropologist Chris Horrell, made its first significant find — an anchor dating back to the 15th century with wood still attached to it, identified as being a type of oak found only in northern Spain...

Preliminary analyses of the wood have been used to date it, narrowing it down to two periods of time, either from 1417 to 1492 or from 1450 to 1530.

The data is still not enough to link the anchor to one of Cortés’ ships, explained Junco, or with the ships of other Spanish explorers...

Here is the link.

https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/search-for-cortes-ships-turns-up-anchor/

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Concerning Terry's copper bracelet, Troy T. sent the following thoughts.

I read somewhere that Florida natives liked to use copper acquired from Europeans either through trade or from shipwrecks. They would re-work it into ornamentation and jewelry. I wish I had a good source to point towards but I don't remember exactly where I read it. I've made similar things before out of copper and brass wire.  The markings are crudely punched and maybe also etched and could have been done with pretty simple tools so it could have easily been made by a native with stone or shell tools. Of course it just as easily could have been made by a bored sailor.

I added Troy's message to yesterday's post, but it was late and you might have missed it so I posted it again.

I seems to be the consensus that the workmanship on the design is somewhat crude or primitive.

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Once again I was painfully reminded of the need for organizing finds and collectibles.  Just yesterday I went to get out my strap flasks and couldn't find them.  I knew where they were for a long time, but evidently I moved them at some point.  I'm sure I'll find them, but it drives me crazy when I thought I knew where they were but can't find them.

Categorize, label, and store your finds in an organized fashion.  Store them carefully too.  It is disgusting when an antique item that has survived years or centuries gets broken.

Brian B. sent me a link to a video about bottles.  That is what got me started on the hunt for my strap flasks.

I think you'll also enjoy the video.  It talks about the values of some vintage bottles that aren't extremely rare or difficult to find.  They are the kind of thing you might have found at one time or another.

Here is the link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U514TaZCPyA   

I've found a lot of the bottles shown in the video - including the flasks.  Many of the ones shown in the video are vintage soda bottles worth five or six dollars.

...

A homeowner was shocked when he found a gold mine in his backyard after buying a new house. 

Anthony Doolin purchased the Brisbane property three years ago but was not aware of the gold mine until after he explored the 16.5 hectares of land...

Here is the link.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/australia/homebuyer-literally-strikes-gold-after-he-finds-a-mine-in-the-backyard-of-his-new-house-in-brisbane/ar-AAzyU3N?li=AAgfYrC

Now that sounds like a lot of fun.  I'd love to have a gold mine in my back yard, whether it was worked out or not.

But in a way, I guess I almost do.

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How do you remember the important times in your life?  Some events are big and they become markers in your life.  You can quickly say something like, "That is the year I started high school," or, "That was the year I got married," or, "That was the year our first child was born or graduated from college."

There are years like that which are remembered as milestones.  You might find that there are other years that are difficult to link to a specific memorable event.  As I thought about it, it seemed for some reason that many of those years occurred later in life.  If they are remembered at all, they are too often remembered something like, "That was the year dad died."  I don't think a person ever expects that until well after it happens and they look back over the years.  I didn't realize it until I just thought about it.

That might not seem very encouraging, but there is a fix.  No matter if you are young or old, it is up to you to make your own memorable events.  Today is the day, but this is also the year.   Find a way to do something you will remember with a smile for the rest of your life. 

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It looks like nothing but a small surf for the next five to seven days.

Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

5/3/19 Report - Beach Conditions on the Treasure Coast. Spanish Colonial and Pre-Columbian Jewelry Materials.

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

John Brooks Beach Around Noon Thursday.

I visited a few beaches yesterday.  John Brooks had some cuts that I think probably were made the night before.  There were more to the north that you can really see in this photo.

Frederick Douglass Beach Thursday.

Frederick Douglass and the other South Hutchinson Island beaches that I looked at had no fresh cuts.  There were, however, some nice flat areas near the water's edge, like at John Brooks.

Frederick Douglass Beach Thursday Around Noon.

There was a lot of seaweed at Frederick Douglass and the other beaches I saw.

Fort Pierce South Jetty Beach.

There was really a lot of seaweed at Fort Pierce South Jetty.  It looked like it had cut a little earlier - maybe yesterday when the wind was still pretty much from the north.

Overall what I saw was not encouraging, however the flat area down by the water at low tide probably held a few targets if you wanted to put in a lot of time.

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A couple days ago I mentioned the copper bracelet found by Terry S. and asked for thoughts and opinions.  I did a little research myself to see what I could find about Spanish colonial copper bracelets.  I started by consulting Kathleen Deagan's book, Artifacts of the Spanish Colonies of Florida and the Caribbean, 1500 -1800, Vol. II.  Deagan says, "Bracelets have been infrequently reported from Spanish Colonial sites, especially those dating to the seventeenth century or later."

Another source in Deagan's book commented on a notable lack of interest by the Spanish in bracelets from the seventeenth century until the eighteenth century when multi-strand bracelets of pearls or beads became popular.

It appears that glass bracelets are among the bracelets most commonly found.  Glass bracelets and fragments of glass bracelets were found in archaeological contexts at both La Isabella and Puerto Real.  The glass bracelets seem to be associated mostly with adolescent girls.

As for copper bracelets, the only ones mentioned by Deagan are bangle bracelets of "twisted copper wire" from sites dating from the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries.

Deagan mentions the gold bracelets found on the 1715 and 1733 wrecks.  It seems that gold bracelets are much more common from shipwreck sites than land sites.

A quick search of the Mel Fisher artifact database revealed NO copper jewelry finds.  Almost all jewelry finds in the Fisher database are gold.  There were a couple lead items listed that held emeralds.

Back in a 2016 post, I reported on a copper bracelet found by Captain Jonah and the crew of the Capitana along with other wreck artifacts.  That is the only specific example of a probable Spanish Colonial copper bracelet that I can point to right now.

A search of Pre-Columbian  metalworking in South Anerica revealed the following summary.

Metalwork appeared in general use around Chavin times, by 900 BCE, although the techniques known were limited to hammering, annealing, soldering and repousse working of sheet gold and silver. By Mochica times, every technique was used including casting - simple and cire perdue - alloying and gilding. By then, metal was used for utilitarian purposes in the production of weapons and agricultural tools as well as plate and jewellery. The Chimu of North Coastal Peru were especially known for a high degree of competence in metallurgy, producing quantities of gold and silver figurines, ceremonial knives, tweezers, earspools, plate, bowls and beakers, many decorated with fine repousse designs of gods, animals and mythical creatures. It was from them that the Incas and then the Spaniards acquired much of their wealth. At the Spanish Conquest (1519 CE), South and Middle America were still technically in the Bronze Age, having no knowledge of iron working.  (http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/history-of-art/pre-columbian.htm#metalwork)

We do know that copper was used in Pre-Columbian times to manufacture a variety of objects.  Bells, tools and masks are just a few examples.  But again, it certainly does not appear that it was used much, if at all, for jewelry.

See https://www.copper.org/education/history/60centuries/middle_ages/copperin.html.

I've found some copper bracelets on the Treasure Coast that could possibly be from a Treasure Coast wreck, but since they were beach finds and had no telling markings, I am not able to say much of anything about their source.

I have also found silver bracelets that I think are probably from a 1715 Fleet wreck, but I can't be absolutely certain about that.

Again I am reminded of the lack of silver finger rings found on 1715 Fleet wrecks.  The apparent disparity between submerged wreck and land sites might seem strange, but perhaps shouldn't be if the extreme concentration of wealth on those small ships is considered.  The material culture found on the treasure ships is unique in many ways.  What we sometimes find on the beach is a few odd bits of that scattered accumulation.

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I didn't receive many opinions on the bracelet.

Bruce B. offered the following.

I don't know for sure, but the ring reminds me of Celtic ornamentation I have seen on bronze bracelets, though it could be Viking with perhaps the face of Odin. The shape, however, looks more Roman.   

Troy T. sent this message.  I read somewhere that Florida natives liked to use copper acquired from Europeans either through trade or from shipwrecks. They would re-work it into ornamentation and jewelry. I wish I had a good source to point towards but I don't remember exactly where I read it. I've made similar things before out of copper and brass wire. The markings are crudely punched and maybe also etched and could have been done with pretty simple tools so it could have easily been made by a native with stone or shell tools. Of course it just as easily could have been made by a bored sailor.

When I saw the design, the first thing I thought of  was a possible African influence.

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I also enjoyed looking at many examples of Native American copper artifacts, which, by the way, also included bracelets.

https://www.mpm.edu/research-collections/anthropology/online-collections-research/old-copper-culture

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I wanted to pass along one thing SuperRick recently said in an email to me.  Here it is.  

I want to thank everybody that sends you information to post and my good friends that I have made friends with thanks to the treasure hunter's cookout!

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It looks like we are in for a few days of small surf. 

In a month or two I might be able to present a new find of a bunch of modern gold bullion coins. 

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide

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

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

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

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

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

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

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

A 2016 blog by the American Meterological Society said:

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

Here is the link for more of that article.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

God Bless All Who Read These Words.  

Sebastian Steve

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here are the photos again.

Three Views of Copper Bracelet Found by Terry S.

Photos by Terry S.

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

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

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


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

5/1/19 Report - Florida Fort Found. Antiquarian Book Treasures. Victorio Peak. Numismatics.

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

1615 Bible Stolen and Recovered.

I used to be amazed by the valuable treasures that you could find on the shelves of lending libraries.   Library staffs were not always aware of value of some of their books.  Back twenty or thirty years ago I noticed a very old book of Durer prints that was very valuable on the shelves of one library.  Someone was making photocopies of each of the valuable full-page Durer prints.  They evidently knew they were of value, but in the process of spreading the prints out on the photocopier were damaging the old book. I hated to see valuable antiquarian books like that being ruined.

It would have been easy for anyone to walk out of the library with an antique book worth tens of thousands of dollars and never return.  If they were to be charged with late fees, they could have probably paid a ridiculously low fee for "losing" such a rare book.  I was amazed that such books were on the shelves and that they didn't disappear.

The Bible above was part of the $8 million dollars of books stolen by one group, including an library archivist so I guess that some of those old books did disappear.  The stolen Bible shown above, and printed a hundred years before the wrecking of the 1715 Fleet was recovered in the Netherlands.

I noticed a rare collection of valuable books at one local library that was going to get rid of the entire collection of valuable books for essentially nothing.  I told one librarian what they were worth and that they should be saved.  Several of the books were worth hundreds, and a few, thousands of dollars.

Here is the link for more about the stolen and returned Bible.

https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/400-year-bible-stolen-us-found-netherlands-62627071

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Hurricane Michael uprooted trees in north Florida and revealed artifacts from 'Negro Fort' where 270 escaped slaves died.

Here is the link for more of that story.

https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2019/04/27/hurricane-michael-unearths-artifacts-historic-apalachicola-river-negro-fort/3472717002/

I always like to check in the roots and in the hole created by uprooted trees.

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I posted a link the other day to the Doc Noss Victorie Peak treasure story.  Here is another.

https://dailyoddsandends.wordpress.com/2014/03/29/victorio-peak-treasure-milton-doc-noss-biggest-con-of-the-20th-century/

Thanks to Norbert B. for that link.

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Here is a great video and discussion of some of the earliest ancient coins ever created.  It is very educational.

https://coinweek.com/ancient-coins/watch-talking-ancient-coins-with-mike-beall-and-mike-markowitz-part-i/

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I once created a video while I walked along a good shell line and picked up a sea glass and fossils that I saw.  It wasn't a very good video.  It was my first attempt at doing something like that and every time I bent down to pick up a piece of sea glass the camera didn't catch a good picture of the item I picked up.  If you wanted to get a real good look at the find, you could stop the video and get s somewhat better look at it.

Yesterday I got notice of a comment on the video.  The comment was, "Horrible video."  I wouldn't argue with that.  My reply to the comment was, "Thanks. Great comment."

Another person had commented on the video a long time ago, and said that I was being intentionally evasive and I "wasn't fooling anybody."  I think I fooled him, but not intentionally.

I don't know what those people were looking for, but I  suspect the second person wanted to gain something from the video that he failed to get from it.  He was evidently unhappy about that.  People reveal a lot about themselves from their comments.

Those are the only two comments that the video received over maybe a year or so.  The video did get a lot of "thumbs up," and almost as many "thumbs down."  Some people evidently got something out of the video, and some people didn't.

Rightly or wrongly, I expect treasure hunters to be able to take advantage of small signs, and anything that might be provide a hint or clue.  I don't think a treasure hunter of any type should expect somebody to tell them exactly where to go and where to dig.  That would not be treasure "hunting."

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net