9/14/19 Report - Spanish Fort Site Excavation. Bottles and Movement of Submerged Objects.

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

An excavation at the site of a Spanish fort has yielded artifacts spanning centuries, including the medicine bottle shown above.

In 1626, the Spanish Empire dispatched a fleet of warships from Manila to the northern tip of Taiwan and established a small colony called Spanish Formosa.

The San Salvador fort was built there to counterbalance Dutch power in southern Taiwan and to safeguard Spanish interests in the shipping route between China's Fujian province and Manila in the Philippines.

However, Spain's rule in Taiwan ended in 1642 after years of battling and the fort was ceded to the Dutch... 

Here is the link for more about that.

http://focustaiwan.tw/news/afav/201905110003.aspx

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Dan B. found the following bottles and would like any ideas about the broken neck, which was new to him.

Finds by Dan B.

Photo by Dan B..

Here is Dan's description of these finds.

Bottle on left just has an N on the bottom, is dark green, and has a seam.

One in middle says 54. 

The one on the right is a Lea and Perrins Worcestershire that I looked up and seems to sell for 15$. Its neck is slanted and is a nice color green. 

He'd like information on the bottle piece.

You might ask why he would care about that piece.  One reason is that if he can identify the piece he might be able to better identify the age range of the things he can expect from the site as well as the type of bottles.

I know of one good bottle site that has some interesting history.  Back in the day, a professional baseball player lived along the Indian River and would sit out on the dock drinking and throwing the empty bottles into the river.  Of course a lot of liquor bottles found there, but they aren't real old.  That doesn't mean that there are no older bottles found there, because bottles were collecting there before that happened, and bottles can be moved a lot.

It obviously helps to know the history of the area.

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I was going to talk some about the movement of objects today anyway, but bottles are a bit of a special case, so I decided to talk on how old submerged bottles move in water.  I'm sure that some people won't be much interested in how bottles move, but understanding that will help you understand how objects in general move, which of course will help you know where you might find those objects.

Some people just want to know where to go or where other people are going and having luck. I'm thinking of calling them "X marks the spot" hunters.  They just want to know where the X is  They will hunt mostly the same spots over and over unless they get word that another place is producing. They mostly want to know where people are hunting and what is being found. That isn't me.  I like to figure things out - not that I don't appreciate a helpful tip.  But if you can figure things out for yourself, that will help you adjust to new places and different circumstances.

First off, bottle movement is more complex than the movement of an object like a coin or ring.  Why?  Because bottles come in various shapes, can be capped or uncapped, and can be empty or full, and filled with different things, such as air, water, sand or mud.

Normally when you find a flock of surface bottles near shore, most of them will be laying parallel to the beach.  I think I could go out this morning and take a photo of about fifty moss or seaweed covered bottles in a small area just like that.  I've checked them multiple times before and have picked up the older or more interesting ones.  They are where I found them over a year ago.

Most bottles will not be capped and will be filled with water.  They'll lay on the bottom.  Occasionally whole bottles will get buried.  That occurs when the bottle is full of something like maybe mud or the bottle gets trapped somehow.

When a bottle lays in an area where barnacle and moss or seaweed attaches, it can become heavier and won't move as much, eventually getting covered and settled. Otherwise rounded bottles will be very mobile.

But not all bottles are rounded.  Many older bottles are more rectangular, such as old medicine and pharmacy bottles.  They obviously won't roll around as much.

Once a bottle gets covered it will take a lot for it to move.  The sand can accumulate over it and the seaweed can hold it all in place, however those bottles can get uncovered by periods of rough water.

Bottles of different shapes can get sorted and accumulate together just like coins or other objects.

More mobile bottles can move in and out from shore, but once weighed down or trapped, can stay in place until something more dramatic happens to move them.

When bottles are filled with water they are close to neutral and will be much more mobile than coins or rings, but how they move in water and where you will find them is determined by the same basic factors - density (combined) and shape.  In a way they are something like watches because there can be trapped air that keeps them near the surface and makes them more mobile than would be the case if there were only the density of the materials and shape of the object to consider.  Rounded bottles filled with water are similar to waterlogged wood, and you'll often see cut limbs laying on the bottom with the bottles.

A year or two ago a lot of the seaweed died and bottles started showing up next to shore.  I think the death of the vegetation allowed the sand to move and the buried were freed.

What I like about bottles that they will show up during conditions that do not produce much in the way of coins or gold.   Like I've often said, when conditions are not right for one kind of treasure there will be something else that you can find.

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Nothing but small surf.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

5/13/19 Report - Alternative Types of Treasure Hunting and Thinking Outside the Sphere. $24,000 Penny Find. Cashless Society.

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

Urban Prospector

Source: New York Post.

There are many places and ways to treasure hunt. but people are usually on a very narrow track.  They might try one or two or maybe three kinds of hunting, but there are many others that they never even consider.

While most of the time I metal detect on the beach,, I have done some other very different things, but there are still many others that I have never tried.

There are some types of hunting that most of us would never think of.  For example, there is a fellow that hunts the cracks and pot holes in the streets in the New York diamond district ( photo above).  He extracts the accumulated debris and later pans it.

You can view the video of how he works the streets by going to this old post.

https://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2011/12/122611-report-one-strange-place-to-find.html

I really recommend taking a look at that video.

You might be surprised by how much you can find on the streets.  Without even trying, I can remember finding, a heavy gold chain, gold bracelet, gold earrings, and Gucci and other watches on the streets, so I'm not at all surprised by the success of that fellow.

Parking lots are good too.  You have a good chance if at first light of day you search in front of a glitzy but rowdy bar after a busy night.  I learned that when I arrived early one morning to detect and found a heavy gold chain after getting out of the car.

I once found a gold ring that had been smashed by cars in a puddle in a parking lot.  I looked for the gem stone in the puddle too, but I don't remember if I found the gem stone or not.  I doubt it, or I'd probably remember it.

When I lived down south and visited the shopping malls with my wife, I'd spend a lot of time scanning the floor especially around the edges of the jewelry cabinets and under the clothes racks. You might be surprised by how often you could find an earring backing or some other little piece, like maybe a small stone that popped off.  That isn't what we typically think of as treasure hunting, but for me it was.

I used to find valuable old books at thrift stores.  That is not as easy now because of how the collectible book market has changed as a result of the internet.  That was also a type of treasure hunting for me.

My point is, no matter what type of hunting you do, there are other types of hunting that you might not think of.   People naturally fall into habits, and those habits can become constricting.

I believe that despite the amount of sharing that takes place these days, most finds are never reported or publicized.  Those that are publicized usually don't reveal much of anything that is radically new .  People that are onto something really new and exciting often aren't ready to publicize what they are doing.  And they are too busy.

It is good to be skeptical, but a person can dismiss things too quickly because of the limited range of their own experiences and imagination.  That is a real danger.

Most beach hunters have not done much cache hunting, for example, and there are a lot of different ways to do cache hunting.  You can do it like they do it on the Curse of the World War II Gold TV program, which for my taste is way too much like the Oak Island show, or you can do it many other ways.  Glenn Carson wrote a book on the subject, but I haven't seen a lot written on the subject.  There are so many places and ways to do it, and the hits are not real frequent.

People who renovate houses have an inside track on cache hunting.  There are things stuffed away in nooks and crannies that are forgotten.  I know that for sure.  You can occasionally stumble on a find like that, or you can intentionally hunt things like that and become skilled at it.

Abandoned houses, shacks, barns often conceal nice treasures too.

I define "treasure hunting" way more broadly than "metal detecting."  Although I enjoy and have done a lot of metal detecting, I have done some other types of hunting too - some of which are less common and less written about.  There are many other ways to hunt for things.  I personally like what I call eye-balling, which can be practiced in more places and will result in different kinds of finds.

As we all know, beach metal detecting is a great activity.  It offers so much.  Being outside is nice.  The exercise is good.  And you never know what you might find.  And in my opinion, it is a great educational activity.  There is so much you can learn from it.  It is also a challenge.

It is important to evaluate information and ideas, but I think creativity is as important as skepticism.  Things can be too quickly accepted or too quickly dismissed.

When you see or hear something that you think is impossible, at least entertain for a minute the possibility that there might be something you haven't thought of.  Ask yourself how it might be possible. You might discover brand new opportunities when you challenge your own skepticism.

For me, a lot of the fun of treasure hunting is the creative process.   Don't let treasure hunting become a mindless mechanical repetition.  There are always new things to learn and different ways to do things.

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Megan Green made a great find in 2017.  It was a 1969-S Lincoln Double Die Obverse cent.

Megan took up coin collecting when her young daughter had a serious heart defect.  Megan needed a diversion and began searching coins.  She searched wrapped rolls and boxes of coins she got from the bank.  After a while she gave up, but then started up again after a taking a break.

Not only did the hobby provide the diversion she need during trying times, but it also helped with medical expenses.  The 1969-S double die cent find was valued by PCGS at $24,000.

That story was reported in greater length in the May 21, 2018 issue of Coin World.

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Here is an article you might want to read about how cash is being replaced by other methods of exchange.  I've talked about that some in the past.  I disagree with some of what is in the article, but you might find some of the ideas interesting.

It starts...

A cashless society has been a talking point for futurists for years, but for one reason or another, has never quite been within our grasp. Now, like the electric car and clean energy, it’s finally happening - and it’s about time...
https://transferwise.com/us/blog/the-disappearing-paper-why-cash-is-a-dying-payment-method

In my opinion there are some very good reasons to use cash and some real dangers to cashless systems.

But what will be the impact on detectorists?   It will hurt some more than others.  Many are not  interested in finding modern coins anyhow.

The article mentioned that the average life of paper currency is only six years.  It looks to me like the life of a zinc penny might not be much better.  I've been seeing a real high percentage of 2018 and 2019 pennies lately.

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Have you ever noticed those slide show articles, like Ten Most Expensive Cars or something like that.  For each and every paragraph you have to click a NEXT icon.   I hate those, they are click-bait, and I just refuse to do them.  If I really want to see the information, I try to find the same information somewhere else, and you usually can, because they steal the information and put it in a form that requires you to click to see each paragraph, and each paragraph come with a bunch of ads. Tyup

I don't do Facebook or some of the other things either.

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Thanks for all the kind reponses to my Mother's Day post

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The Treasure Coast surf for the next week or so will be only one or two feet.

Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

Happy Mother's Day.

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

Happy Mother's Day

From the TreasureGuide

Easter Sunday I took my 93-year-old mother to church.  While we waited for church to begin, once again she told the story about how I crawled up under the pews when I was a baby.  She caught me by the leg before I got too far.  That seems to be one of her favorite stories.

That was over seventy years ago.  We are now a thousand miles away, but we could both still see it in our minds as if we were watching it take place all over again.

The two-story church built in the 1840s was one of those old-style churches: two tall stories with towering spires, huge stained glass windows, fine carpentry and huge organ pipes that filled the wall behind the pulpit.

Downstairs was the nursery with its yellow table and short little chairs that were barely off the ground, and in the corner was a yellow sandbox elevated on legs.  Right next door was a elegant Victorian sitting room with padded chairs, lace curtains and speakers connected to the sanctuary by wires for the elderly who couldn't make it up the tall stairway to the sanctuary.

I can see it so well because every Sunday from the time I could crawl until I went off to college, I attended with my family.

When I crawled up under the pews my mother and father were kids of 22.  Mom was a very shy country hick that had never been much of anywhere.  Little things were a big deal, but dad had been most of the way around the world during WW II.  He has been gone for over ten years now.

My mother also told me once again how the ladies always wore hats to church.  She's told that a number of times too. Things have changed. 

Her memory isn't as sharp as it once was, and she struggles to keep some of the past alive.  We shared much of that past, and we are the only ones left that can share those special memories today.  

Whether because of her eyes or unsteady legs, she doesn't walk very confidently, and I take her by the hand, like she once took mine. 

It has been a lot of years, but in a way it seems more like minutes.  It only takes one step to go from the nursery to the seniors room, and one more from the sitting room to the stairway upstairs.

Me: I'm a grey-haired oldster now, and I try to take care of her, but I know it can't be too many more times that I'll be able to take her to church - or anywhere.   But those memories will live on with me.

Today is indeed the day.  

Happy Mother's Day.

5/11/19 Report - Pre-Columbian(?) Coin Found in Utah. WWII and Bullet Finds. Neat Sight Find.

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

Source: DailyMail - See Dailymail.com link below.

A visitor to Glen Canyon Recreational Area in Utah found two coins: one dated to around 1660 and the other is now thought to date to the 13th century, but that has not been confirmed.

The article ponders how the old coins, seemingly from a period prior to the earliest known Spanish presence in the area and Columbus' arrival in the Americas, could have been lost there. Here is a little of the discussion.

'It would be very strange, in a genuine early modern deposit, to have coins from such widely separated periods,' he said.

'These would not have been in circulation at the same time in Spain. With no further context, it is more likely that they are a modern loss: Basically dropped by a coin collector.

'This is not necessarily as unlikely as it sounds. A 19th-century shipwreck off the south coast of England was found to be full of ancient and medieval coins from the Mediterranean..

You can't assume that every time an old item is found that it was lost a long time ago.

One thing that is often forgotten is that, people did not dispose of things as quickly as we do today. Items were repaired or repurposed for decades or centuries. They didn't just discard old items and run out to the store and buy a new one that would last for only a short time.

The article leaves our a lot but is well worth reading (critically).  The article at one point suggests that the "coins" are Pre-Columbian, but only one of the two are.

Here is the link that was submitted by Dean R.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7009641/Mystery-Spanish-coins-Utah-desert-predate-Columbus-200-years.html

Thanks Dean.

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Variety of Bullets Found on the Treasure Coast Beaches.

A few days I posted some pictures of small copper finds that could be bullets or shells. I discussed some of the helpful ideas about the identify of those items, and just received another email on the subject.

Steve M, said, These are 50 caliber machine gun bullets from 1943 (See photo below.). We find a fair amount of these on the West Coast as there was a lot of training going on here then. These were both found same day about 50’ apart in the deep sand in the water. The outer casing or jacket is copper the inside is cast iron. It usually looks like the crusty one. You can see on the one that has just a tiny bit of corrosion that there is a hole at the back. That is why the crusty ones have that big glob of rust there. Those could’ve bullets. Just the copper parts and they could have actually hit something solid. 

50 Caliber Bullets.

Photo by Steve M.

Steve sent a couple other photos of these types of bullets, but you can see the hole in the back of the copper shell of the bullet shown above. It does look a lot like the melted or exploded ones that I posted (below).

Previously Posted Copper Finds.

These were found in the same areas as some of the black powder gun parts that I found.  It looks like another example of the intermingling of items from different periods.

Thanks to Steve and all the others who provided help in identifying the exploded copper finds.

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Here is a really neat find.  It is a sight-find made by Dustin L.

Bird Band.

Find and Photo by Dustin L.

Dustin L. said, Pretty neat find I thought I'd share. It was a sight find I found walking in a burnt field. It's a bird band with tag number. I contacted the federal government and was able to find out the type of bird and when and where it was tagged.

This belonged to a Cormorant that was tagged in 1984 in Canada. Anyhow, I thought it was neat. 

Very cool find Dustin.  Really good that you were able to get the information.

I once found a bird tag with my metal detector that was still on the leg bone.  It was on Key Biscayne.  As I recall I had a lot of trouble tracking down the information, but finally got it.  And again, if I correctly recall, it was from an egret that was tagged in North Carolina.  

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Bruce B. said, My parents had a couple of deer skin coats made by the Sioux in the 1940s, and it looks like the same material in the photo. 

Thanks Bruce.  I think that could be right.  It looks and feels like it to me, now that you mention it.

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It looks like we'll have nothing more than a two foot surf for a few days.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

5/10/19 Report - 3000 Ancient Coins Found by Deterctorists. Beach Conditions on the Treasure Coast.

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

Roman Coin Hoard Found By Detectorists.

LINCOLNSHIRE, ENGLAND— The Sleaford Standard reports that a cache of early fourth-century A.D. Roman coins was discovered in eastern England by metal detectorists Rob Jones and Craig Paul. Paul assisted archaeologists Adam Daubney of the Lincolnshire County Council and Sam Bromage of the University of Sheffield with excavation of the more than 3,000 copper-alloy coins. Daubney said the coins were found in a ceramic pot buried in the center of a large oval pit lined with quarried limestone...

Here is the link.

https://www.archaeology.org/news/7643-190509-england-roman-coins

There is always more to find.

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John Brooks Beach Early Friday Morning.

I visited some beach some beaches this morning to see if anything was going on.  My first stop was at John Brooks.

The water had been high.  It washed over the first berm and hit the remains of the old cliff behind that.  Sea weed and sand was washed up onto the beach.

John Brooks Beach Friday Morning.

There were some small cuts where the water hit the old deteriorated cuts.

Frederick Douglass Beach Friday Morning.

Frederick Douglass beach also had seaweed and accumulating sand.

Small Dip In Front of the Beach.

I'm not sure which beach this is, but it is one to the south of Frederick Douglass.  I wanted to show the nice little dip in front of the beach.

Walton Rocks Friday Morning.

This is Walton Rocks.  Again, more seaweed and accumulating sand.

The beaches that I saw were all pretty much the same.  The water had been high, but the angle wasn't good and sand was getting washed in.

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Once again I wish I had stored and labeled finds better.  I learned a good bit about black powder guns in the last two days that I wish I had known before.  I now realize that there are a number of finds that are probably associated.  I'm going to put my percussion hammer, nipple cap and percussion caps together.  The percussion hammer stumped me for a long time.  It just didn't look like any gun hammer that I was familiar with.  I would have recognized a more modern hammer or a flint lock hammer, but I didn't know much of anything about percussion hammers.

I'll also get back on the subject of bullets and shell casings before long.  I got some more emails on that.  It looks like the exploded copper items I found and posted are not of the same era as the black powder gun parts.  I think they came from the same beach area though.  It isn't unusual for items of different ages to be found together.  I'll expect to have more on that tomorrow.

Happy hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

5/9/19 Report - Finds, New Mystery Item and Newly Solved Mysteries. Small Surf Increase Coming.

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

Beaded Leather(?) Bag

This bag is about five inches high and has slots for a draw string.  It seems to be made of some type of skin.  I'd guess leather, but I don't know that.  The beaded ends on the bottom are just a touch larger than a silver dollar.

Other End of Same Bag.

Many of the beads on this side have come off.

Same Bag Opened Up.

Notice the slots at the top that could be used for a draw string.

Here is a crude drawing of the shape of the bag with dimensions.

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The bag appears to be old.  You can see that the material has deteriorated.  It cleaned up very well.

I've never seen one of the same shape, and wonder what it was meant to carry.

Anyone have any ideas on it at all?

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Wind Chime.

Source: Pinterest

Sent by Mitch K.

Concerning the item that looks like a compass rosette, Joe D. had this to say:  Trina O's item looks rusty, like tin or iron! Not corroded like copper or brass! The only iron of any kind in a real compass would be the needle! Also, with the hole in the top, it looks like a decorative hanger of some type that blew off its string or wire!  Good thinking Joe.

Mitch King sent a picture ( right) of such a decorative item on a wind chime.  That photo really nails it down for me.  

It is an ornament for a wind chime.  See the photo to the right that Mitch sent.

Thanks Joe and Mitch!



I also got some answers for the small copper items that looked like they exploded.

Mitch said they are copper bullet jackets.

Joe D. said,  The exploded items may be full, or partial metal jacket rounds with the lead or other interior metal composite melted out, so the typical mushrooming the would make it more recognizable as a bullet is missing! Those would be copper or copper alloy! And if casings, would be thin hollow brass! But they look more like bullets to me! 

Later, Joe said they could be tracer rounds, which would have a hole end the trailing end.

RinkRat said they are fired black powder primers. they go on a nipple that sticks out of the rear of the barrel. These replaced the pan of earlier black powder guns.

Good work guys!   

I also found percussion caps and a percussion hammer, and another item.  I'll show a picture of that one in a second.

As a result of those replies I got out a copy of my Dixie Gunworks Black Powder Guns, Shooting Supplies and Antique Gun Parts Catalog.  I once picked up the catalog in a thrift store for a dollar.  It has been very useful, as it was today.

Source : Dixie Gun Works Catalog.

I also had a nipple cap or cover and didn't know it.  It is the little copper cap sitting on top of the cylinder right in front of the hammer.  I didn't know what it was but never paid much attention to it outside of  wondering what it might be.  So not only did you help me with the item I posted, but you also helped me identify a find that I didn't post.

I'll have to put all these items together in one place now.   Thanks for your information and what I just learned.

Joe D. also said,  With the addition of the picture of the back of John E's item, i think it may be part of a larger decorative item! It looks like copper with a copper wire soldered on the back! If its an earring, its missing the attachment for the ear! Maybe home made item! 

Thanks again guys.  I'm still very unsettled on this one.

Joe also said he enjoyed the brain teasers.

One other thing I found while looking through the Dixie Gun Works catalog is shown below.  I have one but didn't know about it either.  I thought the curved knife was for cutting rugs or something.

Source: Dixie Gun Works Catalog.

If I run across either the nipple cap or knife I'll post photos.  I know I saw both of them recently.  I saw the nipple cap just a few days ago.  Maybe I've already posted one or both of them, but I don't remember for sure.

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I forgot to add some more tips for scooping up hard to recover items.  I'll probably get back to that in the near future.

Still planning to show a large find of modern gold bullion coins when I can.

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Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

As you can see the peak surf has slipped back a half day or day.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

5/8/19 Report - Difficult to Recover Targets and a Few Tips. Three Finds for Thoughts and Opinions.

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

Compass Rosette Find.

Find and photo by Trina O.

Trina O. reported this item found at Wabasso a couple days ago. It is five inches in diameter.

It looks like a compass rosette to me, but I need some help here. It seems to large for a regular hand compass. There is no hole in the middle, but I suppose the dial could be suspended. And I'd think there would be another ring around the rosette. I'd like to hear from some of you guys who have more experience with these. Does it look like it is from a functional compass?

Let me know what you think.

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Here is an mystery item (actually two) that requires more than a single photo.

Above are three different views of  the two objects that seem to have exploded at one end.  See also two closer views of the larger one below.

I've found several of these that are very similar.

They appear to be copper or copper alloy and shaped something like shell casings. There is a hole in one end, but the other end appears to be blown off.   As you can see, one exploded more completely than the other.  I thought they might be shell casings at first, but they don't look like any that I am familiar with.

The small end with the hole in the middle of it is about 3/8 inch in diameter.

The cylinder seems to expand a bit from the end, but that might be due to the force of the explosion.

Notice how the metal on the one end was blown back.

What do you think these are?

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There are some  targets that can drive you crazy.  They just don't want to stay in a sand scoop.  Some are small.  Some are light and want to float away.  Some are nimble.  And some are big or awkward.

Evasive targets can be even more evasive when you are working in rough water when there is little or no visibility.

There are small items that will continue to escape through the hole in your scoop.  There are those that keep getting swept out of the front of your scoop.  And then there are the chains.

Gold and silver chains can be very evasive.   You'll get part of a chain in your scoop, and then when you lift the scoop, there will be enough of the that is not in your scoop that the entire chain will slide out as you lift.  That is especially true of the large and heavy chains.

Small chains will snake through the hole in your scoop.  They'll also slip through a small hole in your pocket.  I once had to backtrack  nearly a mile and refind a very nice gold chain that did that to me.

Small objects can take a lot of time to corral.  One I always remember is a small gold bead that I could barely see in the sand even when I had it on my coil cover.  I kept moving it around and heard the signal but still couldn't see it.  It was about the same color as the sand and very small.

Another was a miniature copper teapot that kept slipping through the hole in my scoop. The water was rough and visibility was zero.  Rough water complicates things, because when the item slips through your scoop, it doesn't fall straight down, so you have to find it again.

Sometimes the bottom is so packed and rocky that digging is impossible.  I've described other techniques for dealing with that.

For large deep objects near the water line, one technique has helped me a lot.  Of course you can get a shovel and a buddy and dig like crazy, and you can build a little sand dike, or try to drain the hole, or line the hole with a bottomless bucket or something like that, but none of those have helped me like what I'm about to describe.

After digging the hole to as close to the object as you can get, get down on the ground and stick your hand and arm into the sand soup and feel around.  That sounds simple enough, but it really helps a lot of the time.  If you can get your hand on the object so you can feel its exact depth and location, you'll have a much better chance of getting it out.  Sometimes you can grab it and pull it out.  Be careful not to get stuck or cut.

If an object is long and thin, like a rod, due to the detector's response, you might be digging to one side or another rather than having a good idea of the rod's position.   It is difficult to get something like that in your scoop, but if you know exactly where it is at, you'll have more luck.

For flat objects, you'll have to get the tip of the scoop or shovel under the edge of the object.  If you don't know exactly where the edge is, you'll keep banging into the top of the object.

The arm stretch won't be successful every time, but it will help.  When nothing short of an excavator works, I just leave the object and keep watching for the sand to move until I can get a better shot at it.  You might be worried that someone else will get it, and that is possible, but I've seen objects like that stay in place for years before finally getting to it.

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John E. sent this photo showing the back of his mystery object along with a penny for size comparison.

My best guess is still earring even though I'm far from sure.  It looks like it would be difficult to insert.

The symbolism of the trident and water and the shape of the object make me think of fertility symbols, but that is probably way off.

What do you think?

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We'll have a little bigger surf Thursday, but a south wind.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net