4/15/12 Report - Couple Mystery Objects, $100,000 Coin & More

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

Small Brass Anchor Water Detector Find.

I never knew what this was other than a miniature anchor and I still don't know what it is for. It seems to well made to simply be a toy.

It's about two inches high. The black could be easily cleaned off, I think.

I think I saw a photo of a similar one one time but lost it and couldn't find it again. I think it was in an auction that I was quickly browsing through.


I was told that people who use Androids to access my posts have trouble using my links. I have trouble posting active links in the old editor, which I use because I simpy haven't taken the time to find my way around the newer editor, which seems more difficult to me. Today though, I'll try to take the time to use the new blogger editor and maybe I'll find it easier to post active links.

The newer editor seems very slow to me right now. I don't know if I'll stick with it, but I'll try to provide active links in my posts. I'll give it a try.


A bronze Viking-era bucket containing thousands of silver coins dating from the 11th century was found on the Baltic island of Gotland.

Here is the link.

 http://www.thelocal.se/40206/20120411/

Small Silver Cross.

It is about two inches long and unusally thick (both width and depth).

I am trying to make out the marks. The long word appears to be begin A_B. After that I'm not so sure. I also don't know if the diamond symbol and other symbol are right side up or not. Any help would be appreciated. There is enough information there to get a good ID if someone can make out the word or symbols.


It appears that my hit counter wasn't working most of yesterday for some reason.

One man purchased a coin at a flea market for $1 and carried it around in his pocket as his lucky coin for a numbr of years. 43 years after the purchase, he learned the rare coin was worth over $100,000.

I often tell you to keep things until you know for sure what they are. It is a good thing that this fellow didn't lose track of his coin.

Here is the link.

http://www.coinworld.com/articles/whats-it-like-being-unlisted/

Did you notice that he was told that the coin was fake? Beware. And don't give up on things until you know for sure.


Treasure Coast Beach Detecting Conditions and Forecast.

Saturday was blustery. A nice breeze from the southeast was blowing all of Saturday.

Some of the beach showed some improvement, though not enough for an upgrade on my beach conditions rating scale.

I did see some new scallops and small, very small, cuts. I thought the front beaches looked interesting in a few spots - those low long front beaches. When I say interesting, I mean more interesting than those puffed up steep summer-like beaches.

There were some good shelling beaches to browse too.

The seas will be decreasing slowly over the next few days, so no additional improvement is expected in that time period.

Pay special attention to those few beaches that are vulnerable to erodion during south and southeast winds.


Happy hunting, Treasureguide@comcast.net

4/13/12 Report - Native American Canals of Florida, Miraculous Medallions & More

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

One Treasure Coast Beach This Morning.

Notice the flat front beach that extends well out towards sea. All of that sand out in front of the beach will protect the beach against erosion and can prevent cobs and other materials from washing up onto the beach. It both absorbs the wave energy and keeps object covered.

What we need is for that sand to be moved away from the beach. We've not had anything to do that for quite a while.

A couple of days ago I mentioned the story about the fellow from Sebastian that had a miraculous medallion.

Here is a web site about such miraculous medallions.

http://www.ehow.com/about_5031258_meaning-miraculous-medal.html

And here are photos of one found in the water with a metal detector. This one, unlike the one in the story the other day, is silver, but needs polishing even though it has been cleaned a little already.




They are common finds.

Notice the 1830. That is not the date of manufacture. It is the date of the vision, as explained in the article.


If you need a new mailbox (prop wash deflector), there is one now for sale on eBay.


A canal built by Native Americans hundreds of years before the Europeans arrived in Florida has been discovered in Naples.

They also mention other more important old Native American canals in Florida.

Here is the link to that story.

http://www.news-press.com/article/20120412/GREEN/304120046/Excavation-ancient-Naples-canal-offers-insight?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CHome

They said it was fifteen to twenty feet deep. For canoes? I don't understand that.

While on the topic of early Native American canals, another example is Walker's Canal up in the Panhandle.

Here is an academic study on that canal.

http://www.news-press.com/article/20120412/GREEN/304120046/Excavation-ancient-Naples-canal-offers-insight?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CHome

On page sixteen there is an interesting mention of Spanish coins being found in the area. It also gives some interesting information about shoreline formation and related archaeological sites.

Always keep your eyes open for new clues when reading anything.


Treasure Coast Beach Conditions Forecast.

The wind is now from the east, as are the swells. Seas are around four feet today, but higher seas, maybe up around six or seven feet, are predicted for Saturday. Unfortunately the wind is predicted to be coming from the east/southeast tomorrow. I would therefore not expect any improvement in conditions.

At least the front beach sand will get stirred up a little, but that isn't enough to really improve conditions.

Even though conditions remain poor, there is always the chance of finding something interesting even if it isn't a treasure coin.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

3/12/12 Report - Bottles, Clumps & Regatta

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


Common Old Fort Pierce Bottle Found on the Treasure Coast.

























This bottle is embossed "Coca Cola Bottling Company." It is from the 20s or 30s and from Fort Pierce, as you can see from the bottom of the bottle. This type of bottle is sometimes referred to as a Deco bottle.

This bottle did not contain Coca Cola. It was used for some flavored beverage such as orange, lemon lime or grape.

These bottles are common from Fort Pierce(I've found a few) and many other Coca Cola Bottling companies around the country.

The Fort Pierce bottling company also bottled Soda Water. I especially like the Coca Cola soda water bottles and have found a few.

Both the Coca Cola flavor bottles and soda water bottles are common finds along the Treasure Coast.


The Sedwick Coins auction is over. I was looking at some of the items and the prices realized. It seems that a lot of people like artifacts. I do. The artifacts in the auction were routinely selling above auction estimates. On the other hand it seemed to me that Pillar Dollars were doing not so well.

Markets fluctuate, but if you keep studying, you can get a good idea of what different items might be worth.


The Stuart Sailfish Regatta will be held on the Indian River Lagoon near the Hutchinson Island Marriott on April 14 and 15.

Here is the link for more information.

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2012/apr/04/stuart-sailfish-regatta-quickly-approaching-april-/



Clump Found In Shell Pile by Joan T.

I've been talking about checking out the shell piles. I've also told you to check out clumps. You never know what might be in a clump.

Thanks for the photo Joan.


The wind was out of the northeast this morning. I think it is more from the east now.

Seas will be slowly building through Thursday and Friday, reaching a peak of about 5 or 6 feet on Saturday.

I'm not expecting any significant change in beach conditions.


Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

4/11/12 Report - $42,000 Gold Escudo, Local Man's Miraculous Medallion & Spanish Missions

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

1714 Mexican 8-Escudo Sold in the Sedwick Coins Auction Yesterday.

This was the star of the gold coins sold in the first session of the auction yesterday. It was struck with Royal dies and brought a bid of $42,500.

When I was watching the live bidding, I noticed that the undated Bogata 2-escudos were going for around $1600 while the dated examples were bringing about twice that amount.

A number of gold coins went unsold.

The auction continues today.


A Sebastian man no longer has to polish his religious medallion after visiting Medjugorje.

Here is the link.

http://www.medjugorjetoday.tv/5343/worn-medal-shines-after-medjugorje-visit/

One thing I don't like about silver is how it tarnishes. On the other hand, I think a little oxidation can actually bring out the features and enhance the appearance of vintage items.


Here is a good article about the early Spanish missions and efforts to convert the Native Americans.

The article includes a map showing the location of some of the early missions.

http://www.flahumforms.org/laflorida/Readings/Spiritual_Conquest_of_La_Florida.pdf


If you ever read fiction, I'd recommend Silas Marner. Good book about buried gold and lots more.


There are still a good number of recent drops remaining on the beaches from Spring Break and Easter.

Dug Metal Toy Plane.

I didn't realize they are still making toys like this of heavy metal instead of plastic. The plane is rather well made. The propellers still rotate even though it was dug from about seven inches of wet packed sand. Just another example of the variety of types of things you'll find on a beach.

I was a fooled by the signal my detector gave on this one.

A bunch of modern coins were found at about the same depth in the same area.


Another little cold front came through with the wind coming from the northwest. Seas are down around two feet or so. The swells are coming from the south. That means light material will wash up on the front beach, especially since the high tides have been higher than normal.

One person did tell me yesterday that they were finding lots of shells and some sea glass. Check out any big shell piles. Look for pot shards, fossils, arrow heads, copper, etc.

The seas will be building daily until this weekend when the predictions are for four foot and higher seas.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/10/12 Report - Sedwick Auction Goes Live, Blog Poll Results & More

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

Marlins Pin Find.

You can find almost anything on a beach. Here is one baseball collectible find. It is a trading pin.

Just one more example of the miscellaneous types of things that are out there.


Live bidding on the Sedwick Coins auction will be begin today, April 10, at noon. The lots go very quickly.


I was very pleased with the blog poll this time. It seems I got the wording about right and didn't leave out any critical categories. And there were over 100 respondents, so the sample size is good.

I'm going to go ahead and publish the preliminary results even though there is a little time left, and if the results change at all, I'll make the corrections later.

So here are the results.

Of those who read this blog and responded to the poll, about 65% have never found either a real or fake treasure coin. It isn't easy, and it has been especially difficult the last couple of years, which just haven't produced excellent conditions. And some of my readers aren't local and are limited to quick visits to the Treasure Coast.

About 22% of the respondents have at one time or another found a treasure coin. Here I'm using the term coin in a general sense to include cobs even though cobs are not technically coins.

This poll doesn't tell us how many coins or cobs, just if a person has found any at all or not.

About the same percent (23%) of the respondents have found fake coins or cobs at one time.

About twelve percent of the respondents have found both fake and real coins.

A similar number found only fakes (11%) or only real coins (10%). To look at it another way, about 1 out of 4 have found a real treasure coin, and a similar percent have found a fake treasure coin.

You should realize that if you find a treasure coin, it is about as likely to be fake as real. That means if you can't tell the difference by looking at it, you should know how to check it out. I talked about that in recent posts.

The distribution of responses to this poll remained fairly constant from the time the poll began until it closed. Sometimes I've seen these polls looking one way, after a day or two but totally different by the time all the responses were in. This one looked pretty much the same from beginning to end, which gives me a little more confidence in the results.

Close to two thirds of the respondents have not found a treasure coin yet. Of course, that includes a lot of people that have not been detecting for a long time and people from other areas that don't get to hunt as often as they might want, as well as those who simply haven't yet been at the right place at the right time. If you are in the group that hasn't found one yet, you are not alone. After you find your first, there is a good chance you will find more. As I've said before, it took me a number of trips to the Treasure Coast before I got my first. If I correctly recall, I got a fake first. That can be confusing if you are relatively new to the game, and can end up being very disappointing.

I primarily started this poll to find out how likely it would be for a person to find a fake treasure coin. I'm confident that I now have a good answer to that.


Here is a fun and informative web site. It tells about the 1519 expedition of Cortes and gives a list of the types of personnel involved as well as a list of military supplies.

There were a good many swordsmen. Only 13 musketeers. And there were 2 blacksmiths.

You'll probably want to see the entire list.

Here is the link.

http://tonydunnell.suite101.com/hernan-cortes-1519-expedition-conquistador-numbers--inventory-a291672

A list of supplies is also presented on that web site.

Very interesting.


Conditions haven't changed since yesterday. The wind is from the south and the swells from the east.

Seas are pretty smooth. Another nice day to be out even though beach conditions are poor.


Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

4/9/12 Report - Easter Holiday Replenished Some Busy Beaches

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


One Detectorist at Jensen Beach This Morning.

The bad news is that the upgrade didn't last long. I'm dropping my Treasure Coast Beach Detecting Conditions Rating back to a 1 (poor).

The good news is that there are a lot of recent drops remaining on the busier Easter beaches.

I ran into a nice coin line on a front beach in the wet sand. I followed that for a while. A lot of the coins were near the surface, but there were also a good many down under around seven or eight inches of sand on top of a layer of shells.

The wet sand wasn't easy to work since the water was coming onto the beach pretty hard.

At some locations the waves were breaking nicely and there were a good number of surfers.

Below is another beach. This is the same beach that I showed yesterday and the same beach that had two to three foot cuts a couple of days ago. As you can see those cuts are now gone.

This is what has been happening as most of the fronts have been moving through quickly and causing some cuts when the wind is from the north, but then when the wind shifts to the east, and eventually to the southeast, the cuts disappear and the beaches build again.


Previously Cut Beach That Filled In.


The well preserved wreck of the Navy brig Somers was discovered in 110 feet of water off the Mexican coast where it sank in a storm in 1846. The wreck was originally discovered in 1986 but kept a secret.

Here is a link to that story.

http://articles.latimes.com/1987-11-11/news/mn-13566_1_somers



Bernie C., founder of the St. Lucie Metal Detecting Club sent, had this to say.

Our next club meeting will be at 6:00pm May 12Th 2012.

The meeting will be held at my house. BYOB. This meeting we can order some pizza from our local Italian restaurant.

If you need directions give me(Bernie) a call 786-246-9335.


Here is a web site that shows a variety of artifacts from US colonial life. It's worth browsing.

http://www.younghistory.com/colonial-show-contents.html


The blog poll looks like it will give some good data concerning the prevalence of fake coin finds. I'm eager to see how it comes out.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/8/12 Report - Happy Easter - Beach Conditions Upgrade

I didn't plan to post today, but I do have an upgrade worth mentioning. It probably won't last long, so I thought I better get it posted.

I'm upgrading my Treasure Coast Beach Detecting Conditions Rating from a 1(poor) to a 2.

Many parts of the beach have not eroded at all, but there are a few spots such as the one shown below that have eroded some.

Unfortunately there isn't a lot of erosion.

The beach shown in the photo had two to three foot cuts, but a lot of the area in front of the cuts was mushy. The sharpest cuts on this beach weren't caught in this photo.



One Treasure Coast Beach Saturday Showing Up To Three Foot Cuts.

I do believe that in those few areas where the water hit the beach just right a cob or two might be found.

You'll probably have to scout around to find the few better spots.

The water did get pretty high on the beach at high tide.

I'd call this a minimal 2 rating.


I do have some good historical materials for you, but won't post them until later.


Happy Easter.
TreasureGuide@comcast.net