5/12/12 Report - Returned Rings & Bent Ear Ring

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

Gold and Ruby Ear Ring Find

This small ear ring is bent.  You can see a little of where it was squashed.

Things undergo a lot of force on the beach sometimes.  It is really amazing.  I'll show some coins that are bent sometime.  

Fortunately none of the stones fell out of this ring even though it is bent.

Go Deep recently sent me an email telling about two times that he was able to find and return a lost ring using his MXT..

Here is what he said.

The first time was in Melbourne brand new unit walked on the beach and a girl comes running up to me. Her husband lost his new ring. Took about a half hour to find it as they had marked off the area they were in. They ended up being from an hour away from my house in Michigan, their grandmother lived in my town, small WORLD hey.

This past weekend I met a new guy that moved in down the road, I mentioned he would drive himself nuts with a metal detector as the old guy had truckloads of scrap iron all over the yard. He said he wish he had one as he lost his new ring loading junk in his truck…. newlyweds. I offered to look for it ,so I started searching and found everything form cans, ammo shells, iron pipes the works. Titanium rings show up as 16 to 24 VDI on an MXT and I knew I had it as soon as I swung one way and read iron 90vdi and on the back swing I kept getting 16 22 24. The ring was under a rusty bolt and a 22 shell. The guy was shocked as he had spent hours raking and digging all over for 3 months, and I had only spent 45 minutes. Needless to say, him and his wife found out there are people that do things for just a thank you and a handshake.

Thanks for the good work Go Deep.

There you have two excellent examples.

The couple in the first case was smart.  They marked the area they were in when they lost the ring.  A lot of the time, people don't know where an item was lost, even a general area.   And a lot of the time, even if a person knows, they aren't very accurate if they leave and return or try to give directions.   It is always a good idea if you lose something to mark the area immediately.  And in more than one way.  You can draw a line in the sand or dirt, but a line can be removed by wind or rain or other things.  Also use a rock or something that is not likely to be moved.  Rocks seem to work better than wooden stakes.  People seem to like to remove wooden stakes.

If you don't have a detector yourself and need some help finding a lost item, let me know. 

And if you are a detectorists and want to relocate an area and don't have a GPS, mark it well and in more than one way.

Go Deep also commented on the excellent customer service provided by Whites when he needed repairs.  Lets recognize good service here.  And it is always good to get a report on detectors.

Less than an hour ago (as I write) I used my detector to find a set of keys buried directly next to a concrete walk.  That isn't always easy to do unless you know how.  The rebar inside the concrete can make it difficult but if you use all-metals mode, you can hear the rebar and other things that you aren't interested in, but you can also pick out other specific objects.  In fact if you use all-metals mode enough, you can learn to detect a small object even if it is sitting on top of a larger object.   I think you might be surprised by how well you can learn to identify objects in all-metals or pinpoint mode.

Last chance to find a Mother's Day present.  

I guess it is always better to purchase products at quality stores.   I once got an acid test kit and some of the acid seemed to go bad.  I suppose it has a shelf life or something.

Concerning the cup which I showed a couple of days ago  that was found in the surf, I received two more guesses on what it might be.  One was a cup used with a scale to weigh substances.  And another was for pouring oil into oil lamps.

And concerning the possible olive jar rim that I posted yesterday, that was an interesting mark on the rim.  I've seen a variety of marks on olive jar rims before, but not that one.


Yesterday the sea was a little rougher than it had been recently.  Some beaches were building while I saw a little erosion starting at one place.  My camera batteries were down so I didn't get a picture.  The high tide had been up pretty high too, but not hear hitting the dunes.

The wind is from the east.  Seas are running about four feet or so.  They'll decrease just a little Sunday and Monday.

I wouldn't expect any significant change in conditions, but there is a little stirring going on at the front beach.  Also it seems some of the dips might be getting a little bigger.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

5/11/12 Report - Olive Jar Rim, Cannon, and Personal ROV

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




Found by Bill M.   Photo by Bill M.

 Olive Jar Rim?

That is what it looks like to me.

The picture below shows markings on the rim.

That is similar to markings that I've seen on olive jar rims.

If you can identify the markings below, let me know.

The object was found on private property.

Maybe you've already seen it.  It has certainly been put out there.  The Rick Savage crew from American Digger found a 1700s cannon at the bottom of  a lake, plus some other artifacts.

In Florida if you find something in the bottom of a lake or waterway, it is the property of the state.

If you haven't seen it, here is the link to the American Digger story.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/10/american-digger-ric-savage_n_1505981.html?1336659113&icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl3%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D159599

Markings on Rim.

In my opinion, they should show more of the research and other stuff that goes into making a find.  And for my taste, they could cut down on the hyped up drama.  But that is reality TV.  What do you expect?  Those who don't know any better will think anybody can go out and make a sensationalistic find every half hour.  We all know better.

The show will probably sell some metal detectors to those who don't know any better, but most will give up after a few outings.  And it will provide fodder for critics of the hobby. 

I don't give much credibility to obvious self-promoters.


Yesterday I talked about AUVs and ROVs.  You can get one for your own personal use if you are willing to spend a few thousand dollars - $2999 plus taxes, shipping, etc.    That is what the Deep Trekker DTG2 sells for.

It is operated by a gaming pad and can be monitored by video glasses.

Take a look.

http://deeptrekker.com/deep_trekker_dtg2_system.htm

There are also cheaper alternatives, such as a tethered submersible camera.

Treasure Coast Beach Detecting Forecast and Conditions.

Conditions remain poor.  Very sandy beach fronts, with a few dips.

The wind is from the east/northeast and so are the swells.

Seas are running 3 to 4 feet.   Low tide is around 7 and 7:30.

The weekend will be pretty much the same. 

Happy hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

5/10/12 Report - AUVs, ROVs and Cache Find

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

Cache Find by Bernie C.   (Photo by Bernie)

I mentioned cache hunting a few days ago.  Well, Bernie C. found his first.   I like to celebrate "first" finds by posting them when I can.  (I can't post them all.)  So here it is.  Congratulations Bernie!

A couple of days ago I received an email from Mitch of the club up at Sebastian who received a request from a lady in the Stuart area to help find a lost item.  I passed the request along to Bernie since he is closer to Stuart, and Bernie went out to help the lady.  When hunting for her item, he found the cache shown here.

Helping people find lost items has many benefits.  One is simply helping people.  We need to do that, and detectorists do help people more often than the public realizes.  I've told a few of those stories about how items were found and returned..

Another benefit is that you get the opportunity to explore new areas.  Sometimes those new areas are on private property and sometimes you wouldn't otherwise have access to them.  Very often those new areas are places that you have never hunted and very often they are different from the kind of places that you normally hunt.  That means it can be a learning experience. 



Contents of Cache.  (Photo by Bernie)

Very often people lose things in urban environments or other very trashy areas.  That, of course, requires slightly different skills than the type of beach hunting that we mostly have here on the Treasure Coast.

And sometimes you find surprises, like Bernie did.  You can say it was simply good karma, and his good deed was repaid in many ways.

You might know what an ROV is, but do you know what an AUV is?

Here is a definition from the web site linked immediately below.

AUV stands for Autonomous Underwater Vehicle. The term UUV or Untethered Underwater Vehicle is also used. AUVs are unmanned or robotic vehicles that are using state-of-the-art technology to bring new capabilities to work in the subsea environment. In the past 3 decades, nearly 200 AUVs have been built. Most of these systems have been experimental. However, they have achieved impressive results and this record of success is creating a demand for their use in operational settings.

http://www.ise.bc.ca/design_WhatIsAnAuv.html

The Mel Fisher organization has announced that it is employing a new HAUV.  The "H" stands for hybrid.  It can function as either an AU or ROV, depending upon the application.  They named it Dolores.

Here is what they say in an email that I received.

Starting this season, Mel Fisher's Expeditions will be using Dolores to survey the Lost Merchant, Atocha and Margarita wreck sites. This will be the first submersible of its kind used in our industry. We will have the ability to program a search grid into the AUV, drop it into the water, have it do a complete survey of that grid and then return to the boat on its own using a state-of-the-art inertial navigation system. Once back on the vessel, the survey data can be downloaded to our topside computers through a high speed Wi-Fi network connection while the batteries recharge. Afterwards, she can be launched to continue with another 12-16 hours of survey.

That is using high tech.  I personally like to stay as low tech as possible.  I don't like the expense and complications of high tech.  

If you ever watch  Odyssey Marine on the Discovery Channel, it seems their ROV is down half the time.  That would drive me crazy, even though when it is working it most be a ton of fun to operate.

I like the imagination of simple solutions, and remember Art McKee putting a glass bottom in a bucket to get a good look at the sea bottom.   Those are the kinds of solutions I admire and prefer.  But technology does do things you couldn't otherwise do.


Treasure Coast Beach Detecting Forecast and Conditions.

Detecting conditions remain poor on the Treasure Coast.   Still a lot of sand.  Nothing has changed much.

The wind is from the west and the seas running two to four feet.  Low tide is around 6:30. 

On the beach, I'd still be hunting the low tide zone and shallow water dips.

Watch for afternoon thunderstorms.

No change expected for the next couple of days.


Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

5/9/12 Report - Down Under Downtown Ocala and More

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

One Treasure Coast Beach Yesterday Afternoon

Notice the light colored shells that were washed up onto the beach by the Super Moon tides.  You can clearly see where the wash was in this photo.

A lot of shell sand was pushed upon to the beach.  There was a small dip in front of the beach, and the beach front was fairly mushy, but firmer down by the water line.

One person was walking along in the dip which was about waste deep near low tide.

There's been a lot of Florida news lately.

Artifacts from the 17th century are being excavated in Ocala near the City Hall.

http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/artifacts-1700s-found-ocala/nNyPb/

And from the Mel Fisher organization:  Captain Papo has the salvage ship Dare back on the wreck site of the Santa Margarita working an area where chests of coins have been found in the past.

This blog has been linking people.  More behind the scenes than you know about.  

Lost items have been reported and detectorists are stepping in to help.  I hope I have some of those success stories to publish soon.

If you want some one to help you find a valued lost item, I can probably put you together with some one to help.  Just email me.

Archaeologists dug through and destroyed half of an old Civil War Fort.  They did it to get to the remains of a 1607 settlement.  They claim the Civil War Fort was the least important and there was no other way.  I find that hard to believe.  Seems like a case of impatience and poor planning  to me.  Just a good thing it was them doing the disrupting rather than some one else.  Sometimes they claim it is better for a site to be left untouched for future centuries to uncover.  Not this time for some reason.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/civil-war-fort-at-jamestown-is-dug-up-to-get-at-1607-site/2012/05/04/gIQAWfiC8T_story.html

They dug up over a million artifacts, according to the article.  I wonder how well those will be studied?  I hope they won't be lost in some dusty basement.

That is more evidence that good sites are good sites, very often with activity from multiple periods stacked on top of each other. 

I wouldn't give them such a hard time if they weren't so quick to characterize everybody else as ignorant looters and grave robbers.

I received some interesting responses to my comments on dowsing.   James F., for one, sent some very interesting accounts.  Aquanaut John also told about a very successful case.

James F. mentioned that the military used dowsing in Viet Nam.   I didn't know that.

The following article, which gives a fairly comprehensive overview of research on dowsing up to the eighties, mentions the Marines using it.. 

Even if you are a firm non-believer, I think it might stimulate your thinking about different approaches to locating objects.

Here is the link to the Journal of the Society of Psychical Research article.

http://www.tricksterbook.com/ArticlesOnline/Dowsing.htm


Treasure Coast Beach Detecting Forecast and Conditions.

I described some of the beach conditions at the beginning of the post.

We are having southwest winds and northeast swells, but the seas are running about four feet.   It now appears from the predictions that that is about all the bigger it is going to get for several days.

Rain storms passed through yesterday afternoon.  There might be some run-off gullies in some of  the dunes.

Low tide is around 5:30.

Beach detecting conditions on the Treasure Coast are poor.  The only thing I would be much interested in checking out is the beach front near the water and dips.


Remember, happiness isn't what happens to you, it is a decision you make.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

5/8/12 Report. Whatzits & Vero Field of Fossils

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

Mystery Item Found in Surf by Fisherman

This cup has a diameter of 2.5 to 3 inches.  The metal hasn't yet been determined, but it is not thought to be gold.

These are fairly good photos.  Of course it is always easier when you can personally see, hold and touch an item.

I'm posting it in the hope that some one has some ideas about it.  I'd like to receive any and all thoughts.  I've requested a little more information, including where it was found.

I've received a fair amount of correspondence lately.  Despite the summer conditions, it seems there is a lot of activity.  People like to get out in this weather.  It's not my type of weather, but a lot of people do go to the beach and boating. 

I received one request for assistance in finding a lost item.  I'm sure there is a lot being lost.  Hot weather, sun tan lotion, taking a dip - it all results in things being lost.

178 glass plate negatives from the early 20th century were found in the archives of a historical association.   Neat stuff.

Here is the link to that story.

http://www.itv.com/news/2012-05-07/scotland-pictures-found-in-a-shoebox-give-rare-glimpse-in-to-indian-life-under-the-british-raj/

There is so much sitting around in basements that I think archaeologists would make more amazing discoveries if they just studied old collections.

It is really disturbing how often contributed artifacts end up missing.

I happened to notice yesterday on TV how a NASA intern stole a million dollar moon rock.  And there was an internet story about an "amateur" archaeologist that got stuck in hole and required an expensive rescue operation to get him out.  I guess the moral of that story is be careful.

And other big local news - there was good TV news coverage of the Vero fossil field where the Old Vero Man bones were found.   If you haven't read about it before, some very significant finds come from there.

Here is the link.

http://www.cbs12.com/news/features/treasure-coast/stories/vid_78.shtml

Ken A. wrote and said he thinks the Wabasso eBay mystery object that I showed a couple of days ago might be a butt plate. 

I made a mistake the other day concerning that item.  It is iron.


Treasure Coast Beach Detecting Forecast and Conditions.

Not much has changed lately.  Seas are running down around two feet.  That will change however this weekend, when seas will reach up above five feet, if the  predictions are correct.  Of course, I don't expect that to cause a change in my beach conditions rating, but it could help stir up things a little.

That is about all there is to look forward to.  

Remember, my beach conditions rating scale is for finding shipwreck treasure coins.  Even though chances of that are slim right now, you can find other things, such as modern items and iron and other miscellaneous things.   There is a lot of sand, but there are also things being lost and things being stirred up.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/7/12 Report - Rocks, Coins & Lost Colony

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

Gold and Pearl Ring Beach Metal Detector Find.

This thin gold band got bent.  I've shown quarters and dimes that were bent at ninety degree angles before.  Items are exposed to a lot of force when buried under a lot of sand and rock under the front beach.


I received an email from Philip I., the seller of the eBay item that I showed yesterday, and he said the item was found inside a heavy crust and was told it is made of copper and bronze.


Not long ago I talked about how objects are moved by the waves, and despite what you might often hear, I stated that there are factors that are more important than weight in determining how an object is moved on a beach.  I also discussed density and specific gravity, which I consider to be more important than weight, but still there are other important factors.   Those other factors include the shape of the object, which I consider to be very important, surface characteristics, and other materials that are part of the object.

Concerning shape, solid spheres, unlike thin sheets, sink quickly to lower layers of sand and are not easily moved by the waves.  A thin gold sheet will be moved totally differently than a sphere of similar composition.   A thin gold sheet presents a lot of surface area for the waves to work against, while a gold sphere would not be as affected by the movement of water.  Of course a sphere or other shape that presents little resistance (such as a gold ring) would also sink into the sand more quickly.

You've undoubtedly seen rocks that were cast up on a beach.  You might have seen heavy rocks that appeared to heavy to be moved by the water.  Here is an article that explains how rocks weighing up to 78 tons were moved onto shore and over land by the sea.  Some people would think that impossible.   The following article gets into the dynamics of that. 

Here is the link.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120430164357.htm

Very informative article.  Very applicable to metal detecting.

When figuring out the distribution of objects on a beach, remember to take into account factors other than weight and density. 



Here is a great web site for finding values of US coins.  It presents a lot of great information.

http://www.coinstudy.com/

It appears that the Lost Colony has been found.  No one knew where the 16th century settlers moved to after leaving Roanoke Island until a reexamination of the 425 year-old Virginia Pars map revealed some clues.
Here is the link to that story
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/03/lost-colony-of-roanoke-re_n_1474199.html?icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D158325


Treasure Coast Beach Detecting Forecast and Conditions.

The wind is from the West and the seas flat.  The tide will be low around 3:30.   Conditions remain pretty much the same.   Still easy low tide and water hunting.

Seas will be slowly increasing up to about four feet on Wednesday.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide @comcast.net

5/6/12 Report - Big Low Tides Continue & Mystery Find From Wabasso


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



Wabasso Beach Find For Sale on EBay.

Wabasso Beach Metal Detector Find.

I saw this item for sale on eBay.   Can you identify it?  Let me know.

That is the type of thing that could easily pop up under current conditions.  Like I've been reporting, there are a lot of miscellaneous iron and other objects on some of the beach fronts. 

That Super Moon was big and round last night.  Really a pretty sight.

Aquanaut John said that 115 treasure hunters gathered at the recent treasure hunter's cookout.  Quite an affair.  Very successful in every sense of the word.  Except the dowsing didn't seem to go as well.  The dowsed targets didn't prove out.

There have been a number of studies on such things.  Arizona State University and Duke University are two that do a lot of research on parapsychology, ESP and things like that. 

One major difficulty in conducting research on topics like mediumship is that mediums don't do well when they are around skeptical people.  They will tell you that, and it seems that science supports that.  That makes it difficult to study scientifically because researchers should maintain an objective skeptical attitude.  Therefore the conduct of  science and paranormal activities are often incompatible by their very nature.

I once talked about dowsing and did a poll in this blog on the topic.  I was a little surprised by the large percentage of people that indicated that they believed in it to some extent, not because I don't believe in it, but I simply didn't think so many others did.

Another complication was pointed out by one blog reader who said they believed in dowsing, but not when done for personal gain.  As you can see there are many complications and factors to be considered.  

In ESP research, even though some subjects seem to consistently do better than chance, they are still far from perfect.   And if you study enough subjects, some should by chance do better than chance, as odd as that might sound. 

There are certainly times when it seems that intuition or something is at work.  I've had those experiences, and I am sure that many of you have too.  Sometimes it seems like you are drawn to a particular find.   Although there appears to be some kind of sixth sense operating at times, I don't consider things like dowsing to have been either proven or disproven beyond a shadow of a doubt, and certainly not completely understood. 

Some times you.re hot, and other times your not.  Call it what you will.


Skill is the intentional process of improving the probability of success.  Even the most skilled fail sometimes.


Forgive my rambling, but the Super Moon (or should I say "Fool" Moon) seems to be affecting my thinking.    ; )


Coin Discoveries in Your Own Home.   That is the title of the following linked article.  It briefly discusses a number of cache and coin discoveries made in and around homes.  It is an older article (2007) but you might find it both interesting and useful.

I've never seen too much written about hunting caches.  A book by Glenn Carson on the topic comes to mind, but not much else.

Here is the link to the article on coin discoveries made in and around homes.

http://www.scvhistory.com/scvhistory/signal/coins/soltaylor062307.htm


A mock archaeological dig turned out to be on top of an old Roman temple. 

Here is the link.

http://www.thelocal.de/national/20120504-42341.html

The world has been here for a while.  So have people.  And people have been almost everywhere.   And anywhere they've been, they've had an impact and probably left some things behind. 

If you consider any object over a few years old to be archaeologically significant, as archaeologists seem to want to do these days, the entire world becomes an archaeological site.  That is why archaeology needs to become more mature in its approach and instead of trying to protect the entire world from any human activity other than archaeology itself, needs to define priorities and focus their efforts better.

Sunday won't be much different from Saturday.  The swells will come a little more from the north, but not much.  

Get used to summer beach conditions.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net