6/17/15 Report - Can A Storm Uncover As Much Treasure As A Hurricane? Question Answered.

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

Wabasso After Hurricane Francis, Sept. 2004.
Photo submitted by Ron J.

Yesterday Ron J. sent me an email along with above photo and posed an interesting question.  Here is what Ron said in his email.

Please see attached :  Photo of Wabasso beach just after they opened the bridge and before they closed the beach access right after Hurricane Frances, September 2004.

It was all I could do to take a few photos as we where dealing with property damage and shock of the eye of the storm going right over us.

I don't know what was found after that storm but you can see from that photo how much sand has been put back on to that beach. Note the Disney Hotel beach ramp in the background.

I really picked up on beach detecting with my father after all the finds from the 1984 Thanksgiving noreaster storm...

I have an Idea for a Poll.  Make a poll asking for finds made after known storms and compare that info to known erosion caused by these known storms...  This might answer the question:  Do objects really need a Major Hurricane  to be exposed or is a minor noreaster storm more effective?

That is a great question Ron.  I often said that it doesn't take a hurricane, but I haven't backed it up with data.  Your question made me really think about it, and although I don't think I can conduct a poll that would produce data that would answer that question, I did some research and found some data that I find very convincing.

That data is found in a NOAA publication with the title The Florida East Coast Thanksgiving Holiday Storm of 1984 by Raymond Biedinger, Clifford Brock, Federico Gonzales, and Burt Sylvern.

Here is the link.  http://www.srh.noaa.gov/images/mlb/pdfs/Nov_1984_storm.pdf

As you probably know, the Thanksgiving 1984 storm is legendary in treasure lore.  Notice that it was a storm and not a hurricane.  

I'll present some of the NOAA report below and point out by bolding and underlining some of the statements that I think are most note worthy.  Here goes.

...The meteorological conditions just described produced one of the most damaging storms to affect the eastern coastal sections of Florida during the past several decades. Much of the damage from Fernandina Beach southward to North Miami Beach, nearly 400 miles, was caused by the easterly winds of gale force with gusts as high as 60 miles an hour blowing for nearly four days. This action of the wind over the ocean produced shoreward moving swells of around 20 feet which pounded the Florida east coast and produced the most severe beach erosion in recent years in many areas. An example of the destruction was the reduction of the newly completed l100 foot pier at St. Augustine to 300 feet. Sand dunes were obliterated leaving barrier islands void of any natural protection against the next onslaught of a coastal storm in the future. To add to the destructiveness, the highest monthly astronomical tide period coincided with the highest period of storm tides which occurred on the morning of Thursday and Friday, the 22nd and 23rd. All of this produced tides 4 to 6 feet above mean yea level (MSL} at times of high tide. In some places, this was the highest tide in the last 30 years. Alt Mayport, Florida, just north of Jacksonville, the tide of 5.2 feet above MSL was the third highest tide of record. Much of state road A1A, the famous coastal highway, was closed in Indian River County between Vero Beach and Sebastian Inlet because of high water. In this area several beach front buildings collapsed, and 600 to 1,000 people were ordered to evacuate their homes. In Palm Beach County, five blocks of A1A were seriously damaged by the high tides and heavy surf. Bridges were closed because of flooded approaches which caused some barrier islands including the large Hutchinson Island to become isolated for periods of time around the time of high tide. In the storm's aftermath, severe coastal beach erosion stretched from Jacksonville to Palm Beach. ...

 At the West Palm Beach weather office, a new station rainfall record was set on Thanksgiving Day for the greatest amount in a calendar day, 7.41 inches....

Another factor was that these strong onshore winds continued for many days. Winds of near gale force (about 40 miles an hour) began blowing along the north Florida coast the evening of the 20th. They did not subside until late on the 24th. Therefore, much of Florida experienced strong onshore winds for about 4 whole days. These winds were frequently between 30 and 40 miles an hour. The direction of the winds was from the north northeast which is probably the best angle of incidence for beach erosion along the coast from Fernandina Beach to Palm Beach. The coastline south of Palm Beach was spared from most of the adverse effects of the storm because the wind was actually blowing offshore throughout much of the storm. However, this northwest wind caused significant damage to the coastlines of the western Bahama Islands Friday and Saturday. This was all due to the position of the storm center remaining over Grand Bahama Island from early Thursday morning through early Saturday...

As noted earlier, the time of the month that the storm occurred was coincident with the highest astronomical tides of the month and nearly the highest spring tide of the year. Tide tables indicated that the highest predicted tides for the month of November fell on the mornings of the 22nd and the 23rd, exactly during the time of the highest storm tide. Reports from the storm survey teams of the Florida Department of Natural Resources indicate that the storm tide was over 6 feet above low mean water. Tide gauge readings at Mayport were 7.5 feet above mean low water or 5.2 feet above mean sea level. The one factor of the storm episode which magnified the entire situation was the nearly stationary nature of the storm for 3 days. This lack of movement produced the prolonged onshore winds which resulted in at least 4 days of heavy surf pounding the shore. Portions of the coastline experienced 9 high tides during this period, with each succeeding high tide higher than the previous one, thus making the erosion of sand greater with each tide. These are the reasons for the extensive damage that resulted from this particular storm....

I must have said hundred times that the angle of the waves is important and that North/Northeast waves are the most effective for creating erosion.  I learned that from personal observation.   As far as I can recall this is the first time I've seen that statement made in such an authoritative source.  

I know a lot was found after the hurricanes of 2004, but there were also a lot of finds after the Thanksgiving Storm.

An old issue of Lost Treasure Magazine (I hope to find it again ) once reported that during the Thanksgiving weekend of 1984 over 2,000 silver coins and at least 16 gold coins were recovered by metal detectorists.  It was reported that "The coins lay on the hard coquina bottom under a layer of sand and silt and had been there since the day the Regla, capitana of the 1715 Spanish treasure fleet came ashore."  

Take into account that in 1984 most communication was via word of mouth or print.  Those that didn't live on the Treasure Coast did not get word as soon and there was not so much sharing and discussion of finds.  1984 was different from 2004 in a variety of ways that makes it difficult to compare the two time periods as far as finds.  I discussed that in a recent post.

I personally know of some of the finds made during the 1984 storm, and know that one of the gold coins was a Royal.

I personally know of a lot of coins found after the 2004 hurricanes.  One person found twenty something half reales at Bon Steele, for example.  I personally know of other finds after the hurricanes of 2004, including both gold and silver.  The erosion was very far back on some of the beaches.

At this point and this many years after both 1984 and 2004 I have no hope of getting anything like precise data that would fairly compare 1984 and 2004.  I do think though, after reading the NOAA report about the 1984 storm, we can confidently say that it does not require a hurricane to cause massive erosion sufficient to make available many old shipwreck items.

In summary, I haven't provided definitive data that proves that a minor storm is more effective than a hurricane, but I think I can confidently say that a storm (producing gusts of up to 60 mph) can be just as effective in producing finds as a hurricane.

I remember mentioning on multiple occasions over the years about the effectiveness of a storm that sits offshore and churns for a while.  In the case of the 1984 storm, the NOAA report said, ... much of Florida experienced strong onshore winds for about 4 whole days.  It was stationary for about four days.  It was also accompanied by a period of well-timed high tides.

Although the Thanksgiving Storm of 1984 was an exceptional storm, and maybe few other storms will have all of the factors in line to create the same level of effects, the hurricanes of 2004 were also exceptional.  For one thing there were three different hurricanes in a short period of time.

Other major hurricanes, Hurricane Andrew as one example, failed to produce the same level of coastal erosion even though it produced very high water and a lot of damage.

You might recall that Hurricane Andrew was a quick hitting storm that passed over South Florida very quickly.

Well, I think that is all for now.  I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did.  That was a great question Ron.  I'm glad I looked into it.

---

I'd like to receive any photos you might be able to find showing the Treasure Coast beaches immediately after the Thanksgiving 1984 storm.  Please send them if you find any.

I don't want to see a hurricane because of all the damage and destruction. Don't want to be a downer, but going metal detecting when there is so much damage and so many people needing help just doesn't feel right to me.  It isn't all about me anymore.  In fact, none of it is.

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On the Treasure Coast we still have a one foot surf predicted into next week.  No change there.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

3/6/18 Report - Understanding Why Big Waves Sometimes Lead To Finds and Other Times Not. Mystery Find Identified.

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

After all of the big surf the past few days, there was more accretion than erosion along the Treasure Coast.  I talked about a couple of the reasons for that yesterday.  I mentioned the amount of sand in front of the beach that was absorbing most of the wave energy before the waves hit the beach, along with the angle of the waves.

You've probably heard of the legendary Thanksgiving Storm or 1984.  I've mentioned it several times before and I posted the exciting story of one person that was there that day.  I also posted a NOAA report that explained why that storm damaged the beaches so much.  While people are wondering what happened and why the recent waves didn't do much for us, I thought it would be a good time to post some of that report again.  It really explains what happened back then and why it happened.

Here is part of that NOAA report.

...The meteorological conditions just described produced one of the most damaging storms to affect the eastern coastal sections of Florida during the past several decades. Much of the damage from Fernandina Beach southward to North Miami Beach, nearly 400 miles, was caused by the easterly winds of gale force with gusts as high as 60 miles an hour blowing for nearly four days. This action of the wind over the ocean produced shoreward moving swells of around 20 feet which pounded the Florida east coast and produced the most severe beach erosion in recent years in many areas. An example of the destruction was the reduction of the newly completed l100 foot pier at St. Augustine to 300 feet. Sand dunes were obliterated leaving barrier islands void of any natural protection against the next onslaught of a coastal storm in the future.To add to the destructiveness, the highest monthly astronomical tide period coincided with the highest period of storm tides which occurred on the morning of Thursday and Friday, the 22nd and 23rd. All of this produced tides 4 to 6 feet above mean yea level (MSL} at times of high tide. In some places, this was the highest tide in the last 30 years. Alt Mayport, Florida, just north of Jacksonville, the tide of 5.2 feet above MSL was the third highest tide of record. Much of state road A1A, the famous coastal highway, was closed in Indian River County between Vero Beach and Sebastian Inlet because of high water. In this area several beach front buildings collapsed, and 600 to 1,000 people were ordered to evacuate their homes. In Palm Beach County, five blocks of A1A were seriously damaged by the high tides and heavy surf. Bridges were closed because of flooded approaches which caused some barrier islands including the large Hutchinson Island to become isolated for periods of time around the time of high tide. In the storm's aftermath, severe coastal beach erosion stretched from Jacksonville to Palm Beach. ...

At the West Palm Beach weather office, a new station rainfall record was set on Thanksgiving Day for the greatest amount in a calendar day, 7.41 inches....

Another factor was that these strong onshore winds continued for many days. Winds of near gale force (about 40 miles an hour) began blowing along the north Florida coast the evening of the 20th. They did not subside until late on the 24th. Therefore, much of Florida experienced strong onshore winds for about 4 whole days. These winds were frequently between 30 and 40 miles an hour. The direction of the winds was from the north northeast which is probably the best angle of incidence for beach erosion along the coast from Fernandina Beach to Palm Beach. The coastline south of Palm Beach was spared from most of the adverse effects of the storm because the wind was actually blowing offshore throughout much of the storm. However, this northwest wind caused significant damage to the coastlines of the western Bahama Islands Friday and Saturday. This was all due to the position of the storm center remaining over Grand Bahama Island from early Thursday morning through early Saturday...

As noted earlier, the time of the month that the storm occurred was coincident with the highest astronomical tides of the month and nearly the highest spring tide of the year. Tide tables indicated that the highest predicted tides for the month of November fell on the mornings of the 22nd and the 23rd, exactly during the time of the highest storm tide. Reports from the storm survey teams of the Florida Department of Natural Resources indicate that the storm tide was over 6 feet above low mean water. Tide gauge readings at Mayport were 7.5 feet above mean low water or 5.2 feet above mean sea level. The one factor of the storm episode which magnified the entire situation was the nearly stationary nature of the storm for 3 days. This lack of movement produced the prolonged onshore winds which resulted in at least 4 days of heavy surf pounding the shore. Portions of the coastline experienced 9 high tides during this period, with each succeeding high tide higher than the previous one, thus making the erosion of sand greater with each tide. These are the reasons for the extensive damage that resulted from this particular storm....

Before commenting, here is the link if you want to read the entire report.

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/images/mlb/pdfs/Nov_1984_storm.pdf 

Notice that the report says,  The direction of the winds was from the north northeast which is probably the best angle of incidence for beach erosion along the coast from Fernandina Beach to Palm Beach.  As is often the case, the wind has been shifting the past few days.  It started from the north and one person said they saw some cuts (Saturday I think it was), but they disappeared a day later.  Often that is what happens when a front moves through: the wind shifts around as the front moves through.  As the direction changes the swells change and the sand moves one way and then another. 

Unfortunately we're going to continue getting changes in wind direction as another front moves through.  However, I'm still thinking the biggest problem is the tons of sand piled up in front of the beach. 

Knowing when and where to go isn't an exact science.  You can learn enough to improve your chances considerably, but there will still be hits and misses.  If you get it right every time, you're a lot better than I am.  I go out to check to see what is happening.  Sometimes I'm surprised and sometimes I see exactly what I expected.  If you go out after a long period of south winds and small surf, your chances of finding any old treasure coins is very slim.  As with many things, learning is a matter of probabilities.  In fact I say that skill is a matter of doing the things necessary to improve the probability of success.

I don't know if I've ever said this before, but I believe that heavy rains can add a little to erosion by agitating the top layer and cliff faces.  I have no idea how significant that might be, if at all.

I think the NOAA report on the Thanksgiving Storm is worth studying.  It tells you what caused one of the most legendary treasure beach days ever.

One factor they do not address is the longer term changes that occur over years or decades.  It seems to me that there are times when you have net erosion or accretion that occurs over a period of years.  I can remember times when that big sand bar was not in front of John Brooks beach and if you stepped off the front of the beach into the water there was a drop off.  There were pot holes right in front of the beach.  The bottom wasn't covered with a layer of sand.  That lasted for some years, but it hasn't been that way for at least a few years now.  In my opinion, that has a lot to do with why John Brooks has not been too productive in recent years.

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We have consensus on yesterday's mystery find.  Lloyd D., Joe R., William M. and Bill P. all said it is a sheet music holder.  Thanks guys. 

No other ideas offered, so I think that is it.  Below is an example from Pinterest.

The holes were for attaching the shelf and some of them had other attachments for holding the sheet music firm, which explains some of the other holes.

The interesting thing would now be to see if there is a story behind it and how it ended up where it was found.

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Happy

9/20/17 Report - Storms, Hurricanes, Predictions and What To Watch For. Thanksgiving Storm of 1984. Walking Sea Shells. Big Surf Predicted.

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

If you only read to see when something has been found, you will sometimes be a little late.  But if you read this blog on a daily basis, you should seldom be caught off-guard.  I spend a lot of time watching developments and predictions and tell you when things might happen before they actually do.  Of course the predicting game isn't perfect.  The meteoroligists are often wrong.   Just look at how Irma developed.  They didn't know where it was going to go until the last few days when the predictions finally firmed up.  It isn't easy.  And it is often wrong.  Yet you should be prepared and ready as well as possible if you keep watching.

I am watching Maria very closely.  She isn't expected to make landfall in Florida, but that is not the important thing when it comes to metal detecting.  Some of the most legendary treasure detecting occurred when there was no hurricane at all.  It only takes a storm that sits off the coast and churns waves for days.

I've gone over this before, but it is a good time to go over it again.  You might be wondering what it is going to take.  We just had a hurricane go right up through the state, and still it didn't do a whole lot for the Treasure Coast. The best illustration I know of is the Thanksgiving Storm of 1984, which is legendary in Treasure Coast treasure lore.

The following data presented in a NOAA publication with the title The Florida East Coast Thanksgiving Holiday Storm of 1984 by Raymond Biedinger, Clifford Brock, Federico Gonzales, and Burt Sylvern.

I'll present some of the NOAA report below and point out by bolding and underlining some of the statements that I think are most noteworthy. Here goes.

Another factor was that these strong onshore winds continued for many days. Winds of near gale force (about 40 miles an hour) began blowing along the north Florida coast the evening of the 20th. They did not subside until late on the 24th. Therefore, much of Florida experienced strong onshore winds for about 4 whole days. These winds were frequently between 30 and 40 miles an hour. The direction of the winds was from the north northeast which is probably the best angle of incidence for beach erosion along the coast from Fernandina Beach to Palm Beach. The coastline south of Palm Beach was spared from most of the adverse effects of the storm because the wind was actually blowing offshore throughout much of the storm. However, this northwest wind caused significant damage to the coastlines of the western Bahama Islands Friday and Saturday. This was all due to the position of the storm center remaining over Grand Bahama Island from early Thursday morning through early Saturday...

As noted earlier, the time of the month that the storm occurred was coincident with the highest astronomical tides of the month and nearly the highest spring tide of the year. Tide tables indicated that the highest predicted tides for the month of November fell on the mornings of the 22nd and the 23rd, exactly during the time of the highest storm tide. Reports from the storm survey teams of the Florida Department of Natural Resources indicate that the storm tide was over 6 feet above low mean water. Tide gauge readings at Mayport were 7.5 feet above mean low water or 5.2 feet above mean sea level. The one factor of the storm episode which magnified the entire situation was the nearly stationary nature of the storm for 3 days. This lack of movement produced the prolonged onshore winds which resulted in at least 4 days of heavy surf pounding the shore. Portions of the coastline experienced 9 high tides during this period, with each succeeding high tide higher than the previous one, thus making the erosion of sand greater with each tide. These are the reasons for the extensive damage that resulted from this particular storm....

...The meteorological conditions just described produced one of the most damaging storms to affect the eastern coastal sections of Florida during the past several decades. Much of the damage from Fernandina Beach southward to North Miami Beach, nearly 400 miles, was caused by the easterly winds of gale force with gusts as high as 60 miles an hour blowing for nearly four days. This action of the wind over the ocean produced shoreward moving swells of around 20 feet which pounded the Florida east coast and produced the most severe beach erosion in recent years in many areas. An example of the destruction was the reduction of the newly completed l100 foot pier at St. Augustine to 300 feet. Sand dunes were obliterated leaving barrier islands void of any natural protection against the next onslaught of a coastal storm in the future. To add to the destructiveness, the highest monthly astronomical tide period coincided with the highest period of storm tides which occurred on the morning of Thursday and Friday, the 22nd and 23rd. All of this produced tides 4 to 6 feet above mean yea level (MSL} at times of high tide. In some places, this was the highest tide in the last 30 years. Alt Mayport, Florida, just north of Jacksonville, the tide of 5.2 feet above MSL was the third highest tide of record. Much of state road A1A, the famous coastal highway, was closed in Indian River County between Vero Beach and Sebastian Inlet because of high water. In this area several beach front buildings collapsed, and 600 to 1,000 people were ordered to evacuate their homes. In Palm Beach County, five blocks of A1A were seriously damaged by the high tides and heavy surf. Bridges were closed because of flooded approaches which caused some barrier islands including the large Hutchinson Island to become isolated for periods of time around the time of high tide. In the storm's aftermath, severe coastal beach erosion stretched from Jacksonville to Palm Beach. ...

 At the West Palm Beach weather office, a new station rainfall record was set on Thanksgiving Day for the greatest amount in a calendar day, 7.41 inches....

There were high winds that blew for three or four days and we were having high tides at the same time.  That is in strong contrast to Irma.

Here is the link to the entire report. http://www.srh.noaa.gov/images/mlb/pdfs/Nov_1984_storm.pdf
---

Yesterday Joe D.told me, Bonsteel to past Rio Mar, all sanded in still!!

Darrel S. said, 

State Park announced 33 parks are still closed. I assume the ones inland more then the coastline, unless Keys or First Coast.

Most of the beaches near St. Augustine were telling people not to walk on the beaches until further notice. I know that area really got slammed!

I have not heard from any dectorists, so cannot give any info on finds or if they are able to detect.

I would bet inland areas where trees are uprooted would be good searching. Especially, around old towns, water holes, etc.

Bet some good bottles and arrowheads could be found.

Under more normal circumstances I would have talked more about some of the other areas around the state.  One person asked about shipwrecks in the Naples area, for example.  Treasure cons are found over there.  That is about all I had time to tell him at the time.

There are certainly other areas that will be producing treasure - perhaps more than the Treasure Coast right now.  The Treasure Coast is now pretty much sanded in.

Thanks to Joe and Darrel for submitted their observations.  I hadn't been up to Bonsteel and wondered about that.

---

There are now some beautiful shells on some of the beaches, including Frederick Douglas beach. Some are big and colorful. When you pick up one of those shells, please check to see if it is inhabited by a crab or some other creature. Many of the nicest will be inhabited. The inhabitant might be very difficult to see. When you pick up an inhabited shell, the creature will withdraw into the shell as deeply as they can. It might be very difficult to see. If you mistakenly take a pretty shell home believing it to be abandoned when it is not, you'll notice a strong smell when the creature dies.

Hermit Crab In Seashell.
Source: Wikipedia

That subject always reminds me of the time on Key Biscayne when I saw a hermit crab using a broken bottle neck with the bottle cap still in place as a  mobile home.  I always wish I had a photo of that.

---

Below is what I'm watching now.  MagicSeaWeed is predicting up to a 13 foot surf for Sunday.  I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out to be smaller, but that isn't the only factor.  We'll have to watch the wind direction and tides too.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

Some detecting opportunities are short-lived - lasting only a matter of hours, while others last days or more.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/19/18 Report - More On The Legendary Thanksgiving Storm of 1984. Miscellaneous Comments On A Recent Episode of Oak Island.

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

I've posted information before about what caused some of the best-ever Treasure Coast beach detecting that occurred during the Thanksgiving Storm of 1984.  You've probably heard some of the stories about the treasure found on the beach after that storm.  I've posted some of that in this blog.  People said the information I posted about the storm really helped them, so today I have more of that.  Dale J. sent me a link to The Florida East Coast Thanksgiving Holiday Storm of 1984 by Raymond Biedinger, Clifford Brock,  Federico Gonzales, and Burt Sylvern.  Betweent that report and the one I previously posted, I think you'll understand what it takes to really uncover a lot of old beach treasure.

Here are a couple paragraphs from that report.

The meteorological conditions just described produced one of the most damaging storms to affect the eastern coastal sections of Florida during the past several decades. Much of the damage from Fernandina Beach southward to North Miami Beach, nearly 400 miles, was caused by the easterly winds of gale force with gusts as high as 60 miles an hour blowing for nearly four days. This action of the wind over the ocean produced shoreward moving swells of around 20 feet which pounded the Florida east coast and produced the most severe beach erosion in recent years in many areas. An example of the destruction was the reduction of the newly completed l100 foot pier at St. Augustine to 300 feet. Sand dunes were obliterated leaving barrier islands void of any natural protection against the next onslaught of a coastal storm in the future. 

To add to the destructiveness, the highest monthly astronomical tide period coincided with the highest period of storm tides which occurred on the morning of Thursday and Friday, the 22nd and 23rd. All of this produced tides 4 to 6 feet above mean yea level (MSL} at times of high tide. In some places, this was the highest tide in the last 30 years. Alt Mayport, Florida, just north of Jacksonville, the tide of 5.2 feet above MSL was the third highest tide of record. Much of state road A1A, the famous coastal highway, was closed in Indian River County between Vero Beach and Sebastian Inlet because of high water. In this area several beach front buildings collapsed, and 600 to 1,000 people were ordered to evacuate their homes. In Palm Beach County, five blocks of A1A were seriously damaged by the high tides and heavy surf. Bridges were closed because of flooded approaches which caused some barrier islands including the large Hutchinson Island to become isolated for periods of time around the time of high tide. In the storm's aftermath, severe coastal beach erosion stretched from Jacksonville to Palm Beach. Several counties were declared emergency areas by the Governor of Florida. The storm tides and high surf alone combined to produce property damage at first estimate of over 8 million dollars along the coast. Figures 18 and 19 show this damage assessment to both public and private property in the individual counties along the coast. (Later poststorm reports from the Florida Department Natural Resources...

If you want to learn more about that, here is the link.

https:/www.weather.gov/media/mlb/marine/Nov_1984_storm.pdf

Thanks Dale!

I added the underlining to the above.

And if you want to see my previous post on the Thanksgiving Storm along with excerpts from another report, here is that link.

https://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2015/06/61715-report-can-storm-uncover-as-much.html

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I woke up this morning from a dream in which I was hunting through some good shell piles and finding some old things.  I guess my little walk yesterday and my planned walk today was on my mind.

---

Yesterday I saw most of episode six of season six of the Oak Island TV show.  It provides so many positive and negative treasure hunting lessons and illustrations that I have to comment on it.  They have really picked up the pace this season.

My first impression is that the word "theory" has suddenly become very popular on that show.  It is used frequently now.    A simple word count of the transcripts could quickly confirm or deny my impression if somebody wants to do it.  If true, it indicates a new positive direction for them, in my opinion.

The advantage of "targeted" drilling based upon the seismic data was clearly demonstrated.  The hypothesis of a void of the type expected, or hoped for, was not supported in this case, but a clear answer was provided with a relatively high degree of confidence.  You won't get that with random searching.   If you have a clear hypothesis to test, you have a much better chance of coming up with a clear answer so  you can move on with the additional information.  In this case, they did not find a void where one was expected, but they effectively conducted a test and learned something from it.

Well-defined questions lead to effective tests that result in answers.

I'm encouraged that they had some real expert analysis instead of the Dr. Lori kind of thing.  It seems they are really pouring money into the project this year.

I would have liked to have a level of confidence expressed concerning the age and mining location for the lead cross.  90%, 80%, or something like that.  Perhaps I missed it.

As I've said many times before, because something might have been produced at an early date does not mean that it was lost at such an early date.  We often think in terms of today's standards in which we buy something, use it and throw it away in a very short time, but things can be used or kept for hundreds of years before they are lost or deposited.  That is especially true of treasured antiques and artifacts.

I once bought a widow's mite from an antiquities dealer as a Christmas gift for my mother.  If it was lost and somebody later found it, they would be wrong to conclude that the 30AD coin was brought to America and lost in 30AD.   An old item could be lost or deposited almost any time up until the time it was found.

I'm curious why the cross was made of lead instead of gold or some other metal considering the possible context of a large treasure hoard.  Why not something more precious?  Does the lead have a symbolic significance or purpose, or was the cross simply fashioned by someone out of scrap lead - perhaps a type of soldier art.  It seems to me that it might have been once nailed to something through the head.

There was a piece of scrap lead they found in an earlier episode, which looked quite recent to me.   Neither seemed to show much evidence of salt water corrosion.

Another thing you can take from the lead cross is what I always say about discrimination.  Lead and other items that are NOT coins or gold or silver can be very good finds.  Anyone who got that item under their coil would definitely detect it unless they discriminated it out.

Location, location, location!

---

Tomorrow the surf will be up to two or three feet, but the tides will start to get a little bigger.

I'm going to try to take a walk to look for more bottles and things if I get the chance.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

9/6/16 Report - Surf's Up. Blog History. Silver Cobs of the Buen Jesus Nuestra Senor de Rosario. One Interesting Question.

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

Source:nhc.noaa.gov

The surf is supposed to be up to around six feet on Tuesday.  Things might get stirred up a little. We'll get a bit of a northeast wind.

The disturbance I've been watching is now in the Caribbean Sea.  It looks like it will stay well to the south of us.  Storms that hit the East Coast normally turn north before this.

I've been talking about the weather a lot lately.  That is closer to the original intent of this blog.  When I started the blog, the idea was to let you know when beach conditions would be good.  

When I began detecting, I lived down in South Florida and hunted mostly modern jewelry. Conditions were less important there because there were so many beach goers that you always had a decent chance of finding something good, even when beach conditions were poor,  And you could always hit one of the man-made swimming beaches or the volleyball courts.  There were a lot of choices and you always had a good chance of finding something good.  More often than not you could find some type of gold. Later I got interested in hunting the Treasure Coast, but that required a couple hours of driving. Never knowing what the beaches looked like, there were wasted trips.  I'd make the drive and then when I got there, chances were that the beach conditions were poor.  

I think it has been made abundantly clear, beach conditions are very important for finding treasure coins on the Treasure Coast.  Just look at the quantity and quality of shipwreck finds that were made after hurricanes, whether you are talking about the legendary Thanksgiving storm or the hurricanes of 2004.  You have a much greater chance of making such finds on the beach after a storm like that.

There are years when comparatively little is found on the beach.  Weather is hugely important in hunting the Treasure Coast shipwreck beaches.  That is why I started this blog and mostly what I did when I started the blog.  I gave my beach conditions rating everyday.  When we got into some of the less productive years, I began to only give my rating when conditions changed significantly.  It got tiring when I had to give the same old "poor" rating everyday for months on end.  As a result, I started talking about other treasure related news and topics.

I think 2004 is right up there with the Thanksgiving storm when it comes to beach treasure finds. Maybe that is a topic for discussion.  I'm sure some will think one or the other was better, but then there aren't many that were around for the Thanksgiving storm.

I like variety.  I like finding all types of treasure.  I like finding old bottles, fossils and sea glass and other types of things in addition to shipwreck treasures.  That has always been my way.  I think you learn a lot by trying different types of hunting, and I find different types of treasure hunting interesting.

Some of my favorite finds are when I find a new type of treasure. One of my favorite finds was a raw beach nugget from a shipwreck beach.  I liked that because I had never found one before and I hadn't done any nugget shooting.  I like finding new (to me) types of treasure.

I've never read about it, but some of the best bottle hunting imaginable happened after the hurricanes of 2004. The west side of the Indian River lagoon was paved with bottles.  There were thousands.  Of course, the majority were nothing special and you had to pick through them to find the interesting, old and valuable ones.  Some were from the 1800s.  The bottles disappeared after a while.  I first got interested in finding bottles after I found my first ones after Hurricane Andrew when I still lived in South Florida.  

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I found a really good study by Odyssey Marine on the silver coins of the Tortugas Shipwreck, which is thought to be the 117-ton Buen Jesus Nuestra Senor de Rosario, one of the vessels sailing with the 1622 Tierra Firme treasure fleet.  As such, it is a sister ship to the Atocha and Margarita.  The paper is The Deep-Sea Tortugas Shipwreck, Florida (1622): the Silver Coins  by Carol Tedesco.  It is a pdf file and takes a little while to load.

One of the what I consider the mysteries of the 1715 Fleet is the disparity between the typically small denomination cobs found on some of the beaches compared to the larger denomination cobs found by salvagers in the water.   Some beaches produce a very high percentage of small denomination cobs, such as the half reales found on beaches like Bon Steel and John Brooks.

The Odyssey paper makes some comments that are related to that discussion.  Here is a an excerpt.

In the case of the 1622 shipwrecks the Atocha and Margarita, 8 reales denomination coins are most numerous, followed by 4 reales, with 2 reales denominations relatively rare and 1 reale denominations scarce. For example, of the silver coins recovered in 1985 from the Atocha site, 0.001% (110) were 1 reale denominations, 15.0% (17,088) were 2 reales denominations, 21.8% (24,853) were 4 reales denominations, and 63.1% (71,808) were 8 reales denominations (Malcom, 2001). This makes sense since small denominations may have been most desirable for local trade, but shipping cargos long-distance in large denomination form was most efficient. Because the Tortugas shipwreck coin collection included a fairly high percentage of ‘unknown’ denomination coins, a decision was made with Odyssey artifact data specialist Eric Tate to distinguish between higher denomination coins of 8 or 4 reales and lower denomination issues. This study demonstrated that nearly twice as many ‘unknown’ coins were higher denominations varieties: • Total ‘Unknown’: 130 • Unknown (either 4 or 8 reales): 28 • Unknown (either 1 or 2 reales): 15 • Unknown (unidentifiable): 87 As stated previously, the Tortugas shipwreck coins were discovered loose and scattered under light sediment cover in deep waters (not in coin chests or conglomerations; Fig. 6), and exhibit a degree of erosion typical of exposed coins associated elsewhere with high-energy marine environments. 

So why the large number of small denomination cobs found on some beaches?  Could it be that the small denomination cobs are more likely to be washed up onto the beaches because of their small size while the larger cobs tend to remain in the water.?  To me that is a reasonable idea.  It is not unusual to find small denomination cobs in close association with shells - sometimes even in with scattered shells.  That is certainly not the only possible explanation.

If the small denomination cobs were meant more for local trade and not favored for long-distance shipping, could the small denomination cobs be personal property.  Certainly that is a possibility.  But that doesn't say why they would be so commonly found on the beaches as compared to large denomination cobs.  Perhaps survivors took more effort and were better able to save their own property.

One thing I am considering is what might have happened after the salvage crews arrived.

Another interesting thing to me is the nice caches of excellent large denomination cobs, (I've shown some of those lately).  They are in much better condition than the typical beach half-reales, which are often way under-weight due to corrosion.  The cobs from those caches have the appearance of being secreted away rather than being washed up after years of washing around in the sand and surf.

Those are just a few thoughts for now.

Here is the link to the Odyssey report.

http://www.shipwreck.net/pdf/OMEPapers30-2013_001.pdf

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Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.nets

11/22/15 Report - Beach Predictions Look Encouraging. Aztec Goddesses and Christian Madonna Images: A Book.

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

I'm getting hopeful about the predicted detecting conditions for later this week.  The predicted big surf has not disappeared yet, but not only is the prediction holding, got even bigger.  Right now we have a nine or ten foot surf predicted for Thursday through Saturday.  We might actually get some improvement in detecting conditions later this week.  The October erosion helped some and hasn't totally reversed yet.

Late Sunday afternoon the wind increased and began coming directly out of the north.  I checked online and the windyty.com web site that I have on the front page of this blog, and it looks like the wind will be coming the same direction well into tomorrow.  I like the direction and strength even though the surf isn't supposed to be particularly high.

With Thanksgiving coming, you might want to go back and read about the famous Thanksgiving Day storm that produced so much treasure along the Treasure Coast in 1984.  There is a lot of really good information in that post.  That post talks about the 1984 storm and the factors that made it so productive.

Here is that link.

http://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/search?q=thanksgiving+storm

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Here is a book that you might find interesting.  You can read a sample of it online.  The title is Aztec Godesses and Christian Madonnas: Images of the Divine Feminine in Mexico (2012).

Click on the title above to link to that book.

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I have a few other topics on my mind but don't want to start them right now.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

6/4/17 Report - Historical Newspaper Worth Big Money. Hurricane Season Has Started. Watch Finds. Pre-Colombian Gold Pendants.

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

That was the headline on January 6, 1777.  The story read as follows.

CROSSING THE DELAWARE AND THE BATTLE OF TRENTON – Great News from New-York … His Excellency General Washington … in Person at the Head of Three Thousand of our Troops, crossed the Delaware, attacked the Enemy at Trenton … and after a brisk Action of Thirty-five Minutes, entirely routed them. Salem: E[zekiel] Russell, January 6, 1777.

This newspaper telling of Washington's victory is the only one known to survive and is being auctioned by Christies.  The auction estimate is $40,000 to $60,000.

Here is the link to the fine manuscript and book auction.

http://www.christies.com/salelanding/index.aspx?intsaleid=26932&sitecoreguid={e70a5466-f441-4913-ba5f-035cc211c735}&sectionname=auctions_nav&saletitle=

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Hurricane season has begun.  As you know, most cobs and shipwreck artifacts that are found on Treasure Coast beaches are found after storms.  Last year Matthew aimed at us but hit farther north.  Some cobs and shipwreck items were found after Matthew, but nothing like some of the bigger treasure storms such as the famed Thanksgiving Storm of the last century.

Not all hurricanes come during the peak part of the season, which is August to October.  Some tropical storms don't wait for hurricane season to start.  That happened this year and the previous two years.  Arlene, which had no impact on us, formed earlier this year.  Alex formed in January of 2016 and Ana formed in May of 2015.

They are forecasting that this season will be more active than average.

The last hurricane having a category 3 or greater rating to make landfall in the U. S. was Wilma in 2015.

It take a hurricane to make the beaches productive.  It has nothing to do with storm strength.  Some strong hurricanes do not produce a lot of finds, while some storms do.  What I'd like to see more than anything, is a storm that sits off-shore and sending us a steady stream of northeast winds and high seas.

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I've talked about the fact that there aren't as many coins being found on the beaches these days. People aren't using cash as much as in the past.

I've always found a lot of watches. There don't seem to be quite as many any more, but still they are common finds - more than I would expect.

I don't know why people wear watches these days.  You can tell the time from your cell phone.  Those big watches seem to be in style.  People are now also wearing watches that do things other than tell the time, like the Apple watch and Fitbit.

I always found a good number of watches in the water - a lot of them worked, but a lot of them were ruined.  My first Rolex find was drowned.

I was always surprised by how many watches were lost on the beach.  You might not think something so big would get lost in the sand, but they do.

A lot of the lost watches are inexpensive, but some are nice or interesting, and some are valuable. The one that I actually wore the most, as I don't often wear a watch, was a German watch I found.  I wore it until the battery ran down.

Gucci watches were common finds for me - both men's and women's but more women's.  I found a good number of those ladies watches that have the different color plastic fashion pieces that can be changed.  On the ones I found, more than half did not have the color pieces.

Dive watches were fairly common finds in the water.  There was one place where I used to find a lot of dive equipment, including dive watches, knives and weights.  It was where they took people for dive classes.   I started discovering dive equipment at that location and wondered why, and then later I learned about the classes they conducted there.

I don't often target watches, but one good place to find a watch is in a dip in front of the beach, especially if it is filled with course shelly sand.

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These Pre-Columbian gold pendants, 1000-1500 AD, were appraised at $20,000 to $28,000 several years ago.

Here is that link.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/season/17/myrtle-beach-sc/appraisals/pre-columbian-pendants-1000-1500-ad--201202A17/

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Overall I have no changes in beach conditions to report.  Even a passing storm can cause a spot of the beach to erode and open up a treasure window.  You have to be alert and quick to catch those types of fleeting opportunities.

We'll soon be keeping track of tropical storms.  No one knows how that will turn out this year.  It might be a big detecting year or it might not.  Only time will tell.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

11/19/12 Report - Get Your Equipment Ready, Detecting Conditions May Improve Soon

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

Water Coming Over Newly Formed Berm
Yesterday Near High Tide

Years ago we had a storm known as the Thanksgiving storm that produced a lot of treasure.  Right off I don't remember the year.  If the surf web site predictions are correct, it could happen again.




As I mentioned yesterday and previous to that, the tides have been consistently high for quite some time now.  Yesterday the surf was coming up over the recently accumulated berm at high tide.  It wasn't getting as high as the water did during Sandy, but it was getting up onto the flat beach and even in some spots hitting the foot of the dunes.

The swells along the Treasure Coast are now around three or four feet.  That usually isn't enough for good detecting conditions, but combined with the unusually high tides and what Sandy already did, it isn't far off.  I wouldn't be surprised if there were one or two spots where a cob or two was uncovered.  But that being said, the real news is that the swells along the Treasure Coast are predicted to continue for the next few days reaching a peak of 7 to 8 feet on Friday.  If that really happens, we might well expect significantly improved detecting conditions for the weekend after Thanksgiving Day.  I'll be watching to see if and when conditions improve.

Foot of Dune Eroding Yesterday

Two days ago I told about cremation tags.  Two readers sent me photos of the tags they found.  All were found in shallow water.

Below are photos of dug cremation tags.

Notice that they are different.   Some give more information than others.  As I said the other day, the tags are made of either aluminum or stainless  steel.

The ones I've run across were round and also found in shallow water.

I thought you should know what these are in case you happen to find any.




Finds and photo by William B.

 


Finds and photo by Michael H.

 

You've probably heard of Doomsday Preppers.  Some people are expecting a calamity to happen on the Winter Solstice, December 21.  According to this article, some people are heading to a location that they think will be safe.

Here is the link.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/49862332/ns/technology_and_science-science/#__utma=14933801.988835494.1349883642.1353166430.1353189219.157&__utmb=14933801.1.10.1353189219&__utmc=14933801&__utmx=-&__utmz=14933801.1352815009.141.10.utmcsr=spiritdaily.com|utmccn

Treasure hunting would seem to me to be the ideal activity for those expecting a collapse in the economy and civilization.  A good metal detector could be very handy for finding useful materials, not to mention all the good scrounging skills you would develop. 

Survivalism, if that is what you want to call it, has always been alive in some part of the metal detecting community.

Get your batteries charged.  We could have some good hunting after Thanksgiving.


Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

11/2/12 Report - After Sandy & Benefit Cookout

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




Mayan Artifact Donated for the Benefit
Photo submitted by Aquanut John

Tomorrow is the big Treasure Hunter's Benefit Cookout.   And here is another treasure that you will see there and possibly take home. 

I've shown just a few of the many prizes and auction items that will be there.  If you want a new detector or an eight-reale, or just want to have some fun - be there tomorrow.   Food will be ready around 1 PM.

For additional details see my 10/9 post.


It looks like the blog poll may not be working properly.  If it isn't fixed, I'll have to remove it.  I'll give Google a chance to get it fixed first.  I knew it wasn't working quite right when I created it, that is why I only had four answers.  We'll see.

[Update: The poll was not working correctly, so I removed it.  Sorry!]


I'm not into buying a lot of stuff but I look at auctions a lot because you can see a lot of different artifacts and see what types of prices they bring.  It is a good education. 

Anyhow there are two interesting auctions coming up on iCollector that you might want to take a look at.  There is one beginning today on coins, metals and related items, and then one beginning tomorrow with lots of research books, Native American artifacts, guns from the wild west and artifacts from the Custer battlefield, to mention a few. 

If you want to take a look here is a link.

http://web.mail.comcast.net/zimbra/mail?view=msg&id=87231#1

Boat Bottom at Normandy Beach.  Photo by Joan T.

Joan T.  found this boat bottom at Normandy Beach the other day.

She added that Normandy Beach is open again.

When I look at the pictures from up north and see what Sandy did to New Jersey and that area, I realize how lucky we were.

It sure looks like there would be a lot of good detecting up there, but it is a shame to even think of that when you think of all the damage and hardship that it caused.  That is where our thoughts should be.  There are a lot of people that lost their lives or everything they had.  That is the thing we should remember.

I think we sometimes forget about the tragedy and hardship that took place when shipwrecks like those of the 1715 Fleet took place.  It is important to put first things first and remember that.  Real events led to all of those coins being scattered in the ocean and on the beaches.  They didn't just magically appear there yesterday.  Think of the journey of those coins and how they came to be there, and think of the lives and events surrounding them. 

I have a few more Sandy finds to post sometime soon.

The wind is out of the north today and the swells are about two feet.  The weather is beautiful.

There are no storms in the Atlantic now.  



Ship Stranded on New Jersey Beach.

Before Sandy formed, I mentioned that October and November often bring us a good northeaster. Some of the best detecting storms have been in November.  One Treasure Coast Thanksgiving storm is legendary.

Detecting conditions aren't going to change soon.  The seas are relatively calm  The tides are still fairly high.

There are some places that were impacted by the storm that probably haven 't been detected yet.  Think about where some of the secondary detecting sites might be.   Most of the primary beach wreck sites have probably been detected pretty hard.  But there are undoubtedly those places that haven't been detected for a while, where the storm might have uncovered some things.   I know some places that I want to check.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

6/14/15 Report - Big Events & The Times. Hurricane Drought. Detecting On The Edge.

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

It seems that 2015 is a year of a lot of big anniversary events.  I think I posted not long ago a link to an article about how the world changed in 1965.  To save you the math, that was 50 years ago.  It was a time of change and transformation.  And personally, it was a pretty big year.

Crises Magazine said, Different writers here and there have talked about 1965, fifty years ago, as a year of transition. It was a year in America when trends came into focus, culture was altered, and life changed—politically, socially, culturally, morally, and in the Catholic Church. Perhaps historian James T. Patterson provided the most detailed elaboration on these developments and their implication for the country in his bluntly titled book from a song of the time, The Eve of Destruction: How 1965 Transformed America. I found the article interesting, maybe you will too.   Here is the link.   http://www.crisismagazine.com/2015/1965-the-dawn-of-our-current-age

In treasure hunting, 2015 marks the 300th anniversary of the 1715 Fleet disaster and 30th anniversary of  the discovery of the Atocha.

Another article had the following to say.  This year we celebrate 200 years of the victory of the Battle of New Orleans!  The British were defeated by the good people of New Orleans, Louisiana during this Battle.   On January 7-8 while all the men were fighting the battle,  the women gathered in the evening with the Ursuline Sisters to pray before the statue of Our Lady of "Prompt Succor" ( Means Quick Help.) The next morning a Mass was offered and the nuns promised to have a Mass of Thanksgiving annually if they were victorious.  That Thanksgiving  Mass is still celebrated to this day at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Prompt Succor on State St.   There were many odds against  Andrew Jackson and his men but after winning the Battle of New Orleans, Andrew Jackson publicly acknowledged that the American victory was won by heavenly intervention.  You can read the rest of that article by using the following link.  http://holymotherchurch.org

2015 is also the 70th anniversary of the Nagasaki atomic bomb, the 20th anniversary of the release of Windows 95, and 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

Hurricane Katrina was ten years ago.  And that was the last year that a major hurricane hit the United States.  It has been that long. Time flies.

Talking about the amount of time since the last major hurricane, the Advocate says, The gap is something of a record that has not occurred since the 1870s, according to information compiled by researchers at LSU.

The article continues, There have been hurricanes that have caused widespread damage such as in 2012 when Hurricane Sandy, a Category 2 storm hit the East Coast, and Hurricane Isaac, a Category 1 storm in Louisiana, but neither storm reached Category 3, 4 or 5 status as measured by wind speed (http://theadvocate.com/news/12162292-123/9-years-since-last-major)...

When you go out and look at the Treasure Coast beaches, you'll see some very sandy conditions - not only has the sand been accumulating on the beaches but also in the shallow water close to shore.  In Florida we haven't had anything to really move much sand for quite a while.  Even Sandy didn't cause much erosion.  It was more of a high tide event down here.

I guess it looks like we are due.  I really can do without a major hurricane.  A good storm that sits off the coast and churns for a while can do the job.

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I often hear people complaining about how difficult it is these days.  They talk about all the competition, and they talk about how every beach is over-hunted.  They talk like in years past all you had to do was walk out there and things would fall into your scoop.  They don't know.  Most of them weren't even born then.

There were more detectorists than you would know about back in the old days.  There was no social media.  You didn't know about Tom, Dick and Harry and what they found even if they were out there hitting the beaches everyday.  There was no email, and there were no blogs, or forums.

You didn't hear about the top guys anyhow.  The LOOK AT ME Kardashian generation wasn't born yet.  The guys were much more secretive, especially the best ones.  Some of them are still around, and you still don't hear about them.  I know one that is as good as anyone, and certainly better than any of those that you read about on the internet.  His water skills are amazing.  He was actually a Navy Seal. As a result he hunts locations, times and waters where others don't.

There were some very intense hunters in the old days.  I once mentioned a fellow that hunted every low tide for weeks on end.  No break.  I haven't heard about him for quite a few years.

I knew others, one of which would come crawling up out of the ocean every morning as the sun rose.  I saw him a few times, including once up at Vero, even though he was a South Florida hunter.  He didn't say who he was, but I had been around enough and knew.

Everybody learned and perfected their skills pretty much on their own back then.  There was very little sharing of information.  You couldn't go on the internet and read about where to hunt, where not to hunt, how to use your detector, etc. etc.

And for those of you who like the new detectors and new technologies, we didn't have all of that.  If you want to go back to the old days go buy a used detector from past decades and see how you like using that instead of your latest and greatest

Don't think there wasn't competition in the old days.  There was more than you know about or hear about.

I never hunted South Beach much.  I never spent much time where the crowds hunted.  Like some of the others back then, I didn't like being observed.

The heavily hunted areas are heavily hunted for a good reason, but there are always other hot spots that aren't heavily hunted.  You have to spend some time to find those spots.  And they may come and go, but they were out there back then and they are still out there.

Some hot spots are not well known because they only open up periodically.  Some are not well known because they are hard to get to, but when you have over forty miles of densely populated coastline, I'll guarantee you that there are hot spots out there that you can still have pretty much to yourself if you are willing to spend some time prospecting.  It might take a while, but it can be done now just as it was done decades ago.  There are always those following the crowd and then there are those detecting on the edge.  If you are on the edge you won't be bothered by the competition.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

9/8/13 Report - The Iron Clad Gun Ship Cairo and Gold Coin Found on Treasure Coast Beach

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

NPS photo.  See link below.

I often encourage creativity.  I enjoy exploring new locations and new ideas.  While looking at an article in Popular Archaeology about the discovery of the Cairo, a Civil War iron clad gun boat discovered in the Yazoo River back in the 1950s, I noticed this one paragraph in particular.

The Cairo lay on the bottom of the Yazoo River for nearly one hundred years before discovery.  Edwin Bearss, (Vicksburg National Military Park historian), Don Jacks and Warren Grabau discovered the wreck.  “The three men had conducted research utilizing maps and charts of the area and had also talked with residents who told them that at time, when the river level was low, the pilot house could be seen just above the river’s surface. In 1952, armed with a compass and a small boat, the three men began to search for the sunken ironclad.”[xv]   Instead of using the compass to provide direction of travel, the men used it as a magnetometer.  They laid the compass on the bottom of their boat.  When they would pass over any concentration of metal; the needle would fluctuate and be unstable.  After finally finding such a large concentration and achieving further evidence by the use of metal probes, the Cairo was found in 36 feet of water.[xvi]   The wreck was raised by a private group of citizens who called their organization Operation Cairo.  The members of this group donated their time, money, and equipment to raise and preserve the ironclad and and its artifacts.”

There are always ways (plural) to get things done.  I thought this use of a compass as a magnetometer was interesting.  It is amazing what people could accomplish without all of our modern technology.  When you look at cathedrals from the Middle Ages or the pyramids of Egypt, you have to marvel at how people are always able to find ways to accomplish the things that are most important to them.

The article about the Cairo talks a lot about how they should have done things.  You can always say how things could have possibly been done better after the fact.  That is no surprise to anyone.  But those early efforts paved the way for future efforts and techniques and the development of the field of marine archaeology.  And who knows what would have happened to the Cairo if it wasn't recovered when it was?  Or how many more years would have elapsed before the lessons were learned?

Here is the link if you want to read more about the Cairo and its recovery.

http://anthrojournal.com/issue/october-2011/article/the-uss-cairo-birth-history-and-discovery-of-a-civil-war-ironclad


And here is a link to the Cairo Museum where you can find more pictures of artifacts that were protected by the river mud.

http://www.nps.gov/vick/historyculture/uss-cairo-museum-exhibits.htm


It is getting close to the time of year when the snow birds start coming back and more people start detecting the Treasure Coast beaches.  The weather will be cooling down and maybe the poor summer beach conditions will start to change some.

The National Hurricane Center is still showing the remnants of Gabrielle having a 20% chance of becoming a cyclone.   There is also a new area over by Africa with a 60% chance of becoming a cyclone.

National Hurricane Center Map.

This has been a big year for gold discoveries from the 1715 wreck sites.  Maybe the beaches will have something for us this winter.  Only time will tell.

In the mean time, fossils are regularly being discovered on some beaches, but not in real high numbers.  Also modern jewelry, though not in large quantities.

My experiment to illustrate the effect of the shape of an object on how fast it sinks into beach sand hasn't been conducted yet.  I had to redesign my materials.

Reflecting on the 2013 year so far, brings up a few thoughts besides the 1715 gold discoveries and lack of storms.  Hurricane season isn't over though.   I'm hoping we don't get a hurricane, but it is not unusual to get hurricanes in September. 

We often get a nice storm that results in old beach finds in October or November.   I think it was 2008 when we had a good October storm that turned up a good number of finds.   November has often been a good month too.

Over the years, I'd say that November through February have been my best months for old Treasure Coast finds.  The 1984 Thanksgiving storm is legendary in treasure lore.  My personal very best day on the Treasure Coast was in December one year.  That was a really cold day. 

For serious detectorists I always recommend having more than one good working detector.  You never know when you might develop equipment problems and it seems it always happens when you least want it to happen.  So have a good back-up ready.

Back to reflections on this year so far.  There have been some big losses this year too.   Remember that this life doesn't go on forever and gold and silver are not the most important things.

One thing I was reminded of this year by a recent story is how infrequently people reward good deeds.  Don't do good deeds for the reward.  It probably won't happen - at least not how you expect.  In the long term it does pay off in other ways.

1945 Mounted 2.5 Peso Gold Coin Find

With all the gold coins being found in the water this year, you should know that gold coins have been found on the beach as well.  They aren't the 1715 gold coins, but gold coins nonetheless, if you are willing to settle.  Here is one such example.

From my experience Dos Pesos gold coins are the most commonly mounted gold coins that you will find.  They pop up every once in a while.  Perhaps because they aren't real expensive.  And maybe they are a good size for mounting.  I think the two and a half peso is a little more unusual, again, I'm just going from my experience.

You can find all kinds of mounted coins in jewelry.  And as far as gold coins go, on the beach it is much easier to find one that has been mounted.  Again, I'm just going from my experience.

I have no problem with a mounted coin.  In fact, I find it handy.

It is sort of interesting when you are looking for old shipwreck stuff to manage to pick up some consolation like this.

I don't expect any big change in Treasure Coast beach detecting conditions any time soon.  Just a little increase in the surf this coming week.  And watch out for those systems in the Atlantic, but they are a ways off yet.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/27/11 Report - Big Bucks for Gold Shipwreck Artifacts.

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

Sold for $190,000.

This 1832 Serro Frio gold ingot with its original guia sold for nearly $200,000 in the Sedwick Coins treasure auction that was concluded Wednesday.

That would make one nice find, wouldn't it?

I'm showing some of the big glitzy stuff today even though I think it is just as important to learn about the miscellaneous things that you could actually dig up and throw away. They have value too, and are a lot of fun to research.

Here is a gold and emerald cross that was originally found on the beach in the same area as the famous "dragon whistle" between Sebastian and Wabasso in 1984 after the Thanksgiving Day storm.

The photo comes from the recently concluded Sedwick Coins auction.

Sold for $37,500 Plus Premium.

With the premium, the total was $43,125.

The Thanksgiving Day storm of 1984 is legendary as far as treasure hunting on the Treasure Coast goes. Many big finds were made. Swells were up to 20 feet, and there was a lot of erosion caused by four days of high wind and waves.

It is not uncommon for us to get a good storm in October or November, or sometimes December to junp-start the winter beach detecting season.



Treasure Coast Beach Forecast and Conditions.

The most recent predictions say that the next two days will be relatively calm, with 2 or 3 foot seas, and then beginning to build on Saturday, reaching 6.5 feet or more on Sunday. After that the next few days we're predicted to have seas in the area of nearly six feet for a few days.

The prolonged period of five foot or more seas sounds good to me. When you get higher seas for a number of days, you have a good chance of getting some good erosion on one or two of those days when the wind shifts to hit the beaches from the right angle.

It seems Rina is lingering down around the Yucatan. Another low pressure area is just to the east of Rina.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net