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Monday, May 4, 2026

5/4/26 Report - Bronze Cup: Soldier's Souvenir? Using Magnification to Reveal Marks and Analyze Four Miscellaneous Finds.

 Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report

The Berlanga Cup was found in four pieces.
(Image credit: Roberto De Pablo)

The cup was discovered in Berlanga de Duero, a municipality in central Spain, nearly 1,200 miles (2,000 kilometers) from the storied Roman defensive wall that protected the northern frontier of the empire in the second century. The hemispheric "Berlanga Cup" is about 4.5 inches (11.4 centimeters) wide and around 3.2 inches (8.1 cm) tall. It features colorful enameled designs and a Latin inscription that mentions four forts.

"The cup is a small representation of a functional vessel called a Roman trulla — a bronze or clay cup with a handle used to drink water,"  Jesus Garcia Sanchez, an archaeologist at the Archaeological Institute of Mérida in Spain and co-author of the new study, told Live Science in an email. "It is not only crafted with metals, but also expensive enamels, and later on customized...

An analysis of the cup revealed it was bronze — largely copper and tin — with a substantial addition of lead that likely came from mines in northern England. These findings strongly suggest the cup was made by a local artisan near Hadrian's Wall between A.D. 124 and 199, the researchers said. But how the cup ended up in Spain is a bit of a mystery...

Here is the link for more about that.

1,900-year-old souvenir cup featuring Hadrian's Wall and Roman forts discovered in Spain | Live Science

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Here are a few miscellaneous finds that will help me illustrate some of the benefits of using a good jeweler's loop or coin microscope to inspect finds for small details. 

A Few Miscellaneous Finds.

A quick look is not always enough.  Sometimes a little magnification will reveal what you didn't something you didn't notice at first.

Above are four miscellaneous finds that might or might not be what they seem at first site.

I'll start with the most obvious.  In the upper right corner, you see one of the older style pulltabs.  Or is it?  

Closer inspection with a coin microscope reveals the following mark.


Sterling Marked Silver Pulltab.

But you can aslo see what might appear to be FPUA, but it is really an incompletely stamped ERLI from another attempt to stamp the item STERLING.  It is, in fact, silver.  

The tem to the left of that, which might look a little like a broken stone, pot shard or fossilized wood is actually fossilized bone.

The real structure is is easily seen under microscope, as shown below.

Broken Fossil Bone Cross Section.

You can see the porous marrow structure inside.

The piece of copper beside seems to have some marks on it.  I thought I saw what looks a little like Muntz mark on it.  You can see what appears to be two parallel curved line near the corner next to the shard, but closer inspection shows that is not what the mark is at all.


Lines on Piece of Copper.

Under magnification, I could see that the lines were actually not parallel at all, which would be the case for the Muntz mark.

Below is an example of an actual Muntz metal find along with a copy of the mark on paper.


That comes from The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 4/19/14 Report - Gold Crucifix Beach Find, Muntz Metal Find, and Clarification On 1715 Fleet Salvage Contracts

Muntz metal was a new nautical sheathing invented in 1832 by adding tin to copper to replace the older copper sheathing.

The shard is a blue and white oriental design which might be thought to look like Kang-Hsi, which has been found on 1715 wreck sites blue on white shards are common and most are not the more valuable Kang-Hsi, which was transported from China on the Manilla galleons before being loaded onto some 1715 ships.

Here is the shard under magnification.


Closer Inspection of Shard.

That looks nothing like the Kang-Hsi  (or Kangxi) that I've seen.  This piece shows no brush strokes or variations in color intensity.  It appears to be applied rather than hand panted.  There are many other signs, but I'll get into that more some other time.  It is a topic that deserves a post of its own.  I've done post on that topic in the past, but I try to improve posts as I learn more.

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That was the most exciting Kentucky Derby I've ever seen.  Amazing.  And a real long shot.

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Surf Chart from SurfGuru.com.

From Saturday to Sunday the wind switched.  We are now having more of a north wind.

As you can see, Tuesday the surf will increase a little.

Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net.  

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Saturday, May 2, 2026

5/3/26 Report - Very Valuable Eight-Reale. Mystery Find for ID. Treasure Auction Schedule. Very Flat Surf Chart.

 

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.


Rare Lima 8 Reales.  Lot 614 in Current Sedwick Auction.

If you want to know what makes a coin valuable, this lot provides the answers.  It already has a bid of $45,000.

Here is the lot description.

PERU, Lima, 8 reales, Philip II, assayer R (Rincón) to left, king's name as PHILPVS, legends HISPA / NIARVM, motto PL-VSVL-TR, very rare, NGC AU details / environmental damage, ex-Ugaz, ex-Ponte. S-L1; KM-13; Cal-651. 25.57 grams. Superb full inner details with nearly full crown and legends on a full and round flan, no doubling, the interiors bold but weaker in peripheries (king's name clear), darkly toned with only a hint of surface porosity, among the finest known of this important unauthorized issue that represents the first "dollar" coin struck in South America.

The three primary cob-producing mints in the Americas—Mexico, Lima and Potosí—all started with an assayer named Rincón, and at each mint the Rincóns produced 8 reales in very small quantities, making them all very rare and desirable in our time. The Potosí Rincón 8R, made in 1575, is the commonest of the three, with a few dozen known, struck shortly before Alonso Rincón’s death; at the other end of the scale is the Mexican Rincón 8R (struck under Francisco Rincón, Alonso’s brother), of which only three are known from what had to be an experimental run in 1538, due to the reported difficulty in making such large silver coins. In between in rarity and chronology is the Lima Rincón 8R (struck under Alonso Rincón), like the present specimen, with a known population of seventeen and highly coveted as the first “dollar” made in South America, struck in 1569 without proper authorization and quickly discontinued.

To categorize the die varieties of these Lima 8 reales, there are two distinguishing characteristics on the obverse and two on the reverse:

Obverse (shield side): king’s name spelled either PHILIPVS or PHILPVS, with two types of flowers in the crown above the shield, either three of the same kind or the middle flower larger than the other two flowers

Reverse (pillars side): legend continuation as either -NIARVM or -RVM, and motto as one of three versions: PL-VSVL-TR, PL-VSV-LT, or PLV-SVLT-RA

Based on these characteristics, we have identified three obverse dies and four reverse dies, as follows:

Obverse:
1. Legend lettering of PHILIPVS . II . D . HISPA, three equal flowers in crown (seven known)
2. Legend lettering of PHILPVS . II . D . HISPA, three equal flowers in crown (one known)
3. Legend lettering of PHILPVS . II . D . HISPA, middle flower larger and different from other two flowers (eight known)

Reverse:
A. Legend NIARVM . ETINDIARVM . REX, motto PL-VSVL-TR (seven known)
B. Legend NIARVM . ETINDIARVM . REX, motto PL-VSV-LT (six known)
C. Legend NIARVM . ETINDIARVM . REX, motto PLV-SVLT-RA (two known)
D. Legend RVM . ETINDIARVM . REX, motto PL-VSVL-TR (one known)

Known combinations:
1. 1A (one known)
2. 1B (four known)
3. 1C (two known)
4. 2D (one known)
5. 3A (six known)
6. 3B (two known)
7. Unreadable

The present example is 3A, meaning that the king’s name is spelled without a second I and the middle flower in the crown is larger than the ones that flank it, while on the other side the legend begins with NIARVM and the motto reads PL-VSVL-TR.

Featured on back cover of printed catalog. Pedigreed to the Jorge Ugaz Collection and to the L.R. Ponte Collection (stated on label).


Obviously the condition is great.  It has a full details and is well-centered design, but that is only the beginning.  It is the finest known of its type, which is a very scarce type with few know examples.  It has great provenance, being from multiple well known collections.  It is an unauthorized version and the first "dollar" coin made in South America.  

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Mystry item for ID.




This glass object is 4.7/8 inches across rom rim to rim.  Top to bottom it is 3 7/8 inches.  And the glass if a full 1/8 inches thick.

I don't really know which is the top of bottom but the frilled metal makes a decent stand.  The metal is bolted to the glass in the center of a cross bar (right photo).  From the bolt, it definitely looks modern era.

I can't figure out what it could be.  What do you think.


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Below is the auction schedule for each of the sessions.


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Friday, May 1, 2026

5/1/26 Report - Detectorists Finds Hoard. Hemingwray Site. Cross Found in Renourishment Sand. ASK. Ride Captain Ride.

 

Written by the TreasureGuide for the Exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.




... After the first day, when archaeologists also joined the coin search, the number rose to 70.

It's unlikely we'll exceed 500, Smiseth thought.

But with each passing day, the coin discovery kept breaking more records.

This week, they passed 3,000 coins. That makes the find, referred to as the Mørstad Hoard after the farm where it was discovered, the largest Viking Age coin treasure ever discovered in Norway.

And the detectors are still beeping....

Here is the link for the rest of that story.

Have found Norway's largest Viking hoard with 3,000 silver coins: 'Truly exceptional'

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You might have found some nice old insulators.  I have, and I've shown some of them before, but I just found a great Hemingray site.  It has everything you might want to know about Hemingwray insulators.  

Most that you'll find are common an not worth much but some sell for very goo prices.  You can see that on this web site.  It has a database, many articles and much more.

Here is the link.

Hemingray.info - Hemingray Glass Insulator Database & More!

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Photo by Greg B.

Above is a cross recently discovered in renourishment sand at Jupiter.  It needs a cleaning and further investigation.  I advised the finder on how I'd proceed.

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Sometimes I use the term "metal detecting" and other times I use "treasure hunting."  I doubt there is any precise difference you can find in a dictionary but I use the terms selectively.  For me, metal detecting is using a metal detector to find metal targets, but I say treasure hunting for hunting other kinds of treasures like gems, fossils bottles or things like that, but only when the targets are fairly significant and I used treasure hunting to describe larger treasures that involve a lot of other activities such as heavy research, using a magnetometer, etc.  So I use treasure hunting for bigger treasures such as shipwrecks or hoards that involve a lot more than swinging a metal detector at a beach or field.  It isn't a precise definition, but those are the kins of things that tend to influence my choice of words.

Metal detecting can range from an occasional recreational activity to a primary professional activity or any place in between.  I never tried to make a living by metal detecting but I did take a little time off just to see if I could.  I found that I could, but I didn't want to.  For one thing, my jobs usually allowed a good bit of time and supported my hobby activities in several ways.  When I did university teaching, I had time to metal detect not only during weekends, but semester breaks etc., and when consulting I was usually able to work according to my own schedule and did a lot of business table that allowed me to metal detect different locations, so that was great. 

It was my consulting that eventually got me in metal detecting after moving to South Florida when I was developing computer simulation pilot training programs for Eastern Airlines. The South Florida beaches were great for learning about metal detecting.  The busy beaches offered many targets and a lot of high-value targets, including some nice older sites.  Pattern identification is easier when you have more points and pattern identification is what you learn.

Like my move to South Florida that originally had nothing to do with metal detecting, it was a factor in getting me into metal detecting.  It seems that an individual's life is determined to a large extent by a combination of chance, intention and effort.  Sometimes it is difficult to separate and identify the different causes in the chain of events, but one thing I've noticed is that great effort almost always is required for great success.  It doesn't matter the field.  It can be music, sports, and it is certainly true with metal detecting.  There is an element of luck: on rare occasion huge luck, but effort is a more consistent and usually much bigger factor.

There are individual variables.  Personality and individual characteristics play a role in how you go about things and even the amount of effort you are willing to give.  

You might recall my formula for metal detecting success.  I developed it over the years and time on task is one of the biggest factors.

Here is a link to more discussion on that.

Treasure Beaches Report: Pt. 2. (2020 and Beyond). : Search results for metal detecting formula

Treasure Beaches Report: Pt. 2. (2020 and Beyond). : 6/3/25 Report - Observations on Another Photo of a Group of Metal Detecting Finds. Luck and the Metal Detecting Success Formula.

Seek and you will find (Matthew 7:7)

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Feeding the conveyor belt.

Fort Pierce South Beach Friday Morning 

Calm surf and sandy beach.


Surf Chart from SurfGuru.com.

Nothing special here.

This Saturday will be the Kentucky Derby.  Brings back memories of when I was at the University of Louisville.  I just finished my Master's degree and was walking back to campus from the Downs on one of those perfect blue-sky days when I heard somewhere, probably the student union, Ride Captian Ride, which froze that time in my memory for decades.  At that time I had no idea where I was going on my life voyage.

As Copilot says...

The lyrics of "Ride Captain Ride" by Blues Image evoke a sense of adventure and the desire for freedom. The line "seventy three men sailed out on a San Francisco bay" is a metaphor 
for those who seek to escape the mundane and embrace the unknown. The song's chorus invites listeners to join the crew on a journey to a new world, where they can laugh their lives away and be free once more. However, the lyrics also highlight the challenges of reaching out for change, as the sailors are too preoccupied with life's troubles to hear their call. The mystery ship symbolizes the potential for transformative experiences that may be missed by those who 
remain stuck in their routines.

Very fitting message.


Good hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

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Thursday, April 30, 2026

4/30/26 Report - Stolen 1715 Fleet Coin Recovered at Show. Atlantic Currents Changing(?). Violent Women. US Mint Gold Sourcing.

 

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.




Stolen 1715 Fleet Gold Coin Recovered at CSNS Show

Coordinated efforts by five dealers and a specialist collector at the recent Central States Numismatic Society (www.CSNS.org) convention near Chicago led to the recovery of a stolen sunken treasure gold coin and the arrests of two suspects who reportedly offered the coin for sale at the show on April 24, 2026...

The chain of events at the convention started when the suspects tried to sell the gold coin, according to dealer Tony Gryckiewicz...

the actual owner of the coin was on the phone with Schaumburg Police to file a theft report. Once that was completed, police approached the suspects, asked how they obtained the coin, then arrested them and obtained a statement from Gryckiewicz.


Here is the link for the full story.

Stolen Sunken Treasure Gold Coin Recovered at CSNS Show

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Scientists have been closely watching the Atlantic Meridonal Overturning Circulation for years. In April, two studies noted the critical current is in danger of weakening or even collapsing due to climate change, which could impact the climate and weather for hundreds of millions of people...

Here is the link for more about that.

Infamous disaster scenario can rapidly unfold, study finds

The AMOC contributed to the popularity of the metal detecting hobby on the Treasure Coast.

The early shipping and Atlantic currents were closely linked, with the latter influencing the routes and strategies of maritime exploration. The Atlantic winds and currents, particularly the westerlies and trade winds, were crucial for navigation and trade. These currents allowed sailors to traverse the Atlantic Ocean more efficiently, facilitating exploration and establishing trade routes. The understanding of these currents was a significant factor in the Age of Discovery, as it enabled European explorers to reach new territories and establish colonies. (Wikipedia)

It seems everything in the world is connected if you manage to find the connection.

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Scientists discovered 4,000-year-old burials of women—and the weapons they wielded.


The article says the following is what you'll learn when you read this story.

A new study analyzes the contents and remains found in 57 Bronze Age underground tombs, known as hypogea, in modern-day Portugal.

Surprisingly, women were adorned with more grave goods than men, and they were also buried with weapons.

This find adds to growing evidence that women warriors existed in many times and places in different cultures.


That might seem like a handy summary, but it might contribute to laziness and prevent readers from actually analyzing and concluding for themselves.  There is a good possibility that I might actually have other thoughts and conclusions that might be very different, but if I'm a lazy thinker, I might just fall in line and accept what they are telling me without any effort at all.

Here is the link if you want to read the entire article for yourself.

Scientists discovered 4,000-year-old burials of women—and the weapons they wielded

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The article seems to suggest that buyers believed that American gold coins were minted only from newly mined American gold.  I don't think that most coin buyers ever gave a thought to where the gold came from, but I might be wrong about that.

Here is the link for the entire article.

The U.S. Mint Supply Chain Faces Scrutiny - Numismatic News

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The blog has been getting thousands of viewers daily and Part II is about to pass the next million mark.


The surf chart is showing a two - three - foot surf for most of the week.

Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net


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Wednesday, April 29, 2026

4/29/26 Report - Amazing Gold Belt Treasure. Treasure Coast Beach Most Expensive in FL. Milk Glass Container. Clovis Crystal Points.

 

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.


Sections of an Elaborate Gold Belt
(Lot 1595 in Current Sedwick Auction)

I talked about a similar intricate gold belt something like two or three days ago.  I also talked about some of the standouts of the current Sedwick auction.  This belt could well bring the highest price of all the auction lots.  The auction estimate is $75,000 - $150,000 and the current bid is already $60,000.

Here is more about the find.

Six-link section of an exceptionally ornate gold belt, 106.72 grams total, fineness 21K, ex-Maravillas (1656), ex-Barfield, Marx Plate, Weller Plate. 9½" long. This fabulous artifact consists of six diamond-shaped links in ornate scrollwork of marvelously fine craftsmanship in high-karat gold (XRF tested at 21K), no doubt rather valuable even in its own time, in as-found condition coated here and there with light white coral, a significant showpiece that surely once belonged to Spanish royalty.

These six links are part of a long belt that was found in sections, starting with five links recovered during Bob Marx's work on the Maravillas in the summer of 1974 by diver Dick Anderson, who wrote about it (among other things) in his article "More Treasure from the World's Richest Wreck" in Argosy Magazine's 1976 Treasure Hunting Annual, which opens with a picture of him holding the five links (big smile, of course), a photo that was reproduced in Marx's 1979 book Diving for Adventure. In 1976, Anderson thought it was a bracelet, but examination of portraits of 17th Spanish royalty revealed that the links were just a section of a long belt, which Marx acknowledged in 1979. Marx's 1982 book Quest for Treasure shows a picture of that chain of five links too, with a comment that they did not find the entire belt, just those five links. Eventually, though, twenty-eight more links were found on the wreck, thus completing a thirty-three-link belt, as pictured in Marx's 1998 book Deep, Deeper, Deepest, captioned as "recovered by Marx." Each link is connected to the next by means of two easily removable stud-links with matching design, so that anyone could modify the length as needed. This six-link segment originates from a larger group of sixteen acquired by Bob "Frogfoot" Weller and later incorporated into a private collection.

It speaks to the importance of this artifact that various forms of the whole belt are pictured in at least four of Bob Marx's books (and one of Weller's). We encourage potential bidders to consider the stature of this piece as a sort of "Queens Jewels" like what you see in Royal museums around the world; we are all extremely fortunate to have the chance to own such a thing today. From the Maravillas (1656), pedigreed to the Barfield Collection, plated on page 39 of Bob Marx's book Diving for Adventure (1979), page 236 of his book Quest for Treasure (1982), photo-plate opposite page 27 of his book Sunken Treasure: How to Find It, page 322 of his book Deep, Deeper, Deepest (1998), and page 160 of Bob "Frogfoot" Weller's book Galleon Alley (2001), with photo-certificates, accompanied by a copy of Argosy Magazine's 1976 Treasure Hunting Annual containing Dick Anderson's article.

Mother's Day is coming up if you haven't already picked out a present.

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2 Views of Found Milk Glass Container.

There is embossing on the bottom, but the white on white didn't show up in the photo.  On the bottom in big block letters it reads ROYAL LUNCHEON CHEESE.

Yesterday I showed another milk glass find and mentioned that milk glass was common but not limited to the 1920 - 1940 period.  While most of my milk glass finds have been cosmetics containers, this is one of the very few and perhaps only milk glass food container jar that I've found.  This jar dates to the early 1900s.

A little research revealed the following about the cheese, which was marketed by the Horton-Cato Mfg. Co. of Detroit.

Horton-Cato Manufacturing Company was a Detroit-based producer of condiments and dressings, best known for its “Royal” brand of salad dressings and sauces.  The company operated in the early 20th century, with evidence of production dating back to at least the 1880s, as indicated by a patent date of April 25, 1882 on a Royal Salad Dressing. The trademark for “Royal” was officially filed on August 26, 1914, suggesting the company was already established and marketing its products before that date.

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... The second hypothesis hinged on the translucency, triboluminescence (sparking when struck), crystalline shape, and rarity of the material, which may have had symbolic or ritual significance.

"There are a number of historical and ethnographic studies that indicate quartz crystals in different regions were considered to be imbued with special properties," explained Dr. Buchanan. "In these societies, quartz crystals have been used for curing, spreading illnesses, or were considered to be powerful living objects.

"For example, among Californian Yuman peoples, quartz crystals (wii'ipay) are one of the most powerful objects in the supernatural universe. Usually left to shamans to use or try to control for both good and bad purposes, including divining the future, reading minds, and providing luck in gambling; however, a crystal can also kill the shaman that possesses it."...

Here is the link for more about that.

Why did Clovis toolmakers choose difficult quartz crystal? New study offers clues

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Surf Chart from Surfguru.com.

No big changes in beach conditions expected soon.


More on the recently found 17th century cross ccoming soon.


Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net


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