4/14/26 Report - Gold Coin Treasure Hunt Out West. Indian River County Public Workshop. Snake Oil Bottle. Lab Grown Diamonds.

 

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

The gold ingots weren't technically official U.S. currency. Credit: Witter Coin

A new gold rush is coming to California. For the third year, San Francisco’s Witter Coin will host a treasure hunt across the city collectively worth over $50,000. The grand prize? An incredibly rare, $50 gold piece from 1851 valued at around $25,000...

The grand prize offered by Witter Coin is a rare example of what’s known as an 1851 Humbert "Slug." The octagonal piece is technically not U.S. currency, but an ingot minted by the official United States Assay Office of Gold and its assayer Augustus Humbert. Emblazoned with a bald eagle standing on top of a boulder, the $50 slug contained 2.5 ounces of gold, making it one of the largest currencies of its kind.

In an instagram post. Chandler explained that the store will release hourly clues on Saturday April 25 to help scavenger hunters pinpoint the location of the 1851 Humbert Slug as well as nine other historic collectible currency pieces. Each treasure will be hidden in “iconic San Francisco neighborhoods” with no “digging or trespassing” required to access them...

Here is the link for more about that.

$50,000 rare coin hunt will take over San Francisco | Popular Science

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April 14th 5:30 - 7:00 PM    Indian River County Public Workshop on Beach Preservation Plan 

Information below.

Thanks to DJ for that.

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Here is an interesting bottle for a quack cure peddled by "Old Bill" Rockefeller.

I just posted the following to TGBottleBarn.blogspot.com.

NyJol Bottle.

NuJol is in infamous quack remedy created in 1850 by "Old Bill" Rockefeller, father of John D. Rockefeller. The elder Rockefeller was the definition of "snake oil" salesman, claiming NuJol, which was made from pure petroleum, as a cure for everything from Cancer to constipation. John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil company continued offering the cure-all for sale up to the time of World War II.

The bottle has an H on the bottom, which could indicate one of numerous glass makers.  More research is needed.

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From PR Newswire.

WILMINGTON, Del., April 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research has published a comprehensive report titled 'Lab Grown Diamond Market by Manufacturing Method (HPHT and CVD), Size (Below 2 Carat, 2–4 Carat, and Above 4 Carat), Nature (Colorless and Colored), and Application (Fashion and Industrial): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023–2032.' According to the report, the global lab grown diamond market was valued at USD 24.0 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 59.2 billion by 2032, expanding at a CAGR of 9.6% over the forecast period. Increasing consumer preference for ethically sourced and sustainable alternatives, rapid advancements in diamond synthesis technologies, surging demand from the fashion jewelry sector, and expanding industrial applications are collectively positioning the lab grown diamond industry as one of the most transformative and high-growth segments within the global luxury goods and materials sector

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Night at Fort Pierce Beach from Surfguru.com.

Surf Chart from SurfGuru.com.

Nothing new here.

Good hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/13/26 Report - Salvaged Silver Coins from the 1715 Fleet: Observations, Statistics and Useful Hints. Decreasing Surf This Week.

 

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

Fort Pierce South Beach Monday Morning from Surfguru.com.

The surf is decreasing but many beaches are building.

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I thought you might be interested in some of the details of a sample of sea salvaged 1715 Fleet silver cobs.  I looked a little deeper at the 2000 -20002 salvage records that I talked about two days ago.  Here are a few interesting observations. 

First, very few of the salvaged silver coins showed a date.  Without doing specific calculations, it looks like for the 2000 -2002 seasons (which is probably pretty close to what is still happening today) only around four percent of the salvaged silver coins showed ANY date when tagged. There were no examples in the three years of records of a full date.  I suspect that more coins would show a date after cleaning, but the fact remains that salvaged coins showing a date are fairly rare, and you can see that in auction prices. Dated coins are more desirable. 

It surprised me to see in these records that as rarely as dates are found, assayer initials are similarly rare.  From my own beach finds, it seemed that assayer initials were not as rate as dates, but I didn't really keep exact count.  When neither a date or assayer initial can be found, the date range can still often be narrowed down by other features of the coins design.

Going through the three years of salvage records, 113 of the coins (excluding those described as fragments or unknow) were half reales, 13 were one-reales, 17 were two-reales, 32 were four-reales, and 37 were eight-reales.  So, half reales were by far the most common, followed by eight and four reales.  That appears to me to be not too dissimilar from what you might expect from the beach, although personally, I've found greater proportions of the one and two reales along with the very common half-reales.  Of course, that changes from beach to beach.  Some beaches, Bonsteel perhaps being the best example, is known for a preponderance of half reales.

Going through a small sample of the half reales listed on the first page of the salvage records, which included a total of 18 half-reales, the average weight of a half reales was 0.9 grams with a range 0.3 to 1.2 grams.  That contrasts markedly from what you would expect from newly minted half reales, which should be close to 1.7 grams.  So, a majority of the salvaged half reales were significantly underweight.  Part of that is probably due to corrosion or sea-wear.

One nice thing about half reales is that even when you have a extremely underweight example, you can often still determine the denomination of the coin as well as date range corresponding to the king and corresponding monogram.  You can often identify the monogram from a small fraction of the half reale.

Here are the two common most common types you will find on 1715 beaches.

Most common are those minted under Phillip V, which display the following style of monogram.

Second most common would be those minted under Charles II, displaying the style of monogram shown below.

Most often you won't see the entire monogram, but enough to identify it.  There are many slight variations too.  These are stylized versions of the monograms.

Here is a post in which I talk more about the monograms.

The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 1/25/11 Report - King Philip and Charles Half Reale Cob Monograms

Looking at a relatively small sample of salvaged eight reales, the average weight of the sampled salvaged reales was 23.8.  A newly minted eight should weigh around 27.5 rams, so it seems that salvaged eight reales are also underweight something like four grams.  

So eight reales are about 3.7 grams underweight while half reales are about 0.8 grams underweight on average.  So half reales lost a lot less material than eight reales but a higher percent of their original weight.  Half reales lost nearly 30 percent while eight reales lost only about ten percent on average.

I won't make much of the exact numbers right now because they are based on very small samples. However, after browsing additional salvage records the general findings seem to hold pretty well.  

Of course, the salvage records could present several sources of error.  They weren't meant to be scientific studies.  Maybe in the future,  I'll look at the records in more detail to see how well these findings hold up.

These observations offer several clues that will be useful for the beach detectorist.  For example, you can expect silver cobs to be significantly underweight, especially the half reales, which are small as minted but will often be found to be very underweight when found.  I could theorize about how and why they are so often very underweight when found but won't get into that now.

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Once again I found Copilot making significant errors.  I've learned to use Copilot for my less serious and less complicated queries.  I don't put a lot of trust in Copilot.  Grok is more accurate and generally does a better job.  Both are useful though.  Copilot is sufficient for many routine queries.  It will, though, seem to miss important words in your question or use less than the most accurate sources for answering questions. The way I use AI is evolving and I suspect will continue to evolve.

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Surf Chart from SurfGuru.com.

As you can see, we're expectiig a gradually decreasing surf.

Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net

4/11/26 Report - Future of Metal Detecting and Treasure Hunting to Change with New Technologies. Horse Tack Finds.

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

Above is a mystery find from years ago that it took me years to finally learn that it is probably horse tack.  And just a day or two ago, a newer mystery item was found to be a horse hame.  I've said this before, but I believe a good number of mystery items are probably horse tack.  

For more about that see The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 11/25/19 Report - Horse Tack and Related Finds. Gold Coin Counterfeits and Cautions. High Tides and Flat Surf.

The silver item in the middle of the harness below is very much like my old mystery find.  I think it is the same thing.

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If you have been paying attention to the news reports recently, you might have heard something about Ghost Mumur - a long-range magnetometry system, which it was said was used to find the downed airman behind enemy lines in Iran.  

A magnetometer is a device that measures magnetic field or magnetic dipole moment. Different types of magnetometers measure the direction, strength, or relative change of the magnetic field at a particular location. A compass is one such device, one that measures the direction of an ambient magnetic field.

You are probably familiar with the magnetometers used by salvage crews to locate shipwrecks or used by utility workers to locate underground cables.  See Magnetometer - Wikipedia

Ghost Murmur was by some reports capable of sensing from long distances the heart=beat of the lost airman, which seems very remarkable due partly to all the other sources of interference that would have to be filtered or averaged out. 

It caught my attention, so I looked into it bit.  Here is summary or compilation of what Copilot and Grok said.  They were agreed on the following.

Long range quantum magnetometry is a specialized field of quantum technology that utilizes quantum magnetometers to detect magnetic fields at extraordinary sensitivity. These devices exploit the behavior of atoms or nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond to measure magnetic fields with precision, often exceeding the capabilities of conventional sensors. The technology is particularly useful in remote, low-clutter environments where traditional detection methods, such as being inches away from shielded sensors in a hospital, are impractical. The system's ability to detect faint signals, like the heartbeat, from vast distances is a significant advancement in the field of quantum sensing.

According to multiple news reports (primarily originating from a New York Post exclusive), yes — the CIA's "Ghost Murmur" system was reportedly used to help detect and locate the downed US airman in southern Iran.

What the reports claim.

• The incident: This refers to the recent rescue of a US F-15E weapons systems officer (publicly referred to as "Dude 44 Bravo") after his jet was shot down. He hid for about two days in a mountain crevice while Iranian forces searched the area. His survival beacon provided a general signal, but precise location was challenging.
• Ghost Murmur's role: The system allegedly used long-range quantum magnetometry (sensors based on nitrogen-vacancy centers in synthetic diamonds) to detect the faint electromagnetic signature of his heartbeat. AI filtered out background noise (e.g., environmental interference, other biological signals). It reportedly helped confirm he was alive and narrow his position in a low-clutter desert/mountain environment, enabling a successful special forces rescue.
• Details: Developed by Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works. First operational use. Trump and CIA Director John Ratcliffe alluded to advanced tech in briefings (e.g., spotting him from ~40 miles away in ideal conditions). Sources described it as effective in remote, low-electromagnetic-interference areas but not "omniscient."

This story has been echoed across outlets like NDTV, Daily Mail, The Independent, Newsweek, and others, often citing the Post's anonymous sources "close to the breakthrough."

Important caveats and skepticism

• It's based on anonymous sources with no public declassification, raw data, or independent verification. The CIA/Lockheed have not officially confirmed the tech or its use.
• Scientific plausibility: Lab demonstrations of diamond-based quantum magnetometers (NV centers) can detect human cardiac magnetic fields non-contact at short ranges (e.g., centimeters to perhaps a meter or so in controlled settings, with averaging). Extending this reliably to kilometers (let alone 40 miles / ~64 km) through terrain, with real-time AI isolation amid noise, pushes well beyond most publicly known capabilities. Experts have noted it may overstate current tech or serve as strategic exaggeration/psychological operations.
• Context: US forces used deception (false rumors of rescue), beacons, and massive air support in the operation. The heartbeat detection claim adds a dramatic "if your heart is beating, we will find you" element, but traditional methods (beacons, thermal, signals intelligence) likely played major roles too.

In short, per the prevailing media narrative from US sources, Ghost Murmur did detect the airman's heart and contributed to the rescue — marking a touted breakthrough in remote biometric sensing. However, treat the extraordinary range and details with caution, as they could involve classification, hype, or disinformation elements common in such operations. No definitive public proof exists beyond the reporting.

It gets very interesting and suggests new technologies that I would assume could be used to detect metals at long distances in the future.

The technology is based upon quantum physics and quantum computing and sensors that employ lab made diamond sensors.  I won't get into that now, or possibly ever again, but personally find it very interesting.  

You might imagine how these technologies might be used for locating treasures.  Regardless of any possible misinformation concerning Ghost Murmur, here are a couple links if you want to read more about that.

Ghost Murmur: The Quantum Technology That Found a Missing Pilot in Iran — Glitchwire

CIA Deploys ‘Ghost Murmur’ Quantum Sensor to Track Airman’s Heartbeat in Iran Rescue – SOFX

I found it interesting that just a a few days before the word that was sticking in my mind was "murmurers."  You might remember my post mentioned how the Jews murmured after being freed to to the wilderness.  

On the subject of technologies.  I always remember when Apple came out with their graphic user interface and that was greeted with a lot of fanfare.  I mentioned that before.  We went from DOS prompts, in which the user used communicated with the computer by using a computer language, to the graphic user interface and now we are in the process of switching to a human language interface.  

Very interesting times.  

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Here is interesting an article from BENZINGA about Odyssey Marine, which was once a great deep sea shipwreck salvage company that shifted its business model after a devastating court ruling on the Black Swan (if I correctly recall) which made them turn over millions in recovered treasure to a foreign country.  

11:46 AM ET Apr-08-2026

Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc (OMEX.NaE) shares rose on Wednesday by over 100% following a merger agreement to create a deep-sea critical minerals platform.

Merger To Form $1 Billion Minerals Platform

Odyssey Marine entered a definitive merger agreement with American Ocean Minerals Corporation (AOMC). The deal will create a deep-sea critical-minerals platform valued at about $1 billion.

The all-stock transaction includes more than $230 million in equity capital. This includes over $150 million from a private placement and $75 million in pre-public financing.

The combined company is expected to have around $175 million in cash at closing and plans to list on Nasdaq under the ticker "AOMC," subject to approvals.

So they are now going after rare earth minerals now rather than shipwreck gold and silver.

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Surf Chart from SurfGuru.com.

So the surf will be decreasing for several days.  The recent high surf created almost no cuts on the Treasure Coast but did a erode a few banks.  With the decreasing surf, you will be able to get out a little farther at low tide.

Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net

4/10/26 - Salvage Records and the Proportion of Reales of Different Denominations Salvaged. Mystery Item Solved.

 

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

One Page of Salvage Report from 2001 Along with Personal Notes.

I was looking at some old salvage reports while I was through some old papers, and I noticed one thing that surprised me. As a result, I have to correct something I've mentioned in the past.

I've referred to the large number of small reales found on the beaches as compared to the seemingly much smaller number of eight reales found by metal detecting the beaches.  And I thought the proportion of eight reales found on salvage sites was greater in relation to the smaller denomination reales.  That was not supported by these records.  The number of small denomination reales found on salvage sites was large in comparison to the number of eight reales for the years and sites in these reports.  My previous generalization about small numbers of half reales being found on salvage sites is at best an overgeneralization.  These records for 2000 - 2002 shows many more half reales found on these sites.  

You can see one sample page of those records above.  You can also some of my own notes and calculations on that page. And below is a table from one of the reports along with some of my tabulations.

In 2002, for example, the combined totals for five salvage sites is 28 fragments, 28-half reales, 50-one reales, 5 two-reales, 37 four-reales, and only 9 eight-reales.  That sample clearly fails to support my previous thoughts and seems very much in line with the proportion of reported beach finds.

2001 was similar.  For the same sites, there were a total of 192 halves compared to only 18 eight-reales.

Page from 2001 Site Review with Some of My Personal Notes.

In both 2001 and 2002 the majority of coins came from the Douglass site.  I don't remember the exact years, but I remember somewhere around there, Mo Molinar and the Virgalona working very close to shore just shore.  Many half reales were found on the beach along the same stretch of beach back in those years.

I suppose that eight reale finds, like gold coin finds, just get a lot more media and press attention, which could give skew impressions about the actual numbers found.

Of course, details of finds will vary from year to year, and between salvage crews and sites.  The same thing holds for beach finds.  Some years some spots will be good and other years not so.  And some years one type of find will predominate while other types will predominate other years.  Still, in my mind, one discrepancy between beach and salvage finds remains.  I'm talking about the large number of silver ring beach finds compared to the total absence of silver rings reported found on Treasure Coast wreck sites.  That is to me still a quandary.

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Good news on the mystery item.  JD correctly identified it.  Jim M. also came up with it.  I had no idea.  

Here it is.

And here is the answer.  It is an end cap for a horse hame.   Horse hames are used to distribute the the force of heavy lodes around the neck.  Joe sent the following example.

Jim said his grandparents grew up on a farm and had them.  He sent these pictures.

That is definitely it, and it makes even more sense when paired with other finds from the site (shown below).

Rustee Horseshoe Finds Each with Some Nails Remaining.

Thanks Joe and Jim.  I really appreciate it.

This type of hame would probably date to 1880 - 1930.  The were often repurposed later for use as walking stick or cane handles.

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Surf Chart from SurfGuru.com.

The surf is still pretty high but the beaches remain pretty much the same.  It is another example of what I say about it taking more than a big waves to cause erosion.  It also takes good angles.  

They did have a lot of erosion in the Palm Beaches.  The shoreline is angled different there and they had already reduced beaches and sea walls and other structures that actually can increase erosion.

Good hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/9/26 Report: Part II - Indian River County Beaches Thursday Morning.

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

Turtle Trail Thursday Morning.

I posted my reports from some Hutchinson Island beaches earlier Thursday.  Then DJ sent in these views of the Indian River County beaches.  I decided to go ahead and post it now rather (Thurs. afternoon) than waiting until tomorrow.

All these photos are from DJ.  Thanks to DJ from all of us.

The Indian River County beaches aren't very different from the Hutchinson Island beaches.  The water got high on all the beaches but hit straight on for the last three days, so there are very few if any cuts to be found.  Seaweed is washing up on some beaches too.

DJ did say that it felt like the beach at Seagrape was lower.  

Turtle Trail Thursday Morning.

Seagrape Trail Thursday Morning.

Seagrape Trail Thursday Morning.

Seagrape Thursday Morning.

Wabasso Thursday Morning.

Wabasso Thursday Morning.

Wabasso Thursday Morning.

That's all for now.  Just wanted to get this to you.

If you missed the Thursday morning post, it is still there.

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/9/26 Report - Checking Some Treasure Coast Beaches This Morning. Few Cuts but Eroded Dunes. Mystery Item.

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

Beach South of Fort Pierce Thursday Morning.

I visited several Hutchinson Island beaches this morning.  It was dark and raining with thunder and lightning.  I took few photos because of the rain and lightning, and I lightened up the ones I posted here just so you could see the beach better.  Visibility wasn't really that good.  

First I visited John Brooks and Frederick Douglass. There were no cuts at John Brooks except in the distance.  At Douglass thee were some superficial cuts at the top of the slope.  Nothing significant.

South of Fort Pierce Thursday Morning.

I took a quick look at Walton Rocks.  It was really raining there and there was a lot of lightning, but again there were no cuts near the main access and there was a good bit of seaweed.

Blind Creek was finally open and nicely paved and landscaped.  Even toilets.

Blind Creek Thursday Morning.

Back up to the Fort Pierce South beaches.  Again no cuts, but as you can see above the water had been up to the foot of the dunes, which eroded out, but the sand in front of the dunes was mushy.

I only did a very quick scan and hunt with the metal detector when the lightning slowed for a while, but it didn't stop until I gave up and went home.  At least I was able to check out a few beaches.  

I don't know what the Indian River County beaches are like other than what I've seen on the beach cams.  Maybe someone can send in a report from up there.

I had a huge old hickory tree fall down and have to do a lot of work clearing that.  

Mystery Item.

This mystery item seems to be brass or something like that.  It is heavy, but hollow and has to screw holes, which you can see in the top view.

Any ideas.  It appears to be a handle for something, but what.

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Here is a video on restoring old coins.  Don't do this on valuable coins.  I wouldn't use it for reales or escudos either.  Still, if you have some routine coins you want to make look better, you might try it.

Bing Videos

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Surf Chart from SurfGuru.com.

The surf is predicted to be decreasing.  The recent high water didn't cut a lot of the beaches, but I'm sure if you spent enough time, you could find a good spot or two for some profitable metal detecting.  

There were probably some spots were the dunes dropped out some nice old finds, or maybe some slopes that got moved back.  

My timing was poor today.  In the old days I would have stuck with it until I found a hot spot.

I've got some exciting stuff to post in the future.  There are some real interesting things going on.  For example, long range magnetometry.  

Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net  

4/8/26 Report - A Look at Some Beaches Today. Predicted Higher Surf for Tomorrow. To Die for.

 

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

Fort Pierce South Jetty 8:30 AM Wednesday from Surfguru.com.

I looked at a variety of beach cams from the Treasure Coast this morning, including those shown here as well as some others, and saw no cuts anywhere yet.  Low tide as a bit earlier this morning, but still the water is pretty high.

Wabasso Beach Cam 8:10 AM Wednesday.

Reef Ocean Resort Beach Cam in Vero.  Around 8:35 AM.

Surf Chart from Surfguru.com.

The high surf didn't show up as early as expected.  Looks like it is supposed to increase tonight.

As of 11:40 AM the beaches haven't shown any real change.

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Native Americans invented dice and games of chance more than 12,000 years ago, archaeological study reveals.

A new study shows that dice and games of chance date back thousands of years earlier than experts previously thought...

Here is the link for more about that.

Native Americans invented dice and games of chance more than 12,000 years ago, archaeological study reveals | Live Science

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Last night a big old hickory tree fell over, so I'll be spending a lot of time removing it today.

I might get back to give an update later.

Good hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net