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Wednesday, June 24, 2020

6/21/20 Report - Some Things You Can Find. Was Fenn Treasure A Hoax? Shipwreck Archaeology Symposium


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


Fenn Treasure.
Source: CNN.  See link below.

(CNN) — As soon as Forrest Fenn announced that his treasure was found earlier this month, rumors swirled about whether it had really been found or if the treasure hunt had been a hoax all along.
Well, this week, Fenn tried to put some of those to rest by unveiling the first photos of the discovered treasure.
On Tuesday, the 89-year-old art and antiquities collector posted three pictures of the treasure on dalneitzel.com, a fan blog dedicated to the treasure hunt that Fenn sparked 10 years ago after he published clues in his autobiography "The Thrill of the Chase." ...
Here is that link.


Some think that the Fenn treasure was a hoax and never hidden.

Thanks to William K. for the link.

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Below are the contents of the Iron, Steel, and Steamship Archaeology Seminar from 2006.  It includes a long list of papers on shipwreck artifacts and their corrosion, distribution, cleaning and conservation.  You'll probably find at least a few articles of interest if you browse the content listing.



And here is the link to access any of those papers that might interest you.



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Some treasures are very elusive.  You hunt for yeas and may never find them, but it seems there are other treasures that find you.  In my previous post I mentioned some treasures that found me.  They are treasures that just fell into my lap, so to speak.  I didn't target them.  I didn't hunt them - they came to me.  Here is how it happened.

I had done some consulting for the institution and knew one of the librarians from my consulting work.  She knew I appreciated books, and since the library was becoming computerized, they were deaccessing a lot of the books.  I was told I could look through their holdings to see if there were any that I would like to have, and if they were scheduled to be deaccessed, I could have them.

If you know me, I like books - especially old books.  I found an entire collection of old books in a room that was never used.  The collection included about 50 old and very collectable books going back to the 18th century, including some valuable first editions.  Many were history books.  The collection was stored in a locked room in a library for years but were hardly ever accessed or used.  In fact many were in a locked cabinet.  They were just the kind of thing I love.  I told them that those books were something special and should be taken care of. They weren't just old books and were very valuable in more ways than one.

The library tried to find a university library that wanted the collection, but none of the large university libraries responded.  After a year of trying to find a good institutional home for the books, they finally gave up and decided that I should have the books since I was the one that appreciated them and alerted them to their value.  It seemed like those books found me, and I'm glad they did.

A historical society was delighted to take a couple of the books that fit their needs, but didn't fit in with the primary focus of the collection.  Other than those two books, I received the entire collection.

There isn't much interest in old and collectible books anymore and most librarians don't know the value of books as collectibles.  I've seen books on library shelves that are well over a hundred years old that have never been read.  I know they've not been read because the pages were still untrimmed.  I've also seen valuable old books on library shelves that were destroyed by librarians or patrons that did not appreciate or care for them.  I hated to watch as one old and very valuable oversized leather bound volume of Durer prints was ruined by one patron who photocopied each of the pages on a copier, which, of course, destroyed the binding.  It would have been worth thousands of dollars and was probably destroyed and could have been eventually thrown out.

So some treasures you have to hunt for long and hard, some beckon you, and others you.  If you truly treasure an item for more than its economic value, it seems there is a better chance that kind of  treasure will find you.

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Disturbances are flashing on the National Hurricane Center map.  There is one disturbance up by the Carolinas that could develop in the next few days.

Locally we are having more flat surf.  That is good for the salvage season, but isn't doing the beaches much good.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net