Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
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| Surf Predictions for Fort Pierce Area According to MagicSeaWeed.com |
It didn't seem to me that the surf was running as high yesterday as was predicted by MagicSeaWeed.com. Of course I was just eyeballing it, but it really didn't look like anything close to the predicted 6 - 9 feet.
It seemed the wind had shifted and was coming more from the south. And worst of all, a lot of the beaches I looked at were accumulating sand, which would make sense with the new wind direction.
Anyhow, it was disappointing. I was hoping to get that nice high surf that was predicted and see more of the sand in front of the dunes removed. Instead, at many places I was seeing more sand.
I took a look at Ventusky to see how they were showing the wind. This is what I found.
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| Wind Direction For The Fort Pierce Area Early This Morning. From Ventusky.com. |
As you can see, it is basically an east wind, but maybe just the slightest touch from the south.
Reales were found this week. Some were found in front of the Holiday Inn in Vero.
Stephen L., who was shown in one of my photos yesterday wrote in to share some news. Here is his email.
Hi Treasureguide,I went to John Brooks yesterday and today. I detected down past Frederick Douglas both days and today you caught me in your photo of FD. I know because the girl was sitting in the chair near the dune line, and I was wearing black shorts and a white T-shirt and hat. I was hoping to find that coin line you mentioned the other day, but only found some foil. I did talk to a detectorist who was coming as I was leaving John Brooks who said he found a couple reales in Vero near the holiday inn yesterday. He said he found them in the wave wash. He had a nice Excalibur II. Thanks sharing your knowledge and hunches with us.
I remember sometime back in the 1980s or 1990s watching the nice green manicured yard in front of that Holiday Inn disappear as a storm ate away at it. Reales were found right along the walk in front of the hotel back then. I think I've mentioned that before.
As you know, the Seagrape Trail access has been closed for months now. In case you didn't walk up there to see what it is like, DJ sent us this photo of the area.
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| Cut At Seagrape Trail Beach. Photo by DJ. |
Thanks much for sharing DJ and Stephen.
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After all of that news, I have still more. I wanted to focus in on the details of one hunt that occurred Wednesday of this week. Everything is described exactly as it happened. Only the name of the detectorist was changed.
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Creaky Old Buzzard, let's call him Cob for short, decided to try a different beach after hitting another beach Monday and Tuesday without much luck. He got up early, had a beach clearly in mind, drove to the beach, parked, got his gear together, and not knowing what he would see, trudged to the top of the dunes and stood with the wind in his face just like he had done so many times before.
Because of the heavy grey clouds and early hour, the rising sun was only providing the slightest bit of light. Cool air was coming off a rain storm a little to the north and sand and a light mist from the surf was hitting his face. It was the kind of morning most people avoid, and the kind of morning Cob loves - no sounds other than the wind and surf.
Standing at the top of the dune, Cob surveyed the scene. Rain clouds to the north, waves crashing on the sand bar and then washing up onto the beach. Then he scanned left and right to see how the tides of the previous night had sculputed the beach.
There was a long cut above the steeply sloped beach in one direction. It wasn't a high cut, but it ran a long distance and disappeared around the bend.
Cob walked up for a closer look. Drat! It was renourishment sand - a coarse shelly sand at that.
He decided to check the area out with the metal detector anyhow. Not expecting much, and not being surprised, the detector remained silent.
Like I said, it was a long cut. Cob detected along the face of the cut and around the bend, and still the detector remained silent.
It started to seem like there would be nothing found, but then a strong signal interjected. After wiping off the sand, a small round object covered by a layer of black corrosion greated Cobs hopeful eyes. It could be a silver quarter, but I'm not sure, Cob thought.
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| Black Dug Object. |
The object told Cob that it had been there a while, and that it had been transformed by salt water. Cob's mysterious new acquaintance provided some information, but presented more questions than facts.
It wasn't an unusual or strange looking object. In fact it was the kind of thing old Cob had seen many times before. It looked like hundreds of other salt water soaked silver coins.
The black coin was a like a green light that excited Cob's brain and refocused his senses. Old Cob was recharged by this new acquaintance.
Where there is one, there is a very good chance there are more, he thought. It had been there a while, but how did it get there, and where did it come from, Cob wondered.
There was a positive signal and the probabilities of the hunt had changed. One object had been found, which makes it more likely that there would be more. Old Cob tightened up his scanning pattern, and moved more slowly and intently.
It wasn't right away, but before long more signals were heard. More coins were dug - a good number - 29 by one count. They were mostly greenies that had some age, but not as much age as the black coin.
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| Some Of The Coins Found During Cob's Wednesday Hunt. |
There was a definite coin line, and Cob was getting into the middle of it now. The old black coin was only the first sign of that line.
Most of the coins were identifiable at first sight, but some were encrusted and remained anonymous like the black coin. Most did not appear to be anything exceptional, so were dug and stowed as quickly as possible without much thought or analysis.
Cob knew he was in a heavy coin line and wanted to get all the coins that were there. There might be something good in between the pennies, nickles, dimes and quarters.
It looked like a thunder storm could occur at any moment, but the hunt was prematurely ended when bF appeared on his detector screen. The batteries were dead and the hunt was over. He knew there were more coins to be dug, but the hunt was over for now.
Somewhere near the middle of the hunt another another heavily corroded coin appeared. It was different. It wasn't a common US coin. It appeared to be silver and had a diameter larger than a US quarter.
After some of the sand was wiped away, and after some squinting and turning the coin to try to catch the light just right, Cob could faintly see something on the coin. It looked like there was maybe a cross. And after a little more squinting through his salt-spray coated glasses in what little light there was, it looked like maybe the cross was in a box, and maybe... lions and castles.
It didn't look like the 1715 Plate Fleet cobs. It was different, which made him wonder if it was a lousy fake coin of some sort.
Some people stop in the middle of the hunt to study an object like that, but Cob doesn't spend too much time looking at finds in the field. He had a lot more objects to dig, and he wanted to dig up what he could while he was there and while the beach was cooperating.
Cob secured the mysterious coin in a container separate from the others and detected with even greater speed and urgency.
A lot of coins were quickly dug, but none of the others appeared as interesting as that one with maybe a cross. Then the metal detector battery ran down. That was the end of the hunt. Too bad!
The long walk back to the car seemed three times as long as the walk out. And then there was the drive home, all of which seemed to take too long. Cob was eager to get home and get a good look at the mystery coin, still hoping that it wasn't a fake.
When he finally got home, he did a little light cleaning on the coin - just enough to get the surface crud off before testing the metal. It tested out as silver. But what kind of coin is it?
When he got it under lighted mangifcation, the first thing that caught his attention was two dots - two very obvious dots very near the center of the coin. They looked kind of out of place at first. Then, two pillars showed up, and a little PLV to the left of the left pillar and SV between the pillars.
That looks familiar.
To be continued...
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I'll try to finish Cob's story tomorrow and show you what the coin was.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net