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

What happened on the Treasure Coast 36 years ago?  It is something I've talked about before.  It was the Thanksgiving storm of 1984, which ripped the Treasure Coast beaches and produced some great metal detecting finds.

DJ sent me the above item from the National Weather Service describing that event.   Here is more about it from the National Weather Service.

This is the 36th anniversary of the Thanksgiving storm that pounded Florida's East Coast, dumping 7.41 inches of rain in West Palm Beach and causing $38 million in damage. The storm, centered in the Bahamas, led to coastal flooding and major beach erosion from November 22-24, 1984. An intense extra-tropical cyclone, it was responsible for the grounding of the Venezuelan freighter, Mercedes I for several months in Palm Beach. Getting the ship off the beach in the exclusive resort town became a media sensation. It was eventually removed and sunk off Fort Lauderdale to create an artificial reef. The system may have become a subtropical storm as it swiped Bermuda, and in fact it went into the record books for the busy 1984 hurricane season as Tropical Depression 19. The season ended with 20 tropical depressions, 13 tropical storms, five hurricanes and one major, the busiest season since 1971. The grand finale was Hurricane Lili, which formed near Bermuda and did a loop in the Atlantic before becoming an 80 mph hurricane. It tracked south and then east, threatening the Greater Antilles. It finally dissipated off the coast of Hispaniola on Christmas Eve. It was one of only four hurricanes in history to form in December. NOT THIS YEAR: The Thanksgiving week forecast looks stellar for Florida, with sunshine and highs in the 70s and 80s. Much cooler weather is on the way for the first week in December.

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I received the following email from Robert J. concerning the Terry's ring find, which I posted yesterday along with some other finds.  Robert provides some background on tumbaga,  Notice especially the part that I bolded on how tumbaga can be worn and corroded. 

I was sipping my coffee this morning reading the latest blog.  What sparked my interest was the picture of the “gold” ring and statue.  I was in Peru a few years ago and was educated of an ancient process of gold plating (depletion guilding) we know today as tumbaga.  Tumbaga has been in use since 400BC and was in use during the time period of the Spanish occupation.  Most tumbaga alloys were 20-70% gold with the remaining being primarly copper.  The alloy was poured or worked, then dipped in a mild acidic solution removing the surface layer of copper leaving only a porous layer of pure gold.  This gold surface layer would then be carefully “smoothed” producing an encapsulating surface layer of pure gold with all its properties. 

 

It is possible for this thin surface layer of pure gold to be worn off through mechanical abrasion (sand).  If this surface layer was removed, the alloy would oxidize where exposed into cuprite (tarnished copper look).  If the artifact buffing process was not complete, or performed in its manufacture, it would leave a shiny gold layer but with microscopic holes instead of a smooth gold surface protective layer, then it too would oxidize and become encrusted in time.  Besides being cheaper, the tumbaga alloy is easier to work than either pure gold, or pure copper. 

 

Don’t know if that is what these pictures show, but just a thought since I have found some odd gold pieces as well that certainly are not pure.

 

Thanks Robert. 

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Three detectorists discovered a Jacobite hoard.

Trio of metal detectorists uncover secret Jacobite hoard on shore of Lochaber loch | The Oban Times

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Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

Looks like the surf will be running around three to four feet through most of this Thanksgiving week.

Happy hunting,

TreasureFGuide@comcast.net