Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
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| Sea Glass Glowing Under Black Light.. |
Some finds are slow to reveal their secrets. Some never do, but some reveal their secrets bit by bit over the years.
I was looking at a list of my most popular post going back to the beginning of the blog, and I found that a January, 2014 post featuring a piece of red sea glass received thousands and views and was among the top three of all time.
Featured was the nice piece of red sea glass shown below. Red is an especially desirable color for sea glass. It is rare, but besides the color, this particular piece had a very desirable cushion shape that could be nicely used in jewelry. Still I was surprised that a sea glass find was such a popular topic.
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| Nice Piece of Red Sea Glass. |
It didn't take me long to notice that when viewed under magnification there appeared to be yellow specks in the small bubble like depressions on one side, and one side only. I didn't know why that was.
Well, the find sat for a while, and after inspecting some fossil finds and gems that glowed under ultraviolet light, I decided to check the sea glass with the black light. That was in Sept of 2015, almost two years after making the find. That is when I saw that the sea glass glowed, as shown at the top of this post.
Here is the link for the original and subsequent post about that sea glass.
I've found other items that are like the sea glass. They slowly reveal their secrets. I find new clues as the years go by. Sometimes, unfortunately, you learn only after you've made some kind of regrettable mistake, but for me, finds that carry a good story and slowly reveal their secrets are some of the best. Take care of them and keep studying.
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The Society for Historical Archaeology web site is a great reference site. Their bottle information is really great for identifying or dating old bottles.
Here is that link. Historic Bottle Website - Homepage (sha.org)
Their home page now looks like it is a political web site. The whole world seems to have gone political, and you just can't avoid it. Science, arts, sports - everything. That includes metal detecting and archaeology.
Here is the link to their newsletter archives. You might still be able to find some helpful information there.
SHA Newsletter Blog, Winter 2020 - Society for Historical Archaeology
They have some good artifact collections too.
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| Quick and Dirty Hack. |
You probably know that you shouldn't leave old batteries in a detector or any device for a long period of time because they can corrode and a lot of damage. If a contact is ruined, you might be able to solder new contacts into the battery holder, but there is a quick and dirty hack that will also work - at least temporarily.
The battery holder shown above was damaged by old corroded batteries. The spring that should be at the top of the middle battery got badly corroded. I don't remember if the spring broke off or if I broke it off, but it was removed, then I lightly sanded what remained and then inserted a tight wad of aluminum foil to replace the spring. Although it is not an ideal fix, it has been working fine. At least you can check the extent of the damage and use the device that way until you can come up with a better fix.
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| Source: magicsseaweed.com. |
The high tides are not quick so good now and the surf is still running around two to three feet.
The primary swell is northeast, and the secondary swell is east. Not so good.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net