Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
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| Fort Pierce South Jetty Beach Monday. |
Reminds me of that Beattles' song - here comes the sand (doo doo doo), or something like that.
Anyhow it looks like the sand will be arriving soon. Don't know how many times they do that, but it seems way too often.
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| Fort Pierce South Jetty Monday. |
Didn't mean to give the finger, but the sand is piling on John Brooks beach without any big project to help.
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| John Brooks Beach Monday. |
One man was waving his magic metal detector over that stuff.
It's everywhere!
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| John Brooks Beach Monday. |
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| Walton Rocks Monday. |
Walton Rocks was just a touch better.
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The past couple of days I've been talking about metal detecting a partially cleared Treasure Coast inland lot. You might wonder why anyone would bother to metal detect a place like that. It is hard work, not nearly as pleasant as a walk on the beach and all you find a lot of old rusty stuff.
As you know different people are interested in different kinds of things. Some people want to find the most valuable items they can find - maybe a big diamond ring. But other people want to find an old Spanish coin from an old shipwreck. It depends to some extent on what you like and what you are interested in.
I've gone over the various reasons that people metal detect before. Some do it for recreation; some do it for exercise; and some do it for economic reasons and hope to find something valuable. There are still other reasons.
When you look at the lot I've been detecting, you might not think there would be much hope of finding anything there - valuable or not. There is little evidence that much of anything ever went on there, but I've learned that you can find something of interest and something of some value almost anywhere. I'm always curious to find out what is there. It presents a challenge, and I like to uncover the history.
There is history everywhere. I don't need some rumor or legend to tell me something happened here or there. The earth has been inhabited for a long time - even before coins and metals. I've seen native American pot shards on the ground not far from this metal detecting site, as well as a broken clay pipe, so I know there has been activity around this area for a long time.
One way I could answer why I would metal detect this area would be, "Because it is there." And another part of it would be, "You never know." You never know what you will find. There is the unknown part of it, as well as the uncovering of a very specific part of local history.
There is always the possibility of finding something valuable anywhere. I fully expect to find something of economic value, even if that is not one my primary motivations. I've seen old railroad padlocks selling for nearly two hundred dollars, and have no doubt the one I just found would sell, even if not for a lot. It doesn't have a railroad marking on it. Many of the most desirable are marked with the railroad name. And I don't have the key to it. That might come along later. Otherwise, it is in very nice condition. If I had the key I think it would operate.
Before I'm done with this lot I do expect to find either an old coin or a piece of old jewelry or something like that. The chances of a valuable piece of jewelry on that lot is much lower than the chances of finding a nice piece of jewelry at the beach. I've found gold rings in wooded places before.
The chances of finding a nice old coin worth something is also low, but there is some chance. Most likely it would not be a great condition, but there is always the possibility.
When people find an old lock they start thinking treasure chest or something like that. I don't know what this lock was used for, but maybe I'll get more clues about that later.
There are many benefits of detecting places like this. If you are mostly a beach hunter, you'll likely learn more about your detector and detecting by detecting other types of sites. You might call it cross training. In this lot I've been using detectors and techniques that I haven't used for a long time. It helps me add to my knowledge and skill.
I do expect to find some more interesting things. I enjoyed finding the lock and conducting the research on it. I do expect to find some other interesting relics, but I also still expect to find either an old coin or piece of jewelry. We'll see.
I'm at what I would call the second level of searching on just a few parts of this site. Those are the areas where away a lot of the large and surface items. Most of the lot is still unexplored.
The rain we got yesterday would be a big help if I was in the final stages. At level three I would have most of the easy to detect items removed and would be focusing more on deeper and smaller items. The moist soil would make the small deep targets easier to detect.
That is something I also do on the beach. When there is a good coin hole, the easier targets are removed first, and then I slow down and focus on the faint signals produced by deeper and smaller targets.
There are a lot of reasons to detect lots like the one I have been working. It is close to home and I can do it anytime I feel like detecting. I'm curious, like to learn, and like to detect, but I also like uncovering the history of that particular piece of ground. I do expect to find an old coin or piece of jewelry, but that is just an added benefit. If my primary motive was finding the most valuable piece possible, I'd drive to the beach, but for me there is much more to it than that.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net