6/23/21 Report - Sword Thumb Guard From T.C. Beach. Mystery Item Solved. Old Bottles.

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

Sword Thumb Guard Before and After Cleaning.
Find and photo by Warren D.

Several weeks ago I saw Warren D. at a Treasure Coast beach and he showed me some photos of this very interesting find.  It is a thumb guard from a sword.  I asked him if he would send me some pictures and information on the guard to post.  He was kind enough to send some great photos along with the following message.

I found this on the Treasure coast back in Nov. 2020. I was detecting the beach with John C. when I found it at the water's edge with my Detector Pro Pulse metal detector. John said he found something similar about a year ago but he wasn't sure what it was.

I sent a pic to Dr. John De Bry who identified it as a "quillon", part of the handle of a Spanish sword which protects the thumb. It was originally bronze (90%copper and 10% tin) but over the years the tin has been leached out of it and now after cleaning it appears to be pure copper.

It is in the shape of a serpent's head, the square hole is where the blade inserts in to the basic handle.

It has an engraving of a wine gourd and a fern possibly. The big plus is I was able to find a Sedwick catalog auction page that gives a complete description of the exact Spanish sword.

This research was completed in a week. I'm still researching another find for 6 years .

Warren D.

Here is an example from an auction catalog.

Similar Example From an Auction Catalog
Submitted by Warren D.

Warren told me back when I met him that he used vinegar to clean the item.

He added the following. 

I thought I included this pic. Where the Toledo steel blade and the iron handle joined in the square hole their deterioration caused the remaining copper to leach in to the hole and fill the gap.

300 years of electrolysis at work on a salt water beach.

Sword Thumb Guard.
Find and photo by Warren D.

Thanks much for sharing Warren.  Great finds and great information.

There are some beach locations where good numbers of swords and parts have been found over the decades.  This is a very nice addition.

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A few days ago I posted a mystery item that I recently dug,  Here it is.

Front and Back Views of New Find.

Did you figure out what it is?  

It is a plate from a wood level.  Here is an example.

Submitted by Michael T.

That mystery item has been positively identified thanks to Joe C. and Michael T.

Brass Plate on Wood Level.

Looks like there might be another piece to be found.  I should be watching for the glass tube to appear too.

There is a little story behind that find.  I was working a spot with a LOT of small rusty bits and pieces of wire.  I was digging, and with my magnet pulling out a lot of rusty iron.  After filling a couple pockets with the junk, I finally hit the brass plate.  It wasn't far from the hole with the signal lens andu stoneware jug bottom.  I spent a lot of  time on that area and took out a lot of junk.  It wasn't easy and the magnet helped a lot.  Without the magnet I don't know how long it would have taken to remove all the individual small pieces of nails, rust and iron.

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Embossed Brewery Beer Bottle With Wire Swing Cap.

A 19th century two-flat (discussed in a previous post) has been reduced to rubble, but the discovery of an aqua blobtop miller beer bottle (with intact lighting stopper) left in a wall exposed during the final moments of demolition, has made it worthwhile to photo-document the demolition from beginning to end. in fact, halfway through the demolition, another bottle was discovered dating to the depression, which was around the time an addition was added to the brick two-flat.

Here is that link.

adesman's beer bottle discovered in the wall of a 19th century chicago cottage undergoing demolition | Urban Remains Chicago News and Eventsa plane figure with four equal straight sides and four right angles.

You could detect a bottle with a wire swing cap.

One bottle they found had a great paper label.  Those are kind of rare.

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Interesting how what I told you months ago is now starting to come out in the press.  Both the pandemic  and capital hill protest stories are changing.  Some of the so-called scientists that signed a letter published in Lancet about the origins of the virus are now changing their tune.  

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Source: nhc.noaa.gov.

There is a little activity out there, but it is small, far away and slow moving.  We'll see what happens.

We're having some decent tides now.  That helps.

Happy hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net