Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
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| Source: Keysweekly.com (link below). |
Mel Fisher Treasure's diver Zach Moore was working with an underwater metal detector, scouring the current search site with other experienced treasure divers from their work boat, the JB Magruder, with Capt. Tim Meade at the helm.
Beneath 30 feet of ocean, under 10 feet of sand, after 400 years, the glint of gold was unmistakable to Moore, who has also worked with Mel Fisher’s Treasures excavating the 1715 fleet in Vero Beach.
Moore’s parents were both a part of “the golden crew” that discovered the $400 million mother lode of Atocha treasure on July 20, 1985...
Here is the link for the rest of that article.
keysweekly.com/42/key-west-treasure-divers-strike-gold-and-silver-on-famous-shipwreck
I mentioned that find briefly a few days ago. That link and the one below provides additional details and color.
Key West treasure hunters find rare gold coin at shipwreck site | Miami Herald
Thanks to Alberto for that link.
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Today I want to elaborate on something I discussed yesterday. I'll repeat two paragraphs from yesterday before doing that.
Here is another common belief that can lead you astray. You might believe that items marked sterling are not old. Of course it depends upon what you consider to be old, but here is what one source says, Sterling silver hallmark etching and engraving have been in use in England and France since the 14th century. (Source: British Sterling Silver Hallmarks - ArtiFact :: Encyclopedia of Everything Art, Antiques & Collectibles (gaukartifact.com))Timothy McGuire's book, An Identification Guide to Recovered Colonial and Revolutionary War Artifacts (page 229), shows a variety of stamped pieces of trade silver. One is marked RC, STERLING and LONDON. The date given for that particular item is the late 1700s. Would you have thought an item marked sterling might be 18th century? (The RC stands for Robert Cruickshank.)
So items marked sterling can be as old as the 1700s - maybe older.
Let's say you were metal detecting the beach at Corrigan's. You find a silver ring and are hoping it is a treasure from the 1715 Fleet, but you look and find the word sterling so you assume that it could not be from the wreck. We know that silver rings found on 1715 Fleet wrecks are scarce to non-existent despite the number of old silver rings found by detectorists on some of the wreck beaches. What is your conclusion?
First, let me ask if you considered the nearby British camp from the late 1700s that was during salvage of the wreck? Unfortunately items found on the beaches no longer are in context, so we don't have that information, but a British silver ring from the late 1700s could be marked sterling. Still, we would need more information. There are many ways an item can end up at a particular spot on the beach.
Again, it is difficult to determine the age and source of beach found items. Various events and time periods overlap and we lose the archaeological context when the water washes things around. It has been hundreds of years since the wrecks occurred and they have been visited at different times by different groups of people. Some 1715 Fleet items have been lost and found multiple times. And I have no doubt that at some point a detectorist carrying his favorite coin, perhaps from a completely different area of the country, lost it on a Treasure Coast beach, and we can only wonder how in the world it got here. I found one coin that I think was lost and found at least two times before I found it. I believe it went down in a wreck, was salvaged and loaded onto a 1715 Fleet wreck, was found by a modern salvage effort and mounted, purchased and then lost again and found again.
The story is often more complex than we suspect or know. A lot can happen in a few years. Nonetheless, the more you know, the better chance you have of unraveling the item's story.
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If you like old things, here is something that is 2.5 to 1 million years old, according to the web site linked below.
It is a tapir tooth.
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| Fossil Tapir Tooth Found On Treasure Coast Beach. |
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| Tapir. |
Here is a link for more about the Florida tapir.
Tapirus haysii – Florida Vertebrate Fossils (ufl.edu)
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I found a couple bottles this morning. I'll have something on those for you in the future.
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Copper prices, along with a lot of other things, are increasing. The price today is about 27 cents per ounce.
uThat makes a copper penny worth nearly 3 cents, if my calculations are correct.
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I saw a short bit of the hearings yesterday and I thought I was seeing an episode of Darcey and Stacey, but there were more tears. Reminded me of that old film, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest.
Why is mental health so rare in high places these days?
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Looks like the surf is going to be pretty flat for a few days. There are no storms forming.
Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net