Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
Yesterday I posted a 1900 Liberty Head nickel that I found. It was found on a lot a few hundred yards from the Indian River Ridge site that I've been working so much lately. I'll call the new site the old house site and the site I've been working the railroad site. Both are next to the tracks, but the old house site once had an old house on it that was torn down about nine years ago.
I detected the old house site about nine years ago just after the old house was torn down. I found a variety of things there. Some were from the house and some were from the railroad. The railroad related finds included some lead railroad seals. Also two old coins. Here are four seals found at the old house site.
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| (See The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 9/29/12 Report - Florida East Coast Railroad Artifacts Found) |
The two coins I found there are a 1902 nickel and a 1903 Indian Head penny.
I only spent maybe two or three hours on the old house site, including yesterday and nine years ago. Despite spending so much more time on the railroad site, I have so far not found any lead seals or old coins on that site. The railroad site seems to be quite unusual for the number and type of finds.
Wanting to check other sites in the area to see if the railroad is as unusual as it seems, I was glad to get an opportunity to hunt the old house site again. I didn't remember the old house site well, since nine years have passed since last detecting it, and I wanted to compare it to what I've been finding on the railroad site.
My test, if you can call it that, was a poor test. I only was able to detect the old house site about an hour, and I had to quickly cherry pick it rather than digging everything like I've been doing on the railroad site.
Anyway, in a short time (less than a hour) on the old house site, I picked up the 1900 Liberty head nickel that I showed yesterday, and the lead seal shown above, and an old stopper top bottle that I saw sticking out of the earth. I heard a lot of iron targets that I did not dig, but got the impression that they were not buried all over the site like they were on the railroad site. Despite the large amount of time I've spent detecting the railroad site and the large number of items dug there, I haven't yet detected either a lead seal or old coin on that site. My conclusion is that the railroad site is very different from the other site even though both are along the railroad tracks. Not only does the old house site not appear to have tons of iron artifacts buried all over the place, but it also seems to produce more old coins and lead seals. Once again, it seems like a an event such as a derailment explains the large number of railroad artifacts buried in groups on the railroad site.
It is my theory that the old house site produces more lead seals because it is near a railroad stop. I'm not sure if the old coins are more related to the railroad or the old house. Due to where they were found on the lot (away from the tracks and in front of where the house was) and the dates, the coins seem to me to relate to the house. The seals, on the other hand, were all found nearer the railroad.
By the way, I used the Garrett Ace yesterday at the old house site, which, of course, I've used a lot on the other site too.
See also The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 4/6/20 Report - Great Finds. Thousand Year Old Atlatl Point. Lead Railroad Seal. Making History Every Day for information on how the seals were used.
Here is the bottle I found on the old house site.
Nothing very interesting, but some probing might have located some more interesting bottles.
Specifically dated old items (coins) found on the old house site are dated 1900, 1902 and 1903.
Old dated items found on the railroad site, which I previously called the Indian River Ridge site, are dated 1905 (lantern lens) and 1924 (level plate).
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Yesterday I posted a photo of a bill that had a minor printing error on it. JamminJack sent in the following, including the pictures.
Noticed the seal behind "ONE" was off centered. When I checked online, it seems that is no longer an error. Used to be centered.
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| Source: nhc.noaa.gov. |
It looks like we are now out of the cone. That isn't very significant, but it also looks like Elsa will be only a storm when it gets near Florida. Time will tell.
The tides aren't big now and we're getting about a two foot surf. It looks like Elsa won't increase that much, if at all.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net