Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
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| Type of Rare Coins in Danger of Being Lost to the Taliban. Source: see link below. |
Please do not forget the Parthian Gold coins! That is the title of a paper expressing the hope that some valuable gold coins, though fake, would not be taken and melted by the Taliban. Below is the summary paragraph from the article.
... The Parthian coins were all made of silver, as if the Parthian had no use for gold (I do have a few of the silver ones) . If someone would come up with a gold Parthian coin, it would quickly prove to be fake. Until just before the Taliban took over Afghanistan a few decades ago, a group of archaeologists found close to three thousands of the Parthian gold coins in Talaye -Tepe in Afghanistan. Since the Afghan archaeologists knew that if the Taliban get ahold of them they would consider them idolatry and would melt them to regular gold. They hid them somewhere in the government buildings, until the Taliban were booted out of Kabul. Then they gave the coins to the new government and has been kept in a safe in Kabul museum. However this fact has been reported everywhere. The fear at this time is that if Kabul falls, the Taliban would find them and melt them to simple gold. While there is no cultural artifact in entire country of Afghanistan more valuable than the Gold Parthian Coins.
Below is the link for the complete article, which seems to me to be a translation of some other language.
In reading that article I also learned of another good resource - the Bulletin on Counterfeits.
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If you stick at metal detecting very long, you'll continue to learn. There is no end to it. That is one of the things I like most about metal detecting. You continue to discover things, explore, research and learn.
DJ sent me a link to an article on the benefits of metal detecting for seniors. The benefits included exercise and health, socialization, bonding with family, and picking up a little change. Those are good things, but there is more. There are the many discoveries and tons of questions to be answered, and there is always the puzzle of finding out where the treasure is and the best way to get it.
As I think back over the years and decades, a lot of learning took place. I've always liked figuring things out and that is what I enjoy most these days. There was a time when I was more interested in how much I could find, but for me it is now more about answering questions.
When I began metal detecting I read a lot about metal detecting, and I'd recommend that to anybody, but as I gained experience, observed and experimented for myself, I began to add to what I read and heard.
There are many metal detecting myths. Like most myths they are based upon a kernel of truth, but they are not entirely true or accurate in some way. Having that grain of truth, they can still be helpful to some extent, but there is even greater benefit to be derived from a more complete understanding.
Today I'll just briefly mention a few of the more pervasive and significant myths.
One of the most common is the statement that heavy objects sink deeper. As I've explained in detail before, it has more to do with density than weight, but the shape of the object is another important factor. I've written about that before so I won't get into it any more here.
A second common myth is that it is big waves that cause erosion. Again, there is some truth to that, but it is not always true. Big waves will not always cause big erosion. There are other factors. Smaller waves can cause more erosion than bigger waves. It depends upon a variety of factors.
Another common myth is that stronger storms cause more erosion than weaker storms. Again, there is an element of truth, but as I've detailed before, some very strong hurricanes cause little erosion while smaller storms sometimes cause more erosion. You probably know by now that the angle of the waves have a lot to do with it, not just the size of the waves, and it helps a lot when the waves keep coming from a similar direction. When the direction changes, recent erosion can a quickly reverse.
Reading about metal detecting was very helpful to begin with, but after a while interdisciplinary reading became most valuable.
Reading about geology or land management science, you'll learn about that the three main phases of soil erosion are detachment, transport and deposition. Those processes are related to what I have called "trigger points" and "drop points." They apply equally to sand and objects. The difference in the rate of movement is what accounts for the sifting and sorting of objects on a beach as well as "sinking," if you want to call it that.
I've also talked a lot about signal detection theory as it applies to metal detecting. Concepts like that can be very useful for the detectorist or treasure hunter once you get enough of it to apply it.
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| Source: nhc.noaa.gov. |
Fred is now well inland and tropical storm Grace is headed towards Mexico.
Tropical storm Henri is set to become a hurricane and head north into the Atlantic.
We aren't expected to get much other than a two to four foot surf around Friday.
That is about it for now.
Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net