12/31/22 Report - 1866 Mystery Find. Couple Nice Bottle Finds. Toys and Book Finds.

 

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

Ayer's Sarsparilla Bottle and Carter's Cone Ink Bottle.
Found by Joe D.

I received the following email and these photos from Joe D.

Went out detecting yesterday for first time since my last post to you! Not surprisingly, the addition of 4 to 5 foot of sand to the beach led to few finds!

So on way home, I decided to stop at the Indian River! Had my eye on a few spots to sight hunt since I moved here, but it was either too hot or wrong tide, or i was busy! Hit it just after low tide, and was rewarded fairly quickly with these two!! An Ayers Sarsaprilla bottle, and a Carters ink bottle. Also got an intact Ball jar, but it looks just like the modern versions! And of course, some broken china and bottles.

Wanted to go here right after the storms, but didn't work out.

Always been interested in all your bottle hunt finds, and it motivated me to finally start! Now I'm hooked already. Boy, that was tough!🤣
I'll post any more as I find them.
Thanks, And Happy New Year!🎉

There is another example of, "There is always some place to hunt and something to find."  I like switching it up.  When one type of hunting isn't great, or you can't get out to your favorite spot. do something else.  

Those bottles can be sold for a few bucks.  I've sold a few of the Carter's ink bottles, and I saw the Ayer's bottle listed in one place online for $36.  I like finding bottles and it doesn't require the expense of a metal detector.  

Joe followed up by sending another email and photo, shown below.

Also thought you would get a laugh at this!! My wife has no interest in detecting, or bottle hunting (yet)! But she likes "Estate" sales and got these this morning!! Normally she buys vintage clothing to sell on her online store, but I guess I'm beginning to rub off on her, after 25 years!!😂👍👍
Joe D.

Collectible Cars and Books
Found by Joe's wife at an estate sale.

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Yesterday (Friday) my wife was out gardening and came in to show me what she dug up. Here they are.

Crushed Tin Drinking Cup and Broken Insulator Found By Wife
Digging Up Unwanted Plants.

Her finds told me there were some older things where she was digging, and I hadn't metal detected that area.  She had cleared some brush, and I could now get my detector in where I couldn't before.

You might remember all the railroad items I dug near my home, including a few of those tin cups.

Below is an item I found. when I detected the newly opened area.

Two Views of Unidentified Mystery Item Dug Friday.

The mystery item appears to read: APPROVED. KEYSTONE. PATD. OCT. 16, 1866. I am not entirely sure of APPROVED. I am only sure of the PROVE. There are three characters that I can't make out.  Maybe I'll be able to see those letters better when the object is cleaned better.

I'm hoping someone can help identify the item.  The patent date is not long after the Civil War ended.  Of course, it could have been used and lost significantly later than that.

You might be surprised by what you can find in your own yard or just next door.  This is a good time to check out overgrown areas.  We had a dry summer, and it is a time of year when there isn't as much vegetation so you might be able to detect areas that were difficult or impossible before.  The weather is also better during the winter.

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The surf is around three or four feet but will be gradually increasing down to two feet by the end of the week.

Happy New Year.

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/30/22 Report - Reviewing the Year: Blog Posts and Metal Detecting. Nicole Predominates. Aluminum Coins.

 

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

1986 East Caribbean One Cent Coin.

So you look at your target ID and it looks like the target is aluminum. Maybe you dig everything and want to remove may junk, or maybe you skip it, figuring it. On the Treasure Coast, most aluminum is junk, but it could be a coin, especially in some other countries.  

I found a good number of aluminum coins when I was in the Caribbean, and often enough to pay for meals.  The coin shown above is an East Caribbean one cent coin I dug up St. Lucia.  On one occasion I was paying for an ice cream or something with coins dug in shallow water and the cashier didn't want to take them because they were discolored, and she thought they were burnt. I normally bought things there with found coins, there but this one lady wouldn't take them.

Anyhow, this coin is made of aluminum, is small and weighs only 0.9 grams. I remember finding some of those in the swash where I normally wouldn't expect to find coins, but the aluminum coins being less desnse could be found in locatins where I'd normally not expect to find many coins.

There are a couple lessons there. Coins like other objects do classify according to factors such as density.  And if you plan your hunt according to what you are targeting or what you expect to find, there is always the possibility of other kinds of things, and possibly some good ones, being missed. 

Many countries have used aluminum coins.  And some aluminum coins date back to the 18th century.

Below are a couple examples from the numista coin catalog.

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Below are the top ten most-read posts of 2022.  

Notice they are all between 9/29/22 and 11/28.22.  That is impressive, because they are relatively recent posts and is more likely that older posts will be read more because people continue to read old posts months or years after they are posted.  Posts from many years ago are still being read.

So why are so many of the most-read posts of 2022 from so late in the year? 
The answer is really simple.  We had a lot of good storms such as Nicole and there was a lot of detecting activity and a lot of finds made in the later part of the year, especially November.

The most read post of all was a actually the second post that I did on 11/9 when I kept adding updates such as bridge closings and other things so people kept coming back and rereading the same post.

This fall we had some good erosion and then in November Nicole came along with an unusually high surf along with high tides.  Some areas opened up that hadn't produced since back in November of 2020.

There were some great finds.  I had posts on Spanish shipwreck coins, including post featuring reales that were the first reales found by some detectorists.  Escudos besides reales were found, as the dunes in some locations really got hit.  I personally saw some areas exposed that I hadn't seen exposed in the last twenty years.  

I missed hunting immediately after the 2004 hurricanes due to other responsibilities.  Maybe those areas were eroded then.  I expect some of them were.  I also had to do some other things at the peak of Nicole and missed a good bit of that too.

Nicole wasn't like the legendary Thanksgiving Storm of 1984 (See The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 6/17/15 Report - Can A Storm Uncover As Much Treasure As A Hurricane? Question Answered.) but it certainly opened up some good hunting in some great spots. Some of those were south of most of the most hunted 1715 shipwreck beaches.  I know some of the locations north of us were also heavily eroded by Nicole.  Some finds were made up the coast too.

Wabasso After Thanksgiving Storm of 1984.

You might want to go back in treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com to read about the Thanksgiving Storm and contrast that with Nicole.  The Thanksgiving Storm was very different.  It wasn't a hurricane.   

Although I missed much of Nicole, I still learned from it.  I didn't get to see enough early on, since I wasn't able to get out early enough, and my original expectations were a bit off.   That is how you learn.  Nicole hit some of the right spots but didn't open up many others.  Some opened up for just a very brief time, so you just had to be there at the right time.  There is no substitute for time in the field.  I've said that many times before.  You have to be out there.  Predictions are one thing - but they need to be verified to improve your model.

There were even escudos and ingots found on the beach - some being older than those from the 1715 Fleet. 

I was especially glad to see several readers find their first reales.  

Overall, November of 2022 was good for metal detecting around our area.  It got rid of some of the renourishment sand, so I suspect there will be new renourishment projects starting very soon.

You dan still see some of the erosion caused by Nicole if you walk along the dune face.  The bottoms have filled, but some of the dunes still show where they were eroded.

Fall usually brings some improved hunting as cold fronts begin to come through, and you will usually get some good hunting through February and sometimes even into March or April.  Seems like there is usually a storm or something in the Spring.  After that we start getting summer conditions and have to wait for a good tropical storm to improve things.

So that was the year, and for metal detecting it wasn't a bad one, especially in November, and the blog activity shows that.

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Now we are having just a two to four foot surf.

Good hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/29/22 Report - History of U.S. Gold Coins. Gold Coin Rarities In Orlando and FUN Convention Next Week. Viking Grave.

 

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

1870-S $3 gold graded SP-50

To many collectors, the ultimate opportunity involves a chance to acquire something unique, a stand-alone trophy that nobody else could have.

Collectors of top U.S. coins will have three such opportunities within a week at Heritage Auctions, when a trio of unique trophy-quality coins are offered in The Bass Collection, Part II U.S. Coins Signature Auction – Orlando FUN Jan. 5 and the FUN U.S. Coins Signature Auction Jan. 11-15.

“The selection of unique coins coming to Heritage Auctions in January is extraordinary,” said Todd Imhof, executive vice president of Heritage. “Opportunities to acquire coins like these come along once in a lifetime – if that. To have three such chances within such a short timespan simply underscores the significance of these two auctions, as any one of these coins can forever change a collection.”

Here is the link for more about three rare and valuable coins that will be available in Orlando next week.

Three Unique Coins in FUN Sale - Numismatic News

The good thing about rare coins is their value.  The bad thing about rare coins is their rarity.

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In numismatics, as in other walks of life, knowledge is closely equated with success. The more you know, the more successful you will be. The field of gold coins is no exception.

Whether you endeavor to pick up a few scattered "sleepers" as a potential investment, or whether you are determined to acquire a date run or a set of coins, you will find background information concerning the creation and distribution of gold coins to be of value. Beyond that, in the pages to follow there are specific suggestions for identifying undervalued scarce and rare pieces. But, first, here is a survey of United States gold coins:...

Here is the link for more of that article.

Gold Coins: Their History (pcgs.com)

The title doesn't tell you, but it is a history of U.S. gold coins.  Still a great article that provides a lot of information.

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Artifacts From Viking Grave.

The remains of a richly appointed Viking grave appeared here. Cremated human remains were uncovered, as well as many other objects.

The archaeologists found fragments of a soapstone vessel. There was also a penannular brooch - also known as a celtic brooch, a sickle, two knives, horse tack such as a possible bridle and a bell, Bugge Kræmer said. The discovery was first reported by NRK Oslo and Viken...

And here is the link for that article.

Viking Grave Discovered in Western Oslo - Life in Norway

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Ther other day I did a post on intuition.  Just after doing that post, I was listening to the radio and a person told how "there was a time" they could read cards in Las Vegas.  They knew which card was coming up next, and casino management accused them of counting cards and wouldn't allow them to continue playing cards.  It was a one time thing.

It is possible that intuition can be "on" for specific times, but not be available most of the time.  Psychics say there are certain conditions required for them to be able to do accurate readings and some academic articles have found the same.  One thing that seems to be necessary is belief.  It seems psychics don't perform well when surrounded by skepticism.  Maybe an eagerness to believe means the subject will stretch to interpret the results positively, unlike the skeptic, who will find problems or questions, no matter how accurate the reading might be.

I don't know how real all that is, but it is consistently reported in the few published academic studies on the subject.

Other articles, less supported by good research, suggest methods for improving intuition.  Even if all that is true, and I'm not sure it is, it is interesting, and if you are a certain personality type, you might want to look into it.  Other personality types might as well forget it from the get-go.

No matter how real the phenomena is or how it can be explained, when you metal detect you might get feelings that seem to be intuitive.  I've noticed many times getting a feeling right before digging up something good.  Don't know if it is a trick of memory, coincidence or what, but I'm sure many detectorists get the feeling of having some sort of precognitive experience.

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I rememberr when the Patriot Act was enacted, some people were afraid of abuses while others naively though "if you haven't don't anything wrong you have nothing to worry about."  Those people evidently thought power is never abused and mistakes are never made.  Recent history has proven that those who were afraid of abuses were justified.

If you want to learn more about the Patriot Act., here is a good link.

History of the Patriot Act - Wikipedia

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Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

Expect a two to three surf, moderate tides, and an east wind.

Good hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/28/22 Report - The All-Time Most Read Treasure Beaches Report Blog Posts of the Past.

 

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

We are almost to another new year. I can remember starting my first post of 2022 and it doesn't seem all that long ago. But at the end of the year, it is customary to look back and remember. It is good time to review the past and see what you can learn as you look forward to the new year.

Today I'll look at the most read posts of the TreasureBeachesReport.blogspot.com site. As you might recall, I switched to tbr2020.blogspot.com because the old blog site was getting too big and it was difficult to go back and find specific old posts.

Anyhow, here are the top all-time posts of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com minus a few of the very oldest posts that got deleted when I was having technical difficulties with the blog.

I did not include the most read post, which is simply a redirect to the new blog site.


The most read post of the treasurebeachesreport blog site has been many thousands of views and has been at the top of the most read list for a long time. It was posted in 2010 and features a 16th century gold pendant found by a ten year old detectorist.

The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 11/20 Report - 16th Century Gold Pendant Found by Metal Detector

The second all-tme most read post was posted in 2013 when there were two hurricanes in the Atlantic and it also gave list of the most popular collectibles at the time.

The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 9/13/13 Report - Now Two Hurricanes But No Immediate Threats and Collectibles Receiving Most Interest
You occasionally find hot-wheels and plastic collectibles left on the beach, and they can be worth a bit

The next most read post was about a fossil tooth and a backyard meteorite. Sometimes I don't know why a post is so popular, but it seems that there are people interested in a wide variety of topics. So far the list includes posts on an old gold medallion, all types of collectibles, a fossil tooth and a meteorite. That is a good variety in just three posts.

The next most read post expands on that theme. It was about an extremely fine piece of beach found sea glass.

The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 1/29/14 Report - Treasure Coast Sea Glass and Fort Pierce Pirate Fest

Next on the list was a 1715 Fleet gold reliquary and an onion glass bottle.

The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 10/24/13 Report - 1715 Fleet Gold Rosary, Shipwreck Onion Bottle, and Auction


Rounding out the list of  all-time most read Treasure Beaches Report posts is a post of an old gold find by a beginner, then the famous 1715 Fleet 300th Anniversary find by Jonah and the Capitana crew, and the find and return of a ring belonging to a famous person.

Of course, the original Treasure Baches Report blog has the most read posts because it has been out there for so many years and still has many readers daily even though the posts in that site are not the most current.  I'll get into the most read posts from the newer tbr2020 site. We had some good hunting and great finds this year and posts that received a lot of attention.  Although the tbr2020 site was started in 2020, nine out of the top ten most-read posts of that site are from 2022.  I guess that after all these years the blog is still getting more popular.  I suspect that in the future some of the posts from 2022 will catch up with some of the posts from many years ago.

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12/27/22 Report - A Quick Look At One Treasure Coast Wreck Beach. Intuition: What It Is and More About It.

 

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

John Brooks Beach Tuesday Afternoon.

I took a quick look at John Brooks Beach This Afternoon.  There was one detectorist digging to the south of the access (photo below).

John Brooks Beach Tuesday Afternoon.

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Detectorists often get a feeling about where to look. They might be guided by intuition. Other detectorists are very analytical and pay little attention to those types of feelings.

You might think that intuition is something like ESP, and is nothing more than foolishness, but intuition and science go together. Below are some quotes about intuition attributed to Einstein.

The only really valuable thing is intuition. I believe in intuition and inspiration; at times I feel certain I am right while not knowing the reason. The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift. The intellect has little to do on the road to discovery.  There comes a leap in consciousness, call it intuition or what you will, and the solution comes to you and you don’t know how or why.

Clearly Einstein valued intuition.

In 2017 I posted the results of a poll I conducted on how much deetectorists use intuition versus analysis.   (See The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 7/9/17 Report - 2011 Law Concerning Ownership of Artifacts and Space Exploration Artifacts. Blog Poll Conclusions.)

Below is how I reported the results of that poll.

The most recent blog poll has concluded and the results are in.

As you can see from the bar chart below, the respondents generally go more by analysis and observation than intuition. That isn't surprising considering the amount of time I spend on analysis of beach conditions and other things. Only one of the 45 respondents said that they went almost exclusively by intuition and hunches.

On the other end of the spectrum, 4 respondents said they rely almost exclusively on analysis.

The vast majority of those that responded, appear to use some mixture of analysis and intuition. Overall the results were definitely skewed in the direction of analysis and observation over intuition.

Here are the results expressed in a bar chart. I reordered the categories from how they were ordered when the poll was presented, and also shortened the category labels. The numbers in the chart are percentages.

As you can see, the vast majority of detectorists who responded to the poll claimed to use intuition to some extent.  There were very few people who reported going entirely by intuition, and another small group that reported not using intuition at all.

Intuition is defined as the ability to understand something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning:

A key word there is "conscious."  So can you reason unconsciously.  Maybe, but that might come closer to being intuition.  I think data can be analyzed and reasoning can take plae without being entirely conscious of it.

John Naisbitt, a futurist and author of several books on megatrends, gave the following quote.

Intuition becomes increasingly valuable in the new information society precisely because there is so much data.

He is saying that intuition helps a person deal with, or process, overwhelming amounts of data.

I believe that the more information you have stored away, the more productive your intuition will be.    You can process a lot of information, experiences and observations to arrive at conclusions even if you can't figure out or tell someone how you came to your conclusion.  Much information processing is done subconsciously.

A child can identify an animal as a dog even if he can't tell how you did it..  Think about it.  What is a dog?  How to you know that a particular animal is a dog?  At first, that sounds like an easy task.  A dog has fur, four legs, and barks.  But does that really distinguish from many other animals.   Many animals have four legs and fur, etc. etc.  For example, maybe is is a coyote or wolf rather than a dog, and a missing leg would not confuse anyone.  

Barking can be defined as making a short, loud, explosive noise with the vocal organs, so other animals bark.  It isn't as easy to explain how you would identify a dog as it is to recognize one.  Yet there could be some mistakes, especially if you saw a coyote or wolf.  Much mental processing is done without subconsciously.  We take our observations, facts or data, and combine or process them subconsciously/  That is, in part, intuition.   

Now to the important part.  You might think your intuition is good or bad.  You might get a feeling you should look in a particular place, and as a result make a remarkable discovery, and you might feel like you knew it was there.  But how often is your intuition correct?  It is easy to ignore all those feelings that failed.  We simply do not keep accurate score or data on the effectiveness of our intuitive feelings.  

It isn't easy to test intuition.  You might try some experiments, but you will have to think real hard about how to do it.

There have been good scientific studies on telepathy, mediums and ESP by hard-core recognized academic scientists such as Gary Schwartz, Professor of Psychology, Medicine, Neurology, Psychiatry and Surgery, who studies human consciousness.  The Department of Defense has studied ESP.  The conclusion of some hard-core scientists such as Schwartz is that some people do reliably exhibit greater accuracy in such tasks than others.  Relatively few people reliably score well above chance in controlled experiments on mediumship.  There are others who do not put such stock in such concepts even if they have been studied in controlled experimental situations.

Overall, it would seem difficult to test or measure the accuracy of intuition in a practical setting such as metal detecting.  There are those occasions that impress us when we have a feeling about something and it turns out to be correct, but it is too easy to ignore all the times when we have a feeling that fails us.

For me, there have been times when I was doing extremely well and it felt like I was being guided by something - perhaps my own subconscious mind.  You can attribute that to intuition, but it could also be chance.  But there have also been long dry periods when it seemed like a find was long overdue.  What happened?  Did my intuitive skills disappear?    Was I distracted or out of the zone, or was it something else entirely?

Some people might be more intuitive than others.  That is a hard thing to test or prove.  And I don't know that we need to.  My conclusion is that we do a lot of problem solving subconsciously and that shouldn't be overlooked or neglected, but the more we learn and reason, the more our subconscious mind will have to work with, and your over the long-haul your luck will improve.

If you put much stock in intuition, as some of the more intuitive individuals will do, there are methods for being more open to such leadings.  You might look into that, but in the meantime, study and accumulate information and improve your skill.

In summary, many people believe in intuition and can tell you amazing stories about how it worked for them.  Some scientists have done experiments in which some people have demonstrated amazing intuitive abilities, while most people perform no better than chance.  Individuals might feel they are led by intuition, but it is hard to test and prove it is anything more than chance.  If you are so inclined, you might try to test and improve your intuitive abilities.

Good hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/26/22 Report - Great Story: 100-year-old MIlitary Dog Tag Found and Returned to Family. Dog License Tags Can Be Valuable Finds.

 

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

.

WW I Dog Tag Found by Al C.

Below is how Al described the find.

The first paid group hunt I did with the South Carolina Dirt Diggers (a Facebook group) was on a couple different smaller properties in Robertsville and Gillisonville in South Carolina. I didn’t find a ton of stuff here but a few civil war era bullets and rivets etc. At one of the sites I dug a aluminum tag that I could see had some text stamped into it but being aluminum I didn’t think much of it. 

 

As you mentioned again the other day, looking at the coin and artifact auctions can really help you in this hobby. Point being I should have recognized this as something of interest, but didn’t right away.

 

Anyway, days later once I was home and looking through the various pieces and parts that I had found, I came across this aluminum piece again that I had totally forgotten about. I kind of figured it was an animal license dog tag piece and thought it would be cool if there was a year on it so I began to try to clean it with a brush. Not really seeing a year and not getting very far I brought it into work and had my art team guys ( I owned a graphics company at the time) photograph it and clean it up more. It didn’t take them long to figure out that the piece was actually a WW1 dog tag with the name Fred W. Smith and what turned out to be a location of Muse, Argoni. So this was getting interesting. We tried to find out more about Fred W. Smith but…there are many Fred Smith’s. Lol! As I searched on Iine  many web sites that had info forced you to join the site which was a genealogical research company. I didn’t want to do that and didn’t get far but remembered my sister in law was doing all of that type stuff for my own family and so I reached out to her. In minutes she sent me copies of Mr. Smith’s enlistment papers and more info. In a few more minutes she sent me the names and last known addresses of his, I believe, 11 children. That info was a little overwhelming as I don’t make it a habit to call strangers out of the blue but felt a responsibility to try to get this piece back to the family. I posted this back to the original facebook group and someone from that group thought they knew the family and everything came together from there. I sat and talked with Ina Smith, the last surviving child of Fred W. Smith, and two of her daughters for a while. One of the things I asked how long her family lived in the area and she said, “since the King granted them land”! It was an awesome experience.

Below is part of one of the documents giving located by Al's sister-in-law.  

Document Providing Informatoin On WW I Soldier.

Congratulations on a great find and return Al.  Thanks for sharing.

The internet provides some great research tools that weren't always so easily available..

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Round metal tags like the one found by Al do indeed look like dog license tags.  Some are round, but many come in other shapes.  It isn't a bad idea to look for identifying information on tags.  They can be hotel key tags or any of a variety of things.  You might actually have something interesting or valuable.

Here is one dog license tag I once found with a metal detector.

Dade County Florida Dog License Tag
 Found With Metal Detector.

Here is a link to an old post on collecting antique dog tags.

The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 10/1/14 Report - Gold and Jade Ring. Site Survey With Target ID. Poll Results. Where People Have Been Hunting Most. Antique Dog Tags.  

And here is a link to a site about valuable dog tags and dog collars.

Antique Silver Dog Collar Auctioned | The Bark

That link will take you to some interesting stories such as the following excerpt about auctioned dog collars and tags.

One such highlight is a Victorian silver collar created in 1883 for a dog named Help. The shaggy black Scotch Collie was trained and handled by John Climpson, a passenger guard on the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. The dog was equipped with a collection box, and traveled extensively throughout Britain and France from 1882 to 1889, raising money for the “Orphans Fund”—a charity that assisted children of railway workers who had died on the job. The tag on his collar was inscribed with a London address where donations would be “thankfully received & duly acknowledged.” His appearances at railwaymen’s meeting, fundraisers and dog show made Help a celebrity, and prompted a legion of charity-collecting dogs.

The source of the dog’s name? Here’s a clue: Help’s image appeared on badges with the slogan “Help Our Noble Railway Dog,” with proceed from the sales of the badges going to orphanages. During his lifetime, Help brought in thousands of pounds sterling to aid the Orphans Fund. Upon his death in 1891, at the age of 13, a railway magazine ran a tribute: “No dog probably lived a more useful life the did ‘Help.’” His lovely silver collar and tag is estimated to sell for $2,500 to $3,500...

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You can find many tpes of tags that look similar.  Cremation tags are another example.  They aren't uncommon finds, although I've read that cremation remains are supposed to be released three miles out if placed in the ocean.  I don't think many actually do that though.

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I hope you had a great Christmas.  Many find it a hard time.  

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.  Matthew 5:4.

Seek and you will find.

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/25/22 - Merry Christmas.

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

Merry Christmas.

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: 11 Today in the city of David a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord! 12And this will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”…

A sign has been given unto you.

Merry Christmas!

12/24/22 Report - Star of Bethlehem Coin. Star of Lima Cobs. My Old Snow Globe Collection: A Christmas Scene.

 

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

"Star of Bethlehem" Coin.

Ancient coin shows Star of Bethlehem

The biblical Star of Bethlehem most likely was Jupiter’s occultation (eclipse) of Aries in 6 B.C., according to collector and astronomer Michael Molnar. 

Molnar believes a bronze coin of Roman Syria, issued by Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus Silanus, who was governor of Syria from A.D. 13 to A.D. 17, depicts the celestial event described as the Star of Bethlehem.

Molnar presents his case in a book titled The Star of Bethlehem: The Legacy of the Magi, which has been acclaimed by other astronomers and translated into several languages.

Molnar explains that Aries (a ram) was the sign of the Jews, and that ancient stargazers would have watched for the Star of Bethlehem in Syria... 

12 Days of Christmas: Ancient coin shows Star of Bethlehem (coinworld.com)

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Among the cobs you might have found are the rare and desirable "Star of Lima" coins produced in 1659 and 1660, a good number of which were on the San Miguel wreck discovered off Jupiter Beach.  The star on those cobs is sometimes referred to as the Star of Bethlehem. Other sources say the star represents Lima, the City of Kings.  Both could be correct. 

The closest I ever came to getting a "Star of Lima" cob is the following half reale from Jupiter Beach.

If it was as Star of Lima coin, the star would be shown to the right of the "S" in the monogram.

For an undated cob, it is a nice example.  Too bad it doesn't have the date or a star.  

But is especially crisp and clear for a beach cob.  That is what I really like about it.

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My favorite memories are stored away like a snow globe collection sitting on a closet shelf.  I'll explain.

I love to quietly absorb the pitch-black silence in the middle of the night.  It is so peaceful - like a darkened theater before the show, until an electrical storm of firing synapses lights center stage.  You never know what act will appear.  There is no advance program. 

Each snow globe has a switch or trigger. The trigger can be a sound, smell or sight, but sometimes globes are activated randomly to surprise and amaze.

As I lay awake in bed one recent night, one of the globes suddenly lit up and I was back in time some seventy years, walking through the shin-deep crunching snow on a clear starlit night on Christmas Eve with my mom, dad, grandpa, grandma and little sister, down the hill from the little red cracker box shack my dad built, to my grandma's house, which was a couple hundred yards away. It was my dad's birthday and we had just finished his traditional T-bone birthday dinner and were on the way to grandma's to open Christmas presents. It is hard to imagine that with my grandma along it was so silent, but the only thing I heard was the crunching snowy footprints. It was one of those beautifully black and silent nights decorated only by the many scattered twinkling stars.

A distant whispering sound drew my attention up between the stars and froze that moment forever. It was the distant sound of a airliner, probably at some thirty-thousand feet, but as I looked up towards the sound, I expected to see Santa making his magical rounds.  

I've heard the same distant echoing sound many times over the years, and it still takes me back to that beautiful Christmas Eve scene with my family many years ago, but sometimes when I wake in the night, as I did a few nights ago, it turns on all by itself., and I am walking through the crunchy snow with my family once again.

Merry Christmas to all.

May your memories be sweet and your future bright.

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

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The high tides are good and high today, and the surf is supposed to be moderate - something like three feet.  I might get a chance to check it out later,

12/23/22 Report - Interesting and Valuable Items From S.S. Republic. Disappearing Metal Detector Signals and What To Do About Them.

 

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

The winning bidder paid $102,300 on December 3, 2022 for this historic brass name tag and keys recovered from the legendary SS Central America that sank in 1857. Holabird Western Americana Collections in Reno, Nevada indicated the keys of the ship’s Purser, Edward W. Hull, likely were for a room where California Gold Rush treasure cargo was secured on the ship. (Photo credit: Holabird Western Americana Collections.)

Banknotes From S.S. Central America sold for $21,300 and a Wells Fargo lid sold for $99,600.  Those are just two of the lots from the S. S. Central America that brought great prices in a recent auction.

Wells Fargo Treasure Box Lid
Sold at Auction for $99,600.
See link below.

The unique wooden lid to a Wells Fargo & Co. treasure box was one of the many California Gold Rush sunken treasure highlights recovered from the fabled "Ship of Gold," the S.S. Central America that sank in 1857, in the Holabird Western Americana Collection auction held December 3, 2022 in Reno, Nevada and online. The lid with the engraved name "Wells Fargo & Co./New York" boldly visible sold for $99,600.

There were other lots that sold for great prices, including the following U.S. coins.

Sold as one lot, these seven United States and two Chilean “pocket change” coins recovered from the Atlantic Ocean seabed where the S.S. Central America sank in 1857 were purchased for $1,920 in the December 3, 2022 auction conducted by Holabird Western Americana Collections in Reno, Nevada. (Photo credit: Holabird Western Americana Collections.)

Below is the link for more auction items and details.

Banknotes From Sunken Treasure Sell For $21,300 | CoinNews

As you can see, items from the S. S. Central America are highly valued.

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I received the following email from Scott B.

Good morning and thank you so much for all of your hard work on the Treasure blog.
I recently retired, so I finally have more time to work on my detecting skills. Since the weather has started to cool, I’ve been trying to improve my understanding and skills of beach detecting. Since I live in Fernandina Beach, my time at the Treasure Coast is limited and I want to make the most of the trips there.

This year, one of the lessons I’ve learned deals with digging the target on the beach. At the beginning of the year I didn’t take a lot of time to really focus on finding the exact location of the target. By slowing down and locating the exact spot and trusting the detector, I spend much less time chasing what always seemed to be a “ moving target”. In hindsight, this seems to be common sense, but sometimes I need a little smack of reality to get my attention.\

Another thing, which you mentioned in one of your blogs, was the
“ disappearing target” . You mentioned that this often happens when the target has moved from the digging, so usually the next scoop will bring it out. I’ve found this to be the case most of the time and am grateful for your ongoing advice.

Perhaps 2023 will be the year for the first Reale!
I hope you, your family and all your readers have a wonderful Christmas season.

Respectfully,
Scott

Thanks Scott.

I occasionally hear from people who are puzzled by what appears to be disappearing targets, so I'll talk a little about that.

First and foremost, make sure your signal is a target riather than some source of noise.  Swing the coil over the suspected target a few times to make sure the signal is repeatable.  Black sand or even salt mineralization can cause false signals.  So make sure that is not what you are dealing with.

Second, detectors like the Equinox will detect very small targets that are very difficult to find in sand.  That is always a possibility.

If you have a good repeatable signal and then after making a hole can not longer get the signal, you coud have moved the target.  Make sure it isn't in the dirt you already move.  The item could have also dropped deeper in the hole or is now standing on end, so is less detectable.  Keep digging.  After the target seems to disappear, it will often reappear in the dirt dug from a wider or deeper hole.  Trust you initial signal.  Make sure the item wasn't missed.  It could still be in the hole, but once you make a hole, especially in a mineralized flack sand area, the detector might have more difficulty detecting the object.

Another thing you might do is switch to pinpoint mode and work your coil slowly around the hole.  Of course, a pinpointed might be used to help locate the object too.

Long thin objects can be difficult to locate.  They'll often be off to one side or another of the hole.  The signal might appear to be over the end of the object rather than over the middle of the object.  You'll often find targets like that to one side or another of your hole.

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The Washington Post breaking now is saying Covid is no longer mainly a pandemic of the unvaccinated.  As expressed in a recent post, that is what my personal observatons suggested.

Covid is no longer mainly a pandemic of the unvaccinated. Here’s why. - The Washington Post

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The surf is now around three or four feet, and the high tides are no pretty high once again.

Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net

12/22/22 Report - Finds by A Detectorist In His First Year of Detecting and the Amazing Story of a Beach Cache Found and Returned.

 

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

2022 Finds by John H.

John H. sent some find photos and the following story about how he uncovered a buried beach cache with a dramatic background.  Here is what he said.


Thank you again for all the hard work you do on beach reports. I have learned much from reading your postings. This was my first year metal detecting and I had a great time. The best part has to be that I was able to return 750 dollars plus a working brand new Samsung phone, charger, wallet items and other things to a young person that tried to commit suicide the week before by swimming out to sea after tearing up the money and burying it in the sand with all his worldly belongings, it took quite a while going back to same spot several times and finding all the pieces to the puzzle. That felt good. 

My total in clad for the year was about 125 dollars equaling 1300 holes dug... in retrospect that seems like a lot of work for 125 bucks LOL.

Coins Found by John H.

Congratulations John. You had a great first year of metal detecting.

When you find a cache, you want to know more. You will probably wonder who buried the cache and why.

John H. became a part of a real drama when he found a cache on the beach. Thankfully, though, it turned out not as bad as it could have been.

I asked John if he could tell me more while respecting the privacy of those involved.  I asked how he found the non-metallic items, and a few other questions.

Here is a photo of the money he recovered. Many of the bills were torn and damaged. Along with the money, he found a cell phone and paperwork that allowed him to find the owner of the cache.

Money Found by John H. Along with Other Paperwork and Objects.

Below is the email I received after asking John if he couuld tell me more.

It all happened over two or three days, I was on the north side of Bob Graham beach and got a very mixed signal. I dug down about a foot and came up with a cellphone with the cellophane covering still on it, brand new. The charger was with it. Rechecked the hole and got a solid quarter signal just to the side of it. I came up with a ton of paperwork that I didn't look at right away and hand drawings that were just incredible skill level. Below that was a disintegrating orange bag that fell apart and very wet thick paper money started falling out of it. Most of the corners had 100 on it. Panic set in and I stuffed everything in my catch bag, buried a full can of Mountain Dew from my bag in the hole, looked for a reference point to come back later and left the beach fast. I haven't been detecting very long and didn't know what I should do about it so I drove to see the person I bought my detector from, Gary from Treasure coast metal detectors'. not really knowing how much money it was yet, it could have been thousands for what I saw at a glance. I took the money home after talking to Gary and with a hair dryer some scotch tape and cleaning was able to put most of it back together. I dried out the paperwork and found a packet from Coral Shores behavioral center that had no name on it. The next day I went back to the site, found my can of Dew and started digging. Very deep I found more discharge paperwork from a different mental hospital, I think it was New Horizons. His Florida Identification card, insurance cards, medicare documents and most importantly Doctors discharge notes that had his mother's and father.s phone number on it. I also found nearly all the pieces of the 100 dollar bills, enough to call them good. After reading all the documents after getting them home and drying them out, it was painfully obvious that he had tried to commit suicide again at the beach. I called Gary on the phone and asked what he would do if it were him, of course he said he would return it ... carefully. I called the number to the parents and was relieved to hear he was unsuccessful at his latest attempt. His father told me he swam out as far as he could, pointed head down to the bottom and tried twice to suck in salt water. Someone from the beach saw this going on and swam out and pulled him back to shore. I asked his father not to tell him who I was, I met him at a gas station in Stuart and gave him back all the items. There is much more to the story but it would possibly identify him.

Good luck to all the detectorists I have met along the way this year. 

Happy Holidays, 

John

That is a good example for all detectorists and the kind of unexpected and amazing thing that can happen.

Many metal detectors and phones now provide GPS coordinates that will help you relocate where things were found.

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If you find damaged currency, you can turn them in to receive new bills.  Below is a link that provides the procedures to follow.  

Mutilated Currency and Bent or Partial Coin (frbservices.org)

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Good hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/21/22 Report - One Readers First Reale Find. A Couple Treasure Coast Beaches Today. Some Erosion. Time Passing.

 

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

First Silver Cob Found by Alberto S.

As you know, I asked people to tell something they learned this year.  Alberto, who found his first Spanish treasure coin not too long ago (shown above), told what he learned.  Here is what he said.

What I learned is - Follow your instinct!

 
As you know I found my first spanish coin this year after the hurricane went by and eroded some of the treasure coast beaches, I went out to detect but no luck on that day, but I had a hunch a feeling that if I managed to return the next day I was going to find a coin and I did return and went straight to the area I had in mind started detecting and within 20 minutes I had the coin in my hand. Was it a coincidence?

Also attached a couple of images (above) after cleaning up the coin I found, not a very good job but I don't want to be too harsh with the cleaning, I don't have close up equipment for images so they are a bit fuzzy.

I want to take this opportunity to thank you for all the hard work you put into writing your blog sharing useful and interesting information with all of us, truly appreciated.

Have a wonderful Christmas and a great New Year.

Alberto S.

Very nice reale find and nicely cleaned.  Congratulations Alberto.

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John Brooks Beach Wednesday Morning (Wednesday)

I took a look at a couple beaches this morning, and here are the beach photos.  As you can see above, there were some little cuts.  It looks like they formed last night and then got over washed and rounded off a little during the most recent high tide.

The front slope was mushy at the top and less mushy down by the water as you would expect.

One detectorist spent a lot ot time metal detecting there this morning.

John Brooks Beach This Morning.

The Frederick Douglass beach was a little different than the John Brooks beach.

Frederick Douglass Beach Wednesday Morning.

Frederick Douglass beach was not as cut, as you can see.  

Frederick Douglass Beach This Morning.

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Franco Harris died last night.  I was surprised because it wasn't long ago that I sat right behind him on a flight to Pittsburgh.  He seemed well and in good shape.  I guess it happened quickly and unexpectedly.  I remember the watching the Immaculate Reception on the TV at home.  It was 50 years ago this week.  And every time you go down the stairs at the Pittsburgh airport, you see two statues - one is George Washington, and the other is Franco Harris, and usually someone is getting a photo with the Franco statue. George doesn't get any attention at all.  Franco was a great guy and lived in a modest house in a middle-class neighborhood in Pittsburgh.  Great guy, who handled fame remarkably well.  

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A 1975 Super Bowl Joe Greene jersey just sold in a Leland auction for over $60,000.  Other Steelers memorabilia sold in the same auction.

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Source: MagicSeaweed.com

I wish I posted the wind direction yesterday.  I have used it to circle when the cuts occurred and then when they washed over.

The last high tide was pretty high, but, as you can see, the surf is decreasing.

I have a great story and some more finds to post tomorrow.

Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net