Written by the Treasureguide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
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| Clip From Amazon Listing. |
Yesterday I mentioned some shipwreck sites from a book by Frank Hudson. The book is entitled Florida Shipwreck Treasures. I received an email from Chris H. asking if I ever checked out the cost of that book. So I did, and above is what I found. The book is listed on Amazon for $1500. That is surprising. I guess I should check out the prices on some of my other books.
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In my 8/4/22 report, I published a photo of an embossed bottle that had the words Long Distance embossed on the shoulder and A. M. Dodge Co. on the heal.
DJ found some information on the A. M. Dodge Company.
The Dodge was a cyclecar manufactured in Detroit, Michigan, by the A.M. Dodge Company from 1914 to 1915. The cyclecar had a four-cylinder 25 hp engine that was water-cooled, and had a frictionless transmission. The vehicle was designed by George Wahl of Wahl Motor Company.The company was later sued by the Dodge brothers in 1915, who claimed that their name had been infringed.
DJ thought that maybe the A. M. Dodge Co. Long Distance bottle held some kind of promotional drink. I have no better guess. Long Distance could suggest a quality of the cyclecar. I also wonder if it might be for something other than a drink despite the fact that it does look like a soda or beer bottle. Could it be a bottle for oil or coolant or something like that. That doesn't seem to me very likely, but I just don't know at this point.
The time period of the cyclecar does look like it could match up fairly well with the age of the bottle. Still a mystery.
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Yesterday I talked about using discrimination. I decided to add to that today.
When your metal detector provides a single knob to control the amount of discrimination, as was common in the past, the important thing is to know where the most desirable targets would fall on the range and making a prudent decision on the amount of discrimination to use. Again, on a beach, especially a frequently detected beach like many of those on the Treasure Coast, the best decision, in my opinion, would be to dig everything, but when the situation requires discrimination, the more you know about the type and quantity of items likely to be found and the more you know about how your metal detector's discrimination works, the better decision you can make.
When, however, your metal detector provides conductivity numbers, as is the case these days on many modern metal detectors, it is important to be familiar with the numbers produced by the most common good AND junk targets. I've posted some experiments on that type of thing in the past.
Besides knowing the numbers produced by common coins, to make the best dig/no dig decisions, it is best to know the numbers produced by common junk items. How does a smashed aluminum can sound? What numbers do fishing sinkers and spoon lures usually produce, etc.? You probably know that those types of items can produce a range of numbers. In the case of sinkers, some of them will produce numbers that are the same as some modern coins. Even though we typically know the numbers of pennies, dimes, nickles and quarters (some of the most common targets), as I've explained before, those are seldom your most sought targets. So, if you confine your digging to those, you will likely miss more desirable targets, such as watches, a good number of gold rings, etc.
A factor that I consider, but have never noticed written elsewhere, though admittedly I don't read much of what other people are saying, is the amount of time it takes to get a good reading. Some people claim that it takes them virtually no time to glance at the numbers and make a decision, but when I have seen YouTube videos in which people are trying to make a target ID from the numbers, it takes a good while to get a good reading and make a decision. If it takes you that long, you could often save time by simply digging the target and getting it in your hand. When I try to use the conductivity numbers, I often find myself making multiple sweeps over the target and standing there taking time reading the varying numbers. That takes time. I often feel that I'd be better off digging the target and knowing what the item is rather than standing there trying to figure it out before digging.
But most recently I was metal detecting a large area totally covered by so much trash it was impossible to dig everything. I was doing that more as an experiment. I didn't really expect to find anything good but wanted to see if I could use the numbers to pick through the trash for whatever good targets might be there. In that case, I defined "good" as some type of coin or jewelry. I have been able to pull a few coins out of that kind of trash before. It wasn't really worth the effort, other than what I learned from the exercise, but you never know when you might get a surprise.
Now, after all of that, here is some practical advice. The conductivity numbers in very high trash areas. where there is a very large amount of trash and very few good target and probably none of high value, aren't very useful. There are too many junk items that produce numbers that are the same as common coins. However, there are some other clues you can get from your metal detector signal besides the numbers. Use those other clues too.
You can obtain useful information from the sound of the signal. Many junk targets will produce very loud signals as compared to better items like coins or small gold rings. To pick the better items out of the junk, you might concentrate on the smaller and softer signals. That is similar to how people hunting for older coins might concentrate on weaker signals hoping to find the deeper coins as opposed to the more modern coins near the surface.
Also, try swinging the coil from various different directions. You can often determine if the target is roundish or not. If it is round like a coin, it will give a consistent signal when sweeping in different directions.
Those two things used along with the conductivity numbers will help you make better dig decisions when there is really a lot of junk. You might want to clear some of the junk. Perhaps use a rake or big magnet. Think of that as site preparation. Or maybe dig and remove the obviously bigger junk targets. And consider alternative techniques such as sifting.
A smaller coil might be helpful too.
On an ocean beach, when you find tons of junk (especially "lighter" junk, as much as I hate to use that adjective) that will often be a sign that you are in the wrong place anyhow, so you might want to move on. There is likely a better place to detect.
If you don't expect to find any items of high value, the biggest benefit of working in a high junk environment might be what you learn from the process. It does provide good practice and what you learn might come in useful someday.
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| Source: nhc.noaa.gov. |
Looks like the Atlantic is becoming a little more active.
We are still having a small surf along with some good tides.
Good hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net