Written by the Treasureguide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
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| Pewter Dome Ring. |
Above is a pewter ring found by a metal detector. I haven't found many pewter rings. Very few, in fact.
Pewter seems to be more common for things like silverware, plates or candlesticks.
Pewter jewelry is inexpensive compared to its finer counterparts, it looks lovely, and it can be treated to look a lot like sterling silver in its various forms–from polished to patina’d and everything in between.
Pewter is one of the oldest manmade alloys in the world, dating as far back as the beginning of the Bronze Age. It’s been used by the ancient Egyptians, Romans, early Norse and many other civilizations as well. Pewter is classified as an alloy made with a large percentage of tin (90% or more), combined with other metals for different results.
You can make jewelry faster because of the lower melting point.
The lower melting point also means molten pewter won't harm gemstones.
Pewter can be cast in silicone molds.
Pewter is not as heavy as other metals, and unless it’s encasing a stone with its own weight, doesn’t dangle or drape as nicely in necklaces and earrings.
It can be difficult to build up the edges of a bezel so that they’re secure.
Pewter can tarnish in humid environments and with exposure to saltwater or chlorinated water (like in pools). It’s best not to wear pewter in water as a general rule.
Here is the source link.
Pewter Jewelry Pros and Cons - SoftSoldering.com
Notice that the ring shown above is bent.
If you have found examples of old pewter jewerly, I'd like to see it.
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I've been posting some information found in Vernon Lamme's book, Florida Lore. I'll finish with that today.One name that pops up a few times in Lamme's book is Alan Craig, which is a name you might recognize as the author of Spanish Colonial Silver Coins of the Florida Collection and Spanish Colonial Gold Coins of the Florida Collection. I've not yet been able to confirm for certain that the Alan Craig referred to in Lamme's book is the Alan K. Craig that authored those books, but the Alan Craig mentioned in Lamme's book was on the faculty of Florida Atlantic University and the author of the coin books is retired from the same university, so I suspect it is the same person.
By the way, if you want to acquire the Craig book on the gold coins of the Florida Collection, you can find a copy on Amazon with a starting price of 550 dollars. One of my big gripes is how expensive or difficult it is to access so many of the items and so much of the information that is acquired at public expense to be "saved for the public." The public has to either pay a ridiculous price for access or cannot access the items or information at all. Some items go missing, as did the human skeleton embedded in oolite excavated by Lamme after being sent to the Smithsonian. In my opinion, items acquired at public expense to be saved "for" the public should be easily accessible by the public.
Lamme disagreed with Allan Craig, who believed that Mayan canoes could not have reached the Bahamas and the stone structures found in the shallow waters of the Bahamas, which some people believed to be Mayan ruins, were turtle corrals. Craig was only mentioned in Lamme's book as someone who Lamme disagreed with on those points.
I'll present just two additional notes from the Lamme's book. First, Lamme mentions a rhinoceros tooth found in the Peace River back in the 1930s by a fellow from the Smithsonian who claimed the tooth to be 200,000,000 years old. Lamme commented that those fellows throw around years like they are taxpayer dollars. He also spelled Peace River as Pease River. I don't know if that was a typo or an old spelling.
He also mentions remains of a large Mammoth skeleton in the Peace River after a big drought. He said that was something the Smithsonian did not have at that time. I mention that for two reasons. First, I find it interesting to think of how recently the field of Florida archaeology developed. Up until that point, it was mostly an open field of study. You could go out and dig into Indian mounds or whatever with little problem and make discoveries. Now, there are more regulations, more people interested in the field of study, and a more developed body of knowledge. Back in the early 1900s, it was a young and developing science.
The other reason I mention the fossils is that both rhinoceros and mammoth fossils have been found on the Treasure Coast.
There are other items of interest in the same book. For example, the author also talks a bit about Ponce de Leon, the 1715 Fleet, and a good bit about the Ashley gang. While there is a lot in the book on other topics, I've some of the topics that I thought might be of interest to the detectorist or treasure hunter. If your interest is in Florida history is broader, you will find some of the other topics in the book just as interesting.
The book was published in 1973, and the body of knowledge has grown. Some of the controversies discussed in the book may have been settled by now. I don't know if anyone today believes that Mayan culture began in Florida, but it is interesting to look back a few decades at what people were thinking and finding a few generations ago. Even though things have changed since the Lammes articles were written, the book does provide some interesting reading.
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Nothing special to report concerning beach conditions.
Good hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net