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