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Tuesday, February 14, 2023

2/14/23 Report - About American Gold Eagle Coins. 15th Century Shipwreck. An Older Bottle Find.

 

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


One-Ounce American Eagle Gold Coin Design.

In my 2/12/2023 post I tested a couple metal detectors on a couple coins, one of which was a 1998 American Eagle like the one shown above.  I thought you might be interested in some of the history of coins like this.  Here is the beginning of that.

American gold coins were originally authorized by the Coinage Act of 1792 and served as coins of the realm until 1933. They were removed from circulation by Franklin Roosevelt’s controversial executive order which lasted until 1972.

President Nixon rescinded Roosevelt’s executive order which banned private ownership of gold bullion at the same time as he slammed shut the “gold window”. His action removed the last vestige of gold backing from the US dollars – dollars could no longer be redeemed by any party for gold. But at least Americans could once again build personal reserves.

Prior to 1933, US gold coins circulated with denominations of $20, $10, $5 and $2.50. The modern American Eagle 1 oz gold coin carries a denomination of $50 – a tiny fraction of its actual value based on metal content. Officials do not want gold coins to re-enter circulation or to be spent, in competition with fiat (paper) dollars. Rather the coins are traded by dealers and investors, priced at just above the current melt-value of 1 troy ounce of gold.

The one-ounce American gold eagle coins first produced in 1986 after passage of the Gold Bullion Act of 1985 passed. The act authorized the US Mint to produce American Eagle gold coins, but only from gold mined inside the US...

Here is the link for the rest of the article.

1 oz Gold coin, American Gold Eagle - Money Metals Exchange

If you missed that post because of the Super Bowl, you might want to go back and take a look.

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Contents of a 15th century shipwreck.  

A pair of archaeologists with Lund University in Sweden has found "a treasure trove" of plants aboard a sunken 15th-century Norse ship. Mikael Larsson and Brendan Foley describe their findings in PLOS ONE.

In 1495, Danish King Hans docked his ship Gribshunden off the coast of Sweden in preparation for a meeting with Swedish ruler, Sten Sture the Elder. His plan was to broker a deal that would give him control over Sweden as he had done with Norway, creating a united Nordic kingdom. Unfortunately for Hans and many of his crew, the ship caught fire and sank. To give himself the upper hand, the King had filled his ship with both warriors and goods worthy of a rich and powerful man...

Here is that link.

Trove of spices from around the world found on sunken fifteenth-century Norse ship (phys.org)

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Just a few days ago I picked up a couple bottles and a marble.  One bottle was an interesting blown bottle that was different than any I've found before and probably older than most.  

Three Views of Blown Bottle.

For some reason the rings of wear around the bottle remain white even after cleaning.

There are no seams on the bottle at all, and many small bubbles in the glass.

The top of the bottle is larger than the main cylendar.  That is near the first incomplete line around the bottle just below the shoulder.

One very interesting thing to me is the lip and collar, which was made for a cork and wire holder.  It seems to be somewhere around 1880.  Notice how the wire goes around the grove and then up over the cork.



While there are a lot of interesting features to be found on this bottle, there is unfortunately no embossing that would help identify the contents, manufacturer or date.


A good portion of the cork is still inside the bottle.  The wire or twine cork holder is obviously gone.

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The tides are pretty small today.  Not much surf either.

Good hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net