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Thursday, March 30, 2023

3/30/23 Report - How To Gain Target Information From the Auditory Signal Using A Metal Detector's Pinpoint or All-Metals Mode.

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


14K Diamond Bracelet Find.

Here are a couple new beach finds.  Above is a 14K diamond bracelet and below is a 14K aquamarine or maybe tanzanite ring.  I'm not sure about the stone.


Gold Ring With Blue Stone and a Couple D

Yesterday afternoon there was a little erosion.  My phone battery needed to be recharged, so I didn't get photos of the beach.  I did get in a little detecting time for a change and picked up only shiny new targets, including a number or new coins.  Absolutely nothing that appeared to be old at all.

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In the past I did some posts about using all-metals or pinpoint mode as a primary search mode.  Many people only switch to pinpoint mode when they want to pinpoint.  Much of the time, I do it in reverse.

People like to the conductivity numbers and other target indicators you get when working in discrimination mode, but you can tell a lot about a target from just the auditory signal when using pinpoint mode. The more you use the pinpoint mode, the more you will learn to get from the auditory signal.  

For years I used nothing but all-metals mode, even when using detectors that most people used mostly in discrimination mode.  The Minelab Sovereign and Excalibur are two examples.  The metal detectors that I used the most, though, did not provide any discrimination mode.  They were designed to detect targets at depth in saltwater environments.  They were designed for that single purpose and did it well.

When I started to write on this topic, I quickly found out it wasn't as easy as I thought it was going to be.  One of the problems is that it is not always easy to describe some of the subtleties.  Another difficulty comes from the fact that I am trying to describe how the detector operator perceives or hears the signal rather than the metal detector's output, which can be described in physical or electronic signals.  I am trying to describe the experience in phenomenological rather than electrical or physical terms such as decibels or frequency.


There are a lot of individual differences.  Some people have more acute hearing, for example. Some can discriminate more tones or frequencies.  Personally, I not real good at discriminating tones or frequencies.  I don't know how much of that is due to my sensory system, but it seems it is just not my nature to pay much attention to tones.  I don't know how much of that is the result of spending so many years not paying much attention to the different signal tones, or if my sensory system is just not very good at that.  I definitely don't have perfect pitch, but perception can be improved by training, and it can be affected by motivational factors.
Given all those acknowledged difficulties, I'll give it a shot and hope I don't make too much a mess of it.  Remember, I'll be using phenomenological terms to describe the perceptual experience rather than the physical characteristics of the detector's output.  They do not correlate perfectly.

From the auditory tone of the metal detector used in pinpoint mode, with some experience you can tell something about the size, shape and depth of targets.

Shallow targets generally produce stronger signals than deeper targets, and large targets generally produce stronger signals than smaller targets.  That is obvious, but there is more to it than that.

A signal produced by a small shallow target will be strong, but also brief and crisp. I might call that "sharp." That is a subjective or phenomenological description.  It is something that I can not describe in objective measurable terms like decibels or frequency, or other physical terms.  It is a subjective perception.

The brevity and crispness of the signal makes such a target sound even "stronger" than you might expect given the number of decibels produced by the output device of the metal detector.  A more prolonged signal of constant decibels would not be perceived as quite as loud as a sharper signal of the same decibel level.

As the depth of the target increases, the signal will be less loud, but less "sharp" or distinct.  The signal start and end less abrupt.  It is more gradual.  I'd describe it as being more fuzzy.  As the coil moves onto and away from the target, the signal from a deeper target will not be as crisp as one from a more shallow target.

Using the combination of loudness, signal duration and distinctness, you can get a good idea of depth and size.  Holding the size of the target constant, if it is deeper, the signal will not be as loud, but it also will be less crisp.  If it is a large topic, the signal will have greater duration.

Of course, noise will tend to disguise good signals, especially when they are less distinct, but many targets, such as smaller and shallower targets will still tend to be easily perceived among the noise.

I haven't said anything about how to tell the shape of the target from the signal yet.  I've described various methos of doing that in other posts.  There is the double blip of thin long objects, for example.  And by slowing tracing across the object in various directions, you can get some good information about the object's size and shape.  Most people these days know how to change sweep direction to tell if an object is roundish.  I described that technique many years ago.  To examine the object's shape, move the coil very slowly in various directions over the object.  You will not be able to determine the shape of smaller objects using that method.

You can get all that information from the signal if you want to, but don't spend to much time on it, especially since you can simply scoop it up and see what it is.  In cass when it sounds like it will not be so easy to dig up, you might want to spend more time determining the nature of the buried target before making the decision to dig it. 

With time, this will all become second nature.  Tasks that are frequently performed tend to become automatic, which is one reason I found it so difficult to break it down and describe the basic processes.  I did it so long, it is very automatic for me.  It is something like trying to describe how to ride a bike.  You can't describe how to do it.  You aren't even aware of all the adjustments you make.  But if you pay careful attention to the signals and how they vary according to the targets, you'll learn how to tell a lot of about the target from the auditory signal in all-metals mode.

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We had a wind shift yesterday and there was some small erosion on one of the beaches I visited.  It wasn't much, but enough to help in areas where there has been a lot of recent traffic.


Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.



As you can see, a little increase in the surf is expected but it won't be a lot and it won't last long.

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The Make America Dead agenda is in high gear and innocent children are being slaughtered around the world.  Evil is enraged and knows it's time is short.  


Matthew 2:16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:

18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”


But as Easter approaches, we know that death will be swallowed up in victory.
TreasureGuide@comcast.net



Wednesday, March 29, 2023

3/29/23 Report - Treasure Hunting Is For The Birds - In A Different Way. Metal Detecting As Time Travel.


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

Not Metal Detecting Finds But Presents Crows Delivered to the Bird Lover That Fed Them.
Source: TheEpochTimes - See link below.

Here is a cool story.

Tango is a bird-lover who feeds crows and in return receives gifts from the birds. 

TikToker Tango has firsthand knowledge of how smart and clever crows are. When she moved into her new home in Virginia almost three years ago, she immediately started feeding the birds. She especially noticed the crows, and she began leaving them peanuts.

Some people associate the jet-black birds with bad omens, but in actuality, corvids are highly intelligent scavengers capable of adapting to their environment, making analogies, and communicating. Researchers say ravens and crows are some of the world's most intelligent birds. In fact, they have about the same intelligence level as a 7-year-old human child!

Above you can see the crows at the feeding station along with the presents they brought.

Here is the link.

Woman Befriends Crow Family Who Leaves Her With Small Gifts as a Token of Their Gratitude (theepochtimes.com)


That story reminded me of the Magpies in The Detectorists British TV Series. 

Clip from The Detectorists.


Clip From Final Episode of The Detectorists.

I always thought about training sea otters to be treasure divers.  I think they'd be good at it.

There are a variety of animals that are known for their collecting shiny objects.



When I went back to find this video, I noticed that one of the characters explains that "Metal Detecting is the closest you'll get to time travel."  See (89) The Detectorists Finale in Slow Motion - YouTube

A few days ago I tried to describe something very similar when I talked about walking down the beach and seeing mammoth and Megalodon remains and prehistoric horse teeth, and peccaries, etc., and then following in the tracks of precontact indigenous peoples, noticing a pot shard or shell tool, and then the blackened coins of the shipwrecks, eventually coming back to recent times.  After years of searching those areas and stumbling across so many pieces of the past, it very much seems like those times are still present.  To me, it is almost like you can see those times and walk through them.

I don't have that feeling about South Florida where I hunted mostly modern items.  And I don't even have that sense of the previous history of my childhood home - just the times that I was there.  But I do very much have that feeling of the past in West Virginia where my ancestors hunted the woods and where I still metal detect whenever I get a chance.  The history is alive for me there, and when I step into the woods, it is like stepping into the past.  The intervening years seem to disappear as I follow in the tracks of my ancestors.  I stock the past like they stocked game.  I follow their tracks, and it seems like they might be just up ahead or behind a tree on the next hill.  The gentle breeze whispers through the leaves and like voices from the past.



The fact that I've read a couple books about the adventures of my ancestors in that area undoubtedly helps make it so real to me.  And I have no doubt they hunted those same hills. There is no other place where I feel as rooted or where I am more connected to the past.  The seasons change but time there does not pass.

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While on the subject of artifacts, Laura Strolia wrote the following concerning a photo of a Spanish candlestick base and Holy Water container that I posted a few days ago.  It was in one of the artifact resources that I mentioned.

Here is what Laura said bout that.

The object on the right definitely looks like a Catholic Holy Water container (called an Aspersorium) from the 16th century. Priests sprinkled Holy Water over the faithful to bless them. The early Aspersoriums were brass with handles (I am assuming the handle broke off in the one shown). These religious vessels, which looked like pails, came in many sizes, as I have seen some half the size of the one in the picture. I am wondering, though, if the two objects were made in conjunction with each other so that the candlestick could easily be stored in the Aspersorium. Any priest on an expedition would appreciate that benefit!

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Joe D. sent following.

Beach was pretty barren this morning; and lately! This little bottle at the surf line kept me from a total skunk! Shell collectors passed right over it!!👍

On a sad note, Monte Barry of AHRPS.ORG has passed away! He was one of the great ones, and will be missed!!

Sea-worn Embossed Bottle Found by Joe D.


Shell piles can produce a lot of very interesting things - everything from shells to pot shards and sea glass to fossils, arrowheads and even, on rare occasions, coins.

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They say that when you lose your parents you lose your past, but when you lose a child, you lose your future.

I'm sad about the killing of the children and teachers as well as the many other killings that continue around the world.  

There are so many messed up haters out there, and many of them now in positions where they can do immense damage.

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I haven't been hunting for the last four weeks or so - maybe once since I found the case gin.  I planned on doing more metal detecting tests but wanted to do those tests at the beach and haven't been out.  I still plan on conducting those tests and will hopefully get to them soon.  Just had too much to do.


The tides are pretty flat now.  And the surf predictions aren't very promising.


Source: MagicSeaweed.com.

I'm thinking I might be able to do a little hunting this afternoon.  I hope.

Good hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

Tuesday, March 28, 2023

3/28/23 Report - Browsing Through Arachaeological References and Identifying Treasure Coast Dug Artifacts.

 

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


Unidentified Artifact Dug From Treasure Coast Shipwreck Beach.
See below what it appears to be.

Not long ago I posted a link to a very good document that shows many Spanish Colonial artifacts.  I'm talking about the one showing many Spanish Colonial artifacts from Santa Elana.  Here is the link.   Spanish Artifacts from Santa Elena (sc.edu) 

As I browsed through that document once again (it is impossible to take it all in at one sitting), I looked at many items that looked very much like items that I once dug up on the Treasure Coast beaches.  

One of those is shown above.  I was always intrigued by that item, and never knew what it is.  So, of course, I was interested to see similar items on that web site.   After seeing something similar on the web site, I went back and looked through Deagan's book on Spanish Colonial artifacts.  I found a couple similar items there.

Below, on the left, is a similar item which I found in the Deagan book, and beside that is an illustration of an amulet illustrated in the document on Santa Elana artifacts.  You can see that they are smilar but  not exactl alike.  There is also another one, which is slightly different, shown in the Deagan book.  


Dominic Cross (left) From Deagan Book Beside an Illustration
of a Similar Item Shown in the sc.edu Document (right)

The one shown above on the left is carved jet.  The one I dug is metal.  

As I said, there is yet another similar but slightly different one shown in Deagan.  The jet one shown above is referred to in Deagan's book as a "Dominic cross."  The other one in Deagan's book is called a  "cruciform amulet," 

I measured the one I dug, and what I learned surprised and fascinated me.  No matter how you measue it, the measurements come out the same.  If you measure it diagonally from corner to corner or from point to point (horizontally or vertically), it measures the same.  

There does appear to be a tab or sprue or something on the upper right corner.  To me the uniform measurements could possibly be meaningful.  Maybe that is just how it was made, but it could be an important and meaningful element of the design.  Anyhow, it now seems very possible to me that the item I dug is either a cruciform amulet or Dominic cross.  I'm not absolutely sure about my mystery item now, but there are a couple very good possibilities.

What I really want to show today is  how useful the sc.edu document is as a reference.  By being familiar with artifacts such as those they show, you will be better able to recognize items when you dig them in the field or at least identify them after doing your research.  I've described before how helpful it can be to be able to immediately identify dug items.

Th.at is just one example of how helpful that resource can be.  As I browsed the web site, I saw many more examples that looked like things I dug in the past.

Here is a metal heart I found.  It has a hole in the top and bottom.  It hooks something like an earring shown in both the sc.edu document and Deagan's book.

Treasure Coast Metal Heart With Holes in Top and Bottom.

Below is the one shown in the sc.edu document.
Metal Heart Earring
Shown in the sc.edu Document.

 


Somewhere I have another with the hooks present.  I think maybe I posted it before.  If I run across it, I'll post it again.

The sc.edu document also shows a bracelet made of a plain curved band of metal.  It looks very similar to one I found, except the one I dug is silver.  It is shown below.  I'm pretty certain it is from a wreck.  



Both of the above mentioned resources also shows thimbles.  Below are a couple I found on our beaches.


Two Thimbles Found On Treasure Coast Beaches.

I measured these and they match very well with examples I found in the sc.edu document.  Deagan's book shows one with exactly the same design as the one shown on the left above.  Here are some of the ones shown in that book.


I'll wind that up now even though I could go on doing this for a long time.  In the sc.edu document I found many helpful photos and illustrations that resembled items that I dug.  Browsing through references like those I just referred to can help you identify and date finds.  

I only showed a small sample of the items you can find in the sc.edu document and highly recommend that you take the time to look through the entire thing.  There ae many other types of artifacts shown.

===

Source: MagicSeaweed.com

The surf predictions aren't very exciting.  The ocean tides are pretty flat now too.  

The wind direction seems to make a big difference in the lagoon tides.


I hope some of you appreciated the posts on marbles.  I know that may not be your primary interest, but they are interesting and pretty objects, and can be valuable too.  I find it helpful to be familiar with a wide variety of types of treasure.  Isn't being aware the magic of life.

Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net


Monday, March 27, 2023

3/27/23 Report - Spanish Artifacts From A Florida Site. Marbles In The Archaeological Record.


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


During the 1940s several young boys were roaming along the shoreline of a peninsula jutting into Pensacola Bay. They had learned how to find artifacts. The railroad crews would come down the line on occasion and dig out the banks to protect the tracks. When it rained the kids would scour the exposed banks for artifacts. On one day, they found a coin which dated to the time of the Tristan de Luna colony. One the kids Harry Bonifay, found it. The coin and the area are figured in the next few pages. Sixty something years later marine archeologists found two shipwrecks of the period just offshore from the same shoreline...

That paragraph and the following photo came from this web site.

Archeology Ink | Spanish Artifacts - A Research Journal by Caleb Curren, Archeologist

Glass Trade Beads From 16th Century Spanish Site.

The same web site provides a variety of other photos of artifacts as well as much more information.  You'll probably want to see it.  

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I recently got interested in researching my marble finds and talked about some of them the past two days.  When you think of marbles you might not think they are anything special, but not all marbles are you fathers marbles.  Marbles are among the oldest game pieces and are found in the archaeological record as early as during Roman times.  

Source: See magwv.com link.



That is exactly how my friends and I played it.

Jumping down a few paragraphs in the same article....


Here is that link if you want to read more about that.

Origin of The Game of Marbles (magwv.com)


Here are a couple excerpts from an archaeologic resource. 

The game of marbles is perhaps the most universal and oldest human pastime ever devised. This research covers American toy marbles primarily from the 1920-30s. The purpose of this research project is to give background information and specifically focus on the identification of marbles found in Southern California and San Diego, placing them within a historical context...

The types of marbles found in San Diego Archaeological Center’s collections span from the transformative period of clay and stone-based marbles to glass marbles. This project reviews six non-glass and five glass basic marble types to help familiarize students and researchers with marbles found locally in Southern California...

And here is that link.  Don't miss the video at the end.

Historic Toy Marbles – San Diego Archaeological Center (sandiegoarchaeology.org)


The following site discusses marbles as diagnostic artifacts.  

Here is that link.

Diagnostic Artifacts in Maryland

Many of the oldest marbles were made of clay, agate or stone, but some were made of glass.  The collecting community is more interested in modern marbles, which means they can be more valuable than older marbles, but the oldest marbles, which can be centuries old, can provide diagnostic clues that you won't want to miss.

Besides being game pieces, marbles were used in Codd bottles for the closure.  One of the interesting things I read, was how poor children would repurpose the marbles from those bottles.  

Marbles, of course, were also used for other purposes.  Some were drilled for decoration and jewelry, for example.  

I didn't expect to spend so much time on marbles, but not only can they be valuable finds, they can also provide important clues to metal detecting sites.

As you probably know, I appreciate and find a very wide variety of types of items - non-metallic as well as metallic.  What I recently learned about marbles has once again expanded my consciousness of the world that surrounds me.

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Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

The tides have flattened.  The surf predictions aren't very exciting at this point either.

The first step to finding something is knowing that it exists and being able to recognize it when you see it.

Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net


Sunday, March 26, 2023

3/26/23 Report - One Mystery Item Remains Unsolved After Many Years. Research Infuses Other Finds With New Life.

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




Source of the above: NativeTech: 19th Century Seminole Men`s Clothing ~ Seminole Silver Work

I found the item shown below a long ago, but it is still a mystery item for me.  It could be a gorget.  That is my best guess at this point.  It was found at a site in the Caribbean where the British and French fought right around 1800.  Of course all sites have a long and continuous history, but most of the things I was digging when I found the mystery item came from around the time of the battle.

I found two of those items not far apart.  That seems to add some weight to the idea that it could be a gorget.  One is slightly larger than the other.  So again, that seems to fit.  After all this time, I am still not highly confident that I know what the item really is.

I just looked at it with high magnification, but didn't see anything that helped,

I can't explain the middle hole, but both of the ones I found have three holes.  Perhaps there was another connector or a decoration.  At this point I don't think I'll ever know.


Mystery Find From 18th or Very Early 19th Century Site.


Recovered buried objects sometimes seem like they are frozen in time.  They remain after all the participants and many of the other items have deteriorated and disappeared.  The march of time continues, but some items last better than others.  

Detectorists often say they like touching a piece of history.  Reaching back through the veil of time is what it is all about for some detectorists.  On the Treasure Coast you can reach back and touch items from millions, thousands, hundreds of years ago, as well as decades, months, or days, and I've shown things from all those periods in this blog.

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Yesterday I posted pictures of a marble showing shiny hexagonal flakes on the surface.  I wondered how they got there and what they are. I found something that might answer the question.

The following comes from the oldraremarbles site (link below).

Micas are early German handmade marbles (many with a faceted pontil, indicating manufacture before 1880) and are made of transparent glass with subsurface silvery mica flakes that take on the color of the matrix glass they’re submerged into. Most common matrix glass colors are clear, various shades of amber or brown, various shades of blue from light blue to deep cobalt blue, and various shades of green from teal to dark army green...

There are several RARE varieties of onionskins:

  • Onionskin Lutzes are onionskins with lutz (metallic copper flakes that have a gold-like appearance). Generally speaking, the more lutz the more interest the onionskin lutz will have among collectors.
  • Blizzard Onionskin Micas are rare. They have heavy mica that is suspended in the clear casing glass above the onionskin core.
  • Paneled Mica Onionskins are rare too, where the mica is organized into distinct panels on or above the core....

Most common sizes for Onionskins are 9/16” to 7/8”.  Any Onionskin over 1” will generate a premium.  Onionskins are often found approaching 2-1/2” but demand a steep premium.  Peewee Onionskins are not particularly uncommon but do demand slightly more than a typical  5/8” Onionskin would.

Rare varieties are rare in all sizes and especially anything over 3/4” or in the peewee class...


Onionskin Archives - Old Rare Marbles

Looking through the marbles I've found, I found three that have mystery specs. Maybe they are mica, but I don't know.  I showed one of those yesterday.

Once you start investigating your finds you'll learn something even if doesn't necessarily answer your question.  That is one of the fun activities and big benefits of metal detecting.  You'll discover some things quickly while other mysteries won't be answered as quickly.  And sometimes you will change your mind two or three times.

I picked up marbles over a long period of time.  I just kep them without doing much research until very recently.  I started out completely ignorant so I'm learning a lot very quickly now.  

You might think some items are both uninteresting and lacking value, but that can quickly change, as it did for me, as I started to learn about antique and vintage marbles.

I'm also discovering the commonality between how antique marbles and bottles were made. Both were blown and shaped in molds in a very similar way.

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The variety of interesting things that can be found can be overwhelming, but it is always challenging, interesting, informative and entertaining.  

I never liked the idea of passing up something of value simply because it was not the one kind of thing I went out to find on a particular hunt.  And I don't like passing up items of value simply because I was unaware of the possible value.  To me, that is like hunting with blinders on.   

I didn't know much about the value of marbles but liked finding them anyhow.  I was surprised to learn that even fairly common ones can be worth a few bucks and how many can be worth thousands of dollars.  I picked them up, not knowing much about them, but they really came alive to me as treasures after I started doing the research and learning more about them.

Don't be too quick to discard finds that you don't know much about.  You might value them more highly after you study them.

I don't always define the value of items in economic terms.  As I said, items can be interesting, informative, aesthetic or simply entertaining.  And in some items you might be able to find a deeper meaning -  maybe even a message.

With so many things to do and so many things to discover, you might feel your time is all too rare. Time is perhaps the most valuable treasure of all - and very much what you make of it.

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Nothing special in the forecast.


Good hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net


Friday, March 24, 2023

3/25/23 Report - Marbles - Another Kind of Treasure That You Can Find. Art, Artifact, History and Mystery.


Written by the TreasureGuide for the Vintuse of the Treasure Beaches Report.

Vintage Marble Find.

When you are metal detecting you might other kinds of things.  I've talked about many of those before.  Among those other things are marbles, which are collectable and can have good value.  I've found probably fifty or more vintage marbles over the years while looking for other things.

Although I've found a good number of marbles, I haven't leaned much about them, and I've been finding that. like with other th.ings, there is a lot to learn. Of course you find more of the common ones than the more valuable ones, but you have to learn to tell the difference.

My most interesting marble find so far is the blown swirl marble that I showed on Jan. 6 of this year  (Treasure Beaches Report: Pt. 2. (2020 and Beyond). : Search results for swirl marble (tbr2020.blogspot.com)  If that one was in better condition, I'm pretty sure it would have been worth hundreds of dollars.  That is more than you will get for many Spanish cobs.

Anyhow, wanting to learn more about my marbles and how to date and evaluate them, I found what appears to be an excellent and detailed article, but I learned very little from that article.  I think I would have gotten more from it if there were more photos and illustrations.  I'm sure it was a good article, but I needed something more basic.  I did however pick up a few things from reading the article and decided to take a better look at the marbles I found.

I learned that some old marbles will fluoresce in ultra-viloet light.   I've previously posted investigations of various artifacts that will fluoresce under blackk light.  That included some gem stones, fossil shells and an especially interesting example of sea glass that I found a number of years ago.  That was an especially intriguing story that took me years to unravel.

Red Uranium Sea Glass.

As it turns out, that particular piece of sea glass probably came from a reflective lens from a buoy.  It took me years to learn that.  See The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 9/23/15 Report - One Way To Add Value And Interest To Your Treasures. North Carolina Beaches Producing. Sea Glass Web Sites for more of that story.  It was viewing that glass under ultraviolet light that gave me the critical clue. 

So, as I was saying, I just learned that some old marbles will fluoresce too.  That is something I could investigate, so I did.  Below is one example.


Same marble under LED light (left) and ultra-violet light (right).

I just learned that marbles have seams.  You can see where the seam is on the one below.  

Another View of the Same Mable Showing The Seam.


Here is a quick video showing a group of marbles under ultraviolet light.


Vintage Marbles Being Viewed In Ultraviolet Light.

As you can see there are a few that fluoresce.  I can't say for sure that those are older or much of anything else about them.  I need to learn more about that.

There is a lot I need to learn.  Some hand blown marbles, like bottles, show a pontil mark.  There are a variety or makers, which can be identified, and there are a variety of types, and of course, ages.  I have been doing some reading and research, but haven't learned a lot yet. 

Here are just a few more photos of vintage marbles that were found while I was out looking for other things.  

Closeup of Larger Marble Showing Numerous Chips.


As with other collectibles, condition is important with marbles too.  I have a couple that have been rolled in the surf so long that I think they would more accurately be called sea glass.






A knowledgable collector would probably be able to quickly identify the maker of this marble and give a date range.

I found some marbles that appeared to have a painted metallic layer on the surface, but on closer inspection, this is what I saw.


Shiney Flakes On Marble Surface That Looks Like Glitter.


Hexagonal Flakes on Marbles Surface.

So another mystery steps forward.  What caused these flakes or crystals that appear on about a half dozen marbles that I've found that were once submerged - and probably for many years?  I no longer believe they wee part of the surface of the manufactured marble and probably not painted on as I once believed.

You can look into the marbles like you can look into diamonds or gem stones.  If you do that well, sometimes you can see how the glass flowed.  On blown marbles, you can tell how the glass blower moved the glass just from how the color swirls too.



The next video is quick, but at the end you can see waves in the glass.




The small black donut shape you see on some of the clear marbles, I think are lighting artifacts.  I should have washed them before taking the photos.

Just a couple more marbles for today.  Besides be toys and collectibles, I think some are especially pretty.








One thing to remember is that some marbles can be worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars, so if you might not want to skip marbles.  Besides that, they can be old and interesting.  The older marbles are not always the most valuable.  Old clay marbles, for example, are pretty common and not as desirable to collectors as many more recent examples.

In the past day or two I've learned a little about them but need to learn a lot more.

Here are a couple good reference links.


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The surf is now down around three feet.  We are having some nice low tides though.

Good hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

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Thursday, March 23, 2023

3/24/23 Report - Resources for Researching Spanish Colonial Artifacts.

 

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

Source: See usta.edu link below.


I found a good article on Spanish Colonial artifacts you might want to look at.  

It is An Inventory and Analysis of Spanish Colonial Construction-related Artifacts from Texas and Louisiana with French Colonial Comparative Material by Shelley E. Roff, Jason B. Perez, and Jessica Nowlin 

Here is the link.

SR No. 34.pdf (utsa.16th cenedu)

The item shown above is very much like one I found.  I could find mine right off, which is another example of what I talked about the other day -  insufficiently organized storage of finds.  And my blogs have become so large that I could not find the item there either.

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Here is a good ebook.  - Spanish Artifacts from Santa Elena Stanley by Russell K. Skowronek and Richard E. Johnson.
It is nearly five hundred pages and has many artifact photos and illustrations.  Here is one of the many illustrations that you might find helpful.


Below is another.

Lead Fishing Objects.

If you've been following this blog closely, you know that I've been wondering about some lead rolls like the ones shown above.  The two on the left in the above illustration are identified as lead line weights.  They seem to match some that I've shown.  Others that I've shown have no evidence of any split, and I suspect have another use.

That is just one more of the many illustrations in this ebook.  There are many other illustrations of things like aglets, buckles, bells, crossbow points, etc. etc.   Of course there are a lot of pages on ceramics or pottery.

I noticed several items that appeared to be the same as mystery items that I've found or posted in the past.  Take a look.

Here is the link.

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

3/22/23 Report - Surf To Be Decreasing For Next Several Days. 16th Century Great Pestilence. Killer Fungus.

 

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

John Brooks Beach Wednesday Around Noon.

I had an appointment this morning and was close enough to the beach to take a quick look at John Brooks even though I didn't have my metal detector along.

Since I was there a couple days ago, the cuts up around the bend had disappeared.  And the slope was now steeper.


John Brooks Wednesday Around Noon.

The TG Beach Cam made one catch.  Here is a fellow resing in the sun with his trusty metal detector laying on the sand beside him.


Detectorist Taking in the Sun At the Beach.

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A pathogen possibly responsible for one of several catastrophic sixteenth-century epidemics in Mexico has been identified in DNA taken from the teeth of several of its victims. The 1545 huey cocoliztli, or “great pestilence,” as it was called at the time in the Nahuatl language, raged through Mesoamerica 25 years after the Spanish arrived, killing tens of millions. Working with genetic material from 29 individuals buried in the only known cemetery from the 1545 outbreak, a team from Germany’s Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History has discovered the presence of Salmonella enterica serovar Paratyphi C, a bacterium that causes paratyphoid fever. It’s rare today but has a high mortality rate if untreated. Max Planck’s Christina Warinner says, “People have been wondering about the cause of this epidemic for 500 years.”...

Here is that link.

Conquistador Contagion - Archaeology Magazine

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The fungus Candida auris, which causes a highly infectious and potentially deadly infection, is spreading faster in U.S. health care facilities and likely becoming more resistant to treatments, a new study shows....

Drug-resistant 'superbug' fungus is spreading faster in the US | Live Science

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As you make a lot of finds, unless you quickly sell them, you'll want to be able to find a particluar item from time to time.  That won't be easy unless you organized your finds better than I i 

The more you find, the harder it gets.  And it doesn't matter if you are talking about coins, jewelry, bottles, fossils or what.  You'll be much better off, if you categorize and organize your finds well.  It might not seem that important at first, but the longer you go and the more finds you accumulate, the more important it will to store things in an organized manner.

Your collection will grow and you might have to reorganize things.  Otherwise you'll find yourself wishing you could remember where you put the thing you want to take another look at.

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Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

The surf will be deceasing the next few days.  We are having some good big tides now though.

I heard some of the beaches up around Melborne were closed because of jelly fish.

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Good hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net



Tuesday, March 21, 2023

3/21/23 Report - Beach Conditions and Renourishment Projects Around the Treasure Coast.


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


Turtle Trail Monday
Photo by DJ.

DJ sent the following beach report along with these photos.

Checked the beaches today at Turtle Trail. Sand erosion by the wind and a few cuts high up in renourishment sand. Not sure how turtles can dig into that hard pan to lay eggs or how the baby turtles can dig out. Shredded fabric of a few green bags showing and only a few targets, mainly stainless steel.
The other pic is Wabasso south.



Turtle Trail Monday
Photo by DJ.



Wabasso Monday.
Photo by DJ.

DJ also sent this beach cam image of the Sebastain Inlet area.


Sebastian Inlet Monday Beach Cam Image.
Submitted by DJ.


Below is what Glen S. saw at Treasure Shores.

Beach Renourishment at Treasure Shores.
Photo by Glen S.

It seems they timed a number of beach renourishment projects just in time for Spring Break.

Glen S. said, "Went to Treasure Shores on Friday. It appears they are staging heavy equipment to start beach renourishment. After Treasure Shores I drove up to Bonsteel Beach. Beach renourishment was well underway with only a small section of beach left untouched.

I think that means they are running late on Treasure Shores.  I think they had that project scheduled to be complete and reopened by now.

Add to those two the beach renourishment that is continuing at Fort Pierce South Jetty and in front of the FPL property on South Hutchinson Island.  The FPL area renourishment seems to be centered between the two intake tunnels and does not extend down to the Walton Rocks dog park or north to Blind Beach.

Thanks much to DJ and Glen.

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I recently added three bottles to my TGBottlebarn.blogspot.com site.

One was a 3-in-One Oil Company bottle.  You might be surprised to learn that 3-in-one was invented in the 1800s for bicycles.  And, of course, it is still in use today.

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Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

The surf is starting small today but will be increasing.  Tomorrow we are now supposed to get a four to six foot surf - not nearly what was predicted a few days ago.  

The Treasure Coast will now be getting some better high tides.

Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net