Written by the Treasureguide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
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The majority of terrestrial hermit crab species worldwide have used trash as shells, according to a study by experts at two Polish universities to be published next month.
The study analyzed publicly available images of hermit crabs online and past scientific literature. It found 386 examples of the crustaceans encased in garbage instead of a seashell, of which about 85 percent were using plastic caps and the remainder using metal and glass. They included individuals from 10 of the 16 species of hermit crab that live on land, and were found throughout the tropics from Africa to Central America...
Here is the link.
Majority of land hermit crab species now use trash for shells (msn.com)
The first time I saw that was at Key Biscayne. A hermit crab was using a soda bottle neck with a cap for a shell and I wished I took a photo of it when I saw it, but I guess it is much more common than I thought.
One video attributed the behavior to a shortage of shells due to shell collecting. Maybe? And some rangers have been placing shells where they would be found and used by the crabs.
Oh, by the way, if you pick up a nice shell at the beach, make sure no animal is using it before taking it home. Look deep inside the shell to make sure. You might otherwise end up with a stinky dead mess in a couple days. I think most tourists end up trashing their shells before long anyway.
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For the year 2023, the price of gold rose on the COMEX 13.5% against the US dollar, while silver only increased 0.5%. Many people consider these two almost interchangeable forms of precious metals. To have one be strong and the other stagnant over the course of a year has folks scratching their heads to understand what happened...
Keep an eye on silver. The dollar volume of gold trading dwarfs that of silver. Since silver trading is a thinner market, its price can and does move up or down by a greater percentage than gold. Therefore, if any major world calamity erupts, demand for bullion-priced physical silver could skyrocket almost instantly—as we saw early in the pandemic in 2020 and in March 2023. So, even though gold solidly outperformed silver in 2023, we still recommend that any allocation between the two metals tilt in favor of silver being 3/5 to 2/3 of the total value between the two. In the long term, I project that the equilibrium gold/silver ratio will fall between 35:1 to 49:1. Today, it is more than double that...
Here is the link for more about that.
Why Was Gold Up In 2023, But Not Silver? - Numismatic News
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The early January Florida United Numismatists convention may kick off the new calendar year, but it is also generally viewed as a barometer and indicator of how the market will perform.
This time, comments indicated FUN was, in general, considered to be one of the best coin shows in memory. It set a high bar for the year, but attendance and buying habits also suggested coin collecting is even more popular than it has been. The FUN show is important, but it isn’t the only thing fueling the market right now. The U.S. Mint recently announced it was nearly a sellout of its Uncirculated 2023 Mint Sets, the mint having produced 185,000 sets. It will be interesting to see how the secondary market for these sets performs since this is the lowest number issued since 1958. The same mint report indicated 114 other products outperforming their previous sales.
The recent release of the Harriet Tubman commemorative $5 gold, $1 silver, and clad half-dollar coins is yet another piece of good news for coin collecting. The commemoratives gained significant publicity in both the numismatic and the general press, this being a big plus for the future expansion of the hobby...
Here is that link.
FUN Show Indicates Good News for Hobby - Numismatic News
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| Surf Chart from SurfGuru.com. |
We're supposed to have some small negative low tides today.
Good hunting
Treasureguide@comcast.net