Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
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| Brown Bottle Found 1/1/24 |
As I said before, I went for a little bottle hunt on Jan. 1. Having done very little hunting of any kind lately, I wanted to do at least a little hunt to start the new year. I didn't find much, but I did find this little bottle, which, other than a few marks on the bottom, has no identifying marks.
You don't have to know what company used the bottle or what it held to find out its age range. You can use the makers mark.
This bottle had a WT within a triangle on the bottom. I know I had seen that mark before, and I looked in up using the fantastic SHA maker's mark pages using the following link. Makers Marks (sha.org).
Below is the maker's mark with the glass company name, and the date range when the mark was used.
Another thing I found but didn't mention was the following milk glass jar. While it doesn't have any marks that I've noticed, I'd bet it was a mid-century salt or pepper shaker. If you are old enough, you probably remember saltshakers like that. The only reason I picked it up is because I thought I had another one like it and thought it would make a good pair.
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| Found Milk Glass Jar |
Most of the milk glass items I see where I hunt are cosmetics containers, but I've found other things, such as a cheese spread container and decorative vases. Most aren't worth anything, but there are milk glass collectors, so you might be able to find a few that are worth something. I like the small face cream containers, which are good for cleaning small dug items. The white shows every bit of whatever comes off the item as it is being cleaned.
Here is a good introductory site on milk glass.
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If I asked a detectorists what is the first thing to do when you want to go metal detecting, I suspect some would say they'd get their metal detector and drive to the beach. That seems like a reasonable first step, but neglects a lot of what a detectorist actually does, such as select, purchase and learn how to use the metal detector. It also neglects the matter of site selection.
Some people simply go to the closest or most convenient beach. That is fine, but if you are like a lot of the detectorists that live on or visit the Treasure Coast, you might be most interested in the 1715 Fleet shipwreck items. But not everybody focuses on those types of targets. Some detect for modern coins, or modern jewelry, for example.
Different detectorists have different goals. I've talked before about the importance of defining your goals. No matter what you are doing, it helps to have a clear idea of exactly what you want to accomplish. Without clear goals, you can't very well measure success and therefore you can't measure your progress. Having a general idea of what you want to find is ok, but having clear and measurable goals is better.
In the past I've talked about keeping a detailed log of your finds and as you progress, you'll set higher goals. Personally, I started out seeing how much money in change I could find, and then went from hunting coins to primarily hunting jewelry. I changed how I measured my success and how I recorded the results of my hunts. If you keep good detailed records of your hunts, analyzing that data should help you in a variety of ways. I've done posts on setting goals and keeping records in the past.
I haven't said this for quite a while, but two general things I highly recommend, if you take your detecting seriously, is being thorough and systematic. Those are two key words.
You might want to review some of those topics. Here are a couple links on setting goals.
To illustrate, here is something I once said about the Oak Island TV show.
One thing they really need is a well-defined goal with specific objectives. I've heard different people on the show describe the goals in very different ways. The narrator once said for him it was all about the story. One of the Laginas said what he wanted to find out is if "anything" happened on Oak Island. I interpret that to mean "anything big or treasure related." Somebody else said they wanted to find out what is in the money pit. Viewers might think the show is actually about finding some huge treasure. If you listen to what different people on the show say, it is clear they have different views of what it is all about, and that shows up in how they search. Their goal is not clearly defined and therefore their search is unfocused.
And the helter-skelter approach shows up in the results. They've been doing that show for something like ten years, I think.
The people who produce the TV show have their own goals. They are making a TV show. The goal of a TV producer is not to bring an end to the show. They have incentives to keep it going as long as they can sell the TV airtime and make money.
It is important to acknowledge your goals. Goals, acknowledged or not, are important and have a lot to do with results.
If you just want to spend some enjoyable fun time while getting some exercise on the beach, that is fine, but if you have your heart on finding reales or gold coins or whatever, defining specific goals will help you measure and increase your level of success. It might not seem necessary, and it isn't, but if you take your metal detecting seriously and really want to accomplish something, it will help if you are very clear about exactly what it is.
The beginning of a new year is always a good time to look back, analyze and set new goals. It might not seem like it is all that important, but I highly recommend being very specific about your real goals.
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Good hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net