Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
When I posted this, the Atocha gold bar had a bid of $180,000. The auction estimate is 200,000 to 400,000.
I think the bar is the highest priced lot in the auction. It is the highest that I remember seeing.
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Sherman W. sent the following email.
Years (decades) ago I was searching Wyatt Earps dads house out in California There was a mound of dirt I leveled and found a $5 gold piece. And at a location at Fort Capron I dug around 1000 targets in a small area. Good spots you need to go slow. Several years ago you posted the buttons found there.
I as well do not get out much. My treasure hunting is limited to Ebay and auction sites on the web. I bought a painting for $50 sold it for $10K plus. I was a White's man. Sad to see them go.
Regards Sherman W.
Thanks Sherman. I've been thinking a lot about the ages and stage of treasure hunting.
If you stick with it a long time, your metal detecting will take you through a variety of changes. At the beginning you might just be happy to find anything at all or you might be focused on one particular type of treasure. In either case, it is a beginning.
I've told before how I started with a White's metal detector and finding coins on the South Florida beaches. I mentioned how I progressed from coins to jewelry and eventually got into the hunt for the treasures of the Treasure Coast. There was a lot of learning and a lot of changes along the way.
I moved from the Whites metal detector to a Fisher Aquanaut, which was accompanied by other changes, such as getting into shallow water metal detecting and hunting gold jewelry more than coins. It is no coincidence that changes in detectors coincide with other changes, such as location and targets.
I had a few Tesoro metal detectors along the way. As you know, they are no longer in business. I had them mostly as backups and special purpose detectors. One thing I liked about them was the lifetime warranty, which eventually became obsolete before they went out of business.
I had a variety of other metal detectors along the way, but the customized Nautilus detectors by Herb MacDonald and Steve Noga were my favorites. Herb passed away and I lost track of Steve a long time ago.
Some changes have to do with what you learn about treasure hunting and metal detecting, but other changes come from life changes - perhaps changes in your work, family life, or health. They can all change where metal detecting fits in to your life.
As you know my mother passed away a few months ago, and I had to do a lot of things that were not easy for me. Mother had a lot of furniture and things that have been in the family for a long time - sometimes generations. I had to clean out her house. I went through a lot of photos, documents, greeting cards, and old letters as well as the furniture, lamps and things that were in my home when I was a young child. And after keeping all of those things for so long, there they were. Many of them had to go despite all the personal history and meaning they held. As they always say, you can't take it with you.
As difficult as it was for me to get rid of some of those things, I comforted myself with the thought that she and the family got a lot of good use out of them. They served their purpose.
Most recently I had some bookshelves I had to get rid of. They were made by my father. In fact, they were made by left-over knotty pine wood that paneled some of the rooms. The solid wood shelves were sturdy and lasted a long time with little show of wear. They might last another hundred years.
I was glad to see an older couple come by and admire them. They commented that they were "real" wood, unlike most of the stuff they make these days. I shared a little of the history of the shelves. They took one bookshelf, and I was happy that they did. I was glad that they appreciated them and hope they get good use out of them.
That is just one example, but what I am getting to is the subject of our finds. Some people sell their finds right away. But others study their finds and accumulate collections. Their finds serve as souvenirs that remind them of their experiences. They are meaningful to that individual and in some cases to a larger community or academic area or study.
The issue of managing your collection will become more important as you accumulate more finds and mature in the hobby. The sooner you start thinking about that the better. It involves conserving items as well as deciding which to keep and which need to find a new home. You can't keep them forever. If you've conserved them well, they will eventually go somewhere else.
When I sell items, which is not often, the most important thing to me is to find them a good home. You might want to pass along some of the story, so you will need to document things well and maybe pass along the documentation with the item.
It is always nice when a find ends up in a museum display or in a book or something like that, but at least with someone that also appreciates the item.
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In the morning, we had a nice wind, mostly from the ESE. That could have opened up some holes that produced in the not-too-distant past.
The wind has decreased some, but there is still a decent ENE wind and surf.
The afternoon low tide is slightly negative.
Good hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net
