5/14/24 Report - Drag Sifting: A Great Technique for Select Situations. Mary's Crown Found. Fifties Toys.

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

Sifting for Treasure
Source: Why So Many Arrowheads (Ohio River) (youtube.com)

I just ran across this YouTube video in which the fellow was actually drag sifting.  I've talked about that technique before but have never seen anyone else actually using it.  

I have a huge scoop that has an extendable thirty-foot handle which you can use to scoop from a dock or something.  You can make the handle as long as you want.  Sections of PVC pipe can be bolted on to extend the scoop.  Below is a photo of the business end of T. Rex.  Notice the teeth for digging into the mud.

Large Long Handle Scoop for Drag Sifting.
Source: The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 6/26/13 Report - It's not over til the Fat Lady sings. Producing Beaches & Big Scoop.

The sifter being used in the YouTube video (Clegg's Adventures) isn't that big.  It is more like a sand flea sifter, but the technique is basically the same.  It is a lot of hard work, which is one reason you don't see people doing it.  

For dry sand sifting, another variant is the Merkitch sifter.  See The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 11/5/17 Report - Sifting Beaches With Merkitch Sifter. Science of Shipwrecks. Castle Cache.

Merkitch Sifter.
Photo submitted by Joe D.

Sifting is good when targets are dense.  Also when trash is dense.  You can sift in the water, from a dock or in dry sand.  All three take a lot of energy but can produce treasure in situations that might not be workable with a metal detector because of too much trash or when you can't or don't want to get into the water.  It is also useful when targets are not metallic, ie. arrowheads.

When I went back to treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com to get the photo of the T. Rex sifter, I noticed a did several posts on scooping techniques.

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DETROIT — Susan Kraus got goosebumps when she discovered a decorative crown adorned with 12 stars in the basement of St. Hyacinth Parish.

The treasured piece of local Church history at the east-side Detroit parish was once considered a long-lost piece of parish lore, the headpiece for the parish's Immaculata statue, a forgotten gem from a tumultuous time.

“It is the original headpiece from when she was at the main altar at Immaculate Conception Church (in Detroit),” Kraus, a sacristan at St. Hyacinth, told Detroit Catholic. “She’s been without it for 40 years, and it’s about time she got it back.”

Here is the link for more about that.

Crown restored to Immaculata statue at St. Hyacinth Parish after missing for 44 years- Detroit Catholic

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Things get lost when you move.  It can be exhilarating to find something you haven't seen for many years.  That was the case when I found a box of my old things lately.  I already showed the plastic race car, but here is another item I found that brought back memories.

Crystal Radio Set Assembled From Radio Shack Kit.

I remember assembling this crystal radio about seventy years ago.  It was made from a Radio Shack kit.  I wound the wires on the coil attached the wires etc., and I remember my delight when it actually worked.

There is another toy from the fifties or thereabouts that shows the rocket age design features of the fifties.

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DJ sent me a video of a beach renourishment project in Duval County.  They local governments are happy to get the federal dollars so they can dump them locally, but beach renourishment is going on all over Florida and I suspect other coastal areas around the United States.

Here is the link.

Duval County Shore Protection Project (youtube.com)

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We've had some wind shifts lately.   It will be north a day or a few days and then switch and back again.

Overall though, not much Treasure Coast surf.  Just hot summer weather and beach conditions.  

I don't expect much change until a storm comes along.

Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net