5/7/24 Report - 30 Most Valuable Shipwrecks. Roman Shipwreck Cargo Analyzed. Fakes. Reader Find.

 

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

Ring found by John H. Last Weekend.

John H. sent the following email along with a couple find photos.

This one got me for a while. I hit a sound at Jensen beach today that was very deep in a washed away part of the beach in a very compacted difficult to dig shell layer. The VDI didn't read a number until I dug about 9 to 12 inches down. Out of the hole it was a 11 on an equinox 800. It looked really clean with no corrosion at all and had a visible 18k stamp on it. Jackpot right !!! Well not so fast. I thought at the time the weight seemed a little light and the VDI a little low but everything else seemed to point to it being gold as I thought it had been there a long time because of the circumstances of how deep and under compacted shell layer. This one has definitely made me a skeptic for life.

Ad for Ring Like John's Find

As I keep saying, these are days of fakes, frauds and deception.  There are all kinds of fakes and counterfeits.  But you could never go entirely by the marks on precious metals.  There were always some that were marked incorrectly.

It is good to be able to test metals.  I've described acid tests in the past, but now XRF testing is more commonly available at many pawn shops or jewelry stores.  

One problem I have with acid testing is that you have to get new acid every once in a while as the acid eventually goes bad.  It might go bad faster in the heart of Florida, but I don't know that.

Anyhow, it is easy enough to get questionable items tested these days.

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Multianalytical approach to the exceptional Late Roman shipwreck of Ses Fontanelles (Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain).

Residues in the labeled jugs on board the fourth century shipwreck show that some of the other vessels contained wine, olive oil, or olives that may have been preserved in vinegar. Ropes, shoes, a wooden drill, and matting made of vine shoots and grass to protect the ship’s hull from the cargo were also recovered.

Here is the link. 

Multianalytical approach to the exceptional Late Roman shipwreck of Ses Fontanelles (Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain) | Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences (springer.com)

One of the instruments they used was a Dino-Lite microscope, which isn't terribly expensive and something you might be interested in using.  Here is the link.

Dino-Lite Digital Microscope | Americas (dinolite.us)

You might enjoy inspecting pot shards and learning the differences.  I did a post on that once, but can't find the link right now.

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30 of the Most Valuable Shipwreck Treasures Ever Found.  

You might enjoy this article.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/article/30-of-the-most-valuable-shipwreck-treasures-ever-found/ar-BB1hyHKM?ocid=socialshare&pc=U531&cvid=c6eb47af7e504bb7c157fe2994076708&ei=60

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 I posted about evidence tampering right after the raid and seeing the boxes and documents posed for pictures.  One big red flag is when they wouldn't allow the security cameras to continue running to document their activities.  I distinctly remember telling you about that, but can't find the post now, although I'm sure it is there if you look for it.30 most

Jack Smith, in Startling Filing in Trump Mar-a-Lago Case, Admits To Misleading Judge and Altering Order of Secret Documents | The New York Sun (nysun.com), 

One of my regrets with my Treasure Beaches blog is the difficulty of locating specific content from the past.  You can do a key word search, but it doesn't always hit on the specific post you want.  I try to do a better job of adding searchable key words to the more recent posts.

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