Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
Two old Spanish coins were found in the Glen Canyon Natoial Recreation Area by a hiker who didn't think they were anything special at first.
“The expert ... says that it looks like one coin (called a Maravedis) was minted in Madrid, Spain, probably in 1662 or 1663," the archaeologist said. "The smaller coin of the two, the visitor did some Internet research, and thinks it's probably mid-to-late 13th century. Doing some Internet eyeballing on my own, I kind of agree with that, but neither he nor I are coin experts."The coins came to light ... when a hiker near Halls Crossing in the middle of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area spotted two bits of dingy metal on the ground in an area that was somewhat littered with garbage. The Colorado man, who has asked to remain anonymous, thought the two coins were recent trash. It was only after he got home and took a closer look at them that he realized he might have two pieces of the past, the long ago past.
You have to notice the spread of four hundred years between the two coins, if the dating is correct. I don't know how common that would be. I wish I knew.
I wanted to comment on some things in this story. First, the coins were found with garbage. Before getting into the main points, why was there trash in a National Recreation Area Most of the places I've hiked have been pretty clean. Hikers are generally pretty clean. At least they were in the past when I was able to et out and do it. Maybe that has changed in the years since i haven't been able to get out and do any serious hiking. Some parks in Florida are bad that way, but not usually mountain hiking.
But I wonder what kind of trash it was. Was it old stuff that eroded out with the coins? The hiker who originally mistook the coins for nothing special probably wasn't able to really tell the difference between modern trash an older stuff. Or, it could have been a mixture of modern trash along with the old stuff. We'll probably never know. It probably would take the government a few years to get anybody out there to check for more coins or anything else interesting despite their claims of the coins possible significance and need to be saved for the public.
They speculated that there were three ways the coins could have ended up where they were found. The first, which they considered the most exciting is that "these coins were actually brought there by some early Spanish settler or explorer. Which would be very exciting, because there’s really no strong evidence of early Spanish in this part of Glen Canyon. We do know that Dominguez and Escalante came through in 1776, trying to find a way from Sante Fe to California, but other than that, there’s just almost no other evidence for that sort of early Spanish presence here.”
Here is another possibility they considered. "The second possibility is that these coins were traded by, again, early Spanish settlers or explorers, to some Native American group, or individuals, who then either carried them to this location, or the coins were traded down the line," he said. "And essentially got here through Native American hands...
Items from different time periods can easily get intermixed when things erode out of a hill or, in or case, a sand dune.
Here is the third possibility they considered.
Because they’re such two different dates, 1600s and probably early 13th century, and because when the visitor found them he described a lot of modern trash and garbage in the area that would be associated with things coming off of houseboats and/or land camping. There is a very real possibility that these things were modern," said Harmon. "That someone’s coin collection was either intentionally or accidentally lost.
I remember losing things right after finding them. I told the story of how I dug a nice gold chain while water hunting, stuck it in my shirt pocket and on the way back to the car, the chain managed to snake its way through on small hole in my pocket. When I got back to the car I discovered that the newly found chain was missing and I noticed the small hole. I found the chain and lost it shortly after finding it.
I told the story about how someone had a hole in their goody bag. They thought they had a great spot that just wouldn't give up. But coins were falling through the hole in their goody bag.
And then there were Spanish coins that were salvage from a shipwreck only to be lost again when the salvage boat sank.
Old things can be kept a long time before being lost. The spread between the time an item is crated and used, and the time of the loss can be huge.
A kid can take grandpas coin to school for show and tell and lose it on the way.
Of course, the fear mentioned in the article is that swarms of detectorists would be drawn to the area in search of more coins.
I only posted a few short excerpts from the article and made a few comments. Here is the link for the rest of the article.
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I read the following article and thought it was so good that everybody should read it. It is information-dense, so not an easy read, but an excellent commentary on the times. Every sentence is worth the effort to understand.
This is our concern, that every man be able to increase his wealth so as to supply his daily prodigalities, and so that the powerful may subject the weak for their own purposes. Let the poor court the rich for a living, and that under their protection they may enjoy a sluggish tranquility; and let the rich abuse the poor as their dependents, to minister to their pride. Let the people applaud not those who protect their interests, but those who provide them with pleasure. Let no severe duty be commanded, no impurity forbidden. Let kings estimate their prosperity, not by the righteousness, but by the servility of their subjects. Let the provinces stand loyal to the kings, not as moral guides, but as lords of their possessions and purveyors of their pleasures; not with a hearty reverence, but a crooked and servile fear. Let the laws take cognizance rather of the injury done to another man’s property, than of that done to one’s own person. If a man be a nuisance to his neighbor, or injure his property, family, or person, let him be actionable; but in his own affairs let everyone with impunity do what he will in company with his own family, and with those who willingly join him. Let there be a plentiful supply of public prostitutes for every one who wishes to use them, but specially for those who are too poor to keep one for their private use. Let there be erected houses of the largest and most ornate description: in these let there be provided the most sumptuous banquets, where every one who pleases may, by day or night, play, drink, vomit, dissipate. Let there be everywhere heard the rustling of dancers, the loud, immodest laughter of the theatre; let a succession of the most cruel and the most voluptuous pleasures maintain a perpetual excitement. If such happiness is distasteful to any, let him be branded as a public enemy; and if any attempt to modify or put an end to it let him be silenced, banished, put an end to. Let these be reckoned the true gods, who procure for the people this condition of things, and preserve it when once possessed.
Things haven't changed much, except perhaps the human genius reflected in the analysis, which is certainly rare today, though admittedly we are talking about one of the world's great thinkers.
Pondering the above sentences will help anyone better understand the current times. I found the first two sentences especially enlightening and insightful. And I often wondered how the most highly paid of society are those in sports and entertainment.
I know it doesn't have to do with beaches, but insight is a kind of treasure, even if it is not the kind we usually talk about.
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Good hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net