Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
I found an interesting article that provides a lot of good ideas archaeologists but also treasure hunters. The article is Rethinking Numismatics: The Archaeology of Coins by Fleur Kemmers and Nanouscha Myrbert Burstrom.
It is an academic article and not easy reading but worth the effort. Above is an illustration from the article. It reminds me of a cross with coins from a Sedwick auction from years ago. I commented to Dan Sedwick that it looked to me like the coins, although seventeenth century were from a later period than the cross. He seemed to think that was a possibility.
In the Rethinking Numismatics article, it is argued that coins, as part of material culture, need to be examined within the theoretical framework of historical archaeology and material-culture studies. Through several case studies we demonstrate how coins, through their integration of text, image and existence as material objects, offer profound insights not only into matters of economy and the ‘big history’ of issuers and state organization but also into ‘small histories’, cultural values and the agency of humans and objects.
Coins can be viewed in many ways. The are stores of value, works of art, political statements, expressions of a culture, and in perhaps their most basic form, metal (mostly) objects.
When I started metal detecting it was the economic value of the coins that I was most interested in. I always remember my great uncle telling me, "Take care of the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves." I don't think what he said affected my behavior as much as it summarized or characterized my conservative thrifty nature.
My initial focus on the economic value of coins has evolved over the years to include much more interest in the other aspects of coins.
If you began metal detecting on the Treasure Coast and targeted shipwreck coins, it might have been the historical aspect or the romance of pirates and shipwrecks that attracted you most.
To focus on the physical aspects of coins for a moment, you might wonder what attracts some people to coin collecting while others are drawn to stamp collecting. Stamps and coins have a lot in common. They both have artistic, historical, political, and economic aspects. The big difference is the physical makeup and form. One is paper and the other metal. One two dimensional and the other three dimensional. One printed and the other sculpted. So, what draws a person to one or the other? I could make a few guesses but don't need to get into that now.
It seems that treasure coins in jewelry have become very popular. It seems they are appearing more in the treasure auctions, and the Mel Fisher organization is advertising a lot of them. They seem to be very popular.
I had my septic tank pumped out not long ago, and the fellow that came to do it was wearing an eight reale pendant on a gold chain. Of course, the first thing I thought of was the chain slipping off his neck and into the tank. It seemed that it could easily happen. But I asked him if he did any metal detecting. He said no. He said, his wife bought it for him and made him wear it. Treasure jewelry seems to be popular even with people who do no treasure hunting and have little or no appreciation for the historical or archaeological aspects. To some people those things are just jewelry.
I remember maybe ten years ago seeing a lady I was working with wearing a pillars type treasure coin as a pendant and explaining the significance of the design elements to her. At the same institution there was also an administrator who kept asking if I had any good treasure coins for jewelry, so I guess the popularity of mounted treasure coins isn't all that new, but it does seem I am noticing more of them being advertised.
We know that coins have long been used for many purposes besides economic transactions. Besides jewelry or adornment, coins have a long been used in rituals and superstitions of various types. I've discussed some of those in the past. Some of you have found coins used in Santeria or other religious rituals on the beach. I've discussed that before. I've also discussed the traditions of placing coins under keystones, foundations or masts of sailing ships. The article Rethinking Numismatics also mentions that.
I once found a coin near the corner of a house that had been torn down, and the coin had the date of the year the house was built. It was a shield nickle.
Below is a brief excerpt from the same article.
That is just an example of some of the types of things discussed in the article. I do recommend reading the entire article. It isn't easy reading, and I benefited by going back over it a few times.
Here is the link.
(99+) Rethinking Numismatics: the archaeology of coins. | Fleur Kemmers and Nanouschka Myrberg Burström - Academia.edu
You might find other interesting articles listed in the bibliography at the end of that article.
When I started this post, I was thinking of posting examples of coin jewelry that I've found over the years, but my post already got a bit long and I'm about to stop on this topic for today. Maybe in the near future I'll continue with this topic and post some examples of dug coin jewelry. And maybe others will share some of their jewelry coin finds.
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| SurfGuru.com. |
We've been having some nice hunting weather. Not only is it nice and cool, but we've been having some nice north winds along with decent high tides. Should be a good time to get out there.
Good hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net
