2/28/25 Report - Law and Shipwreck Treasure. .News on the Tommy Thompson SS Republic Case. Mel Fisher. Odyssey Marine.

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

The following is an article about the Tommy Thompson case, and was written by Tommy's attorney from the University of Florida college of law.  It was published in the Tampa Bay Times.

Thompson’s case began as a deep-sea adventure in 1989, when the brilliant maritime engineer made the greatest treasure find of the century.  He located the S.S. Central America, which was carrying the spoils of California’s Gold Rush when it sank in 1857, yielding a treasure worth upwards of $765 million in 2024 dollars. Even more amazing than finding the wreck was Thompson’s ability to precisely salvage portions of the wreck in nearly 8,000 feet of water.

However, Thompson’s story soon took a turn for the worse: legal battles ensured for decades, driver by 30 insurance companies that claimed interest in the wreck and investors who were dissatisfied with their return on this highly speculative investment.

Thompson, having had enough (decades) of the judicial system, wasn’t able to excuse himself from participating in more legal trials or hearings. And, for his failure to appear in court in 2012, the federal court issued a warrant for his arrect for criminal contempt of court...

the judge... found that holding Thompson in civil contempt is no longer in the interests of justice... 

Mel Fisher, a treasure hunter who famously found the Atocha shipwreck off the Florida Keys, spent more than 15 years searching for the wreck. He then spent nearly a decade arguing to keep countless millions of artifacts, in legal battles that reached all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court...

Here is the link for the entire article.

https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2025/02/25/trecasure-hunter-tommy-thompson-wins-legal-battle-column/ 

Thanks to SuperRick for that link.

It seems to me that the most disastrous case for shipwreck treasure hunting was the ruling that required Odyssey Marine to turn over 600 million dollars' worth or treasure from the Mercedes that was found off the coast of Span..  Odyssey Marine was one of the best equipped and most scientific of the treasure salvage companies and worked in important deep sea projects.

See US judge orders company to pay Spain $1 million | AP News

As a result the company changed its business model, and now focuses on deep sea mining for precious minerals.   Here is how they put it on the company web site.

​Odyssey has made headlines by finding the most famous shipwrecks in history. From a Civil War-era treasure ship to a World War II-era silver-laden steamship to Punic vessels dating before Christ and hundreds of other exciting ships with intriguing stories in between. We successfully found more shipwrecks than any other organization in the world. Still, we realized other treasures on the seafloor were more valuable to society and the world economy.  Source: Marine Mineral Exploration | Odyssey Marine | Tampa

One of Odyssey's current projects is the Lihir project, which is described below.

The project's license area is adjacent to Lihir Island in Papua New Guinea, where a major international mining company mined and processed one of the world's largest known terrestrial gold deposits.
​

The Exploration License for the Lihir Gold Project covers a sizeable subsea area containing at least four prospective exploration targets in two mineralization types: seamount-related epithermal and modern placer gold. Previous exploration expeditions in the license area, including a survey conducted by Odyssey, indicate a polymetallic resource with commercially viable gold content likely exists. Additionally, the two subaqueous debris fields within the area are adjacent to the terrestrial Ladolam Gold Mine. They are believed to have originated from the same volcanogenic source.

See Lihir Gold Project | Odyssey Marine

Odyssey Marine is a publicly trade company (stock symbol OMEX).  The price of the common stock has dropped to around 45 cents a share.  It was once up around $12.00.

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Source: SurfGuru.com

A small surf expected for the next few days, but there will be three-foot high tide in the PM.today.

Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net

2/27/25 Report - Remnants of Shipwreck Found Off Florida Coast. Pirate Aury. Gold Mining in Ancient Egypt. Copper Prices.

 

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

Slave Ship Sunk and Found Off Florida Coast.

Remnants of slave ship captured by pirates was found off the Florida coast.

According to historical records, the Isabelita was a slave ship operating in the Western Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea waters.

There is a Spanish Well near the Anclote Key boat ramp that Zsiga believes the French merchant and pirate Louis Michael Aury would take his crew to get fresh water.

"Along comes a slave ship, a trading vessel named the Isabelita, about 110 feet, we believe, from what we saw in archives. The Isabelita anchors up somewhere in this area, and Aury has his three ships. He went after the ship and said, 'Look, you give me the ship, and I will let everybody go. You know, we're not out to kill people. We want the cargo.'"

The ship was too heavy to be hijacked at low tide, so Sziga said the crew started throwing items overboard to lighten the load...

Here is the link for the rest of the story.

Remnants of slave ship found off Florida coast by treasure hunter

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Aury served in the French Nvay from 1802 or 1803 until 1811 as a sailor on a ship stationed in the French colonies of the West Indies from 1802 he crewed on privateer ships, and by 1810 he had accumulated enough Prize money to become the master of his own vessel. He participated in various privateering and filibuster efforts to overturn governments in East Florida, Mexico, Spanish Texas, the Caribbean Sea, Central America, and South America.

Aury decided to support the Spanish colonies of South America in their fight for independence from Spanish rule In April 1813 he sailed from North Carolina on his own privateer ship with Venezuelan letters of Marquis to attack Spanish ships...

Source: Wikipedia.

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A Large Camp Where Gold Was Mined and Processed in Antiquity, Found in Southeastern Egypt.

The evidence found reveals a meticulous process that involved crushing and grinding the quartz, filtering and sedimentation in special basins, and finally, smelting in clay furnaces to obtain pure gold.,,

Here is that link.

A Large Camp Where Gold Was Mined and Processed in Antiquity, Found in Southeastern Egypt

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Copper prices have rallied to levels not seen since April 2023. That's led industry players such as Southern Copper and Freeport-McMoRan to pop and reach new highs...

Here is the link for more about that.

Copper Prices Lift Southern Copper Stock To A New High | Investor's Business Daily

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With the small surf and negative low tides, this would be a good opportunity for some shallow water metal detecting, (outside of leased areas of course).

Looks like the possibility of some rougher surf coming up in a few days.

Weather is beautiful for being out on the beach.

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

2/26/25 Report = ACL or Painted Label Money Back Return Deposit Soda Bottles From the Treasure Coast. Detectorists Find Sword.

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

Along with the older and embossed bottles, I also find some ACL (painted label) bottles.  They aren't as old or valuable but they are collectible and finer examples can be worth something.  If you are old enough you might remember these bottles from your younger years.  

The trouble with finding ACL bottles is that they are seldom in good enough condition to be of much interest to serious collectors.  The labels get faded, discolored or wear off completely.  You can see that from the above examples. 

These are all money back return for deposit bottles.  As a child, me and my friends were always happy to find a returnable bottle along the road.  We would take them to the store, get our two, or sometimes five cents, and buy a gum drop or something.  In those days a Hersey bar cost five cents, and there was even a chocolate bar called a Lunch Bar, which was just like a Hersey bar but only cost three cents.  Being thrifty, that was always my choice.

Even though these bottles aren't worth much of anything, as a detectorist they can help you date a site.  ACL bottles started in the 30s.  Although I haven't done the research, the ones shown above are probably from the 60s or 70s.  TAB for example, began in 1963 and was made by the Coca Cola company.  As a diet soda having one calorie, it was popular in the 1970s.  I don't know why diet sodas were so popular then.  Compared to today, people in the seventies were skinny. 

A lady that was the model for one of the popular diet sodas in the seventies lived on Indian River Drive several years ago.  I forget now which diet soda it was.  I'm not sure if it was TAB or one of the others.

Anyhow, these bottles sometimes have date codes on the bottom and when they don't you can usually find the date range for the bottle with just a little research.

Below are some more Treasure Coast ACL bottle finds.  

Dr. Pepper bottles are popular collectibles.  Of course there are older ones that are embossed rather than ACLs.

Here is a Dr. Pepper bottle database.  Discover the Worth of Dr Pepper Bottles | Antique Dr Pepper Bottles

And here are some of the older Dr. Pepper bottles that you can find in that database.

Source: See database link above.

I do have some nice embossed older Dr. Pepper bottles.  As you can see, the ACL labels on the Treasure Coast finds are badly faded.

Below are a few more Treasure Coast ACLs.

The one of those that I like the most is the Masons Root Beer on the right.  It is probably also the oldest.  It has a date code on the bottom of 49.  Too bad the label is so poor.

My second favorite of that group is the Royal Palm, which I never heard of before coming to Florida.

Sometime in the seventies, Coca Cola test piloted Mellow Yellow.  They were giving samples at Six Flags Atlanta outside the building where they had the Bump and Boogie dances.

When you get older you can reflect on various times, people and places.  I like the richer perspective.

Which reminds me.  When I worked in Atlanta, I worked with a lady from the family that did a lot of the original Coca Cola advertisements.  That impressed me.  I was just a country bumpkin from a rural farm area in Pennyslvania.

Here is a site where you can find some history on Mason's Root Beer.

The Unofficial Mason's Root Beer History Thread | Antique Bottles, Glass, Jars Online Community

The Mason's trade-mark was first issued in August of 1947.

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Metal detectorists searching for World War II artifacts in a forest in Poland stumbled upon something far older: a nearly 2,000-year-old sword purposefully broken into three pieces. The weapon may have been a funeral offering for a fallen member of the Vandals, a Germanic tribe renowned for sacking Rome in the fifth century.

In January, two detectorists with the Inventun Association history club discovered the sword in the Jura, a hilly and forested region of southern Poland. A preliminary analysis by experts at the nearby Częstochowa Museum suggests the weapon was a double-edged spatha, a broadsword most commonly used by Germanic horse-mounted warriors during the time of the Roman Empire. From the third century B.C. to the fifth century A.D., Poland was inhabited by people of the Przeworsk culture, which included the Vandals...

Here is the link for the rest of that article.

Shattered 1,800-year-old sword was 'ritually sacrificed' and may be from Vandal warrior's grave | Live Scince

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Looks like the surf will be small for the rest of the week

Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net

2/25/25 Report - Big Fossil Finds. Florida Beach Fossils. Still Time To Consign. Checking and Adjusting Your Sweep Speed.

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

Hundreds of horse fossils have been recovered from the Steinhatchee River site, indicating the area was once an open, grassy area.

Florida Museum photo by Kristen Grace

See link below.

They were on their usual fossil hunting trip in June of 2022 and weren’t having much luck. They were preparing to move on when Branin looked down and happened to see horse teeth. As they continued looking, they uncovered a hoof core, and then a tapir skull.

Their good feeling swelled to disbelief as the finds continue to rack up — many in pristine condition. “It wasn’t just quantity, it was quality,” Sinibaldi said. “We knew we had an important site, but we didn’t know how important.”...

 Before the discovery, there had only been one other Florida site with fossils from this time period.

Three-quarters of the 552 fossils recovered so far from the Steinhatchee River site belong to an early species of the subgroup of living horses that includes the domestic horse and its wild relatives, known as the caballines. “That gives us a good sample size to measure or make comparisons, and it also tells us a little bit about the environment,” said Richard Hulbert, lead author of the paper and retired Florida Museum vertebrate paleontology collections manager...

Branin called Florida a lucky state for his hobby. “We have a permit system that allows people to collect fossils on state-owned lands, unlike a lot of places where there’s more barrier to entry to doing that,” he said...

Here is the link for much more of this article on Florida fossils.

Underwater fossil bed discovered by collectors preserves rare slice of Florida’s past – Research News

You can occasionally find fossils on Treasure Coast beaches.  There are times when there are many and other times when you might see a single example lying on near the water.  

Many detectorists like to find shark teeth while detecting.  You can find them on many beaches when the conditions are right.  You can collect shark teeth in Florida without a permit.

You can find the Florida fossil collecting permit application by using the following link.

Florida Fossil Permit Application – Vertebrate Paleontology Collection

The cost of the permit is only five dollars.

Another option is going on a paid hunt with a permitted fossil .   This is a very good option if you are a beginner and want to learn.  It will save you a lot of time by going on a hunt with an expert.  You will learn a lot.  Some of the blog's readers have done this.  You will find a lot. Many of those tours go to the Peace River, which is a favorite spot for many Florida fossil hunters.

Here is a link to a site where you can learn about one of several fossil guides.

This giant statue of Jesus sits alone off Florida’s coast. How did it get there?

Here is one of several posts on fossils from treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com. 

The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 5/16/19 Report - One Way To Accelerate Your Learning Curve. Beaches Where You Can Find Fossils. Finds. Trash and Treasure.

And here is a link to a post on the horses brought to America by the Spanish.

The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 8/15/16 Report - An Important Warning. Treasure Coast Fossils. A Spanish Shipwreck. Spanish Horses.

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From Sedwick...

Consignments Wanted:
We are just days away from closing the consignment window to our Auction 37 to be held on May 7-9 - and we'd like to host your collectibles coins, currency, and artifacts in this sale!

Contact us by February 26th to learn how we can maximize the return on your rare coins, bank notes, or entire collections in our next major auction.

We are extending the consignment deadline to March 2nd for interested consignors who are attending the Numismata Coin show in Munich, Germany (March 1-2). Email us at office@sedwickcoins.com or WhatsApp us at +1 (407)-975-3325 to arrange a consignment appointment.

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One old post (2010) from treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com that is receiving some recent attention is

the following.

The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 11/3 Report - Collecting Modern US Coins & Checking Your Sweep Speed

In that post I said, "If you haven't done it lately, check your sweep speed. Put an object on the ground and sweep the coil over it at various speeds until you find the speed that gives the best signal. You can also vary the sweep speed over a buried target to determine the best sweep speed of various targets under various conditions."  I think that is an important reminder that is worth repeating.

I'm a big believer in testing with your own metal detector rather than going by the book or what you hear.  Test everything with your own equipment and under the conditions where you will hunt.

You might be surprised how much difference fine tuning your detector as well as your technique can make.

I'll post more about that in the future.

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Good hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net 

2/24/25 Report - Cross of Burgundy on Flags and Coins. A Little Spanish Florida History. More on Florida Crakers. AI and Metal Detecting.

 

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

Cross of Burgundy.

The Burgundian saltire, or Cross of Burgundy, represented Spanish rule in Florida from 1565 to 1763. The X-shaped cross symbolized the rough branches of the trees on which Saint Andrew, the patron saint of Burgundy, was crucified...

America’s Oldest Ranching Story… It begins just over 500 years ago when the earliest Spanish explorers and seven Andalusia cattle arrived on Florida’s sandy shores. Ponce De Leon was their leader, and the year was 1521. Most people believe these cattle are the first domesticated cattle in the United States. They also believe they are the original ancestors of the hearty scrub cattle we still have in Florida today.America’s Oldest Ranching Story… It begins just over 500 years ago when the earliest Spanish explorers and seven Andalusia cattle arrived on Florida’s sandy shores. Ponce De Leon was their leader, and the year was 1521. Most people believe these cattle are the first domesticated cattle in the United States. They also believe they are the original ancestors of the hearty scrub cattle we still have in Florida today.

Florida crackers were colonial-era British, American pioneer settlers in what is now the U.S. state of Florida; the term is also applied to their descendants, to the present day, and their subculture among Southerners. The first crackers arrived in 1763 after Spain traded Florida to Great Britain following the latter’s victory over France in the Seven Years’ War, though much of traditional Florida cracker folk culture dates to the 19th century.

Here is a link to the site that gives a little Florida history on the Florida Cracker story.

Florida Cracker History — FLORIDA CRACKER - The Original Floridian

Yesterday or the day before I mentioned the annual Florida Cracker Ride that was witnessed by many spectators in Fort Pierce.  I thought I'd add a little more history on the Florida Cracker today.

At the top of the post you see the Cross of Burgundy flag.  The Cross of Burgundy also appears on many Spanish colonial coins such as those you might find on the Treasure Coast beaches.

Below is a little more history on the Cross of Burgundy.

The marriage of Fernando II of Aragon to Isabella I of Castile in 1469 laid the foundations for a united Spanish Kingdom. The flag of Castile and Leon was used as the symbol of their rule and has been part of the coat of arms of Spain ever since.

1506-1785
This jagged red cross on a square white field, is known as the Burgundian Cross or the cross of St. Andrew. By legend Saint Andrew the apostle was said to have been martyred by being crucified on a rough cross made from trees with the limbs hastily cut away.

This became the flag of Spain after Philip of Burgundy, married to Juana the daughter of Isabel and Ferdinand, ascended the Spanish throne in 1505. St. Andrew was the patron saint of the Duchy of Burgundy.

The Castillo itself was once plastered white and trimmed in red to match this flag as a symbol of Spanish power and claim over La Florida...

Here is that link.

The Cross of Burgundy: Symbol of Spain Historical Marker

See also Cross of Burgundy - Wikipedia

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I've briefly looked into using some of the AI systems for metal detecting and treasure hunting related purposes and found that the systems can be useful but do not provide the most leading-edge information, which is to be expected because the current AI systems scan vast amounts of what is on the internet already and use that to provide responses to queries.  It appears that what you get from these free online systems is therefore a consensus view obtained by broadly scanning existing sites on the internet.

I was surprised when I did one search using Copilot of the system's response included information I posted less than 24 hours earlier.  It gave my blog as the reference, as it should, but my surprise was that it found and assimilated that information so soon after it was posted.  I guess the AI systems are constantly scanning the internet and assimilating the information.

I did a couple of other little tests.  One of my queries asked which is the bests metal detector.  As you might know, that is a bit of a trick question.  Some responses handled it fairly well, mentioning that there are various factors to be considered.

One system gave me a short list of low-cost metal detectors that I never heard of.  Unfortunately, I don't remember which AI system that was.

Grok 3, when asked, "What is the best metal detector to find coins on the beach," gave a list that was no surprise.  It listed the Equinox 800 first, followed by the AT Pro, and then a few more.  While it is certainly debatable and you might completely disagree, that is pretty much what you'd find for yourself if you surveyed detectorists and many of the current metal detecting sites.  Once again, what the AI system provided was nothing more than you could find yourself if you were to take the time to do an extensive survey of the current internet sites.  It does save time and perhaps does a more extensive search and summarizes that.

My tentative conclusion derived from the few short tests that I've conducted is that if you are well versed in a field, an AI system won't add much, but if you are asking about a field that you are not very familiar with, the benefits of the extensive survey conducted by the AI system will be more helpful.  As I gain more experience with various AI systems, I might need to change my conclusions, but that is how I see it now.

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Source: SurfGuru.com.

Not much exciting there. 

Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net

2/23/25 Report - Detectorist Finds Rare "Divination Spoon." Big Event in Fort Pierce: Cracker Trail Ride. Shark Attacks. Rip Tides.

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

Divination is an ancient practice. People from across the world have used various ways to attempt to anticipate or predict the future, but have you ever heard of divination spoons? Well, a 2,000-year-old bronze spoon that may have been used for such things has been discovered on private land on the West Coast of the Isle of Man, in the British Isles.

The bronze Iron Age spoon is the first of its kind to be discovered on the Isle of Man, although 27 similar artifacts have been recovered from across Britain, Ireland, and France. This particular spoon was found on the farmland of David Anderson by Rob Middleton, a metal detectorist....

“The spoons are usually found in pairs, and it has been suggested that liquid of some form would have been poured into the spoon which has the cross, and whatever quarter it landed in would tell something about the future. The details of such ceremonies have been lost in the midst of time,” Fox explained.

Here is the link for much more about that.

2,000-Year-Old Divination Spoon Discovered On The Isle Of Man Is Only 28th Ever Found 

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Saturday morning there were more people in Fort Pierce than I had ever seen.  The parking lots were full and the streets were lined with people ready to watch the 32nd Annual Fort Pierce Cracker Trail Ride.

Fort Pierce Cracker Trail Ride Saturday.
Image from TCPalm.  See link below.

The 34th annual Florida Cracker Trail Ride, a 120-mile ride that began in Bradenton on Feb. 12, ended Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021, with a parade through downtown Fort Pierce. Every year, the Florida Cracker Trail Association recreates the ride across the state to bring attention to Florida's history with cattle pioneers and the cattle drives that took place annually beginning after the Civil War...

Here is the link for the rest of the TCPalm article.

Fort Pierce's annual Cracker Trail Ride brings horseback parade through downtown

In the early 1500s, Spanish conquistador, Juan Ponce de León landed on the shores of Florida in an attempt to colonize. Thwarted and attacked by Native Americans, the colonists abandoned their quest, leaving behind the first livestock in North America… horses, hogs and Andalusian cattle, the ancestors of the Texas Longhorns.

Florida was mostly wide, green spaces (natural pastureland) and livestock bred and ran wild for centuries. In northern Florida, those who raised cattle fought Indian raids, mosquitoes, fever ticks, storms, swamps and snakes...

As railroads reached into Florida, it became a chief supplier of cattle to the Confederacy for hides, tallow, leather and meat during the Civil War.,,

Following the Civil War, a rugged brand of individual settled along Florida’s east coast and central corridor. These early settlers became known by their Northern neighbors, as Florida Crackers, Cracker Cowmen or Cow Hunters.

The early Crackers would hunt and round up cows over the wooded rangelands and miles and miles of open plains, in the hammocks, and by the rivers and streams, and had a unique way of herding cattle...\

For more about that bit of Florida history, here is a link to the Florida Cracker Trail Association.

Our History | Florida Cracker Trail Association | Florida Cracker Trail Association

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It seems shark attacks and fatalities have been decreasing.

The 2024 low was the lowest of any years since 1996.

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Rip Current Statement issued February 22 at 1:27AM EST until February 23 at 4:00AM EST by NWS Melbourne FL.

Statement or not, you always have to be careful of rip currents.  They create dips that are attractive for detectorists but can be a real life-danger if you aren't a strong swimmer or don't know how know how to respond to them.

The first time I was caught in a rip tide while hunting in the water in South Florida it was a surprise.  I didn't really know about rip tides.  Through luck or stupidity, I did the right thing.

If you have a lot of carrying a lot of equipment, maybe a weight belt, metal detector and scoop, that isn't ideal for swimming.  Some detectorists are not good swimmers but wander into the water anyhow.  That isn't as common along the Treasure Coast because of the permitted salvage areas that keep detectorists out of the water, but also, the rougher surf on the Treasure Coast and the nearshore conditions are not as good for wading.  Many of the tourist beaches down south have nice sloping shallow areas where you can wade more safely.  They also have more lifeguards.  Still, a rogue wave can catch you off=guard and knock you off your feet, especially if you are focusing on your detector or a signal.

Here is a link to instructions for dealing with a rip tide.

How to Get out of a Rip Current: A Survival Guide

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Source: SurfGuru.com.

Expect a north wind and NE surf.  The high tides are not huge now and the surf will be decreasing.

Beautiful weather for being out and there are many snow-birds to lose things at the beach.

Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net

2/22/25 Report - A Look at Some Treasure Coast Beaches This Morning.

 

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

High Bank Beach Cut on Treasure Coast.

Above is a high bank beach cut.  It is cutting into replenishment sand.  Not long ago the slope below this cut was into older sand, which was now mostly covered.

It appeared that some filling had occurred to the slope below the cut.

John Brooks Beach Saturday Morning Just After Peak Low Tide

John Brooks showed a step far back on the beach from an earlier high tide.  There was a nice flat beach bottom at low tide.

There weren't a lot of targets, but there were some on the slope, I would have liked to been there a bit earlier to get more access to the flat front beach.

John Brooks Beach Saturday Morning.

Even with the recent erosion, there is a lot of sand there.  The beach is very wide, and even with the dunes moving eastward in recent years, the flat sand beach is still really wide.

There is a little dip to the south that shows up very frequently.  It has been forming on and off for several years.  I don't have an explanation for the irregularity at that point.  I think it must be due to some reef variation or something at that point.

Frederck Douglass is open again and it looks like the horse rides have moved back down there from John Brooks.

If you want to detect at Frederick Douglass, you can take the wife and kids and detect while they go on a horse ride along the beach.

Frederick Douglass Parking Lot Saturday Morning

The construction at Frederick Douglass is complete.  The biggest change is the paved parking lots that you can see above.  

Some people are already out on a horse ride.

Frederick Douglass Saturday Morning.

You can see that the surf is still a little rough but now hitting the beach straight on.  No significant angle.

Frederick Douglass Beach, as is usually the case, looked very much like John Brooks beach.  The slope is about the same.

Frederick Douglass beach does not appear quite as wide as John Brooks, but it looks like the dunes progressed much farther east, so it is hard to tell by look how wide the beach is in comparison to past years.

I didn't think the flat front beach looked as interesting as the flat bottom at John Brooks.

Blind Creek is closed.  I suspect they are paving the parking lot there.  Blind Creek has become a very popular nude beach.  Some people were parked to the north where there is a little beach access, but no place to park other than just off the road.

Walton Rocks Saturday Morning.

Walton Rocks had some erosion, including some high back cuts, but wasn't as good as some times in the recent past.  I didn't check around the bend to the north though.  

Walton Rocks Saturday Morning.

Overall, the beaches that I saw were not back but not exciting either.  It will take some looking around to find the most promising spots.

From what I saw along this one strip I'd give it about a 2 or 2.5 rating on my 5-point rating scale.  

I'm sure there were some decent detecting spots, and maybe even a few better spots.

Surf Chart from SurgGuru.com.

As you can see the surf will be decreasing today.

I would have liked to do some metal detecting yesterday but wasn't able to get out then.  I got a little in today.

We often get some good metal detecting into March and I'm hoping we have another good weather pattern or two before we get into summer conditions. 

The remaining renourishment sand is still a problem along this stretch.

I just wanted to do a quick summary of what I saw today.  Maybe it will help you a little this weekend.  The weather is beautiful and the conditions not bad.

May your coil be over the X.

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

2/21/25 Report - Spanish Colonial Cob Collection and Online Resource. Bank Not Giving Cash. North Wind Before Higher Surf.

 

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

I post a lot of cobs in this blog.  Some are found on the beach by detectorists and some are found by shipwreck salvage crews.  Many are from the 1715 Fleet wrecks, but some are from other wrecks on  the Treasure Coast and some from other locations. At times I point you to other sources that show Spanish Colonial cobs.

I just found a site that you will want to look at.  It is the Numis Forum.  Robinjojo posted an extensive collection of Spanish Colonial cobs.  The cobs are excellent examples, and the photos are super and the descriptions are also great.  I'm sure you will benefit from looking through the thread and studying select examples.

Here is the introduction to the thread provided by Robinjojo.

I thought it would be nice to have a thread dedicated to these fascinating and historical coins, a venue where I can share my enthusiasm for these coins and one where we can share information and coins, perhaps instilling the collecting bug in some of you who are interested and need just a nudge to become full blown cob collectors.

I have accumulated and documented many cobs over the past 40 plus years.  I have posted many here and at CoinTalk.  My postings are rather messy, not very systematic, jumping from one mint or king as I pull coins for photographing.  Please bear with me, and I hope that the coins posted herein are both entertaining and informative.

I'll start with coins that I have photographed on file.  I'll continue to post and please share your cobs.  If you have any questions, I will try to answer them to the best of my knowledge.

The cob shown at the top of the post is just one of the many cobs posted by Robinjojo.  I picked it for no particular reason other than just liking the looks of it.  Below is the description of that cob as provided by Robinjojo.

Colombia, Bogota, 8 reales, Philip IV,  1660s, PoRS NR.   Purchased from Superior Galleries in the early 1990s.

KM 7.1

27.1 grams

I was fortunate to win this coin in a Superior auction.  The pillars and waves cobs from Bogota are quite expensive and often salvaged.  This coin, with its slightly oxidized surfaces might be from a salvage, but it is full weight and attractive in its crude way, with strong centers on both sides.  With cobs in general, collectors will pay more for coins with complete or nearly complete center strikes.

This cob shows typical areas of strength and weakness in the strike, so even with the obverse date situated towards the coin's center, the last two numerals are muddled and weak, the last one really not visible.  For a while I though the date was 1665.  I am pretty sure that the third numeral is a 6.  With the help of Krause, that puts the coin in the period of 1663-1665.  

Anb below is the link to the site and thread.

The Cob Corner - World Coins - Numis Forums

Take a look.  I think you'll enjoy it.

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Below is an interesting story that might give a glimpse of the future

Taryn Compton, who goes by @basketballmumma on TikTok, recently shared her frustrating experience at her bank when she attempted to withdraw $3,500 in cash—only to be told that the branch no longer handles cash at the counter. The unexpected policy change left her stunned, and her video about the ordeal quickly went viral....

Below is the link for the rest of the article.

She tried to take out her own money but the bank had a surprising new rule | Trending at Upworthy

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I got this alert this morning.

Rip Current Statement issued February 21 at 1:12AM EST until February 22 at 4:00AM EST by NWS Melbourne FL Description * WHAT...Dangerous rip currents and rough surf. * WHERE...Coastal Volusia, Brevard, Indian River, Saint Lucie, and Martin Counties. * WHEN...Through late tonight. * IMPACTS...Rip currents can sweep even the best swimmers away from shore into deeper water. Instruction Rip currents are powerful channels of water flowing quickly away from shore, which occur most often at low spots or breaks in the sandbar and in the vicinity of structures such as jetties and piers. Heed the advice of lifeguards, beach patrol flags and signs. Entering the surf is strongly discouraged. If caught in a rip current, relax and float. Don't swim against the current. If able, swim in a direction following the shoreline. If unable to escape, face the shore and call or wave for help.

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Source: Surfguru.com

Good hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net