6/21/25 Report - More Metal Detecting Finds. Mariner's Cross. Dominic B&B Embossed Bottle and History.

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

Another Florida Metal Detector Find Photo..

As you probably know, I recently discovered a group of old metal detecting find photos. I think I've shown about twelve of the photos so far.  Here is another.  It is the smallest group but shows fairly high quality and mostly heavy items.  No big gem stones and also no silver or lower quality stuff is included.  

Anyhow, there is one item in this small group that I definitely remember finding.  It was not found at one of my primary go-to beaches but, rather, a third sting beach.  I stopped there because I had a left another beach had a little time when I was going by.  I had been there a few times before and knew the site a little.  I knew that it produced some, but not like my top tier beaches.  It was a matter of convenience. I was going by decided to get in a quick hunt.  

The finnd I'm talking about is the big class ring.  The reason I remember it so well I guess is because it is one of the heavier class rings I've found.  There was nothing remarkable about the hunt.  I do remember that the tide was pretty high and getting higher.  It is probably the second heaviest class ring that I've found.  

The photo is clear enough that I can tell which ring it is.  I can't perfectly identify some of them.  The photos just aren't clear enough.  For example, the big round ring in the top row I think is a coin ring, but I'm not sure which one because I just can't see it well enough.  I think the two at bottom left are signet rings.  

Oddly I don't remember where I found the Mariner's crucifix (below) or the heavy gold chain.

I have an idea about the big chain but am not sure for certain which it is.  

It seems I don't remember where a lot of good finds were made.  It is often something about the day, circumstances or recovery that makes a find really stick in my memory.

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Two Views of Benedictine B and B Bottle Find.

The above bottle is embossed  

MARQUE DEPOSEE

BENEDTICTINE 

B AND B

Marque deposee means trademark registered.

The bottle has a nice big kickup, which you can see through the glass.  No other marks on the bottom.

Experience changes your view.  It changes what you see and what you look at. An experienced eye simply sees things differently.

When I just got into picking up bottles, naturally I didn't know much about them.  I still don't know a lot, but I know more than I did then and I look at different things.

Almost anyone will recognize a screw top bottle as probably being not too old, but there were actually some older and very interesting screw top bottles.  Early screw tops were on Mason jars as early as the 1850s, for example.  And certain kinds of bottles, like wine bottles, still use corks for the enclosure.  And everybody knows about looking at the seams, which is a decent, but not perfect, indicator of age. I once paid more attention to those things than I do today after gaining a little additional experience with bottles.

Now I look more at the glass than even the embossing or other marks on the bottle. You can see a lot in the glass.  You can get a good idea of the age of a bottle just by looking at the glass and nothing else.  

Just because a bottle is hand blown doesn't mean it is old either.  There are modern blown bottles, but even they are generally more perfect than old blown bottles. 

I think glass, especially blown glass, is interesting as well as pretty.  The thickness varies.  You will see bubbles, waves, occasionally pontil marks or other marks of tooling and finishing.  You can see the touch and workmanship of the people who made the bottle in the glass.  I didn't see all of that when I began picking up bottles.  It only came from additional experience.

It is similar with coins and other objects.  The more you handle them and learn about them, the more your view of them changes.  You notice different things and look at different things.  The thing about glass is its transparency.  You can look into it and through it.

In the past I paid a lot of attention to the embossing on the face of a bottle and paid little attention to the bottom marks.  Now I find the bottom marks just as informative as the more prominent marks.  There are now some good resources to help you unlock the information in the bottom marks.

The bottle above is not a screw top and is embossed, but the glass screams 20th century or later.  You don't have to even look at the mold seams.  I haven't done enough research to give a more precise date, but I'd say it is after 1937 for sure, and likely around mid-century or later.  

Let me know if you have a better date range.

The bottle isn't old or interesting, but the brand has a long and interesting history.

Here is the link for a detailed history of Benedictine B&B, which goes back to the 1500s.

Bénédictine: History of French Herbal Liqueur & B&B

I posted this bottle in tgbottlebarn.blogspot.com yesterday.

I haven't posted many bottles in that blog recently, but I have a number that I am still researching and will post eventually.

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No big change in Treasure Coast beach conditions.  It is very hot.  Wouldn't be a bad time to be in the water

Good hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net