7/1/25 Report - An Experiment with Beach Sifting. Vibrating Sifter. Bigfoot Metal Detector Coils. Heinz Bottles and Rssource.

Written by the Treasureguide for the excusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.

Vibrating Sifter Created by Mark G.

Mark has been working on creating a powered sifter that vibrates for easier sifting.  He did his first test of the prototype. Below is how he described the results.

Got out today to test the power sifter in the morning, the sand was wet so I broke it .I thought it would fail. I few well placed screws and problem solved. I got out in the afternoon and went to the smallest beach closest to home hopefully not too many people. It was packed, but I staked out about a 100’ to 150’ square area to sift. Wasn’t sure what it was at first, it looked like something rubber and round like a rubber tire off a kids toy or maybe trash like from a bottle neck I put it in my pocket and kept sifting. Maybe a few more tweaks and tips, for one tip, stay out of the shell patches and seaweed sifter gets clogged quicker. The fun part is going through everything when I get home. The sifter is so fast I just dump it when it’s full into a bag or bucket can’t go through everything on the beach just scoop and go. The round white thing was still in my pocket so I looked at it again more closely and it had the number 7 on the inside like a ring size I said this is a ring! Unbelievable, first hunt with the power sifter and I find a ring that you can’t, won’t and will never find with a metal detector, I say mission successful. It’s a Marble Silicone Wedding Band for women or at least that’s what it’s advertised as. It’s marked on the inside with the brand Zollen and it’s going in the ring box!

Thanks Mark.

Here are a couple links to old posts on beach sifters and sifting.

The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 11/5/17 Report - Sifting Beaches With Merkitch Sifter. Science of Shipwrecks. Castle Cache.

I've used a couple types of sifters in the past, including a couple of the Merkitch-type. 

A fellow named Merkitch published a little book giving instructions for building a sifter.  That was probably forty years or so ago.  I don't remember his full name, but that is why it is called a Merkitch sifter.

Here is another good post on beach sifting.

The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 6/10/14 Report - Fascinating Newspaper Clipping, Alternative to Metal Detecting, How Objects Sink in Sand & 17th Century Shrine Excavated

There are several advantage to sifting, but of course, metal detecting is a lot easier.  You can get more by sifting if you are willing to put in the time and work and there is something there to begin with.  And of course, you get more than metal targets when you sift.  I've written about that in the past.

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I've seen these rectangular shaped coils advertised in the past, but not for years, and I never saw anyone actually use one other than on the internet.  Looks interesting, but I don't know how well it works.  Evidently it has problems, or else it would have caught on.  I think Garret advertised one long ago.

Advertisement From an Old Tesoro Booklet.

I never saw anyone use a long rectangular shaped coil like that other than on the internet.  I think other companies advertised similar "Bigfoot" coils.  Anyone every used one?

As you probably know, Tesoro went out of business.  I used a few Tesoro detectors and thought they were good for some situations.  I've told about my experiences with Tesoro before.  They had some interesting features, including notch discrimination and surface blanking.  

I used a Silver Sabre, Royal Sabre and Sand Shark.  The Sand Shark had a problem with grounding, but Jack gave me a hard-wired one.

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Unusually Shaped Bottle Find.

I found this bottle and didn't know what it held.  I thought it looked like a food bottle or maybe oil.

The bottom of the bottle answered that question.  The bottom was embossed as follows.

H. J. Heinz CO.

211

3, O in a square and 6

PATD

Here is the bottom.  You might not be able to see all of it clearly.

I gave this link to a great Heinz bottle site yesterday.  Heinzbottlecodes.pdf

It shows that the O in a square was the mark of the Owens Bottle Co. (1911 - 1929)

Here is entry for the 211 code.

#211 held white, malt, cider or tarragon vinegar. It was in use between 1924 and 1943 to contain vinegar. Between 1924 and 1927 the container was sealed with and aluminum and cork device that required no threads in the sealing area. After 1927, it was sealed with and aluminum roll-on type closure that did require threads in the throat opening of the bottle. 

Not what I guessed.  The date of the code combined with the date of the Owens mark narrows the date down to between 1924 and 1929.

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Source: nhc.noaa.gov.

The area over North Florida shows some development.  The chances of it becoming a cyclone is now up around fifty percent.

Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net