7/31/25 Report - Penny Crosses and Hard to Scoop Items. Knight Burial. Gold Thrift Find. Raining Gold. Florida Fossils.

 

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

Recent Finds by Mark D.

Mark G. sent the above photo and following email message.

I personally have found many strange things on the beach even more now metal detecting. Most of the items I can recognize, justify and/or utilize but today I was stumped. I know there is a lot of competition for sand on the public beaches, I am seldom alone with a metal detector when I’m out there. I was stumped today when I found these very small crosses, small enough to fit through the scoop and only 2 within a few feet of each other. I didn’t look at them too hard figured charms or something, until later. It appears these crosses are cut from pennies with a die, no apparent jewelry implications and have not been there long, days or maybe hours if you know anything about zinc pennies. I’m not saying it’s malicious but I can’t recognize, justify and/or utilize anybody going through the trouble? I would just be interested if anybody else has found these, thanks.  

 

I actually counted them as a blessing when I dug the engagement ring shortly after (see finds photo). But the ring was marked TK316 (the latest Stainless) with a CZ stone that you can buy brand new for less than $20. Who gives their fiancée a $20 engagement ring????

Penny Crosses Found by Mark G.

Thanks for sharing Mark.

It can take a lot of time to get items that fall through the holes in you scoop.  It is even worse if you are detecting shallow water with poor visibility.

The most memorable of mine was a gold bead found not far from the first flag pole at Turtle Trail.  I don't know how long it took me, but it took a long time for me to get it.  I got it on top of my coil with a hand full of tan sand and kept moving it around and could hear it moving but still couldn't see it for quite a while.  It wasn't too far off the color of the sand and was very small.

One that took me a while in the water was a tiny miniature copper pitcher, like from a doll's house.  It kept slipping through my scoop before I could see it and the visibility was poor so I couldn't see it in the water.

Each item you pick up at a location presents a bit of the picture of what goes on at a site.  Beer bottle caps, fishing sinkers, or whatever.  Look at your finds like an archaeologists would.

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Medieval knight's complete skeleton found under Polish ice cream parlor.

Experts have been working at the site in the historic Śródmieście (city center) district since 2023, and initially uncovered a medieval tombstone decorated with the carved image of a knight, according to a statement from Polish archaeology firm ArcheoScan, sent to CNN on Tuesday.

The tombstone was then lifted earlier in July, revealing the complete skeleton of an adult male, thought to have lived around the 13th or 14th century...

Here is the link for more about that.

Medieval knight’s complete skeleton discovered beneath Polish ice cream parlor | CNN

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Gold Item Purhased for $1 at Thrift Store.

A woman was shocked to discover the true value of a pendant she purchased from a California thrift store for $1...

It was only years later, while selling off other unwanted pieces of jewelry, that Blackstone discovered the piece's true worth.

"A melt shop I was selling broken jewelry to recently offered me money for it on the spot," Blackstone said. "I realized it was worth valuing properly."

The amount offered there, on the spot, caught her off-guard: $240.

"I was surprised to hear the number as high as $240 from low melt value," Blackstone said. "So I decided to post it, to see what the experts think. I was curious about the origin, and what it would retail for as well."...

Here is the link for the rest of the story.

Woman thrifts pendant for $1—then discovers its value

I showed in a recent post how small the marks on gold items can be.  I've found some that I only fond with a microscope and would likely not be found without one.  I can see how easy it would be for a person to misjudge a piece of gold and donate it without even knowing what it was.  Similarly, the thrift store workers might easily misjudge an item, which means there is a possibility of picking up making a find like the one in this article.  

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Something is raining gold across the universe. But no one knows what it is.

Here's the problem: Gold is an element, which means you can't make it through ordinary chemical reactions — though alchemists tried for centuries. To make the sparkly metal, you have to bind 79 protons and 118 neutrons together to form a single atomic nucleus. That's an intense nuclear fusion reaction. But such intense fusion doesn't happen frequently enough, at least not nearby, to make the giant trove of gold we find on Earth and elsewhere in the solar system. And a new study has found the most commonly-theorized origin of gold — collisions between neutron stars — can't explain gold's abundance either...

Here is that link.

There’s too much gold in the universe. No one knows where it came from. | Live Science

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Florida’s sandy beaches and bustling theme parks hide one of the most remarkable fossil records on Earth. Beneath the Sunshine State’s modern landscape lies a treasure trove of ancient life that has rewritten our understanding of prehistoric North America. From massive marine reptiles to early mammals, Florida’s fossil discoveries have consistently shocked paleontologists and revealed stories of a world that existed millions of years before humans walked the planet. These aren’t just scattered bones in the dirt – they’re complete chapters of Earth’s history that have fundamentally changed how we view the ancient past...

Here is the link for the rest of that article.\

5 Times Florida's Fossils Revealed a Different Ancient Past - discoverwildscience

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Surf Chart for Fort Pierce Inlet Area from SurfGuru.com.

I can't remember a summer with such a long period of nothing more than a two or three foot surf.  It has been a long spell, which means a lot of sand accumulated on beach fronts.

Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net