Written by the Treasureguide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
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| Just After High Tide Friday Morning South of Fort Pierce Jetty. Snipping from SurfGuru.com. |
You can see a small cut that formed later this morning at this stretch south of the Fort Pierce Jetty. This was just after high tide. I don't think it will get much bigger.
Notice that is lower on the slope than the seaweed line, which indicates where a previous high tide was.
I think the cut got a touch bigger than it is in the photo but am not expecting much more today.
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With Soaring Gold and Silver Prices, What Happens to Numismatics?
With bullion prices soaring, collectors face shrinking numismatic premiums as gold and silver coins trade closer to melt value than ever before...
In today’s market, many gold, silver, platinum, and palladium coins that used to have some numismatic premium over the value of the metal content have lost that premium. If you are looking to sell, expect to be quoted below melt value on many U.S. and worldwide gold coins and on a wide range of U.S. and world silver coins.
The discounts are larger for silver coins right now. There is an acute shortage of silver in the London market to deliver to maturing contracts called for physical delivery. As a consequence, as of Wednesday morning this week, for example, the London silver fix spot price was $1.13 higher than quoted at the same time for the COMEX December 2025 contract. Only 1,000-ounce bars already in the London vaults were worth that premium price.
Because of record-high silver prices, great quantities of silver coins and other silver objects are being liquidated. In order to expedite processing, at least one U.S. silver refiner is currently only accepting .999 fine silver items to process. This is leading to a backlog on processing for the other refiners who are still willing to accept sterling silver items (92.5 percent purity), U.S. 90 percent Silver Coins, and other products that have less than .999 silver purity....
The discounts are larger for silver coins right now. There is an acute shortage of silver in the London market to deliver to maturing contracts called for physical delivery. As a consequence, as of Wednesday morning this week, for example, the London silver fix spot price was $1.13 higher than quoted at the same time for the COMEX December 2025 contract. Only 1,000-ounce bars already in the London vaults were worth that premium price.
Because of record-high silver prices, great quantities of silver coins and other silver objects are being liquidated. In order to expedite processing, at least one U.S. silver refiner is currently only accepting .999 fine silver items to process. This is leading to a backlog on processing for the other refiners who are still willing to accept sterling silver items (92.5 percent purity), U.S. 90 percent Silver Coins, and other products that have less than .999 silver purity....
For collectors who may not be happy that some of the pieces in their collection cost them a little extra over metal value compared to common-date coins, try to be satisfied that the value of your overall collection may have increased because of higher precious metal prices.
Here is that link for a very informative article.
The changing price of a rare silver or gold coin will not always (if ever) be increased or decreased by the same amount that the melt value changes. The author describes the more complex relationship between numismatic and bullion value, giving one example of how the bullion value essentially wiped out the numismatic value of some cons. In other words, coins that had value because of their rarity, when the bullion value became higher, had the same value as less rare dates or varieties of bullion coins having the same melt value. At high bullion prices the rarity factor became less important in those cases. With old shipwreck treasure coins, the coins may also have other kinds of values, including premiums for historic connections, provenance, or other things that might provide added interest.
Good article, but I wish the author gave more specific examples.
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I have to go back and talk a little more about something I already talked about in Part III of my How Coins Move on a Beach series. Although some of it is repetitive, I added a little, which I think is necessary..
I talked about throwing a test coin in the moving water to see how the coin moves. That is a good thing to do, especially when you are metal detecting in water that is enough to move coins. When you are working in front of a cut that bounces the water back down the slope after hitting the cut, any coins falling out of the cut can be quickly washed down the slope.
I previously mentioned that your coins might be moved down the slope, and perhaps a little to the north or south, depending upon the movement of the water, but I should have also mentioned that there can also be times when the coin is washed up the slope. When working in front of the cut, and close to the base of the cut, coins will often be washed down the slope, and most often a bit to the south. That is not always the case though, which is why it is a good idea to use your metal detector to track a test coin. It is helpful to see which way the coins are moving but also helps to find out how far the coins are being moved. Of course there will be some variation from one test to another, but you'll see a general trend.
It is very helpful to know the direction and distance coins are being washed by both incoming and outgoing water. If you accidentally drop a new find or if you don't get a target in your scoop on the first try, and it washes away, you might have to relocate it, so if you have a good idea which way it probably went, and how far, that can help. It can still take you a while to relocate targets like that, and in some cases, you might not find it again. Sometimes when you don't find it again, it will be a junk item that moves more easily and farther than a coin normally would. You can prove that by using a pull tab or bottle cap for your test target.
Learn to track coins lower on the slope too. The wash down there can be stronger and can move coins in both directions. It is good practice, and you'll learn how coins move there.
After a while you might be able to estimate the likely movement of surface coins in rough water simply by looking at the water. And we are talking about surface or near surface coins. If a coin is under sand that is not moved by the water, the coin won't be moved either. That sand can be moved by the next wave or two and then the coin can be moved too.
So far I've talked mostly about the slope (area above the blue line). I'll talk about out in the water some time soon.
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You can see where the slope begins and the wave is flattened out and then runs up and down the slope. You can see the little cut at the top of the slope too..
I know I've said some of this before, and I don't like to repeat, but I think I added a little and hopefully clarified a little.
All of that depends upon your ability to work in swift water, which is not something that all detectorists do.
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| Same Shot but Near the Afternoon Low Tide. |
Now it is easier to see the cut I was talking about because of the shadows from the afternoon sun.
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| Tropical Storm Melissa from nhc.noaa.org. |
Looks like Melissa will become a major hurricane and eventually turn north. I'll keep an eye on that.
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| Surf Chart from SurfGuru.com |
This weekend we are supposed to have up to a six foot surf.
Good hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net