1/20/26 Report - A Look At A Couple Treasure Coast Beaches Today. Correlated Beaches. Targets Are Out There.

 

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

Fort Pierce Beach Near 10 AM Tuesday Morning from SurfGuru.com.

I checked the beach cam this morning and saw the beginnings of a small cut.

I visited that spot around 2 PM and this is what I saw.

Cut that Developed South of Fort Pierce Today as Seen at Around 2 PM.

You can see how the cut developed.  There is a detectorist in the picture.  Sorry it is kind of blurry.  You can also see his line of holes.

I saw this rooster at the beach today.  Don't know why he was there.  Maybe escaped a Santeria ritual.  I don't have any idea.

I've talked about correlated beaches.  When one beach cuts or fills, other similarly situated beaches will do the same thing or at least something similar.  From the early morning beach cam view, I saw a cut beginning to form south of Fort Pierce.  I thought John Brooks would likely do something similar and did some metal detecting there today.

Small Interrupted Cuts Running Along John Brooks Beach This Afternoon.

There were a good number of targets at John Brooks this afternoon.  There were some clad coins and some fishhooks, a few iron flakes and a little other junk.

There were targets down near the waterline.  Some were pretty deep.  I lost the low tide and had to let some of the deeper targets go.  They were simply too deep and the water was filling the holes before I could get the items out.

I put in some good practice time with the Manticore.  It does a really good job of target ID and shows good depth.  

I was disappointed to leave one good sounding deep target without getting it.  

I wouldn't be surprised if a small amount cobs were found in the past couple of days, but don't now for sure.  I didn't hit any today.

---

SEVERE GEOMAGNETIC STORM PREDICTED: A CME is approaching Earth, and it could cause a severe (G4-class) geomagnetic storm when it arrives during the early UTC hours of Jan. 20th. For sky watchers in North America, this means the night of Jan. 19-20. Widespread auroras are possible if the storm reaches its predicted peak intensity. Full story @ Spaceweather.com.

---

Here is the surf chart for the upcoming week.

SurfChart from SurfGuru.com.

Looks like we'll have around three to four feet for a few days with just a touch higher towards next week.

Good hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/19/26 Report - Cold Front. Metals Prices: Silver in High Demand. Maximizing Decision Strategies for Metal Detecting Site Selection.

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

Just After This Morning's High Tide
Fort Pierce South Jettty Beach Cam - South Beach Zoom from SurfGuru.com.

It's cool out there this morning after another cold front came through. 

 

Surf Chart from SurfGuru.com.

Looks like there could be a nice bump in the surf about seven days out, but being so far out, there is a good chance it disappears before actually getting here.  We'll see.

===

The price of silver rose by more than 142 percent for the year 2025. In the first two weeks of 2026, silver’s price jumped by almost another 30 percent from where it was on December 31, 2025. Over the course of last year, the price of gold soared more than 64 percent, platinum zoomed more than 127 percent, and palladium gained over 74 percent.

The outstanding performance of silver in particular was due to the difficulty of manufacturers being able to find the silver inventories required to fabricate their industrial products... It is an essential component of a wide range of products, including electric vehicle batteries, cell phones, weapons systems, and sanitary food processing equipment...

However, quickly rising silver prices are disrupting industries that handle high-purity forms of the metal. That includes products such as ingots and coins.

In the fall of 2025, higher silver prices had prompted people to liquidate such a large quantity of silver items that multiple refiners started to build up backlogs of metal to process... Refineries were operating at capacity, so they had the economic incentive to focus on processing only the purest forms of incoming metal to maximize their output.

Although almost all refiners are now accepting lower purity forms of silver to process, there may be a lag in turnaround time of at least a couple of days to maybe two weeks to obtain an assay of metal submitted for melting and refining...

Here is the link for the entire article.

Price Volatility and Capacity Problems with Precious Metals and Numismatics - Numismatic News

----

In my 1/16 report I talked about decision strategies.  Today I'll elaborate on the strategy I recommended, which might be called the Maximum Expected Value strategy.

Basically, that strategy considers the probability of finds of various values.  Putting it into equation form, it would be something like Expected Value = (probability outcome 1 times value of outcome 1) + probability outcome 2 times value of outcome 2 + (probability of outcome 3 times value of 3) and continuing for as many different outcomes as you want to consider.

In academic studies the outcomes are limited to a relatively small number and the values of each outcome is defined.  To apply game theory to metal detecting requires some adaptation, because the various outcomes will not be so neatly defined.  For example, instead of being a precise outcome, each outcome might be an entire category, such as modern coins, jewelry, perhaps including silver, modest gold, and valuable gold, shipwreck coins, or even caches. The values will often be the economic value of the finds, again a range instead of a precise value, but that isn't always necessarily the case.  

To illustrate the logic of the strategy, it can be put in the form of an equation. Lets say you have detected a particular site several times and always found a good number of coins, usually somewhere around $1.50 in total value.  At that site you also occasionally find a gold band or some modest but not real expensive piece of gold.  Your estimate might be that you get one of those about every fifth hunt and the average value would be around $150, so that would be 0.20 (the probability) times $150 (the typical value estimate.  And there is virtually no chance of finding anything really expensive at that site.  So EV = (1 times 1.50) plus ( .20 times $150.00) = 1.50 plus 37.5 = 39.  You could compare that expected value with the EV of other sites, which might produce different finds and have different probabilities and values.  If you evaluate such sites according to the EV numbers, you would choose the highest EV sites first because that site would be expected to produce the highest value of finds over time.  

So how do you know the expected probability of a find?  You develop an estimate based upon your past experience at the site, and you can revise that probability estimate as you gather more experience.  On first visits, you might have some guess, perhaps based upon observations or research. 

You don't have to be so precise.  It is an estimate - hopefully a good estimate and one that improves with experience.  The basic idea is to consider the types of finds, probabilities of each and the value of each type.  Consider, for example, another site in a very exclusive private club beach where you find very little change, an occasional gold band, but every once in a while something very expensive like an expensive diamond ring or expensive watch.  The high value item would shift the equation a lot even if the probability is much lower than the less valuable categories.  From an economic perspective, high value finds, even if they are very low probability, really have a huge impact on the total expected value.  I talked about that before. 

While modern coin values will not provide much economic incentive more frequent finds provide another kind of value.  They provide information about the distribution of items on a beach,  They also might keep you interested while awaiting the high value but rare finds.

See The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 7/10/14 Report - The Math of Metal Detecting and How It Can Assist Decisions and Strategies

Common finds usually aren't worth much.  There is an exponential increase in value with rarity.  Very valuable items are rare.  The exponential effect of rarity on price is huge.  A mint condition coin is much more valuable than one in poor condition.  You seldom find a mint condition coin. 

Here is a little chart I once made to illustrate that.

Going left to right, rarity increases while the value decreases.  Or to flip it around, as finds become less common, they become more valuable. 

The exponential increase in value of rarer items is dramatic and real   Just look at the difference in price for a mint state coin with a low population compared to a common "good" example.  

That is all fine and good if you are only interested in economic value, but many detectorists are interested in finds that may have less value.  They just "like" to find some kinds of items.  For example, some people like to find old things even if those old things have little value.  In that case, your value system might be a mix of economic and other factors.  Your value system can be personal and based upon what you like rather than the economic values.

In summary, my first point is that while the logic can be defined in the form of an equation, in reality you would simply be comparing the total expected value (economic or other) of finds for particular sites. 

I know that to some of you, this might seem like I'm unnecessarily complicating a simple matter, but the bottom line is that if you are more aware of your expectations, values, assumptions and how you make decisions, you will be able to make better decisions and improve results.  I hope that going through this thought process will help you do that.

Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net

1/18/26 Report - Ancient Shipwreck Found. Musket Ball Find by T. C. Detectorist. Mystery Find and Manticore Target ID System Example.

 

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

600-year-old Shipwreck Being Explored.

After removing centuries of sand and silt, the team realized they had uncovered the world’s largest cog, a type of ship developed in the North Sea region during the Middle Ages. The ship, named Svælget 2, measures around 28 meters (92 feet) long, 9 meters (30 feet) wide, and 6 meters (20 feet) high, and was large enough to haul up to 300 tons of cargo.

“The find is a milestone for maritime archaeology. It is the largest cog we know of, and it gives us a unique opportunity to understand both the construction and life on board the biggest trading ships of the Middle Ages,”....

Here is the link for more about that.

Marine Archeologists Find The World's Largest Cog Shipwreck From Medieval Times | IFLScience

===

I received the following photos and message from Mark G.

50 Caliber Musket Ball Find by Mark G.

I was melting down some lead this evening, cool in the garage it has been stacking up, the new Manticore loves lead. I dumped out the plastic jar and was loading the smalls first into the “Hot Pot” when I noticed a perfectly round weight, most are egg shaped with a hole through them. When I picked it up it was heavy even for lead I thought this might be a musket ball. I measured it weighted and discussed with my AI copilot and it is most certainly a 50 caliber musket ball. Now where did I find it? I keep a photo record of my finds each hunt even the bad ones so I should have it and I just melted lead back in November so shouldn’t be hard. Found it on December 12^th under the same bridge that I found my Reale in the parking lot in 2024. This recreational island was engineered to be built from the spoils from digging of the foundations for the support towers. They have recently refurbished the sand and coral stone around the islands but the island is still eroding away. I attached the photo record of Dec 12, I arrange all my findings in the same order each time see if you can find it, from the top; scrap aluminum bottle caps and junk, next any cars or toys, tent stakes to the left, fishing equipment including lead are next then coins ending with all jewelry on the bottom. This hunt had no tent stakes or kids toys all junk, lead or coins so searching was easier.

 

I ran this scenario through my AI Copilot and it went crazy.

Musket Ball and Other Finds the Same Day by Mark G.

Thanks for sharing Mark.

Mark's example illustrates a couple things I've said in this blog.

First, you might not identify or truly appreciate a find until much later.  In some cases, it can take years before you realize the significance of a find.

Secondly, keeping good records of finds can be very helpful.  In this case, his records helped Mark identify the site where he found the musket ball.

===

I've been doing a little hunting in a junky areas with the Manticore and I've been impressed by the target ID capabilities.  Below is an item I found.  Do you know what it is?

Here is the Manticore display for the item.  The one thing you can see is the audio tone which was a good high pitch.

Notice the high conductivity number and the small disc shaped object in the center line, which is where you'll generally see coins located on the display.  It looked good, so I dug it.  At first glance I thought it might be a button or coin.  Have you figured it out yet?  It is a tough one.  I didn't know what it is until I looked I did some research.

Indelbauru makes electrical components.  This one is a fuse head or cap.  Here is a little about it from their site.

It is the fuse button head made of conductive metals such as copper silver plated.  No wonder the conductivity of the item was shown as high.on the Manticore, which has the best target ID capability I've ever used.

With modern technological developments, more and more valuable metals are being used for electrical and technology applications.

If you look closely at the labeling on the fuse button, you'll notice the quality of the laser printing.  Those things actually cost about fifty dollars, if you look it up.  Of course, you are not likely to ever buy or sell one, but the laser printing suggested something of high quality.

================

Tomorrow I plan to elaborate on decision logic for evaluating and selecting sites for metal detecting.

Surf Chart from SurfGuru.com.

It looks like we'll have generally higher surf in the coming week.  

Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net

1/16/26 Report - Decision Strategies for Metal Detecting and Treasure Hunting: Research, Theory and Application.

 

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

Fort Pierce Beach This Morning from Fort Pierce Jetty Beach Cam.

Two days ago, I talked a bit about signal detection theory as it applies to metal detecting target ID and discrimination.  Today I'll begin a discussion of decision strategies for detectorists.  

Different detectorists use different strategies.  Detectorists usually select strategies instinctively or by  feel rather than using a detailed formal process.  Detecting strategies usually aren't defined in specific or detailed terms.  Each decision strategy is based upon assumptions, and each strategy reflects characteristics of the detectorist.  

My thinking on this subject is rooted in academic theory and research, but I'll try to make it as simple and understandable as I can, while at the same time reflecting some of the academic authority behind it.  

Some treasure hunters will pursue the largest possible treasures.  These treasure hunters might pick a huge cache or sunken treasure ship that hasn't been found and spare no expense, time or effort in the search for that treasure.  You might think of the search for the Atocha.as an example.  That takes a certain kind of person.  Some people might call those people dreamers.  The probability of success on a search like that might be very small, but that does not deter those people who are driven to go after the maximum possible outcome. 

On the other hand, there are people who are more risk averse and try to minimize the possibility of worst things that could happen.  They are more concerned about possible negative outcomes. They might not want to invest a lot in the search or take chances that might leave them broke in the end.  They will seek a more modest but attainable treasure. 

One important point here is that treasure hunters or detectorists are different, and those differences are reflected in their decision making and behavior.  In the terms of the academic research, these differences might be referred to as operator characteristics.  If you want to check out the academic body of knowledge on the subject you can use the terms Minimax and Maximin, which are the names two commonly employed strategies that relate to the examples I gave above.   ***

In academic terms, Minimax (sometimes Minmax, MM or saddle point) refers to a decision rule used in artificial intelligence, decision theory, combinatorial game theory, statistics, and philosophy for minimizing the possible loss for a worst case (maximum loss).

A decision strategy that I recommend for detectorists is maximizing the expected value.  I'm going to give you the math on a simplified example just to illustrate the basics, but you don't really have to do the math to use the decision strategy.

I'll start with a very simple example.  Suppose there is a coin flip game in which you are rewarded five dollars for every heads flip and lose three dollars for every tails. Below are the steps for applying the strategy, which are also the basic steps you'd use for real-life applications.

1. Identify all possible outcomes of interest.  

2. Determine the probability of each outcome.
3. Multiply the value of each outcome by its probability.
4. Add all the products to get the expected value.

In the coin flip game where you win $5 if the coin lands on heads and lose $3 if it lands on tails, the expected value is calculated as follows: Expected Value = (5 x 0.5) + (-3 x 0.5) = $1.

If you attempt to use the strategy of maximizing expected outcomes in metal detecting, you do the same thing.  You identify the possible outcomes and the probability of each outcome and the value of each outcome.

I'm not saying to actually do the math but follow the logic. What are the outcomes. 

When I began detecting I actually kept a record of all my coin finds, including the total number and type or value of coin.  If I remember correctly, the average value of modern U.S. coins finds was about 7.5 cents.  That, of course, was for the beaches I was detecting.  Things could be different today and could be different for different beaches. 

Lets make the situation more complex and more realistic.  Not only might you find coins, but you might be hunting jewelry and dealing with junk.

I talked about trade-offs yesterday.  You can look at dug junk as having a small negative value.  On the other hand, good jewelry will have a high and possibly real high positive value.

If you've detected a site several times, you have a better idea of the types of objects that might be found there and the values.  As you detect you might be constantly taking note of what learn about the probability of different types of finds.  And that can definitely affect your decisions.

You may have learned that site X has tons of beer bottle cans, smashed beer cans, and other junk, and it has some coins, and perhaps an occasional cheap gold band.  You might figure that there is a high probability of finding some amount of coins, and a probability of finding a cheap gold band, and virtually no chance of finding a very expensive ring or a Rolex.

Compare that with another site, maybe Y where you are likely to find very few coins and very few gold items, but the gold you do find has a high value.  If you use the formula, you might find that site Y, even though it produces few finds, produces a higher average value.  There might be more days when you completely strike out at that beach, but on those days when you hit anything, you do well.  

As I've pointed out in previous posts, finding one Rolex is better than finding hundreds or even thousands of coins.  

If you look at the probabilities and your best estimate of values, you might be surprised and you will have good information for making good decisions.

I hope you can see how the logic of the average expected value formula can be used for site selection.  That kind of logic can also be used to help you make decisions about target ID and discrimination.

I've also talked a lot in the past about keeping good find records.  They can assist you in estimating the likelihood (or probability) of different kinds of finds for different sites.

---

Surf Chart from SurfGuru.com.

Nothing special going on with the surf or tides.

Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net

1/15/26 Report - Recent Find by Treasure Coast Detectorist. Cold Front Coming Through. West Winds and Smooth Surf.

 

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

Nice New 14K Find by Dan K.

Dan K. told about his recent hunt and find (shown above)   as follows...

I got out on Monday with the hope that Sunday nights push of north winds and waves from the cold front had opened up some beaches. This front did not seem to be as strong as the last but there were a few small cuts and bowls that had been created. Targets were very sparse and I probably dug about 15 targets all day. One of the dips did however produce a nice 14k bracelet. It weighs about 5 grams but with golds current prices it was a nice find. I’m hoping the season pushes through a few more nice fronts as this year dosent seem to be creating the level of erosion that we saw last year. Thank you for your work on the blog.

Dan K.

Charms on Dan K's Find.

Congratulations Dan.  Thanks for sharing.  

Everyone likes to see what is being found.

---

COLD WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 1 AM TO 9 AM EST FRIDAY

Instruction: Use caution while traveling outside. Wear appropriate clothing, a hat, and gloves. Keep pets indoors as much as possible. Make frequent checks on older family, friends, and neighbors. Ensure portable heaters are used correctly. Do not use generators or grills inside.

Description: * WHAT...Very cold wind chills as low as 27 expected. * WHERE...Coastal Indian River, Coastal Saint Lucie, Inland Martin, Northern Brevard Barrier Islands, and Southern Brevard Barrier Islands. * WHEN...From 1 AM to 9 AM EST Friday. * IMPACTS...Wind chills this cold could be hazardous for those without access to adequate warmth, clothing, or shelter. --- Fort Pierce Jetty Beach Cam South Beach Zoom View from Thursday Afternoon. You can see how the west winds flattened out the surf. Surf Chart from SurfGuru.com. So the surf isn't going to get real big despite the cold front coming through, and it doesn't look like much after that.   --- I'm planning on following up on yesterday's post with a post on decision strategies as defined by game theory.  It might take me a little longer though.  It isn't easy to describe academic concepts without using the academic terminology.   I attempt to give you the proven academic tools without using too much of the academic terminology, so I end up with a mixture of metal detecting and academic terminology and hope you can make sense of it. Good hunting, Treasureguide@comcast.net

1/14/26 Report - Metal Detecting, Discrimination and Decision Making. Errors, Trade-offs and Academic Tools.

 

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

Table Adapting Signal Detection Theory To Metal Detecting.

How much discrimination should a detectorists use?  That isn't an easy question to answer.  In fact, there is no one answer.  It depends upon many factors.  

Today I'll just get a start and try to build a conceptual foundation that I'll build on in future posts.  The eventual goal is to give you the tools to make decisions on a more scientific basis, but that will probably take a few more posts.

In World War II when radar was being developed signal detection theory was being developed.  There would be signals on the radar screen but would also often be noise.  You'll see parallels with metal detecting.  Signals are almost never pure and have to be separated from noise.

On the radar screen, sometimes the signal was caused by an actual plane but sometimes apparent signals were produced by other things such as atmospheric conditions or sources of electrical inference. In metal detecting, you want to detect a a good - one produced by a good target rather black sand, junk, or other sources of "noise."  

As detectors became more sophisticated, we moved from a binary signal (beep or no beep) to more complex readouts that show additional information.  Nonetheless, thinking in terms like those of signal detection theory can be useful.  You can say that detectorists are trying to make dig/no dig decisions based upon the indicators provided by the metal detector.

The first thing to know is that there are two basic types of errors.  In academic settings those types of errors are often referred to as Type I and Type II errors.

Using the terminology of signal detection theory, a Type 1 error is when a signal indicates the presence of a good target when there is no good target present.  The Type I error is described as a "false alarm" in the illustration above.  A signal that looks like a good signal when there is not a good target can occur as a result of noise or, in the case of metal detecting, things like junk in the ground, mineralization or electrical interference in the environment.  When detecting in black sand, for example, the detector might produce a signal when there is no target present.  That is the equivalent of a Type I error - or a false alarm.

Today a good target might be indicated by the combination of an auditory tone, and a conductivity number and perhaps other readouts.  Like radar operators, detectorists are always trying to find "good" signals in noise.  We do not have perfect target ID, although it is getting better.  Conductivity numbers, for example, are seldom read as a continuously repeatable number without and other numbers be produced by the same target.

The detectorist can use various decision strategies.  He may use different decision strategies in different situations.  

If you are getting a lot of false alarms, one thing you might do is reduce the detector's sensitivity setting. That might help you cut down on false alarms, but you should be aware that there are costs involved with that strategy. A reduced sensitivity can cause you to miss smaller of deeper good targets.

The best decision will consider the risks and rewards of the tradeoffs.  It will also be based upon some reasonable knowledge or estimates of the type and number of targets likely to be found in that environment.  It will also include consideration of the values of targets, as well as other factors.  I plan to get into those more in the future.

There are also many user characteristics that should be considered. And different users will be prone to different strategies.  Some will be most motivated by the maximum possible find.  Some detectorists are more optimistic than others.  To put it in more common terms, some detectorists just hate to dig junk.  Others treasure hunters will do anything and everything possible to find that one huge find that can take them years and years and cost them everything.  Then there is a good probabilistic long-term decision to maximize the average expected value.  We can spend a post or two on different decision strategies as described in game theory.

The likelihood of a Type 1 error (false alarm) depends in part on the decision criterion adopted by the detectorist.  A lenient criterion increases the absolute number of finds but also the number of "false alarms".  To put it in other terms, if you regard more signals as "diggable," you will increase the number of good targets dug, but also the number of junk targets dug.  Conversely, a strict criterion reduces false alarms but may lead to missing more good targets.

Type II errors (misses) can be increased by reducing Type I errors (false alarms).  There is a relationship.  There are trade-offs.  The risks and rewards must be assessed by considering a variety of factors so the best decision strategy can be selected

All of this might sound like I'm making the obvious sound more complicated than necessary, but I'm trying to establish a foundation of conceptual tools for future discussions.  There is a vast body of relevant academic knowledge to draw upon.

People like to simplify things and that is good, but sometimes you can not simplify without losing important detail.  We like to think that a certain conductivity number or a certain tone means this or that, but things are usually more complex than that.  

I'm not saying that our new readouts are no help.  They are not perfect, but the additional information they provide can be used in many cases to narrow down the probable ID of a target.  Again, we are talking about probabilities.  That is the point I'm working towards. 

I'll leave it there for today and hope to pick up from there some time in the future.

Surf Chart from SurfGuru.com.

Looks like a couple bumps but nothing real exciting.

Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net

1/13/26 Report - Treasure Coast Beach Development. Beach Correlations and Beach Cams. Magnet Fishing and Magnets for Other T.H. Uses.

 

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

Fort Pierce South Beach Zoom View from Surfguru.com Around Noon Monday.

Monday morning around noon I took a look at the Fort Pierce South Jetty beach cam and saw what you see above. You can still see that picture in yesterdays post.  I've mentioned in the past that there seems to be a correlation between this beach and John Brooks.

DJ sent me the following photos from John Brooks about the same time - maybe a half hour or so off.

Two Views of John Brooks Close to Noon on Monday
submitted by DJ.

This appears to be another example showing the correlation.  Like a lot of things having to do with metal detecting the correlation isn't perfect, but it might help you make some decisions. 

Frederick Douglass is very often similar to John Brooks too.  Often one will look a little better or worse than the other, but there is a good correlation.  When one is cut or building, the other will usually be doing something similar.  

One nice thing about using the beach cams is that you can get some ideas before you even leave home.  That can help you out.

The other thing I like about some of the beach cam views is that you get your view from the same position.  You can compare how it looks at low tide with how it looks at high tide.  You can compare how it looks at early in the day with later or even the next day.  That might help you figure out what is going on, for example are the beaches eroding or building.

It can also help you find other relationships.  For example, you can relate other changes to beach changes.  You can see what happens after the winds and waves shift.  Overall, the beach cams can help you learn a lot.

From the angles later Monday, I would guess that the beaches would be filling again.

---

It seems that magnet fishing is getting a lot of attention these days.  Unfortunately, it is kind of hard to tell what is getting a lot of in the news these days because with electronic media what you see is to some extent customized to your indicated interests as indicated by your past choices.  If you look at an article on some topic, you'll see more related items. while somebody else is seeing something altogether different.  I've been seeing a lot on magnet fishing, but then I've looked at some videos on that in the past, so I don't know if it is as popular as it seems to me.

Anyhow, a I noticed that more people were looking at one of my old posts on the subject from ten years ago.  I talked about magnet fishing as a way to check out spots for other types, but I also talked about using magnets for other purposes such as preparing a site for metal detecting.  I also talked a bit about beach sifting in that post.

The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 7/24/15 Report - Magnet Fishing: A Tool For Detectorists. Beach Sifting Machines. Metals Used In Coins.

And of course a magnet on a long handle can be used to quickly and easily pick up nails and iron junk.  Here is a little video I made showing how to do that.  It is really very helpful.  I use it often.

Using Magnet to Quickly Remove Junk MD Targets

---

I picked up a few wheat cents in change lately.  Maybe just coincidence, but maybe people are dumping them.  I don't know why that would be, but here is the one I found with my metal detector the other day on the previously hunted railroad site.

Looks like it wasn't in circulation long before being dropped.

---

Surf Chart from SurfGuru.com.

Looks like one more bump coming up in a few days.

Good hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/12/26 Report - Small Cuts On Some Beaches This Morning. Beach Renourishment Projects Starting. What, Where, When.

 

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

Fort Pierce South Beach Zoom View from SurfGuru.com Beach Cam

As I said yesterday, this time of year we occasionally get fronts that come through, that affect beach metal detecting conditions.  Last night we had a front come through, with the typical wind shift.  With the north winds and south running current, at least a few local beaches developed modest cuts.  You can see one such example of that above.  Notice the small mid-beach cut.   

I would have liked to see a larger surf.  Today the surf should get up to three or four feet.  Not all that big, but maybe worth checking some spots, especially with the beach renourishment projects just getting started. 

I am quite pleased with how much I've learned about beach dynamics as it relates to metal detecting in the last forty or so years.  When I started this blog around 2008 or so, people were mostly talking about big waves and northeasters, which do have an effect, but now detectorists talk about other things as well. Wind and surf direction, and the angles, and long-shore currents, for example.    People weren't talking about things like coin lines back then either.  That is a discussion that I introduced.  Now the general conversation, and the body of knowledge, has become more extensive and nuanced.  If you've been reading this blog over the years, you probably were well ahead of most people when it comes to learning about those things.

----

This morning Mike T. saw the beginnings of the St Lucie County renourishment project. He pointed out that the Martin County project will be beginning soon and running concurrently with the St. Lucie County project.  He sent these photos, and a link to the County renourishment project along with his email.

Mike continued... 

      I am disappointed as many of us will be that some of our best hunting areas will be covered up with yucky grey sand for years to come.

     The project will be pumping sand on the Northern Martin County beaches from the St. Lucie line all the way South of Stuart Beach :(

      I have included a couple pics from Sunday morning’s look South from Normandy Beach. 

   They are currently staging pipes and pump stations to pump the sand South toward Martin County beaches.

    On a positive note, we did find a couple nice shark teeth this morning at Jensen low tide.

    Happy hunting :) 

Below is a shell pile that Mke found.  I always like to check shell piles for sea glass, shark teeth, or whatever else might be interesting.

Here are a couple links to sites containing a lot of information about the project. The site will also keep up with the project progress.

   https://www.stlucieco.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/10070/

That site has much good information, including the following illustration.

As you can see, that ;project begins at Jensen and goes south.  

The site also will keep you up to date on the projects progress.

I'm always interested in what might be dumped on the site from the off shore dedge sites.   For example, the material will be screened to .75 inches.    Here is what it says.

Placement Side : Clean Fill is placed onto the shore where material greater than ¾” is screened out of sand that is placed. 

Check out the site.  There is a lot to see.

https://owl.martin.fl.us/app/f?p=301:2:14162694069885::::P2_LIST_GROUP_ID,P2_LIST_ID:100,15798

Thanks much for sharing Mike.  Keep checking for shark teeth and whatever else might be brought in.

Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net

1/11/26 Report - Beautiful Time of the Year for Metal Detecting in Florida, but You MIght Also Want to Try Something New.

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

Saturday Morning View of Beach South of Fort Pierce Jetty.

Above is a view from Saturday afternoon.  There are a couple of things I noticed.  One is a very small, but insignificant cut.  The more significant is the number of people on the beach up by the condos.  The weather is beautiful and has been for a while.  The snow birds are coming back and the weather has been so nice that a lot of people have been going to the beach.

There is a lot of good metal detecting this time of year.  Not just the beaches.  You can find modern losses from beach goers, but it is also the time of year when we can get a few cold fronts and some higher surf.  But there is even more than that.  This time of year, the undergrowth is diminished.  And we've had especially dry weather, so you can more easily detect some of those overgrown wooded areas that are normally thickly overgrown and hard to detect.

If you are a beach detectorist you might not like getting out in the trees and brush.  It can be a pain if you are accustomed to the beach where there is easy swinging and digging, so if you do get into the weeds and brush, be prepared.  There might be vines, thorns, spiders and roots everywhere you need to dig, but it can be done, and you can find some interesting things doing that.  That isn't for everyone, but some of you might enjoy the challenge and you might find something good.  

I like doing various kinds of detecting because it seems it forces you to learn when you have to deal with other kinds of environments and types of hunting.  

I've had a great time out in the boonies where everyone told me there wouldn't be anything good.  I've found gold as well as historical artifacts and coins in the most unlikely looking places.  You might think nobody has ever been there to lose anything good, but my experience is that people have been almost everywhere, even if there are no signs of human activity. 

You'll probably have to make some adjustments to your equipment and how you detect, but if you put any real time into it, I bet you'll learn some things that will help you when you get back to the beach. 

I'm often amazed by how much is found where you've never seen a single person, but if you can get there without extreme hardship, other people have probably been there no  matter whether you are talking about the Everglades or mountain hillsides.  

There are times when the most unlikely looking places turn out to provide some really good hunting.  For one thing, some of those kinds of places haven't been detecting much or at all.  The kinds of areas I talking about won't be heavily detected like our world-famous beaches.  Our beaches have been detected to death, yet you can still make good finds there.  Think about finding a place where no one has detected before.

I like to detect places that look like they've never been detected before.  You can usually tell that fairly quickly when you start to detect and see what is or is not in the ground.  A lot of those places don't' change daily, like our beaches, and the finds might be right where they were dropped hundreds of years ago.

I talk often about reading beaches, but you can read any site.  There will always be some signs that suggest spots you will want to check.  But one mistake many people make is to detect the easy spots.  Most detectorists will be drawn to the same spots, while some spots remain untapped.  Sometimes you can find those areas by walking a little farther or working a little harder or smarter.  

Many will have some areas that anyone would detect first and other areas that most everybody will pass up.  Even a lot of the old abandoned beaches will have bushes protecting some areas.  I always like to stick my detector back under the bushes and make sure to hit any areas that have other obstacles that a many people will avoid.  Not only will the branches and roots cause others to miss protected targets, but they can also trap coins and things.  A limb or fallen tree can guide the currents and trap coins and things.  I once picked up five mercury dimes in one scoop at the end of a fallen palm log on a beach.

I like to hit steep areas on hillsides. They tend to steadily erode and remain bare rather than collect leaves and build (like a building beach).  It might be hard to detect on such a steep hillside but can definitely be worth it. You might need a good set of cleats, or even a rope tied around a tree, but it can be done.  Those areas will generally be avoided by most detectorists but often produce good finds.  Back down the hillside with a rope around you and a shortened detector rod to detect the ground right in front of you.  I've told about doing that before on a Caribbean Island.  Not only was it fun, but it produced some of my first Revolutionary War era artifacts.

The point of today's post is to get you to think about trying new things when your old habit might not be producing so much.  As I've often said, there is always somewhere to detect and something to find. This is a great time of year in Florida for metal detecting.  Try something new.  Maybe even something that seems a little crazy.  I bet there are some areas near you just begging to be tried.

Surf Chart from SurfGuru.com.

Tonight we'll see a bump in the surf but the chart, but it will be quick.  Notice the wind shift on the chart.

Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net