Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
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| Couple Mystery Objects. |
The challenge today is the bigger object on the left. This is a hard one - in more ways than one! I've had it sitting around for quite a while because I didn't know how I wanted to clean it. I don't know what is in there, but it gave a good clean signal on the Manticore. Below is the readout.
Clean signal, center line, good number. It looks good to me, yet to the eye it looks like nothing more than a roundish flat rock with some orange specs that could be rust.
I soaked this mystery challenge object in vinegar for a day, and here is closeup of the object after the vinegar removed the whiteish surface layer.
Here are a couple other views.
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| Mystery Object After Light Cleaning. |
It looks just like a rock. I probably wouldn't pick it up if I just saw it lying on the beach. Below is a side view.
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| Tapered Edge on Mystery Challenge Object. |
By looking at it, it seems the right size and shape to be a possible coin, but I've never seen a coin in this type of very hard encrustation, but obviously something is in there and the Manticore is giving a possible coin signal.
I hadn't cleaned it before, simply because I didn't know how I wanted to proceed. I didn't have much hope that the vinegar or acid would work, but it might make some progress. We'll see. I've been tested to break it open, but don't really want to do that. I'll start with what I think are the least dangerous measures and proceed from there.
See if you can guess what it is.
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At the same time, I cleaned another object, also seen in the top picture. It is what appears to be a ancient Greek or Roman coin. Unlike the challenge object, it cleaned easily. Here it is along with the challenge object.
It appears to be a fake ancient coin, but I should look into it more. I need new test acid. As expected, the surface corrosion came off easily. Here is what it looked like after a little cleaning.
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| Obverse and Reverse Views of Cleaned Coin. |
I never took this coin too seriously (I don't even remember where I found it), but I should test the metal. I expected to see a COPY mark on it somewhere but didn't find one.
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| Unidentified Ceramics Mark. |
Here is a mark found on a broken piece of what looks like oriental porcelain. I can't identify it, but it is probably a decorative mark rather than a real mark of antiquity. I find these Chinese markings impossible and have to depend upon other observations. I probably can identify the Kang-Hsi mark, but have not been lucky enough to find a piece with the mark on it.
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| Surf Chart from Surfguru.com. |
Just a rainy day - unfortunately with some thunder and lightning.
Good hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net