Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
 |
| A Small Sample of the Coins Surveyed in the Article Referred to Below. Source of image: See the Wayne-Shelby-Survey Link Below. |
In my previous post, I posted a great article about how some detectorists found what appeared to be an old post hole bank. I didn't take time to comment on the article a lot, but there were a lot of good tips in that article.
For one thing, maybe you noticed that the finds were made in steps over a number of hunts. First they found shallow coins in a relatively small area on multiple hunts. At that point, there was little to suggest a cache.
Many times I've talked about returning to a site that provides promise and detecting it over and over. I even described what I call an Intensive Multiple Step Search procedure (The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 7/22/14 Report - Tropical Depression Two Moving West & How To Conduct An Intensive Step Search). That is very close to what the detectorists in that article although not exactly. For example, they didn't use different types of detectors on different outings. That is something that is often advisable.
Maybe you noticed that the detectorists didn't discover the cache until after a number of hunts. The scattered near surface coins were first.
Then when they discovered the first coins of the cache, there were still multiple hunts and layers. After the first group they went back and found there were more coins deeper. And then they dug the hole wider and deeper until they were down about six feet. There were definitely stages the discovery.
I generally don't post articles to simply show that somebody found something. There are usually a number of tips of lessons. In this case, the detectorists used the lack of bricks, iron, and other items, and wondered why so many coins were scattered out in the middle of an open farm field where there was no evidence of a building or structures.
When you read of finds, see what other lessons you can find in the article. In this case, the article presented some very interested questions and showed the line of thought used in attempting to answer those questions.
But there is even more. The detectorists kept detailed records and analyzed coins found at a variety of sites in New Jersey. That included 90 different sites and 1,079 coins divided by type, date, country of origin and/or ruler. There were also 185 coins that were so deteriorated from their years in the ground that specific attribution was impossible.
Below is just one little excerpt from the many pages of the article.
Of the many coins in the survey, 117 were Spanish American, and the vast majority of them being from the Mexico mint. They were almost 1/2, 1, and 2 reales with each denomination being represented by a similar number.
Take a look. I'm sure you'll find it interesting. It is nice to see metal detector finds recorded and analyzed as a valuable source of archaeological and numismatic data.
Coincidentally, the predominant denomination and mint of the Spanish coinage appearing in this survey is coincidentally very much like what I've seen from some of our 1715 Fleet beaches - mostly low denomination and Mexico minted coins.
 |
| Source: nhc.noaa.gov. |
As you can see there are three areas of development. The northern most is going away from the U.S., but the southern areas show some promise of additional development. However, the ECMWF model at this points suggests that whatever develops there will turn north and also stay far away from the U.S.
 |
| Image Showing Projected position of cyclone on Aug. 18 as Derived from the ECMWF Model. Source: Windyty.com. |
Still, the Treasure Coast is expected to see a very small surf for the next week.
 |
| Surf Chart from SurfGuru.com. |
That is really a flat surf. I don't think I've seen such a flat chart before.
There will also be a negative afternoon low tide, so shallow water hunting should be very easy.
Good hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net