11/14/23 Report - Windy Rainy Morning Results in Small Cuts on Some Treasure Coast Beaches.

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

John Brooks Beach Early Tuesday Morning.

It was another windy rainy morning.  I went out to check a few beaches near the morning high tide to see how things were developing.

John Brooks Beach Early Tuesday Morning.

At John Brooks there was a small cut running along the front of the flat beach.  Only about one or two feet high.

Waves Hitting John Brooks Beach Early Tuesday.

Near high tide you could see the waves crashing on an accumulation of sand in front of the beach.  The waves were hitting the beach straight on without any angle.

Frederick Douglass Beach Early Tuesday Morning.

The cut was a little higher at Frederick Douglass, but not much.  The slope at both places was very mushy.

Frederick Douglass Beach Early Tuesday Morning.

I wasn't surprised at all by the conditions.  If you checked the link to the Stuart Rocks beach cam yesterday, you could see that the waves were hitting without any angle.  That hasn't changed.

Fort Pierce South Jetty Eroding Tuesday Morning.

Fort Pierce South Jetty Beach was eroding nicely.  The cut was probably seven feet or more high.

The fellow in the distance was metal detecting.

The wind is supposed to increase this afternoon and the surf is supposed to increase a touch the next two days, but I'm not seeing anything on the surf chart to suggest much improvement in beach metal detecting conditions.

Surf Chart For Fort Pierce Inlet Area From SurfGuru.com.

Notie that the wind and swell directions are all very much from the east.

There could be some spots out there where there are better angles, but the two wreck beaches I looked at today do not look very promising.

Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net

11/13/23 Report - Turtle Trail and Treasure Coast Beaches. Higher Surf Coming But No Big Change in Metal Detecting Conditions.

 

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

Tu

Turtle Trail Sunday.

Russ P. sen the following email and the three photos from Turtle Trail.

Went to Turtle Trail and others nearby today at low tide and it appears the high tide has washed down replenished sand from the low dune area washing it over the top of the beach.

Attached are some photos of Turtle Trail area and the cuts in the replenishment sand. Nothing touched or washed down from the dunes where the sea grapes are.

All but small parts of the green erosion control bags were covered.

Turtle Trail Sunday.

Turtle Trail Sunday.

Thanks Russ.

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As I write, it is early and raining lightly outside.   

Redundancy.  Was the word "outside" necessary.  Of course not.  Where else would it be?  

It wasn't necessary, but did it add something?  Maybe   Depends upon the reader.  Maybe the reader will get something subtle from it.   Possibly a little emphasis from the additional word.  Maybe something of the feeling or mind or situation of the writer.  If nothing else, it gave pause for reflection, worthwhile or not.  

Once again, the early morning high tide today is going to be big.

The surf will be increasing during the day.  Looks like the surf will be rough for a few days, but not huge.

The high tide will help, but angles don't look much good.

Surf Chart from SurfGuru.

It is not unusual for the best angles to be before the highest surf.

It has been a while since we got prolonged erosion conditions.  We've been getting quickies where there will be erosion during one or two tide cycles and then the beaches start to fill again right away.  With so much renourishment sand remaining, that hasn't been enough to improve beach conditions a lot.

Here is the view at Stuart rocks.  You can see the angles there.

Stuart Rocks Surf Report and Jensen Surf Forecast - Florida Surf Cams (surfguru.com)

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Having recently looked through hundreds of family photos my mother had stored in cardboard boxes, I just realized that in all those photos, not one showed a cloudy rainy day like today.  There were picknics and outings and happy smiling events, but no dark and stormy days.  That probably had something to do with the technology of photography, but something else too.

Behind the clouds, the sun still shines.

Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net

11/12/23 Report - Some Clues That Will Help You Date the Age of Earrings and Sites. High Tide Today.

 

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

Some Old Costume Earring Finds.

The earrings shown above are costume jewelry and aren't worth much, but they might help you date a detecting site.  One thing you will notice is that there are three different types of findings or ways that they attach to the ear.

The following illustration shows some of those and some others as well.

If you've been metal detecting very long, you've probably found most of thos

Did you know that the fitting or way it attaches to the ear can tell you something about the age of the earring and therefore possibly something about the age of the site.

Below is an illustration showing when different types of earrings were introduced.

That illustration is found on the Hobby Lark site.  Here is the link.

 5 Easy Clues for Dating Antique or Vintage Jewelry - HobbyLark.

So the two round earrings in my first photo would be no earlier than 1934, and the simple silver post earring, no earlier than 1920, and the one on the far right, no earlier than 1909.

I thought they were probably vintage, and I don't see anything to contradict that.

If you want to identify older styles, here is another resource.

Guide to 18th Century Jewelry History [Updated] - Working the Flame

When you go back a couple hundred years, you'll often see shepherd's hook earrings, like those shown below. 

18th Century Earrings.

You have to be careful though.  Shepherd's hook earrings are still made today as are other of the older styles so you have to consider other indicators as well.

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Surf Chart For the Fort Pierce Inlet Area from SurfGuru.com.

So the surf will start to get bigger today.  The first high tide today will be real big (over 3.3 feet) and the later one will also be big, but not quite so big.

Then the surf will peak about Tuesday at five to six feet.  The wind and swells look easterly though.

Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net

 

11/11/23 Report - Turquoise and Silver Jewelry From the Aztec to the Navaho, Hopi and Zuni Until Today.

 

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

Some Silver and Turquoise Ring Finds.

If you've been detecting for a long time, you probably have noticed trends in your finds.  Of course, it matters where you hunt, but during different time periods or eras you will find more or less of different types of finds.

Back in the 70s or 80s I found a lot of silver and turquoise jewelry, especially at some places, such as Hollywood Beach.  

Silver Prices.

As you can see, silver prices have changed dramatically over the years.  One spike was back around 1980 when it shot up to around $50 from $5.  As I recall, the Hunt brothers cornered the market on silver and drove up the prices the first time..  There was another big spike around 2011 or 2012.  Right now it is somewhere around $22 per ounce.

As for the turquoise, it has been valued in the Americas since pre-Columbian times.

A 16th-century Aztec document called the Codex Mendoza records tribute paid by conquered provinces to the Aztec capital. It mentions shipments of turquoise from three provinces: one in parts of the modern Mexican states of Guerrero and Puebla and one in the western part of modern-day Oaxaca, along with a third province in northern Veracruz, which at the time was the far northeastern corner of the Aztec Empire.

The logical assumption is that the Hohokam, Mogollon, and Puebloan peoples of the Southwestern US traded their local turquoise for goods from Mexico and farther south, so the provinces in the Codex Mendoza were importing the turquoise they sent as tribute. But it turns out that the chemical signatures in Aztec and Mixtec turquoise tiles don't match that of Southwestern US rocks; they actually match Mesoamerican rocks.. (Source: New study rethinks pre-Columbian turquoise trade | Ars Technica)

You can still find turquoise in the American Southwest. See Where And How We Find And Identify Turquoise In 2023 (rockchasing.com)

It was the Navajo tribe that was primarily responsible for teaching other southwestern tribes how to make Native American rings, necklaces, belt buckles, and bracelets. They learned about jewelry making when they came into regular contact with the Spanish around the 16th century. The Navajo noticed the jewelry worn by the Spaniards and how that jewelry granted them a certain status in society. They began wanting to make it for themselves. The influence of the Spanish can clearly be seen by the use of the pomegranate blossom, sometimes known as the squash blossom necklace, which was inspired by the Moorish crescent.

Over the next 200 years, the Navajo learned how to make jewelry and to trade with the Spaniards for their jewelry. The Navajo enjoyed using the cross or crescent shaped naja on rawhide necklaces and it became a symbol of power. It is not known when the Navajo began using silver to make their jewelry, but best estimates are that Atsidi Sani was the first Navajo silversmith and that he learned to use silver in jewelry around the early 1860s.

To get silver to make jewelry, the Navajo often melted down silver coins. If they traded with the Spanish for such items as teapots or candlesticks, they would melt those as well. Although it was almost impossible to enforce the law the government passed in 1890 making it illegal to deface currency, the Navajo often turned to using silver Mexican coins as a resource.

At first, the Navajo concentrated on using silver to create concha type jewelry such as concha belts, bracelets, Native American rings, pins, necklaces, and hair ornaments. Within the next thirty years, Sani had taught many other Navajo to be silversmiths and use silver in jewelry. To get the decoration on the silver, the silversmith would hammer it on with a file. The Navajo then began using turquoise, a stone very in demand and valued by them, in the 1880s. It was also around this time that the Mexican silversmiths, called plateros, began traveling to the southwest for trade. Their styles also influenced the Navajo jewelry making.

By 1872, the Zuni tribe was making Native American jewelry as well as the Navajo. They were already working with copper, brass, and iron, so it only seemed natural to begin using silver. Soon one of the Zuni silversmith shared his jewelry making with someone from the Hopi tribe. Each tribe began to develop its own style as they shared information. As their technique grew, they started using solder and were able to join two or more pieces together as well as set stones such as turquoise in their jewelry...

Here is that link.

A History of Native American Rings and Jewelry (indians.org)

Like with everything else, there are fakes.  Other stones are dyed to look like turquoise and foreign factories produce jewelry to mimic Native American.

There are sites where you can learn to identify quality turquoise and quality jewelry produced by Native American craftsmen.

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

So, it looks like we'll be getting a surf in the three to six foot range.  I consider four to six feet to be borderline.  It can improve overall beach conditions if everything else is good, but in this case the angles don't look good.

Good hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

11/10/23 Report - Detectorists Discover Group of Gold Coins. A Less Common U.S. Coin In My Finds. Lorenzo Jewelry Find.

 

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

A team of metal detectorists discovered a treasure hoard of American and Russian gold coins in a Polish forest recently.

The detectorists from the Szczecin Search Group Association were conducting a survey to find relics from WW2, in particular, traces of the Battle of Szczec, fought between the Soviet Red Army and the Wehrmacht.

They have found 70 coins deposited in a heavily corroded metal can buried at a depth of approximately 15 to 20 cm’s. The total discovery has been estimated to be worth 100,000 zloty, which is over 24,000 US dollars based on current conversion rates...

Here is the link for more about that.

Hoard of American and Russian Gold Coins Found in Polish Forest (greekreporter.com)

Thanks to William K. for that link.

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I often put some finds aside for one reason or another and intend to get back to them later.  Sometimes I put them aside for cleaning.  Other times I put them aside until I have time to do more research.  And sometimes I just don't notice anything that draws attention to the item at first glance. 

I just noticed this coin in a group of coins I was ready to spend.  I didn't know what it was until I looked at it more closely.

I don't know exactly when I found it, but it probably wasn't long ago.

 

1944 D Ten Centavos Philippines Coin.

It is a little smaller than a dime and is 57% silver.  Has a melt value of around $1.10.  

I probably just threw it in my pocket as a dime.

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Here is a find which I thought was costume jewelry.

Pendant Marked "Lorenzo 18kt - 970."

 Then I noticed the latch and hinge (above right).

And the mark (below).  It is marked "Lorenzo, 10k  970".

Marked Latch.

A little research revealed that Lorenzo jewelry is often 10 karat gold and sterling and features colored stones.

I was surprised to see that many  Lorenzo pieces sell for $200 or $300.

See Shop by Designer > Lorenzo - Lorenzo Jewelry (lorenzo-jewelry.com)

I still don't see the reason for the hinged bail.   

That item could have remained in my junk box unnoticed for a long time.  I really thought it was cheap costume jewelry.

I guess from time to time it can be worth taking another look through your finds.

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Fort Pierce Inlet Area Surf Chart from SurfGuru.com.

Looks like we'll soon get some higher surf.

The high tides today will be fairly high again - slightly over three feet.

Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net.

11/9/23 Report - Dating a Medieval Shipwreck. Next Auction. Some Things To Do With Finds When Not Returnable. Bigger Surf Coming.

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

Tree-ring analysis has been able to date a medieval ship found in a Welsh riverbank to within a few months.

The wreck of a 15th Century ship was found in the mud of Newport's River Usk in 2002 and experts believe it is as significant a find as the Mary Rose.

Now researchers have found timbers from the hull of the former wine-trading vessel were made from oak trees that were felled in the winter of 1457-58.

"It helps us refine when the ship was built," said ship curator Toby Jones.

It is another major development for the Newport ship conservation project who have been working for more than 20 years to conserve and ultimately rebuild the vessel, which is a century older than the Mary Rose...

Here is the link.

Newport medieval ship's timber dated to within months - BBC News

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From Sedwick...

Are you going to the Whitman Baltimore Expo this week? Come by Booth 1137 to visit us!

We will have our inventory of coins, banknotes, and medals available for purchase.

We're also pleased to announce that our recently concluded Treasure Auction 34, held November 2nd and 3rd, set a new record for our company with over $4.7 million in numismatic rarities sold! Strong, active bidding from our valued clients as well as fresh, attractive material from our consignors helped make this an exciting, record-breaking sale.

We're already building up our next major auction scheduled for May 7-9, 2024 - a sale in which we aim to break a new record. See us in Baltimore to learn how we can maximize the best return on your collectibles.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Best regards,
Daniel Frank Sedwick, LLC

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Some people sell their modern finds to pawn shops or jewelry stores that won't pay but a fraction of what you might expect for nice jewelry. 

Jewelry stores and pawn shops usually put very little value on nice gemstones, for example - almost none, unless you have a huge diamond or something exceptional.  And even a nice diamond ring, they'll only give you a fraction of what they will eventually sell it for.  That is understandable since they have expenses and need to make a profit.

A nice sized diamond with a small chip will probably need to be recut and then regraded or recertified etc. etc.  There is a lot to getting it ready to resell.

Perfectly beautiful gold pieces will be melted down.  Seems stupid to me, but that is the way it is.

I've written before about the need to sell well if you want to get the most out of the modern finds that you want to sell.  Instead of selling wholesale, you might want to find the right buyer yourself, which will take some effort and time.

Of course, the best thing is to find the original owner that has some connection and sentimental value for the item, but there are times when that eventually proves impossible.

Here are some other ideas about how you can turn finds into something new.

The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 10/15/19 Report - How To Recycle and Get More Out of Your Junk Finds. Crafts and Classes.

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

We have smooth seas now, but looking ahead a little, things look a little more promising.  The predicted six to eight foot surf is getting up there.  Unfortunately, at this time it looks like the other variables won't be helping much.

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11/8/23 Report - Columbia Increases Pace to Recover Treasure of Galleon San Jose. 1933 World's Fair Spoon Find. History of White City.

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

1933 Chicago World's Fair Hall of Science Spoon.

Here is a find I finally got pretty well cleaned up.  

There are a variety of spoons and other collectibles from the 1933 World's Fair.  A few were sterling.  Others, like the one shown above, were plated.

Here is a good link for Chicago World's Fair collectible spoons.

Chicago World Fair 1933 Spoons (spoonplanet.com)

You might know that White City had something to do with a Chicago World's Fair, but it wasn't the 1933 fair.

 Below is an excerpt from an essay on the history of White City published in the Florida Historical Quarterly.  

The community of White City on the southern border of Fort Pierce is named for the utopian Great White City built by architect Daniel Burnham for the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. The community’s main road is Midway Road after the fair’s Midway Plaisance, a wide boulevard which formed the mile-long entertainment center. Be sure to check out White City Park a relaxing outdoor experience with “Old Florida” scenery...

Here is a little more from that essay.

It was settled by Danish settlers in 1893. Goods were shipped from Titusville on the steamboat "Lillian" to be sold at a store that was built on the St. Lucie River.

A dance was held to celebrate the first birthday of White City on Dec. 16, 1894. The dance was held at a large pavilion at the picnic grounds. Every fall the picnic grounds were flooded by the rising river.

There were two ferries across the river - one for passengers and one for horses and wagons...

Now there are some good metal detecting leads in that essay.  You can find the rest of the essay in the Florida Historical Quarterly, Vol. 33, No. 1 (Jul. 1954), pp 48-50.  Here is the link. Florida Historical Quarterly, Vol. 33, Issue 1 (ucf.edu)

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Colombia plans to recover up to $20B in sunken treasure from the 'Holy Grail of shipwrecks'.

Colombia is working to speed up the recovery of as much as $20 billion of sunken treasure from a centuries-old shipwreck as a U.S. company sues for half of the findings.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro told officials to exhume the Spanish galleon San José from the Caribbean Sea before his term ends in 2026, Minister of Culture Juan David Correa told Bloomberg in a phone interview last week

"This is one of the priorities for the Petro administration," Correa. "The president has told us to pick up the pace."

The 62-gun Spanish galleon San José, now known as the "Holy Grail of shipwrecks," was trying to outrun a fleet of British warships off Colombia on June 8, 1708, when the ship was sunk to the bottom of the sea with a trove of gold, silver and emeralds owned by private Peruvian and European merchants.

The sunken treasure now lies about 700 feet below the water’s surface, a few miles from the historic Caribbean port of Cartagena, on the edge of the Continental Shelf.

The exact worth of the treasure is unknown, with decades of lawsuits estimating its value at anywhere from $4 billion to $20 billion. The question of who owns the sunken treasure is also in contention.

Here is that link, thanks to William K.

Colombia plans to recover up to $20B in sunken treasure from ‘Holy Grail of shipwrecks’ | Fox News

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Surf Chart for the Fort Pierce Inlet Area from Surfguru.com.

So right now the surf is small, and so are the tides.  The high tides are not real high, and the low tides are not real low.  It does look like the surf will be higher several days out.

Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net