2/17/22 - Sword Found in River. Archaeology of Ancient Gold Mining. Reflecting On Recent Beach Conditions and Metal Detecting.

 

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

Source: See Spectator.sme.sk link below.

During their time off, relaxing by the River Váh, near Hlohovec, a local came across an object that they found interesting. Only when they returned home, did they discover that it was an archaeological find and paid a visit to the nearest museum...

The local had discovered a short sword, or a long dagger, with a length of almost 26 cm and a weight of almost 150 g, the Trnava Office of the Monuments Board said. Its handle from organic material has not been preserved. Only traces of the rivets remained...

Here is the link.

https://spectator.sme.sk/c/22817001/the-river-vah-uncovers-a-rare-bronze-age-weapon.html?ref=temacl

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Archaeological finds confirm ancient gold mining area.

The larger mining area consists of two mining tunnels and a vast field of exploration pits, which have changed the landscape, experts from the museum said.

A quiet coniferous forest covers dozens of these pits today.

Miners used the surface mining technique to verify the presence of a gold vein and check the subsequent profitability of digging a tunnel.

“Mining irons, simple tools, also evidence the work of miners here,” the museum said.

Here is the link.

Tužina was a gold mining site, recent archaeological finds prove - spectator.sme.sk

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Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

Looks like the surf will be decreasing a little going into the weekend.  A four-to-six-foot surf is about the minimum that you'd expect to create any kind of erosion, but it depends upon other factors.  The tides are important, and right now, the tides aren't flat, but they aren't big either.  Not enough to help much.  But the frustrating thing the last few months, not to mention all the renourishment projects, is the frequent wind changes.  You'll get a day or two or north wind, followed by a day or two of south wind, and then maybe another day or two of north and then another day or two of southish wind, so you start to get a little sand movement in one direction and then the angles change, and it fills in again.  Of course, the movement hasn't been huge to begin with, but if there was something sustained, there might be some progress.

As I've mentioned a few times, there are some scattered areas that I've been following where the sand is down some.  It isn't a lot, but still the old stuff is not far away, and it wouldn't take a lot of additional sand loss.  As it is, even the seasoned modern coins are fairly deep.  That means good technique and effective detector usage is important.  Even with that, there will be some targets that are difficult to recover.  I left a few that were difficult to get to on my last outing.  That has been my experience lately anyhow, but I have only been checking a few spots close to home.  I haven't been up to the Sebastian and Vero areas for quite a while, nor have I been down to Jensen or farther south.  Let me know what you are seeing around the Treasure Coast.

I didn't post yesterday because I was thinking I might go out later and so put off posting until after I was out, but in the end, I didn't get out to the beaches at all yesterday.

I have been noticing that the Equinox conductivity numbers for common coins have been very consistent.  I plan to test the Equinox numbers on a variety of older silver coins someday soon.   I'll try to get to that before long.

In addition to the Equinox, I took the ATX out a few times too, but haven't used the ATX.  I'd prefer to get the site cleaned up better before switching to the ATX.  

I should check more beaches, but I don't have enough time for that and am still intrigued with the spots I have been working and haven't thoroughly cleaned them out yet.  I could easily be missing something.  Just don't have the time to be out there a lot.  If I had the time, I would check around more.

Fall and winter 2020 - 2021 was better than this year so far.  The renourishment projects haven't helped, but as you'll recall we had some nice high tides and high surf the previous year, and some great finds were made including 16th century coins and splash ingots.

I do hope to get out for a while later today.

Happy hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

2/15/22 Report - Little Erosion Already. Bigger Surf Coming. Summary of Glass Railroad Site Finds. Gold Up.

 

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

I went out yesterday morning to see how the beaches were developing.  I told you a couple hours before I went out that there was probably some front-beach erosion beginning at some locations.  As predicted, there was some erosion and some cuts.  Here are some photos of what I saw.

To the north of Brooks therre was nothing until you pretty far up to the north.  You can't see tha tin the photo, but you can see the small cuts to the south.

Some places there were no cuts, but other places there were one-foot cuts and two-foot cuts running for long distance.

It was just beginning and wasn't big.  The tides were receding when the erosion began, which kept erosion to a minimum.

JamminJack said from, the web cams, it looked like there might be some erosion beginning up by Sebastian.   

From the direction of the waves when I left yesterday, I didn't think there would be much more erosion that afternoon.

Where I detected, there were still a good number of deep targets.  Very few were shallow, and most were down the slope from the cuts.

===

I haven't got back to the railroad site this year, although this is a good time of year to detect overgrown areas.  The vegetation is sparse due to the cold weather and little rain.

I've been meaning to some of the glass and ceramics finds from the railroad site that I detected a lot last year.  As you might remember, there were some colored lenses and some bottles associated with the railroad activity that once occurred on the site.  Those items were dug up while digging metal targets.

Signal Lantern Lens Found on Railroad Site
Marked OPTICAL CORNING U. S. PATENT 10 OCT. 1905.

My favorite of the group is the signal lantern lens.  My second favorite is the larger red signal light lens.

Signal Light Lens.

After that, there were a variety of bottles and broken glass and stoneware.  

There was several of one type of bottle found.  I never figured out what they held, but I think it was a chemical or oil or something like that rather than a beverage.

Several Bottles Like This Were Found
Associated With Dug Railroad Items

There were other bottles found, but there was no obvious association of those with the railroad activity.

Other Bottles Dug While Digging Metal Items on the Railroad Site.

I won't bother to post other glass or ceramic items that were broken or one-of-a-kind and had no strong association with the railroad finds.  There were quite a few of those.

I plan to do a little more hunting of that site some time in the near future.

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An accelerated run on banks is expected by some as Trudeau freezes bank accounts of political enemies, and world leaders increasingly use emergency powers to gain control of non-compliant populations and the economy.

See Canada's Trudeau invokes emergency powers to quell protests (nypost.com)

Actually, the wealthy, always being out in front of the general population, began a run on banks earlier during the pandemic.  See US Cash Crisis: Withdrawal Limits Spark Bank Run Fear – Bitcoin News

As the economy becomes cashless, all transactions will be electronic and can be easily monitored and controlled and funds seized or redirected with a push of the button.  You saw how they were going to redirect funds from GoFundMe and similar sites from the truckers to BLM.  Only the backlash stopped that - for the time being.

Vigilance is necessary.

Gold is up, as you'd expect.

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MagicSeaWeed.com.

So the peak surf for the next few days looks like it will occur late Wednesday.

Happy hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net

2/14/22 Report - North Winds And Bigger Surf Coming. Fancy Serial Numbers Lookup. Silver Plated Spoon Peeling.

 

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

MagicSeaWeed.com.

It is starting.  The wind is from the north today, and I'd bet there are some cuts to the front beaches already.  The surf isn't high, and neither are the tides, so the cuts won't be far back, but I'll bet there are already some cuts at some locations.

Looking at the chart above, it looks like we will get some pretty good surf - something like four to seven feet, but the wind will shift when the surf is high.  Too bad we won't continue to get more north winds.

Anyhow, I do expect to see some erosion.  It will mostly be to the front beaches though, and won't last long at most locations due to the wind shift.

I hope to get out to check things out before long.

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Above is a photo of the Fort Pierce inlet as it looked in 1921.   Thanks to DJ for submitting that.

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I've mentioned before that I like to check the serial numbers on the dollar bills that I receive. I haven't found any real good ones yet, but I recently found one that is pretty close.

Here it is.

That is very close to being a binary radar.  It would be a radar if the first digit was a nine instead of a six.  That would be worth some good money.  And the serial number would consist of only two unique digits - 3 and 9.  

As it is, it is still a fairly interesting number.  It received a 98.5 coolness rating, which is pretty good, or as the site said, "very cool."   Here is the explanation given by the site.

What makes this serial number special (or not)?

• All of the digits in 69333399 are multiples of 3. Only 0.070% of 8-digit numbers have this property.
• 69333399 contains a 4-of-a-kind and 1 pair together. Only 0.10% of 8-digit numbers have this combination.
• 69333399 contains a 4-of-a-kind and 1 triple. Only 0.21% of 8-digit numbers have this combination.
• 69333399 has 3 unique digits. In 0.71% of 8-digit numbers, there are 3 or fewer unique digits.

Had the first digit been a nine, it would sell for quite a bit.  It is also nice, clean and crisp, which makes it more attractive to collectors of fancy serial numbers.

If the number was 99333399, it would be a palindrome, or radar, and receive a 99.45, or "very cool" rating.

• 99333399 contains a 4-of-a-kind and 2 pairs together. Only 0.0024% of 8-digit numbers have this combination.
• 99333399 contains 2 4-of-a-kinds. Only 0.0032% of 8-digit numbers have this combination.
• 99333399 is a palindrome! Only 0.010% of 8-digit numbers are palindromes.
• 99333399 has 2 unique digits. In 0.011% of 8-digit numbers, there are 2 or fewer unique digits.

Here is a serial number lookup site if you want to check some of your bills.

Fancy Serial Number Checker: Results for 69333399 | My Currency Collection

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The spoon I recently found was obviously plated.  The plating was clearly peeling off.  You can see that below.

Two Views of Peeling Plating on Plated Spoon.

There was a partial maker's mark.  I haven't looked it up yet.

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Ok, so the Super Bowl is over, and somebody got more "points" than somebody else.  Hooray!  If nothing else, the Super Bowl provides a good perspective on the condition of the country.

Most people were affected by the Super Bowl in some way.  If you work at Wal-Mart, you had a busy day before the game began.  The stores were crammed.  Of course, it was not only that; it was also the day before Valentine's Day and the last weekend day for a working guy to get those roses, candy or jewelry before it's too late.

But what does the game mean in the larger scheme of things?  

To me it shows the ability a culture has to elevate a totally meaningless thing - a silly a ball game - into something like a national holiday.

It seems the media can elevate any trivia to seem important.  The media is only too happy to sprinkle its fairly dust on some events and ignore other things.  Americans have managed to squeeze from their busy lives most everything that might prick the conscience.  Afterall, who wants to be bothered by trivialities such as the salvation of souls, wars, the homeless, or drug addiction and overdoses.  Decent people have enough to worry about.  Somebody might disagree with something they think is absolutely critical - no matter how wreong they are.  Or some child might be running around maskless.  The horror of it all.

At least the Super Bowl provides a diversion from such inconvenient intrusions.  So many things have been raised to such a high level of hysteria by the megaphone of the media that the public is tired and stressed out.  People are drained of emotional energy and don't want to deal with anything more significant than ball games and party dip.  Others are left to deal with the most serious life challenges while the game plays on.

Treasureguide@comcast.net

2/13/22 Report - A LIttle Mudlarking Along the Treasure Coast With Finds. Coca Cola Bottling History. Rogue Waves.

 

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

Two Clips From Yesteday's Video.  
Each Shows A Find.  Can you find them?

Yesterday I said I did a little shallow water eye-balling and showed you a video that was in hyper-speed or something.  I haven't yet learned how to slow it down to normal speed, but above are two clips showing items that I picked up.  On the left photo, you might be able to find the partially buried Coca Cola bottle, and on the right another item.  

The Coke bottle isn't easy to see, partly because of the shadow, but is about halfway between the middle of the photo and the bottom left corner.  The other item is right in the middle of the photo on the right.  That is pretty much how I saw it too.

Below is the bottle.  It is green, although the coloring in the photo isn't great.

Below is a little of the history of the bottle as presented in the MOAS web site.

When Coca-Cola was faced with the challenge of other competitors, bottlers agreed upon having a bottle that would stand out to the public. Benjamin Thomas and his associates set a deadline for bottling companies to come up with a distinct, marketable bottle for the ever-so-popular soft drink.

Among the eight to ten participants was the Root Glass Company of Terre Haute, Indiana. Members of the Root Glass Co., Chapman J. Root, William Root, Alexander Samuelsson, Earl Dean, and Clyde Edwards, worked endless hours in complete secrecy, manufacturing what they hoped would be the new, unmistakable bottle for the beloved carbonated beverage. They created a bottle in which they nicknamed the “hobbleskirt,” due to the resemblance of the skirt-style in 1910. Their historic bottle was derived from the shape of a cocoa bean, with an elongated shaped and distinct ribs. Once the bottle was developed, Root Glass Company put forth a patent under Samuelsson’s name. The patent was granted on November 16, 1915. This date was later included on the final design of the bottle.

In the early 1916, a committee composed of bottlers and Company officials met to hopefully decide on the design of their bottle. Without a doubt, the Root version was a clear winner. The Coca-Cola Company and the Root Glass Company entered an agreement in which the bottle was to be made throughout six factories in the United States. The contract also called for the bottles to be colored in “German Green,” which was later changed to “Georgia Green.” The weight of the bottle was to be no less than 14.5 ounces and was filled with 6.5 ounces of Coca-Cola, which means that the bottle weighed more than a pound!...

And here is the link for more about that.

The Root Family and Coca-Cola (moas.org)

The Root Family donated a large amount of Coca-Cola memorabilia to the MOAS Museum, which is in Daytona.

My understanding is that this is the first patented packaging, which of course, was designed to distinguish Coca Cola from competitors.  

The bottle was used up to close to 1930 - some say 1928, but no earlier than 1916.  I've also heard it said that those with no city name on the bottom, including both the blank bottoms and the bottoms with the script are the earlier ones.  Don't know how true that is.

I've seen similar bottles listed online for nearly $200, however that, being the top of the range, could be an unrealistic price.  The found bottle has defects and is in far from perfect condition, but in my opinion should still be worth a few bucks.

I wasn't expecting anything interesting at all when I stuck my fingers in the lip to pry it out of the mud.

I just added this bottle to my tgbottlebarn.blogspot.com site.

And below is the item that you might have found in the other photo at the top of the post.  At first glance it appears to be silver plated, with a good bit of the plating worn off.  I haven't cleaned or inspect it well yet. 

Silver-Plated Spoon Found in Shallow Water Saturday.

So I didn't make any great finds yesterday.  In fact, finds were scarce, but it is never a bad day when you can walk along the river and enjoy nature at the same time you scan for interesting items from the past.

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A "once-in-a-millennium" wave that broke off the coast of Vancouver, British Columbia, in November 2020 is now considered to be the most "extreme" rogue wave ever recorded, Canadian scientists have found. 

A rogue wave is considered to be more than twice the height of other waves breaking around the same time.

The wave, detected off the tiny town of Ucluelet with a sensor buoy, was recorded at 17.6 meters tall or 57.7 feet while other swells around the same time were only 6 meters or 19.6 feet tall, making it three times higher, CTV News reported...

Here is that link.

Wave off Vancouver Island in 2020 was 'once-in-a-millennium' event, scientists say | Fox News

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Maybe you've noticed that the fronts that have been coming through are preceded by a day or two of north wind prior to the peak surf.  The wind often comes first from the west or northwest before shifting around to the east.

Looks like we still have a good chance of a nice size surf for a day or two.  It will probably improve detecting conditions on the Treasure Coast only a little.  It could be enough to open up a few nice spots, but still it will be mostly accumulated modern items.  There will be a few spots where things are a little better than the typical.  That will be where any longer-term trends have not been interrupted by fill events.  There are a few of those spots around.  I won't point them out since they are so few, and I don't want everybody rushing to those few spots.  And you might find others anyhow.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

Enough of the war against the workers.

Happy hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

2/12/22 Report - 1715 Fleet Cannon At Melody Lane. Indian River Mudlarking. Ark of the Covenant. Surf Coming.

 

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

It is a beautiful warm day - the type I don't like.   The water on the river was flat, so I took a little walk to see if there might be some bottles or something that got uncovered by the last several days of changing winds etc.  I was happy to see the clear water, because I haven't been able to catch a low tide on the river for quite a while.  As I said before, good visibility is almost as good as a low tide.  It isn't quite as good for eye-balling, but you can at least see some things. 

There wasn't much.  Most of the shore only had sand, like in the video above.  However, there were a few spots where other things were visible.

I mistakenly shot my walking videos in a fast rate and haven't learned how I can slow down the video yet, so I'll just post it, even though it is too fast.  Maybe you can still see a couple items that I picked up.  The last one is easy.

I'll try to get the videos slowed down and post pictures of a couple of things I picked up.  There wasn't much.  

You can probably see the last one at the end of the video even if it is still partly buried.

---

Source: See Yahoo link below.

I mentioned this event before, but am actually a few days late on posting the latest.  You might have already seen this article.

FORT PIERCE — Loud cheers and applause erupted from the crowd as a cannon — one that's been sitting at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean for more than 300 years — was lifted out of the water Monday at Fisherman's Wharf Marina.

The cannon, recovered from the Sandy Point shipwreck just north of Fort Pierce, is part of the Spanish Fleet that sank off the coast during a violent hurricane in 1715. The ships, carrying significant amounts of gold and silver coins along with jewels, were destined for the king and queen of Spain.

"It's a very cool piece," said Capt. John Brandon, operations manager for 1715 Fleet-Queens Jewels LLC, a historic shipwreck salvage operation that owns the exclusive rights to the remains of the 1715 Fleet...

Here is the link for the rest of the article..

Spanish cannon from 1715 Fleet recovered off Fort Pierce coast (yahoo.com)

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The Ark of the Covenant is one of those iconic treasures that hear a lot about, but a lot of what you hear is fiction.

It is often said that the Ark is gold.  That is not entirely true.  Moses gave specific instructions for creating the Ark, and those instructions can be found in chapter 25 of the book of Exodus.

The instructions indicate that the Ark was to be made of shittim (acacia) wood, and was 2.5 cubits long, by 1.5 cubits wide and deep.  It was, however, overlaid with gold, "within and without."   The Ark did, however, have a top described as being of pure gold.

The Ark at one time contained the two tablets of the covenant (the second set), and, according to Hebrews 9:4, at some time contained the "pot of manna" and Aaron's rod. It appears that by Soloman's time the latter two relics were no longer there.  

The Ark had a varied history.  It was carried into battle at times and was taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar.  It was not present in the second temple, according to Josephus, a historian contemporary with Christ.

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Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

Looks like we still have a good chance for some bigger surf next week.

I'll be watching that closely.

Happy hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

3/11/22 Report - Maybe Bigger Surf Next Week. Precious Metals and Rare Coin Markets Doing Well. Losing Democracy.

 

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

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

Looks like next week we could get a bigger surf, but I wouldn't count on it.  Although it seems they have improved the prediction model, and the long-term surf predictions are more accurate than they were some years ago, it is not rare for a predicted bigger surf to not be quite as big as predicted earlier.  .

Next week, the tides, another important factor, will be bigger than they are now, which is pretty flat.  The tides next week will still not be big.

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Precious metals [prices] changed little Thursday with modest increases for gold, silver and platinum and a less than 1% loss for palladium. Gains in gold and silver were their fifth in row, and their eighth in nine sessions. The two scored fresh, more than two-week highs.

Gold for April delivery edged 80 cents, or 0.04%, higher to finish at $1,837.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was gold’s best since Jan. 25.

Here is that link.

Gold and Silver Log 8th Gains in 9 Sessions as Inflation Surges | CoinNews

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The rare coin market in early 2022 continues to soar following a record-breaking marketplace in 2021. However, veteran dealers in the Professional Numismatists Guild (www.PNGdealers.org) urge collectors and investors to be cautious about the continuing proliferation of fraudulent, online advertisements selling counterfeit coins and fake gold, silver, and platinum bullion items or grossly overpriced genuine gold and silver coins...

Here is that link.

PNG Experts: Rare Coin Market Soaring But Use Caution | CoinNews

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Every day the US is becoming more like one of the worst nations in the world.

(Bloomberg) -- The percentage of the world’s population living under some sort of democracy tumbled last year to 45.7% from 49.4% a year earlier according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index 2021. Of the 167 territories surveyed, just 21 were deemed to be full democracies, representing 6.4% of the world’s population, while 53 fell into the “flawed democracies” category. Topping

Of the 167 territories surveyed, just 21 were deemed to be full democracies, representing 6.4% of the world’s population, while 53 fell into the “flawed democracies” category. Topping the list were Norway, New Zealand and Finland, while the U.K. ranked 18th. The U.S., which was given a flawed democracy classification, fell one spot to number 26. Afghanistan and Myanmar took the bottom two spots,

Topping the list were Norway, New Zealand and Finland, while the U.K. ranked 18th. The U.S., which was given a flawed democracy classification, fell one spot to number 26. Afghanistan and Myanmar took the bottom two spots, just below North Korea...

Read more at: https://www.bloombergquint.com/politics/these-are-the-world-s-most-and-least-democratic-countries

And that comes from Bloomberg, which is very close with China.

===

Happy hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net

2/10/22 Report - Revolutionary Cannons From Savannah River. Recent Finds From Readers.

 

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

Two Rings Recently Dug by Michael T.

Mike T. sent these photos and the following message.

Hey it’s Mike T in Stuart. As you know Treasure hunting has been slim picking for a while and the weather patterns have been quite different this year. The beaches just don’t seem the same and there’s lots of sand but as always there’s places to find some things so given the recent conditions and the lack of good spaces, I’ve been doing some extra hunting at less traveled beaches and some that have some more age to them. I frequent the big beaches as well but so do many other treasure hunters and they are picked over quite well. As with most things in life if you want to be truly successful you have to think outside the box a bit and you can’t be afraid to separate yourself from the masses and do your own thing.

    Our recent weather patterns have created some tiny holes on certain beaches, and you just have to get out there and try them even if they don’t always appear to be fantastic you might find a spot like I did the last two days where there was a lot of sinkers and green coins. This was a small beach one that is less frequented by the masses, yet it produced quite well. The first day was just sinkers over 2 pounds worth and some green coins and a Navy aviators medal! Sinkers are always a good sign as you well know so I went back again today and hunted a little further down also brought my PI machine for some extra depth in the sand and lo and behold two rings came up! Also, a lot of nails by the way but sometimes you have to dig a lot of trash to get a single good item and it was worth it.

   Thank you as always for your reports and insights. Even on the toughest days with no good finds you are always a good read and it keeps us all interested!

Here is Mike's first day finds.

Finds From Mike T. On The First Day.

And here are the finds from the second day.

Finds From Mike T. His Second Day On The Site.

You'll also notice the iron finds made the second day with the PI detector.

Thanks for sharing your experience Mike.  There are some good tips there.

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I received the following from

I hate it when you dig up a shiny copper penny. That brief moment of joy only to realize another penny.

Those who own an Equinox 800, I noticed reading around 20 is where the pennies hide. 

JamminJack 

Coins Dug by Jammin Jack.

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Revolutionary War Cannon Being Raised From Savannah River.

(CNN)Archaeologists have hauled up 12 more Revolutionary War-era cannons from the Savannah River, a remarkable find that raises questions about which vessels carried them and precisely how they ended up in the water.

The local district of the US Army Corps of Engineers, which is in charge of the deepening of the channel in Savannah's busy harbor, on Tuesday posted a video and photos about the discoveries.
Last month's raising of the rusted artifacts brings to 15 the number of cannons, plus fragments of another, found in the past year during preparation for the port expansion project.

"There is no telling what all is down there," Corps district archaeologist Andrea Farmer told CNN, saying "so much of the river is unknown." ...

Here is the link for more about that.

Savannah River: A dozen more cannons have been found and lifted in Georgia city - CNN

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Happy hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net