10/18/26 Report - Some Treasure Coast Beaches Cut Overnight and More High Surf Is Expected Tomorrow.

 

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

John Brooks Beach Sunday Morning.

Last night a four-foot cut was created at John Brooks Beach.  You can see that above.

I did a little metal detecting.  This beach produced some seasoned modern coins, including some greenies.  There was the normal junk, which included some fishing hooks, sinkers etc.

Low tide was around 8 AM this morning.  I got there a little later.  

John Brooks Beach Sunday Morning.

John Brooks Beach Sunday Morning.

Not all the beaches were cut this morning.  For example, Walton Rocks was mostly not cut.  There were some creases and farther to the north there was an area that was cut, but it was still in renourishment sand.

Walton Rocks Sunday Morning.

Walton Rocks Sunday Morning.

Sunday morning Fort Pierce South Beach was cut.  You can see that below.

Fort Pierce South Beach Sunday Morning.

Below you can see that it was not eroded Saturday evening.

Fort Pierce South Beach Around 6 PM Saturday.

The same goes for Wabasso.  It cut overnight too.

Wabasso Beach Cam Just a Little After 6 PM Saturday.

Below you can see the Saturday morning cut that was found on the Wabasso Beach Cam (far south view).

Tomorrow the surf is supposed to be up around ten or eleven feet.

Surf Prediction from Surfguru.com for the Fort Pierce Jetty area.

The surf report shows more NE wind tomorrow.  I'd like to see more NNE, but at least some of the sand is moving out.

If you can send some photos from Indian River County, I'd like to report that too, but the bottom line is, it could be worth checking around because there has been some nice erosion in spots.

Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net

10/17/26 Report - High Surf Coming to the Treasure Coast. Metal Detecting Thoughts and Strategies.

 

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

Surf Chart for the Fort Pierce Area For Sat. - Mon. Oct. 17 - 19.
From Surfguru.com.

Definitely the big news is the predicted higher surf that is coming soon.  Monday it is predicted to be up to 10 or 11 feet when the wind will be wnw switching to nne.  The tides will still be pretty high too.  That will definitely cause some improved beach detecting conditions on at least some spots and likely many places even with all the sand that is on the beaches now.

But it should start tomorrow.  According to the predictions, tomorrow we'll have a seven-to-nine-foot surf, which is something we haven't seen for quite a while.  

Last time we actually had something like that, there were some areas that opened up that haven't produced for quite some time.  

Get your detectors charged up and your equipment in good order.

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As of Saturday morning, the surf is still small and the beaches haven't begun to cut yet.

Here is a clip from the Wabasso Beach Cam.

Wabasso Beach Cam Saturday Morning Around Ten.

Yesterday I talked about some of my old hunting spots.  I knew each of the spots, the kind of finds they were likely to produce, the number of finds, as well as other factors such as the conditions and how they were affected by tides and weather.

Each site was rated.  Some were my favorite spots, some were maybe not so good, and then there were spots that seemed to almost never produced or produced very few times.  The quantity of finds as a factor.  The quality of finds was a factor,   How long it took to get there was a consideration.  And of course, beach conditions are always a consideration when the site is affected by the surf and tides.

You can multiply the average find value times the average number of finds per visit or hour of hunting time to get an expected find value per hour or visit.  So, a site that produces typically only produces moderately valuable finds can be as good as a site that produces very valuable finds but not as often. 

Finds are not necessarily valued by economic value alone.  You might have your own value system that, for example, might value old items as have more value than newer items that you would be able to sell for more.  There is the subjective element.  You might just like to find old items even if they aren't that valuable.

But the thing about knowing numerous sites along a stretch is that when one isn't producing, you can quickly decide to go hit another.  You can even start at a more distant site that might produce only sporadically, for whatever reason, knowing that if the distant site isn't producing you will have time to stop at another site or two on the way back. 

I considered some sites to be drive-bys.   I might hit them even if they aren't normally great sites to hunt if I was driving by, maybe between two other better sites, and had some spare time.

On the Treasure Coast my favorite beaches are farther apart than the spots I often hunted in South Florida.  In South Florida I had a lot of good sites packed together within a fairly short distance.  That helps.  

On the Treasure Coast my favorite hunting spots can be a good distance apart and some require a lot of walking because the parking isn't close to my favorite spots.  All of that is taken into account.  And when a hurricane hits and we have closed bridges and beaches, that makes it even more difficult and time consuming just to get to a particular spot.

On the Treasure Coast if you check one spot and it isn't cutting, you can move on to another spot so you can schedule them according to the tides.   For example, this morning the Fort Pierce Jetty low tide as shown to be 7 AM.  The Vero Pier low tide was shown to be at 6.43 AM.  That isn't a great difference, but if you decided to visit Vero first and wasn't excited by how it looked, decided to then drive to Fort Pierce, which is a good drive, the tide being a little later in Fort Pierce would help you out just a little.

It is better if you have a few good options if they aren't too far apart.  Of course, there is always the next low tide, if that is what you want to hit, and there are other strategies as well.

---

Get your equipment in good order

Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net

10/16/26 Report - Bigger Surf Coming. You'll Find Many Good Metal Detecting Choices If You've Done Your Research and Know Your Beaches.

 

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

Virginia Key and Key Biscayne.

In my previous post, I mentioned the Frederick Douglass Beach wreck in earlier days being known as the "Colored Beach" wreck.  That brought back a lot of metal detecting memories for me because I liked to detect a few "colored" beaches.

Besides the Colored Beach Wreck near Fort Pierce, I did a lot of metal detecting at some other Colored Beaches that were near more heavily populated areas.  One was on Virginia Key just across the causeway from Miami, and another was at John U. Lloyd Park near Hollywood, FL.  When I was detecting there, those two beaches weren't visited by many people, and were not kept up well, but I found them interesting, and they produced good numbers of older U.S. coins.  Those beaches were seldom detected by others.  I would check out-of-the-way overgrown areas where few others seemed to go, and as a result I found those coin areas that were once Colored Beaches.

I've mentioned Virginia Key in previous posts and once pointed out some of the different detecting areas I found there.  More recently, Virigina Key has been renovated and is now a much more popular and heavily visited area.

When I remember that area, I think of the several different detecting zones.  Virginia Key was a place where a few TV shows were made.  As you work down the picture along the right side, there was a rock groin, inside of which was a deep hole in the otherwise shallow water where a lot of modern gold jewelry could often be found.  In the shallower water outside of that and next to the where the seaweed grew was a sand bar where people would lounge and leave nice gold jewelry.  The gold there was less concentrated than in the deep hole, but it was easy detecting.  Those were more recent losses than the silver coins from the beach areas used more during the segregation era.  The overgrown areas around the picnic area produced a few artifacts from much older times.  That is the general area where I have the "1" on the picture above.

Then as you work your way around the beach, there are several rock groins were I never found much of anything.  Eventually you get to the area heavily used in the days of segregation but not at all when I was detecting there.  It was like a ghost town, with a few skeletal building structures such as the one use for a merry-go-round and train ride as well as concession stand in earlier days. 

Merry-Go-Round On Viriginia Key.
Illustration from link below.

Just the shell of the building for the Merry-Go-Round was there when I was metal detecting there.  The horses and all that were gone.

Below you can see where I see that area when it was heavily used.

See link below.

For me, this wasn't one of my first choice detecting areas, but it could be fun when I had time and was passing by.  I might stop there on the way to or a spot where better things could be found.  I'd pull of the highway and park by the bridge.  At the time it was dangerous to park there.  It was a high crime area so precautions were necessary.  But taking the necessary precautions and remaining vigilant, you could park and walk along Bear Cut past a sea wall until you got to what was in the past a busy area. You could see the remains of old wooden groins in the water.  The best spot was on an area protected from erosion by some bushes, but when those dunes did erode there were nicely preserved silver coins from the 30s - 60s that would come out of the dunes.  That was a small but very productive area for silver coins that made for some efficient hunting when the dunes were eroding.  The shallow water and beach around the groins produced very little and almost not gold.  

Check this link.

The Story behind Miami’s Colored Beach - Historic Virginia Key Beach Park

By the way, Viginia Key also produced a few shipwreck artifacts.  

Key Biscayne had even more detecting zones than Virigina Key and some of those areas produced higher value targets.  I'll go though some of those zones quickly.

At the far end of Key Biscayne was an area where treasure chests were once found.  That area had pretty much eroded away and a sea wall was built.  The interior at that end of the island was once a coconut plantation, and artifacts could be found there as well.

Moving closer to the lighthouse, you could see remains of the old well that was visited by some of the earliest ships to the area.  Around the lighthouse was a battle site where the indigenous burned the lighthouse and killed the keeper.  Musket balls could be found there.

Right next to the lighthouse was a narrow swimming area next to the parking and picnic tables.   That shallow water produced a lot of modern gold of slightly better than average value.

As you work back around the bend there was another beach inside the park that was not as good, but OK for detecting.  That area didn't produce as many finds and not as high quality.

Then you keep going along the beach, exit the park and start detecting in front of the condos.  Not bad, but not great.

There was an abandoned building.  The beach there occasionally eroded and produced some decent detecting,

Next came the beach club.  Decent detecting in and out of the water there too.

Then you get to a better area for detecting.  There was the Sonesta Beach Resort.  Some kind of nautical wreckage was under the beach at the head of a sandbar.  The beach was OK detecting, but the shallow water was very good.  It was a small well-defined area that produced high-quality finds if you were sharp.  They weren't the easiest.  There was competition, but you could pull some high quality stuff out of there if you worked it well.

Then you come to another stretch of condos. Not very good detecting there.

Then you come to Crandon Park.  Many people detected there. Most detectorists focused on the area by the sand bar where a lot of swimmers waded out, but it could be worth the time to check the wide open area around there as well.  In fact, I preferred the area around where most people detectec.  It was a big area to cover but could be worthwhile.  

Keep going back towards the causeway and you come to an area where old coins as well as other nice things would frequently erode out of the beach.  There was evidently once a parking area or something around there in the past that continued to produce old finds (coins and other) as the beach eroded.  Strangely, it seemed few detectorists discovered that nice honey hole of older stuff.  The water just off there produced some great stuff too.  I never saw anyone else detect there either.

Then there was a long stretch, where gay guys liked to sunbathe.  You could find stuff there when no one else was around.  In the past there were shipwreck coins reported in the shallows there too.

Keep going to a coral point.  When eroded many older silver coins could be found there.  After Hurricane Andrew there was a virtual carpet of silver on the uncovered coral outcropping. 

Through the mangroves and around the bend almost back to the causeway and along Bear Cut, old U.S. coins were plentiful.  They were usually heavily corroded though, due to rotting biological material.  That little area is also the area where I found my first old bottles after Hurricane Andrew.  

So there you have a quick overview of the detecting zones I found on Virginia Key and Key Biscayne.  Of course, it has changed since I was there.

There are several things to point out.  First, don't neglect areas just because nobody seems to go there.  The area could have been used a lot in the past.  They might not look promising on the surface, but you it helps if you know what went on there in the past.  The Colored Beaches provide a good example.  But even those beaches could produce finds from even older periods of time.  You might only learn that by checking it out.

Secondly, if you know the areas along a stretch and know what they are likely to produce under various conditions, you can efficiently select your target zones.  You might set out to your preferred detecting spot but find it not producing and move on to another convenient spot along the way.  Maybe as you drive by you notice some erosion and decide to check it out.  You have numerous choices, so depending upon the conditions and what you see, you can either stop or move on to the next spot.  There are a lot of variables, but if you know your spots, what they produce and under what conditions, you can make good choices.

---

Fort Pierce Thursday Evening.
From Surfguru.com.

The beach looks about the same this morning.

But check this out.  Sunday we're supposed to have a five-to-six-foot surf.   That will be a welcome change, especially with the continuing high tides we are having.

From SurfGuru.com.

Good hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

when my dissertatio

10/14/26 Report - 1715 Fleet Salvage History. Bruce Ward. Greenies at Auction. Provenance. Jewelry Prices.

 

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

I was browsing the current Sedwick treasure auction when I noticed a couple unusual looking cobs.  Shown above, they are called "greenies" and have an unusual patina for 1715 Fleet cobs.  They are ex-Bruce Ward coins.

If you don't know who Bruce Ward is, he is credited for finding the "Colored Beach" wreck.  Of course, that is the John Brooks/Frederick Douglass wreck.  Many beaches in many locations were at one time know as "Colored Beach."  

Back in the day of segregation black people usually were left with some of the less desirable beaches.   Many communities had them, and I've detected a few of them.  In many cases, back when I started metal detecting a good number of them were overgrown and abandoned.    example, was beach on Virigina Key near Key Biscayne where I metal detected before it was renovated produced a lot of silver coins when the dunes where the colored beach was eroded.  Of course, you didn't find a lot of valuable stuff on those beaches, but they were good for modern silver coins.  I undoubtedly wrote on that before.

I posted about Bruce Ward before.  Jammin Jack purchased some coins from Bruce Ward's estate sale and sent me some pictures from the January 1965 issue of Argosy Magazine that featured an article about Bruce Ward. I posted more pictures, including one showing a dive raft that Ward put together.

Here is a link to the post with more pictures and information on that.

The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast. Copyright 2001 - 2026.: 1/20/20 Report - Some History of Treasure Coast Treasure Hunting: Bruce Ward. Bigger Surf Coming.

I found the Bruce Ward "greenies" when I was browsing the first session of the Sedwick auction. 

The session started with a bunch of gold cobs, included some bars and ended with a bunch, and I do mean a bunch of silver coins.  The first session includes something like 450 lots.

Most of the lots had no bids yet, but the one Ward coin shown above did have an early bid.  In some ways you might consider it an unremarkable example, but it has a great provenance from the early days of the 1715 wreck salvage efforts.

----

On a related note, here is an article on how brand heritage and provenance also shapes jewelry auction prices.

Even while gold prices remain high, all the lab made diamonds and doctored gemstones make for a confusing picture when it comes to gem stone prices.  It is no surprise that provenance is playing a more important role.

Brand premium example: A Harry Winston diamond ring sold for CHF 4.2 million, surpassing its high estimate by 23%, illustrating brand-driven value.

Provenance value boost: Documented history can increase jewelry auction prices by 20–40%, adding value beyond the intrinsic quality of the gems.

Cross-market lesson: In jewelry, art, and coins, provenance and brand heritage combined with expert verification can significantly enhance value.

Here is the link for more about that.

How brand heritage and provenance are shaping jewelry auction values

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The surf is small and remain at only one or two feet for a few days.

We are still getting some nice high tides.

Good hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/13/26 Report - More History of Treasure Hunting and Colonial America. Joseph Smith. New Beta Site. Continuing Low Surf on Treasure Coast.

 

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

From Sedwick Associates Current Auction Catalog.  (link below).

Sedwick and Associates has a new Beta auction site.  I took a look and it seemed pretty convenient. 

Of course there are many lots to look at.  You might want to use the new site to browse the listings.

Above are a few sample lots.

Treasure, World Coin & Paper Money Auction 40 - Sedwick & Associates, LLC

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Yesterday I gave a little of the history of treasure hunting in colonial America. Today I'll give you some excerpts and a little commentary on an interesting and extensive article entitled The Persisting Idea of American Treasure Hunting by Ronald W. Walker.  The article was published in the BYU Studies Quarterly.  The connection with BYU is not coincidental. Joseph Smith, who founded Mormonism, was known to have done some treasure hunting, some of which led directly to his founding documents.

In 1823, he [Joseph Smith] said he was visited by an angel who directed him to a buried book of golden plates inscribed with a Judeo-Christian history of an ancient American civilization. In 1830, Smith published the Book of Mormon, which he described as an English translation of those plates (From Wikipedia).

The article provides some interesting history of both treasure hunting and colonial America more generally.  It was a struggle for me to keep my commentary brief.   

But back to the article on the history of treasure hunting in America.

Here is the first excerpt from the article that I'll comment on.

From colonial times to at least the age of Jackson, Americans dug for magical treasure.  There were hundreds and probably thousands of these money diggers all seeking troves of fabled coins, mines, jewels and other valued prizes.  They worked from the Atlantic coast to the Mississippi hinterlands, and in a few localities heaped up tailings that rivaled those of the later forty niners.  Yet for all this prodigious toil their finds were as rare as Merlin's transmuted gold.  What made them persist relying on an immemorial but now forgotten world view, the money diggers placed faith in conjuring elemental spirits, thrice spoken dreams, seeric gifts and enchanted treasure that could slip and rumble through the earth as easily as a fish moving through the deep.  The modern age will probably never fully understand the diggers strange compound of treasure seeking, religious feeling and intense psychological devotion to an old but fading way of life.  Theirs was another world which we can speak of but hardly enter.

It is always difficult to know how many finds are actually made.  Treasure digging can be a private or clandestine activity, so there is not always a lot of sharing and there is often a good bit of hearsay or rumor.  There are always enough verified examples, though, to generate excitement.

People generally don't understand life in other historical times.  It isn't easy.  In fact, it might be impossible. You can gather some facts or stories, but that only gives a very small sliver of the picture.  People impose their own reality onto previous times.  

Take for example how the young of today complain that they don't expect to ever have it as good as their parents.  But they don't understand how long or what it took for their parents to get what they got.  They didn't get there from the start.  They built it.  And what the new generation expects includes a lot that didn't even exist in the past.  AI and Starlink to just name a couple.  

It is extremely difficult to imagine today going outside to go the bathroom in the middle of the night or using a chanber pot!  Gone With the Wind didn't show how Scarlet O'Hara went to the bathroom with a cage hoop skirt, multiple petticoats, corset, chemise and pantaloons.  That would be a problem if you were in a real hurry.  All I'm trying to say is that we don't think of everything (actually very little) and can't realistically imaging life in historic times.  It is difficult enough to understand our own times.

Another excerpt from the article follows.

Treasure itself, the people realized, was active. It might rise or fall, grow or multiply and after seven years (some said a hundred years were necessary) "blossom" or "sun" itself near the earths surface. At such times, particularly during a full moon, the treasure became "will o' the wisp," giving off a bluish flame and therefore especially susceptible to recovery...

But getting the treasure was always difficult and harrowing. If not recovered quickly the trove sank into the earth's depths until its next far-in-the-future blooming...

I talk of things that are in a way remotely similar.  Treasure is active - especially when it is on a beach or in the shallow water.  I often talk about how things sink or move on a beach.  Treasures move on land as well.  Landscapes change, either subtly or on a larger scale though any of a variety of natural or man forces.  

Our explanations and descriptions employ different terms and a different worldview.  We emphasize science and technology.  The way I look at it, there is a lot of myth in science, but I can't explain that now.   I also often mention the phases of the moon, which affects the tides as well as the best times to hunt.  How many times have I talked about making hay while the sun shines, meaning taking advantage of opportunities while they exist because they might quickly disappear.  Not so different!

Another excerpt..

Faced with these obstacles, the European treasure seeker tried to narrow the odds to facilitate his search. He listened carefully to the treasure dreams of a pure or innocent youth, who it was believed had special powers to discern and recover the subterranean bounty, earth mirrors, seer stones, or divining rods crafted from hazel or mistletoe were also thought to be useful searching tools. Many seekers used a magic manual like the Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses...

The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses is a magical text allegedly written by Moses and passed down as hidden (or lost) books of the Hebrew Bible. Self-described as "the wonderful arts of the old Hebrews taken from the Mosaic books of the Kabbalah and the Talmud", it is actually a manual of sorcery or text of magical incantations and seals, that purports to instruct the reader in the spells used to create some of the miracles portrayed in the Bible as well as to grant other forms of good fortune and good health. (See Wikipedia)

Today we put a lot of faith in our treasure finding detectors that seem almost magical in "seeing" treasure buried beneath the earth in measured inches.  Outside of our more scientific technical worldviews, it doesn't seem to me things have changed as much as a superficial analysis might suggest.

Many treasure hunters saw themselves as working close to the sacred presence. Such religious feeling made their practices tenacious and enduring...

 
Folklorist Harry Hyatt observed that treasure hunting is something more than monetary value.  It is a part of eternal hope, a mystical quest, the satisfaction of an unfulfilled dream.  Magical treasure hunting was something more.  It was part of the culture and religion of the folk.  For people who were untutored in the emerging new science it helped to give their everyday life meaning.  Theirs was the higher and hidden truth, a blend of humankind's deep myths and Christian ideas.  The old way that eventually faltered before the onslaught of modern science and the triumph of a new world view.

I think the folklorist has it definitely right that it is about much more than the monetary value.  There is still a bit of a mythological feeling in the search even though a new technological worldview has replaced the old forms and explanations.

Here is the link for the rest of the article that I liberally exce

The Persisting Idea of American Treasure Hunting

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From Fort Pierce South Jetty Beach Cam Tuesday Evening.

Surf Chart for Fort Pierce Area from Surfguru.com.

The surf is near flat, but you can see that the effect of the high tides on the beach.


Good hunting,
Treasureguide@Comcast.net

10/12/26 Report - Some Treasure Hunting History. Long Before Detectorists There Were Money Diggers in Colonial America.

 

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

Plague Telling of Money Diggers in Charleston, SC the 1830s.

Long before the California Gold Rush, Americans were already digging for sudden wealth. These treasure hunters, often called Money Diggers, searched for coins, bullion, pirate chests, Spanish mines, and valuables supposedly hidden during wars. The practice became especially visible in the Northeast between about 1780 and 1830. It combined economic hope, local folklore, Christian belief, folk magic, and the dream that one discovery could transform a person’s life....

Charleston was an ideal setting for such stories because its pirate history was real. Piracy flourished along the South Carolina coast during the colony’s early years and again near the end of the Golden Age of Piracy. In May 1718, Blackbeard blockaded Charleston Harbor for about a week, captured ships and hostages, and demanded medical supplies. The pirate Stede Bonnet also operated in Charleston, hid on Sullivan’s Island after escaping custody, and was executed in Charleston later that year. These events placed pirates, valuable cargo, specie, secrecy, and violence inside Charleston’s living memory...

From Money Diggers in Charleston | Chucktown Tours

In Matthew 13:44, Jesus says: “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.”

The man in the parable didn't just slyly make off with the treasure but first did what was required to make it rightfully belong to him.  The purpose of the parable was not to explain treasure law: It was about the preciousness of heaven and the wisdom of being willing to give up all to obtain it.  But the parable also shows that buried treasure was sought centuries ago and was a subject that the audience would understand and relate to.

Treasure hunting was talked about much farther back in time than that.  It should not be surprising then, that treasure hunting was a common practice in American colonial times.  On the Treasure Coast we are well aware of how the Spanish sought treasure in the New World, and how that resulted in the treasure hunting opportunities that made the Treasure Coast famous, but you might be surprised to learn of the treasure seeking mania that ran rampant in the British colonies in earlier centuries.  They were often occupied with seeking Spanish or pirate treasures.  That is well documented.  Even Benjamin Franklin wrote about it. 

Before rods were used to support metal detector coils, divining rods of hazel and other materials, were used to find treasure. Those rods are the ancestors of the dowsing rods I remember seeing advertised in the treasure magazines of just a few decades ago.  Those in the treasure magazines looked very much like the one shown below.  It looks more modern and technological than the forked limb of a hazel tree that was often the choice in colonial America, but the principle is much the same.

You might be surprised to learn that before the British TV series, The Detectorists, or Duck Family Treasure or Curse of Oak Island, there was Washington Irving's The Money Diggers (1825), Poe's Gold Bug, and to go back much farther, the copper scrolls of Qumran that document the location of over sixty hidden treasures.

Before the modern Treasure Coast treasure salvors, there were Kip Wagner and Charles Higgs, who discovered beach cobs and explored the shipwreck salvage camp near the Sebastian Inlet.

Way back before the term "detectorist," which as far as I know was only widely adopted about a decade ago, "money diggers" was the common term. used to describe treasure hunters.  The term "detectorist" is an excellent descriptor in some cases but perhaps not the best in others.  I won't get into all of that now.  I've talked about that before.

Detectorists today are very much focused on the technology, as the term suggests.  Other aspects of the discipline, including things such as search strategies and techniques, often do not receive enough attention.

Treasure hunting has changed a lot over the centuries and decades in some ways but not in others.  The supernatural seemed to play a larger role in colonial times.  Needing some form of assistance for the difficult, if not impossible, task of fulfilling dreams, we turn to technology, where the money diggers used what we might call today superstition.

The human element remains much the same.  The motives, hope, excitement and feeling of challenge and adventure remain the same.  The vulnerability to myth and superstition has not disappeared.  Those things have just put on another face.  Our modern myths better conform to the culture and the modern mind.

As numerous as they are, our modern myths are not totally useless.  Most often they contain some kernel of truth or usefulness.  Benjamin Franklin's hugely successful Poor Richard's almanac provided calendars, weather forecasts, proverbs, poems, and practical advice.  While not totally accurate by modern standards, it still proved useful to many.  Man always fills the void with beliefs.

In previous posts I talked about some of the more common metal detecting myths.  Maybe "myth" is too strong of a word here.  Maybe it would be better to describe them as inaccuracies - of which there are many that are often repeated and widely accepted.   I've addressed many of those before.  I think I once did a post on five common metal detecting myths, but I can't find it right now.  

I once read that as much as people talk about buried pirate treasures, they are actually extremely rare.  The article explained the reasons they are so extremely rare despite the attention they receive.

.   

One example I like to use is how we previously thought of an atom as a kind of miniature universe.  Electrons were thought of or described as particles, but now they are more often described as waves or fields.  The old conceptualization was useful for a while but failed to adequately explain newer observations.  

The way we think of things and describe them can change but the underlying reality does not.  Hopefully the new concepts will work better in some way.

While treasure hunting has changed significantly over the centuries, much has remained the same.  The technology, techniques and terminology have changed.  Some of the myths and superstitions are different, but there are still plenty of myths and superstitions.  

Seeking is human, so is the vast unknown, so mystery remains a big part of treasure hunting - a very significant part that add to its appeal.  The mystery gives us space to fill with satisfying myths.

You can learn a lot by studying the long history of treasure hunting.  Today I referred to some documents that you might enjoy reading in full.

This was not an easy post for me.  I barely scratched the surface of several topics that could have easily gone on for many pages.  I had to constantly resist getting too deep into some of my favorite topics.  I plan to continue with some of the topics I just barely touched on today in future posts.

===

Below is a picture of Fort Pierce South Beach as viewed Sunday evening.

Clip from Fort Pierce South Jetty Beach Cam.

We are having a calm surf and some very high tides.  You can see the effect of the high tides in that picture.  

The surf will remain small for at least a couple days.

Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net

10/9/26 Report - Variety of Shipwreck Treasures to be Auctioned. Isaias and the Florida Panhandle. Memorable Occurence.

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

Wabasso Beach Saturday Morning.
From Wabasso Beach Cam.

In contrast to some of the Florida Panhandle, which just sustained the impact of Isais as a category 2 hurricane, the Treasure Coast is very calm this morning.  The surf is only about one or two feet, but the high tide will be over three feet.  The wind is mostly from the south. 

Isaias made landfall near Destin, Florida, on Friday evening as a 105-mph Category 2 -- just 6 mph below Category 3 intensity on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Isaias will continue to lose wind intensity as it moves over the interior United States. As storm surge flooding and winds subside along the Gulf Coast, torrential rainfall, gusty winds and tornadoes will occur inland this weekend...

Here are some links for more about Hurricane Isaias.fi

Isaias makes landfall along central Gulf Coast as flooding, damaging winds spread inland

 Live Updates: Nearly 900,000 without power as Isaias pushes across Southeast

Back in the day I traveled frequently to Pensacola for business and did a lot of metal detecting up there.  Many good finds and fond memories.  I often stayed at the Holiday Inn at Gulf Breeze.  I remember one of my first finds up there.  It was a nice heavy man's gold onyx ring in shallow water directly behind the hotel with my Aquanaut 1280.  That was the metal detector that opened up a lot of good metal detecting for me in my early days in the hobby.  

There is a lot of good history and metal detecting up in the Florida Panhandle.  I've done posts on that in the past.

I can imagine some of the opportunities that Isaias opened up.

I was thinking yesterday of a strange occurrence.   This was back in the day before cell phones.  

I stopped at one of the more out-of-the-way beaches not far from Pensacola and got out of the car.  An older fellow (not as old as I am now) was bringing a cooler back to his car.  He just came over the elevated boardwalk over the dunes.  He had his hands very full.  I helped him by taking the ice cooler to his car.  That is the first and only time I remember doing that for someone like that.  He probably thought it was strange too.  Maybe was a little suspicious.

A few family members followed with beach blankets and other stuff.  I got my metal detector out of my car and went to the beach.  In a few minutes the fellow or some of his family returned to the beach after I thought they were gone.  They said they couldn't find their keys.  It didn't take me long to find them.

This beach was not close to anything where they could have found help and no one else was at that beach at the time and they didn't have a cell phone to make a call and the road had no other traffic, so it could have been pretty problematic for them if I didn't happen to come along.  It still feels to me like a strange occurrence that makes me feel like it was all part of something bigger somehow.

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Another Sedwick treasure auction is scheduled.  Take a look at some of the offerings.

I find the odd shaped cobs most interesting.

Welcome to Sedwick Auction 40! Our November 5 and 6 sessions will be held on the floor, with live bidding beginning at 9:00 a.m., followed by an online only session on November 7, www.auction.sedwickcoins.com. The sale brings together important rarities and substantial specialized offerings, including superb Chilean gold and silver, an extensive selection of Colombian coinage, and rare banknotes from both countries. More than 500 shipwreck coins include selections from the J. M. Morse III Collection, whose Atocha artifacts also feature in the sale. Historic gold and silver bars and the Special Collection of Odd Shaped Mexican Cobs add further interest, while several unique coins and numerous examples at the highest certified grades appear throughout the catalog. Many coins also carry important pedigrees from earlier sales and the collections of well known numismatists, with provenance recorded in several sections of the auction.

The gold cobs begin with a fine selection of mainland Spanish issues, followed by Mexican and South American gold. Leading this section is the Mexico City 1714 J Royal 8 escudos from the 1715 Fleet, NGC MS 65 (lot 21). The Bogotá 1753 cob 8 escudos, NGC AU 55 (lot 39), is another important highlight, illustrated in several standard references and with a documented pedigree extending back to 1936.

Collectors of Mexican gold will find a particularly significant opportunity in the three denominations of 1732, the first year of machine struck gold coinage in the Americas. Offered individually in lots 1205 through 1207, the 4 escudos in NGC MS 60 (lot 1205), 2 escudos in NGC AU 58 (lot 1206), and 1 escudo in NGC MS 61 (lot 1207) form an exceptional group, all at the top of their respective NGC censuses.

Our shipwreck selections range from choice individual coins to substantial groups from well documented recoveries. Among them, the Morse Collection contributes Atocha coins, artifacts, and a substantial gold “finger” bar. Another gold bar from the Santa Margarita accompanies early silver “tumbaga” bars and large colonial silver ingots, offering collectors a strong representation of the bullion carried aboard the treasure fleets. The artifacts include gold jewelry, navigational instruments, silverware, and porcelain, as well as a massive Spanish bronze naval cannon cataloged as a recovery from the 1588 Armada (lot 517). Among the opening lots of Mexican silver is a very rare Charles and Joanna “Early Series” 3 reales, assayer Rincón, PCGS XF45 (lot 579). This short lived denomination belongs to the earliest coinage of the Mexico City mint, with the present example the finest graded by either PCGS or NGC for the variety with three dots indicating the denomination.

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The Special Collection of Odd Shaped Mexican Cobs provides an engaging look at colonial mint production. Assembled over many years, its 67 pieces demonstrate the extraordinary forms created in the preparation and cutting of silver blanks, including elongated flans, unusual projections, and natural holes. With examples from the 1715 Fleet and other documented recoveries, this distinctive collection has much to offer collectors of cobs in general.

Chile is especially well represented in the difficult colonial gold denominations of 4, 2, and 1 escudos. The celebrated Santiago 1758 J 2 escudos from the Segarra Collection, NGC AU 53 (lot 860), leads this offering as one of only three known. Further selections from the Val y Mexía Collection accompany an extensive run of colonial portrait silver and smaller denominations. The rare La Serena countermarked 4 reales from the Virgil Brand Collection (lot 916) deserves particular attention. The Colombian offering presents hundreds of coins at a range of levels suitable for both advanced collectors and those beginning to explore the series. With many uncertified examples and unusually complete selections, it provides a rarely seen opportunity to follow the development of Colombian coinage from its early Bogotá and Cartagena cobs through colonial portrait issues, Republican gold and silver, and patterns. The Bogotá 1769 JV “rat nose” 8 escudos, NGC MS 62 (lot 958), represents one of the principal Colombian rarities in the sale, while the 1870 Popayán gold 10 pesos (lot 1057) and 1869 silver 5 décimos (lot 1066) are important Republican highlights. Together, the group offers both significant individual pieces and the breadth needed to build or expand a collection across the history of Colombian coinage. Important pedigrees from established collections and earlier auctions appear throughout this section as well.

Another notable early colonial rarity is the Santo Domingo 4 reales of Charles and Joanna, assayer F (lot 1113). From the Rudman Collection and illustrated in Calicó, it is one of only five known of its type, an important opportunity for collectors of the earliest silver coinage of the Americas. Paper money brings another important specialty to the sale. Early Chilean local currency, private bank issues, and fiscal overprints are complemented by Colombian proofs, specimens, and rare private emissions. The 1840 Valdivia 4 reales (lot 1472), the unique Banco de Colombia 50 pesos proof of 1875 (lot 1475), and the Banco de Bogotá 10 pesos of the same year (lot 1476) are among the principal attractions. Several notes are illustrated in specialist references, making this a valuable opportunity to acquire documented rarities from these challenging series.

Be sure to review the final online only session on November 7, with additional coins and collecting groups across a wide range of estimates. We thank our consignors for entrusting us with this material and wish all our bidders the best of luck in Auction 40! Sincerely, Sedwick & Associates www.sedwickcoins.com

AUCTION SCHEDULE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2026 SESSION I: 9:00 AM  EST Gold Cobs (by country): Lots 1-55 Shipwreck Ingots: Lots 56-78 Shipwreck Coins (chronologically by wreck): Lots 79-458 SESSION II: 4:00 PM EST Shipwreck Artifacts: Lots 459-516 Non-Shipwreck Artifacts: Lots 517-549 Coin Jewelry: Lots 550-575 SESSION III: 6:00 PM EST Silver Cobs of Mexico City, Mexico: Lots 576-669 Silver Cobs of Lima, Peru: Lots 670-681 Silver Cobs of Potosí, Bolivia: Lots 682-776 FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2026 SESSION IV: 9:00 AM EST Ancient and Medieval Coins: Lots 777-795 World Coins (by country): Lots 796-1400 SESSION V: 5:00 PM EST Medals and Decorations: Lots 1401-1438 Paper Money: Lots 1439-1508 SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2026 SESSION VI: 9:00 AM EST Express Session (online only): Lots 1509-1945

=== Good hunting, TreasureGuide@comcast.net