A Florida family hits the treasure jackpot just of the beach and it appears that there's a bunch more from where that came from ..
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Showing posts with label treasure. Show all posts
Showing posts with label treasure. Show all posts
Jun 2, 2014
California's New 49'ers-On The Hunt For Buried Treasure
Saddle Ridge Hoard Coins-Buy On Amazon.com (Click Here))
May 15, 2014
Treasure In The Cold River Valley
Here is another potential Adirondack Treasure that you might be up for, Located somewhere around the Cold River area of New Yorks Adirondack Forest Preserve. I will include the link down below.
Hermit Hoard In The Cold River Valley? -Click Here For The Link
May 10, 2014
SS Central America-Odyssey Marine Returns To The Salvage Site
Sep 9, 2013
East Coast Treasure Wreck "Whydah" Has More To Share
The wreck of the eighteenth century pirate ship "Whydah" gives up more treasure!
Jul 22, 2013
The Lost Treasure Of Padre Island
The Lost Treasure of Padre Islandby Murray Montgomery |
| Treasure hunting is one of those things which tends to stir the imagination of most folks – and the thought of looking for buried treasure has always fascinated me, as well. I remember back in the early 1960s, I was a teenager and lived with my family in Angleton, Texas. I recall that my dad and I were quite intrigued with the idea of hunting for buried treasure. So much so that Daddy drove the 45 miles into Houston and purchased a metal detector from an old boy who was making them in his garage. We couldn’t wait to try the new gadget out – so, we made a beeline for Surfside Beach to search for pirate’s treasure and the like. But alas, all Daddy and I discovered was that there probably wasn’t a square foot at Surfside that didn’t have a beer can buried in it. I’ll have to admit that we never found any real valuables, but we sure had fun trying. Over the years, I have spent some time reading a number of books about lost bounty and none are more interesting than W.C. Jameson’s, Buried Treasures of Texas. Many of the stories in his book are considered only legends – yet there is factual information surrounding the creation of this folklore. And there is little doubt that the events leading up to the “treasure tales” are factual. One of my favorites is the story about John Singer and his buried fortune on Padre Island. Singer was part of a famous family which was highly thought of as businessmen and inventors. His brother, Isaac, had created a fortune with his Singer Sewing Machine Company – but John was more of an adventurer and he was happiest when exploring the vast coastline of Texas. In 1847, John Singer was in Port Isabel. He was on another of his adventures, traveling the waters of the Gulf of Mexico – this time his wife, four sons, and a hired hand were along for the ride. This would turn out to be a trip that would be remembered forever by the Singer family. Not long after they left the harbor at Port Isabel, sailing a three-masted schooner known as the Alice Sadell, the family started to encounter some bad weather. Although not an experienced seaman, Singer had traveled the region before and he was of the opinion that the storm would soon blow over. But as the winds got stronger and the waves begin to crash over the vessel, he decided that he must somehow make it to shore. The squall helped him with that decision, and the huge waves promptly lifted the boat and smashed it onto a deserted island. The family spent the night in the ship’s cabin and the storm had ceased by sunrise. Singer, along with his hired hand, explored the narrow island where fate had cast them. And after some discussion they came to the correct conclusion that they were on Padre Island – a narrow strip of land which extends some 100 miles, along the coast, from the Mexican border to Corpus Christi. Singer and his group were not the only ones who had wrecked at this place. It seems that over the years dozens of Spanish vessels, while transporting gold and silver from the rich mines in Mexico, had found themselves in the middle of violent storms which blew the crippled ships onto Padre Island. Many of the ships sank offshore and the tide would wash the wreckage onto the sandy beach. Many stories were told of pirates burying vast amounts of gold, silver, and other ill-gotten gains under the sands of Padre. The Singer family had no idea that there might be a fortune buried under their newfound residence. Fact is, they soon fell in love with Padre Island and decided to make it their home. And when a rescue vessel finally came for them, they refused to leave and instead went to work to build a life in this tropical paradise. They used the wood from the shipwreck to fashion a frame house and crude furniture. Mrs. Singer planted seeds and raised a garden. John made a small boat to travel back and forth to the mainland. He purchased cattle and had them delivered to the island. They fished and harvested other food from the sea. You might say life was going great for the Singers – but that was all to change when the children came across some Spanish coins during one of their beachcombing endeavors. John and his family went on to find more gold coins and eventually they came across a wooden chest containing about $80,000 in jewelry and coins. According to legend, the Singers continued to find pirate’s treasure and John became highly successful in the cattle business. Singer decided to keep the bulk of his loot in a large sand dune which he named “money hill” – the story goes that he would go to his secret dune and retrieve money when he needed it. Other accounts say that he also buried another cache between two small oak trees. With the start of the Civil War, John Singer’s fate changed again – and when Yankee gunboats appeared off the coast of Padre Island, he decided to move his family to the mainland where they remained until the war ended, four years later. When Singer returned to the island, he found his house had been torn down by the Union sailors and used for firewood. He also discovered that the place had been hit by a hurricane and when he searched for his “money hill,” it was nowhere to be found – the storm had changed the entire landscape of the isle, as well as completely destroying the two small oaks that he used for landmarks. The story of the John Singer’s treasure ended in 1877, when he passed away. It is said that he died a pauper with no funds whatsoever – a far cry from the riches he had enjoyed while living in his Padre Island paradise – and today’s treasure hunters are still searching for his lost gold. |
Jul 17, 2013
Florida Treasure Hunters Score Gold Off Wabasso Beach !!
Listen carefully to this story my friends. As Greg said, they are very close to the beach and that is where many a gold coin has been found by the persistent treasure hunters armed only with a metal detector.
Its still out there so if you are thinking about giving it a go, I will include a google map below with a parking spot you can center your search from.
View Larger Map
I know a lot of you are still using the wrong machines for the job because I've seen you out there .. trust me on this one, you need the proper tool to do the job.
In my eyes ( as well as many others) the Minelab Excalibur II is the perfect metal detector for the Florida east coast - their is no finer a machine for the money.
It handles the mineralized florida sand like a dream. The only other machine I would recommend would be a pulse type but be prepared to dig everything if thats what you are using.
Its still out there so if you are thinking about giving it a go, I will include a google map below with a parking spot you can center your search from.
View Larger Map
I know a lot of you are still using the wrong machines for the job because I've seen you out there .. trust me on this one, you need the proper tool to do the job.
In my eyes ( as well as many others) the Minelab Excalibur II is the perfect metal detector for the Florida east coast - their is no finer a machine for the money.
It handles the mineralized florida sand like a dream. The only other machine I would recommend would be a pulse type but be prepared to dig everything if thats what you are using.
Mar 12, 2013
How To Fly Your Garrett AT Pro Metal Detector
Jan 9, 2012
Lost Treasure Under The St Augustine Sand
Bob Spratley has a lot of secrets.
He knows where to find 20 shipwrecks around St. Augustine, he can find gold and silver buried beneath the sands of local beaches, and he discovered one of the sites of the nation’s most notorious slaughters.
“He found the Matanzas site, the massacre site,” said John Powell, living history interpreter at the Fountain of Youth. “Bob is beyond a metal detectorist. Bob is touched by God.”
Spratley has been hunting with a metal detector for 41 years. Research, skill and maybe a little luck have led him to shipwrecks, Spanish outposts and historical sites that archaeologists wish they knew about.
His collection contains thousands of relics, and the walls of his home read like a museum: 16th century Spanish and French gold coins and weapons, buttons and buckles, crosses and amulets, cannons and guns.
“It gets in your blood, and once it gets in your blood, you’re a victim,” he said, a Spanish silver piece of eight worth $35,000 hanging from his neck. “If you want a collection like this, you dig everything.”
Spratley protects his collection with coded log books of his finds and shares information only with trusted sources. He doesn’t tell archaeologists where he finds things because, as he says, he doesn’t want the sites to be roped off, he doesn’t want the history he uncovers to be put on a shelf. Archaeologists and treasure hunters don’t work well together, he says, because archaeologists see treasure hunters as a danger to historical preservation.
For Spratley, finding treasure is not the only goal. Hunting down the secrets of history is a passion that runs parallel to metal detecting.
His hobby has led him all over the country to go detecting and into his home office for countless hours of research and study.
About 20 years ago, Spratley began researching the Matanzas site where, in 1565, Pedro Menéndez de Aviles slaughtered hundreds of Frenchmen under Jean Ribault somewhere near the site of where Fort Matanzas stands today.
The hundreds of French who died on those beaches left behind coins, buckles, and weapons. They left their stories in the sand.
Hundreds of years later, metal detector in hand, Spratley began to uncover what he believes is the site of the slaughter. It took about 15 years for him to find the site, he said.
History books say that Ribault’s men were slaughtered near the Matanzas inlet, that’s why the name means place of slaughters. Spratley says he thinks he has found the exact location of the massacre.
“That’s why I say it took place here. You find weapons,” he said as he held a Spanish crossbow bolt from the 1500s on a local beach, what he says is the massacre site, just after dawn.
Spratley made clear that the location of this dig, like the other sites, is to be kept a secret.
A nor’easter had blown through and sifted treasures closer to the surface a couple of weeks before the hunt. After a quick briefing from Spratley, a select group of his friends and acquaintances scoured the coastline, speckling a stretch of sand with scoop holes. Within 30 minutes, treasure surfaced.
Touching history
Butch Holcombe is the editor and publisher of American Digger magazine, a magazine for relic hunters and metal detecting enthusiasts. He came from Georgia for the hunt, and he got lucky.
“Holding hands with history,” Holcombe exclaimed as he held a freshly unearthed, possibly 16th century Spanish buckle in his hands. Holcombe is used to hunting in Georgia for Civil War relics, he said. Finding anything from the 19th century is exciting. But this, this is from the 1500s.
“I love holding something that old,” he said, staring at the buckle in his palm. “Touch of Spain, wow.”
Quickly, the hunt continued. Headphones went back on, legs lurched forward and detectors swayed from side to side. There were more discoveries, and, as with most hunts, there were some duds mixed in with the sand.
“Bob, what’s this?” Jerry Solomon from Dallas, Ga., asked as he held up a sand-coated object.
“It’s a penny,” Spratley said after a glance.
‘Amazing’ finds
Spratley acts as historical interpreter for most of the finds on the beach, but he sometimes seeks out help from other sources, archaeologists, professors, and antiquity experts. One source is John Powell, living history interpreter at the Fountain of Youth. He is a archaeological conservationist and military weapons expert of the Spanish period.
Powell spent some time flipping through pictures of Spratley’s finds in a parking lot near St. George Street. He identified the relics in the pictures almost immediately.
“I’ve avoided digging for myself,” Powell said, dressed in colonial Spanish garb as he leaned on the trunk of a car one afternoon.
Powell has worked in antiquity since he was 8 years old, he said. He metal detects, but uses his expertise to help Carl Halbirt on some digs. He avoids treasure hunting to preserve his relationship with the archaeological community, but also helps Spratley.
“I know Bob very well. I help him to identify what he finds,” he said. “He comes up with things that are absolutely amazing.”
In addition to the Matanzas site, Spratley has found Spanish campsites, he said.
Powell’s interest in the finds are reproduction — having molds made from historical finds like jewelry that can be recreated and worn by himself and other historical re-enactors.
Later on during the hunt at the Matanzas site, Spratley shouted. He had made the find of the day.
He nudged back a layer of sand to reveal a bronze Caravaca cross, probably 16th or 17th century.
Typically carried by monks or priests for religious purposes, the cross was named after the southeastern Spanish town of Caravaca de la Cruz and has been associated with miracles, he said. People other than monks or priests used the Caravaca cross for good luck and protection. Finds like the cross are what add an element of controversy to treasure hunting. This isn’t someone’s lost Rolex. This is a historical relic.
Not stealing history
“People frown upon us because they think we’re stealing history,” Spratley said. “We’re not. We’re displaying, showing people.”
Spratley said he loves to share the treasures he unearths, but on his own terms. In particular, he likes to share history with children. He has been to local schools, including Middleburg High School, where he displayed a conquistador helmet, signal cannon, olive jars and other relics.
The goal is to let kids hold history and get inspired by it, he said. “I let the kids hold it, even though it’s priceless,” he said about the relics. “That’s the future of history is the kids that are in school today...If just one goes on to study history, it tickles me to death.”
Spratley doesn’t sell anything of historical value, he said. He sells lost rings, watches and other jewelry to support his hobby, which he took up full time after retiring as a real estate broker in 2004.
Spratley has collected a trove of secrets after 41 years of metal detecting, and a storeroom full of treasure that he worries about how to preserve now and after he’s gone. After coming back from Vietnam, detecting was a way to get back into society and deal with anxiety. Treasure hunting has been a hobby, a passion and a pain reliever throughout the past four decades.
After Spratley found the Caravaca cross on the beach that day, he put his detector down for awhile. He wanted to give the others a chance to dig up something big. It’s not all about the treasure, he said. For Spratley, the relic hunter, the most valuable thing he’s found is intangible.
“Freedom,” he said, “to be able to do what I want and share it with people.”
Tools of the trade – the basics
■ Metal detector-waterproof (a good one): $1,000 & up
■ A long handle sand scoop: $110 to $150
He knows where to find 20 shipwrecks around St. Augustine, he can find gold and silver buried beneath the sands of local beaches, and he discovered one of the sites of the nation’s most notorious slaughters.
“He found the Matanzas site, the massacre site,” said John Powell, living history interpreter at the Fountain of Youth. “Bob is beyond a metal detectorist. Bob is touched by God.”
Spratley has been hunting with a metal detector for 41 years. Research, skill and maybe a little luck have led him to shipwrecks, Spanish outposts and historical sites that archaeologists wish they knew about.
His collection contains thousands of relics, and the walls of his home read like a museum: 16th century Spanish and French gold coins and weapons, buttons and buckles, crosses and amulets, cannons and guns.
“It gets in your blood, and once it gets in your blood, you’re a victim,” he said, a Spanish silver piece of eight worth $35,000 hanging from his neck. “If you want a collection like this, you dig everything.”
Spratley protects his collection with coded log books of his finds and shares information only with trusted sources. He doesn’t tell archaeologists where he finds things because, as he says, he doesn’t want the sites to be roped off, he doesn’t want the history he uncovers to be put on a shelf. Archaeologists and treasure hunters don’t work well together, he says, because archaeologists see treasure hunters as a danger to historical preservation.
For Spratley, finding treasure is not the only goal. Hunting down the secrets of history is a passion that runs parallel to metal detecting.
His hobby has led him all over the country to go detecting and into his home office for countless hours of research and study.
About 20 years ago, Spratley began researching the Matanzas site where, in 1565, Pedro Menéndez de Aviles slaughtered hundreds of Frenchmen under Jean Ribault somewhere near the site of where Fort Matanzas stands today.
The hundreds of French who died on those beaches left behind coins, buckles, and weapons. They left their stories in the sand.
Hundreds of years later, metal detector in hand, Spratley began to uncover what he believes is the site of the slaughter. It took about 15 years for him to find the site, he said.
History books say that Ribault’s men were slaughtered near the Matanzas inlet, that’s why the name means place of slaughters. Spratley says he thinks he has found the exact location of the massacre.
“That’s why I say it took place here. You find weapons,” he said as he held a Spanish crossbow bolt from the 1500s on a local beach, what he says is the massacre site, just after dawn.
Spratley made clear that the location of this dig, like the other sites, is to be kept a secret.
A nor’easter had blown through and sifted treasures closer to the surface a couple of weeks before the hunt. After a quick briefing from Spratley, a select group of his friends and acquaintances scoured the coastline, speckling a stretch of sand with scoop holes. Within 30 minutes, treasure surfaced.
Touching history
Butch Holcombe is the editor and publisher of American Digger magazine, a magazine for relic hunters and metal detecting enthusiasts. He came from Georgia for the hunt, and he got lucky.
“Holding hands with history,” Holcombe exclaimed as he held a freshly unearthed, possibly 16th century Spanish buckle in his hands. Holcombe is used to hunting in Georgia for Civil War relics, he said. Finding anything from the 19th century is exciting. But this, this is from the 1500s.
“I love holding something that old,” he said, staring at the buckle in his palm. “Touch of Spain, wow.”
Quickly, the hunt continued. Headphones went back on, legs lurched forward and detectors swayed from side to side. There were more discoveries, and, as with most hunts, there were some duds mixed in with the sand.
“Bob, what’s this?” Jerry Solomon from Dallas, Ga., asked as he held up a sand-coated object.
“It’s a penny,” Spratley said after a glance.
‘Amazing’ finds
Spratley acts as historical interpreter for most of the finds on the beach, but he sometimes seeks out help from other sources, archaeologists, professors, and antiquity experts. One source is John Powell, living history interpreter at the Fountain of Youth. He is a archaeological conservationist and military weapons expert of the Spanish period.
Powell spent some time flipping through pictures of Spratley’s finds in a parking lot near St. George Street. He identified the relics in the pictures almost immediately.
“I’ve avoided digging for myself,” Powell said, dressed in colonial Spanish garb as he leaned on the trunk of a car one afternoon.
Powell has worked in antiquity since he was 8 years old, he said. He metal detects, but uses his expertise to help Carl Halbirt on some digs. He avoids treasure hunting to preserve his relationship with the archaeological community, but also helps Spratley.
“I know Bob very well. I help him to identify what he finds,” he said. “He comes up with things that are absolutely amazing.”
In addition to the Matanzas site, Spratley has found Spanish campsites, he said.
Powell’s interest in the finds are reproduction — having molds made from historical finds like jewelry that can be recreated and worn by himself and other historical re-enactors.
Later on during the hunt at the Matanzas site, Spratley shouted. He had made the find of the day.
He nudged back a layer of sand to reveal a bronze Caravaca cross, probably 16th or 17th century.
Typically carried by monks or priests for religious purposes, the cross was named after the southeastern Spanish town of Caravaca de la Cruz and has been associated with miracles, he said. People other than monks or priests used the Caravaca cross for good luck and protection. Finds like the cross are what add an element of controversy to treasure hunting. This isn’t someone’s lost Rolex. This is a historical relic.
Not stealing history
“People frown upon us because they think we’re stealing history,” Spratley said. “We’re not. We’re displaying, showing people.”
Spratley said he loves to share the treasures he unearths, but on his own terms. In particular, he likes to share history with children. He has been to local schools, including Middleburg High School, where he displayed a conquistador helmet, signal cannon, olive jars and other relics.
The goal is to let kids hold history and get inspired by it, he said. “I let the kids hold it, even though it’s priceless,” he said about the relics. “That’s the future of history is the kids that are in school today...If just one goes on to study history, it tickles me to death.”
Spratley doesn’t sell anything of historical value, he said. He sells lost rings, watches and other jewelry to support his hobby, which he took up full time after retiring as a real estate broker in 2004.
Spratley has collected a trove of secrets after 41 years of metal detecting, and a storeroom full of treasure that he worries about how to preserve now and after he’s gone. After coming back from Vietnam, detecting was a way to get back into society and deal with anxiety. Treasure hunting has been a hobby, a passion and a pain reliever throughout the past four decades.
After Spratley found the Caravaca cross on the beach that day, he put his detector down for awhile. He wanted to give the others a chance to dig up something big. It’s not all about the treasure, he said. For Spratley, the relic hunter, the most valuable thing he’s found is intangible.
“Freedom,” he said, “to be able to do what I want and share it with people.”
Tools of the trade – the basics
■ Metal detector-waterproof (a good one): $1,000 & up
■ A long handle sand scoop: $110 to $150
Oct 14, 2011
Silver Coin Treasure- The Aquachigger Scores Big !!
I'm actually thinking about buying a Garrett AT Pro Metal Detector
after watching this .. Beau knows 'Stream detecting' so if he likes it .. I like it.
after watching this .. Beau knows 'Stream detecting' so if he likes it .. I like it.
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