Venice Jetties

These photos were taken from the southern end of Casey Key. If you are looking for a place to picnic there are grills and tables in the shade or under cover.There are rest room facilities and a playground for kids. If you are in the mood to fish there is a bait and beer shack right on the water. Beaches provide swimming and shelling possibilities, besides the jetty to fish from. Nice place to relax with family or friends.

Approaching Evening Storm

Visiting White Ibis

Beach Combing and Metal Detecting for Treasure Part ll

1.18th century wine bottle neck 2.17th century Bellarmine jug neck 3.glass wine bottle seal 4.lip/rim of Iberian olive jar.

18th and 19th century pipe bowls and broken stem pieces.

Paleo-Indian pottery fragments.

Paleo-Indian projectile points. (Gloucester County Virginia)

As mentioned in part one of this article some times when metal detecting and beach combing not all articles found are coins or metal. Ship wrecks contain a wide assortment of articles of daily life that may survive the ravages of time. Glass and ceramic articles or fragments of do quite well under water. Encrustation may take place but not necessarily deterioration. Porcelain and high fired ceramics many times can be cleaned up to look new. Glass dependent upon age and length of time in water and soil does well also.
    Indian and Paleo period artifacts can be found washed up on river and shore lines. In Florida the shore line of today was much further out into the water a thousand or more years ago leading to remnants of those times being buried under sand and salt water. I must mention that in Florida and many other areas the collecting of Indian artifacts is regulated by Federal and State laws. Always check with authorities when attempting to collect such items. Florida has numerous shell mounds near the water. Do not try to dig in or near these mounds. It is against the law and destroys part of Tribal/ National heritage. Part three I will discuss how to clean and preserve your finds.

Morning Visit

A pair of Sandhill Cranes came for a visit while I watered the garden this morning. They fed in the yard within a foot of where I stood. My Maine Coon Cat watched with the look of curiosity and fear. This was a first for my backyard.

Beach Combing and Metal Detecting for Treasure.

Author metal detecting beach area off 1715 wreck The Carmen.

Low tide part of reef that The Carmen struck and sank.

Buttons and partial buckle,17th thru mid 19th century.

Mini balls and musket rounds. Flat hammered ball for holding flint in lock.

17th century Spanish coins.

Assorted 18th and early 19th century coins.

18th century iron artifacts.

Beach combing and metal detecting run hand and hand. Your eyes scan the sand for that item that says pick me up. Many times it's trash but every once in awhile you find something worth the time spent. Metal detecting searches for the things you can not see on the surface, metal items that is. There are times when you hear the ping and dig to find non metallic items with metal items. For most who go metal detecting on the beach your finds will not be pirate treasure but loose change and jewelry. From a monetary point that lost gold diamond ring may be worth way more than some rusted piece of iron.
     This article will be presented in several parts. I will attempt to briefly go over some points to help in searching for your treasure. One of the first things to remember is not to trespass on private or restricted property. On beaches as a general rule from high tide mark to low tide mark is not private. Metal detecting in the water can be a different story. As of a couple years ago Florida made a law that says you can not bring anything up that is over 50 years old. One exception would be when salvage permits have been given out by the state as with the 1715 wrecks off Sebastian/ Vero beach,Fl. If going to a state park ask about their rules. No federal park allows metal detecting.
      Another basic rule is carry out the trash you dig up. Another is refill the hole you dug.If on private property it is advisable not just to get permission but determine who keeps what if anything is found. In the next parts of this article I will go over what equipment to use, cleaning and protecting your finds and a few other pointers.

Sunset fishing in Sarasota Bay.