Treasure Coast Report

GuerillaBill

Full Member
Feb 12, 2008
247
27
Venice, Florida
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Pro, Minelab Excalibur II, Whites BeachHunter 300
As planned, I hit the treasure coast this past week.

I hoped to time my hunts so they'd start the day after a big storm hit the beach.

The storm did hit, in the form of a cold front, with temps below freezing wednesday and thursday night.

The wind was blowing at 20+ mph, with a wind chill near freezing for most of the day thursday. It warmed up on Friday and Saturday.

The big problem was the wind was blowing sand onto the beach, and since the beaches were already pretty much sanded in, it didn't help matters.

I started by hitting Archie Call beach just north of Sebastian Inlet, and quickly found a modern earring, and then a few fishing trinkets. But the icy wind chill drove me off the beach.

After a chilly night of camping at Sebastian Inlet state park, I timed my morning hunt to start about an hour before low tide. I parked at the Ampersand beach parking lot, and detected all the way up to the Mclarty treasure museum.

On the way up, I followed the low tide line, and on the way back, I followed the high tide line.

On the low tide line, I found nothing. Nada.

On the high tide line, I did find quite a bit of old iron, and some finds that got my heart beating pretty fast, until I looked closer - more iron.

After 4 hours of hunting, I broke for lunch, and then went to Turtle shores, and walked up about 2 miles where the developments have removed the beach, and regraded it all the way to the water (I thought that was illegal?).

Didn't find much - just a few patches of heavy iron chips. The beach was well sanded in.

That worked out to a full day of hunting, and not much to show, except for many iron chips about the size of a quarter, and one larger object which is not iron, but looks to be several small objects corroded together.

The next morning I hit some of the unmarked beach parking areas which lead to lessor detected beaches. As you can see from the photos below, the beaches were heavily sanded in, and not much to be found.

I eventually decided to head back to my home beach on the west coast of Florida.

The local treasure coast experts say that unless you get a strong storm to stir up the beaches and wash away the sanded in conditions, there won't be much treasure to be found.

I now pretty much agree with them.

I'll plan my next treasure coach trip to coincide with the next major storm.

Bill
 

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MoTwister

Full Member
Apr 27, 2007
199
1
Joplin, MO
Detector(s) used
Teknetics Turbo, Fisher 1280-X, Aquapulse.
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
At least the cold weather kept the noseems and other vermin in their nests. That is always a plus even if no treasure was forthcoming.
 

JP

Bronze Member
May 5, 2006
1,103
12
Florida & San Salvador, El Salvador
Detector(s) used
Excalibur 1000, Garrett Infinium LS, Garrett Sea Hunter II, Ace 250 (for my 12 year old son)
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Looks like my typical finds from there, with a lot of work and only junk to show. :tongue3: (joking)

It is the excitement of the hunt that keeps us all going to the Treasure Coast.

I've been over there several times in the past 3 years. Of those many trips I haven't really found anything to mention, I did witness when one fellow dug 3 old Spanish coins. I believe they were 1/2 Reales and 1 Reales coins, about the size of your fingernail.

When you go to the museum there they really get you pumped up with stories of those by chance finds. It's an act of luck, being at the right place at the right time.

Good luck on your next trip over there.
 

mlayers

Gold Member
Oct 29, 2007
5,576
429
Northern, OH
Detector(s) used
DFX, White PI, Bounty Hunter, Whites Surfmaster II and Excalibur II
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Well at least you was able to get out and get some exercise. The next time you will do better. It is just good to get out and enjoy the weather and scenery...Matt
 

Sir Digs-A-Lot

Full Member
Sep 14, 2008
222
14
Orlando Florida
Detector(s) used
Excalibur II and ACE 250
Follow this blog for updates to the beach conditions before making the trip over...

http://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/

The writer, TH, updates conditions regularly and provides useful information.

I've pulled many of those quarter-sized iron chips and kind of like them - especially the smooth, glossy ones.

Good luck next time. I'm hoping next weeks weather change stirs things up a bit.

Cheers,
Dan
 

FLauthor

Hero Member
Aug 22, 2004
770
203
Minneola, FL
Detector(s) used
Excalibur 800; Fisher F5; White Beachmaster VLF
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
Background history of the 1554 Fleet: (It was no where near the Atlantic Coast). :icon_jokercolor:

February 1552 - Preparation began for sending a fleet to the New World.

November 4, 1552
Fifty-four ships left Spain under the command of Captain-General Bartolemé Carrano. These included the three that were to eventually wreck on Padre Island. Of the 54, 16 were bound for Vera Cruz, but only six of the 16 were scheduled to make the round trip back to Spain.

The ships carried a cargo of slaves, manufactured goods, hardware (nails, knives), textiles, wine, and even a harpsichord. .

February 1553/March 1553
14 of the 16 ships bound for Vera Crus arrived. Due to a hurricane which wrecked the Port in September 1552, only two of the six scheduled to return in 1553 were able to get unloaded and reloaded to return to Spain with three other ships. That same Spring, 1553. The other four had to wait until 1554 for the next scheduled fleet. - Ships could only travel in designated fleets.

April 9, 1554
Four ships organized as a fleet, left Vera Cruz bound for Spain, via Havana, Cuba loaded with returning conquistadors, Dona Catalina de Ribera, wife of Juan Ponce de Leon (murdered in 1552), and a combined cargo of about 96,000 pounds of precious metals or about 2 million pesos (9.2 millions dollars at today's rate of exchange.

The ships:
San Andrés - Master Francisco de Huertos
San Esteban - Master Franciso del Huerto
Espírutu Santo - Master Damián Martín
Santa Maria de Yciar - Master Alonso Ojos and Captain and pilot, Miguel de Jáuregi, the ship's owner.

Santa Maria de Yciar - ship of 220 tons that had 20 officers and 7 ship's boys.
It was armed with 10 pieces of heavy artillery, 22 versos, and had 5000 #of hardtack, 2 barrels of meat, 50 barrels of water, olive oil, beans and vinegar.
22,000 pounds of cochineal, 1226 cow hides, 13 barrels of sugar, and about 27,500 pounds of silver/gold

April 29, 1554
All except the San Andres were wrecked in a storm on Padre Island. Hurricane season is between June and October. Since the ships were wrecked in April, it is probably the result of a Spring or Vernal Equinox storm (March 21) - a Norther. The San Andres limped into Havana Harbor in near sinking condition. The San Andres was off loaded onto Farfan's ship and that ship ended up sinking off the coast of Portugal. In the salvage of that ship, only about 150,000 pesos of the 375,000 pesos on Farfan's register arrived in Spain. The notorious pirate Pie de Palo (Peg-leg) tried to horn in on the salvage of the ship in Portugal.

The three ships wrecked on Padre Island carried 304 people. Probably at least half made it ashore and most of these were then killed by Indians while attempting to walk back to Tampico along the coast. The women and children were killed between the Las Palmas and Panuco Rivers. Ca. 30 survived, including a monk, who ended up in a monastery in Peru. The monk writes an account of the wreck and the trek back to civilization, some 32 years after the incident.

July 21, through September 12, 1554
Spanish Salvage expedition at site salvaging the lost cargo.
Archive records place the wrecks at 26 degrees 30 minutes, actually is 26 degree, 45 minutes.
The three ships carried a combined total of 87,000 pounds of precious metal (if all silver, approx. 6.6 million dollars with silver at 4.75 an ounce.)
Approx. 35,801 pounds were salvaged,
Leaving 51,330 unaccounted for.
State of Texas and Platoro salvaged less than 500 pounds of silver, and two gold bars.

Spanish recovered about 40% of the precious metal. Of course most of the remaining cargo was pretty much a total loss.
Example- Santa Maria Yciar, about 41% of the silver/gold was recovered.
Of approx. 15,000 pound s of treasure, only 6,225 pounds was recovered.

Fall 1967
Platoro, Ltd. an Indiana treasure hunting corporation, out of Gary, Indiana, located and worked the site of the Espiritu Santo, located about three miles north of the Mansfield Cut. Unknown salvagers some time prior to 1967 had also been on the San Esteban, and the site of the Santa Maria de Yciar was destroyed when the Mansfield Cut was dredged though Padre Island in the late 1940's . Coins and other artifacts continue to show up in the dredge piles along the Mansfield Cut, near the site of the wreck.

September, 1969
The Texas Antiquities Code went into effect.

Judge Martineaur, of Brownsfield, TX placed the Platoro Collection in the custody of the Texas Archaeological Research Laboratory.

Summer, 1972 & 1973
The Texas Antiquities Committee located and excavated the San Esteban, located some 5 miles north of the Mansfield Cut.

Miscellaneous surveys and excavations have continued over the years at the sites of the Santa Maria de Yciar and the San Esteban.

Major significance of the 1554 Plate Fleet Wrecks:

Data on mid-16th-century Spanish armaments

Data on the coinage of the first mint established in Mexico

Data on smelting of silver/gold in the 16th century.

Data on silver marks found on silver bullion. ;D
 

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