Gold Coins & Jewelry Santa Cruz Beach 1934.

[jeff of pa]

The independent. [volume] (Elizabeth City, N.C.), 12 Jan. 1934.



https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/...ext=&andtext=&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1

 

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[Tom_in_CA]

Jeff, thanx for finding these articles and posting them. Good job !

Yes: It's no secret that in the days before metal detectors existed (at least before they became sensitive enough to find individual coins), that some fellows at various beaches had wised up to the potential to simply sift the sand through screen/sieves . But the locations you did that at had to be VERY good on potential. Eg.: at the base of the snack stand, or .... under the Coney Island Boardwalk massively trafficked sections, etc....

There was a fellow in Santa Cruz, back when I first started detecting there, which was in the mid 1980s. At the time, the fellow was probably pushing 70 yr. old. He explained that he had evolved into metal detecting (late 1960s), but prior to that, had figured out where to simply sift for coins. He had several methods: If storms eroded the beach, to where certain alcove cave-like features became exposed at the base of cliffs, they would sift the sand in those natural "trap" pockets. And could dig out at the base of pier pilings, which acted as points where coins would fuse to.

And if a super windy day was moving sand dunes around, they were wise enough to wander the beach looking for what appeared to be mini-mushroom looking things. Those were where coins were still standing, yet the sand grains around them had been blown away, leaving the coin standing up higher than the surrounding sand.