Shipwreck Treasure - Coin Beach and The Faithful Steward, Delaware

[smokeythecat]

I first "figured out" where "coin beach" was back in the summer of 2011. The old bridge at the Indian River Inlet was being demolished and that summer I headed out to the beach and found very little. Then came Sandy and everything changed. I won't do a whole lot of elaborating here, but about 5 weeks after Sandy I started detecting coins from the shipwreck in the dry sand. I have almost thirty now, but these days they are quite hard to come by as it's all sanded in now and the Corps of Engineers has dumped millions of tons of sand on the beach. Of course, one really good winter storm, and the coins will reappear again. The State of Delaware has put up a new marker in the the last year, so here is a photo essay of some of the finds. Enjoy.

 

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[Peyton Manning]

great sassy molassy, shipwreck coins too?

I guess I need to move and follow you around

 

[RudyT]

Very very nice finds!!

 

[smokeythecat]

These were all found 2012-2015. Nothing since then. Site is 150 miles from here. Most items were from 2012. My daughter got the little escudo and the reales in the one picture. I have other coppers, couldn't find the photos tonight. Most are totally worn out. I will get more photos of some of the other coppers. I found a few buttons, a couple tumbled pieces of period pottery, a piece of a shoe buckle, ancient lumber piece with bronze spikes in it, pieces of ships' brass, used on the hulls, stuff.

 

[old digger]

That is awesome! I bet you can't wait till the next storm to come through.

 

[smokeythecat]

Yes, right now it would be almost pointless to try to go. The storms so far haven't done much. A lot of the sand they pumped in after Sandy is now gone, but where did it go? Did it cover the wreck over? After over 200 years, I have no idea how much but the ballast is even close to where she sunk. Also, it sank on top of another known wreck, a British ship called "The Three Brothers" which was heading for Philadelphia and sank in 1774.

 

[Simon1]

Very nice.
I was just reading about the "Three Brothers". I guess there was more than 2 commissioned.

 

[smokeythecat]

Simon1, I don't know. But think of the USS Helena. Or the USS Enterprise. First Enterprise I believe was built about 1798.

 

[Goldiver]

Very cool, I love that little gold piece!

Steve

 

[smokeythecat]

Here are more pictures of the coppers. A few have readable dates, I especially like the one with the little pebbles still attached. I decided not to clean it. View attachment IMG_0662.jpg View attachment IMG_0663.jpg View attachment IMG_0664.jpg View attachment IMG_0665.jpg View attachment IMG_0666.jpg View attachment IMG_0667.jpg View attachment IMG_0668.jpg I have more but these are representative. Best day was three coppers in one day. The day I got the 1774 Gold Guinea, I also found one copper and a cut silver Spanish reale. The reale was pretty toasty. Lots of days I got no coins. I would spend an average of 4-6 hours on each hunt, mainly in the winter months.

 

[Bodkin]

These are awesome! Great finds! Thanks for the pics!

 

[smokeythecat]

This thread is just for fun. it is a public beach. Apparently detecting is allowed, just not at the dune line or in the dunes. They have big fines for that.

 

[Rookster]

Only one word for this post."Jackpot".Congrats.

 

[smokeythecat]

Rook3434, those items, plus the other, the ships' brass, etc. took probably 40 trips down there. It's very hit or miss.

 

[BLK HOLE]

WOW Cat is there nothing you haven't found?!!!!

 

[smokeythecat]

Blk Hole, my mom got me looking for stuff in the dirt when I was 8. I'm a lot older than 8 now. There are lot of US coin types I have not found, I have found several 1790's US copper, no silvers. Only two capped bust dimes, about 4 seated dimes and a half dime, two trimes, and If memory serves (which it does not much anymore) I did get some of the more modern things, but that leaves a lot never found. Oldest colonial coin was a Phillip II of Spain maravedis. It's toast but almost 500 years old. I have two James I little silver thingies, I think groats, and 2 Elizabeth I silver shillings. Only 1 colonial issue, a Virginia Halfpenny. Lots of stuff I haven't found yet. In 1989 I found a Byzantine copper coin in South Carolina. I also got two maravedis this past year and two tiny Roman coins that were apparently dumped in the sand here from WWII ships offloading ballast. That's a lot for sure, but with tons of gaps. I have yet to find a "Pretty" Barber anything. I have found Barbers, but they were junk value coins.

 

[A2coins]

Amazing best find Great post~~~~​

 

[smokeythecat]

Thanks A2coins. It is a very nice stretch of beach. Unfortunately no big storms yet since summer and going in the water there is a good way to get seriously fouled up. Between refuse and garbage from old construction, there is still a lot of hurricane Sandy stuff laying out there. That's why I don't go IN the water. If there is pooled salt water (localized ponds), they are ok. My Cibola does well there.

 

[hbru123]

That’s awesome! Congrats on the great finds!

 

[Ryano]

..WW2 ships offloading ballast

Sorry, will someone please explain how that relates to finding Roman coins on a U.S. beach ? Thanks