A Little More Bling From the Beach and Other Odds and Ends......

[Garrett424]

I decided to take a 40 mile drive to the shores of the Chesapeake Bay today and hunt for a few hours. This was the cleanest beach I have ever hunted. I only dug maybe a dozen pieces of trash in 4 hours.

At first it was slow. A couple of kids showed up and started asking questions so I obliged them for a while. I like kids so no problem there. The 11 year old boy asked if he could try so I let him. He dug up a Zincoln almost immediately. He handed it to me but I said, "You found it so it's yours", so he was really happy.

Anyway, it was slow for a while, a few clad coins and not much else.

Then I got a nice hit and dug up a huge, slightly bent, hoop style earring with CZ stones about halfway around. I almost fainted at first 'cause it looked like gold again; another heart stopper.




It's marked "FAS 925/THAI" (Thailand). I've since learned that this means "Fused Alloy Silver", which basically means it's plated Sterling silver; hence the .925 mark. It's probably a mass produced piece. It's really heavy but I'm sure it's not worth too much. It's definitely blingy though; downright gaudy if you ask me.

I don't know whether to put it in the junk pile or the good pile because it's still silver under that plating. I wish there was a good way to remove the plating and reveal the silver.



I also found my first Spanish 100 Peseta aluminum coin. It was right next to the huge earring. It's really thick. It's even marked around the entire circumference:



That's my second European coin find in the last week. 100 Pesetas is worth about $1.80 US. Oh boy. I'll try not to spend it all in one place.



Other than that, I found another key, a watch crystal with two roman numerals on the frame, a rivet, a screw, a rusty square nut, a working lighter and the usual clad. Oh, and a possible stone projectile point.

I also found a pair of shades that were SO ugly that I cleaned them up a bit left them on a picnic table in case someone may want them. The lenses were HUGE and the ear pieces had red white and blue stars and stripes from one end to the other.
I wouldn't wear those to a chicken fight.

So, I drove 80 miles for this haul. It was absolutely beautiful out there. I had hoped to do better but you all know how it goes sometimes.
I've been waiting all summer to hunt this place. You're only allowed to hunt after labor day. Oh well. The haul was light but it was a fun time nonetheless. I left with a decent jingle.

I have to admit, I was thinking about that earring the whole way home hoping it was gold and trying to remember if the signal was high or low. I didn't have my loupe on me and had to wait to check it out.

Thanks for looking and HH.

 

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[toddsumm1]

Nice. Pretty cool to get out at the beach/bay. I didnt know we could hunt anywhere along the shores here in MD. Someone told me you could hunt the beach in Chesapeake MD. I think its called Sandy Point. The only thing I hunted there though was fossils. Mainly shark teeth.

 

[CoinandRelicMan]

Hi Garrett, Nice outing to the beach there !!

 

[Carolina Tom]

Nice finds G424. GL&HH!

 

[Garrett424]

So, does anyone know whether Plated silver is considered "junk"??

 

[Garrett424]

Nice. Pretty cool to get out at the beach/bay. I didnt know we could hunt anywhere along the shores here in MD. Someone told me you could hunt the beach in Chesapeake MD. I think its called Sandy Point. The only thing I hunted there though was fossils. Mainly shark teeth.

This place is actually a state park. Again, they only allow hunting on the beach during the off season.

I may have waited too long to get there. I have a feeling it was picked before I got there but I'm not certain. I may have also missed some targets because of depth. The sand is really deep.
The deepest target I dug was about 7 inches but most were less than 6 inches. The big earring was only about 2 inches down as was the Spanish coin.

I met a guy who invited me to join a detecting club back in June (which I haven't because I stay far away from anything "organized"). He's been detecting since 1960. The club has organized hunts and Sandy Point is one of the spots they hunt. It's literally right at the Western side of the Bay Bridge off of US Route 50. You can't miss it.

I used to put my boat in down there sometimes but I like the upper bay way better. It gets SO crowded down there.
I would love to hunt that spot strictly BECAUSE it's an insanely crowded place in the summer, not to mention fall and spring. There are even a few nut jobs who go down there in the dead of winter and jump in. It's an annual event that's been going on forever. I believe they call themselves the "Polar Bears".

There's also a nice island right up the Magothy river (heading north from Sandy point on the Western side). People anchor their boats along that stretch and spend the day and even do over nighters. I believe it could be a real treasure island, as well as many spots along the Magothy shoreline. Whether or not it's legal to hunt there I don't know. MD state parks are basically off limits except for swimming beaches on the off season.

We used to go boating up the river when I was a little kid and just pick a spot along the shore for all day picnics, fishing, crabbing and swimming. It was great. I have no doubt that treasure awaits in the entire area. It was also settled very early on. People have been in MD. since the 1600's, not to mention the Indians who were here long before that.
I can only imagine what's waiting to be found.

One thing I have noticed; I see very few people detecting almost everywhere I go. I've only run into one other person so far, which is the elderly guy who invited me to join the club. It just doesn't seem to be a very popular hobby around here. That's all right by me.
I sure hope that remains the case for a long time.

 

[Davers]

I'm glad to see you got out to the Beach & gave it a try.

As for the earring , I ' like most' Have heard of Silver Plated but not Plated Silver.
IMO If it's Silver , it's not junk.

Davers

 

[Garrett424]

Nice. Pretty cool to get out at the beach/bay. I didnt know we could hunt anywhere along the shores here in MD. Someone told me you could hunt the beach in Chesapeake MD. I think its called Sandy Point. The only thing I hunted there though was fossils. Mainly shark teeth.

Oh, one more thing.

The girl I bought my Rat Shack Land Star clone from told me her grandfather used it at North Beach all the time. That's also on the western shore in northern Calvert County. I believe route 4 south takes you down that way.

Whether or not that was legal I couldn't tell you but she told me that it was one of his primary spots. She said he found some really nice jewelry, including a bracelet worth several thousand bucks.

Maybe next year I'll take a ride or two to southern MD and see what I can dig up. I used to go down there all of the time. I had a couple of travel trailers in a campground near Solomon's Island. I never did any detecting in the area in those days but I still have friends and relatives down there. I'm sure I can easily get to some good spots with no problem. I actually have a few in mind already.

 

[mihmar79]

nice finds! gz! like to read beach hunt posts, will have my first beach hunt in few days

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[louie41]

yup, Sandy Point is detected frequently. I commute the bridge daily from eastern shore and almost always see a gentleman (or two) wading out there in the AM (6-9am) between Memorial Day and Labor Day. I get so envious wanting to be out there too... After that it's anytime sunrise to sunset. I go there sometimes after work before heading back home. I know the dry stuff is swept by a beach comber. Now off season and not as much fresh drops probably.

 

[Garrett424]

nice finds! gz! like to read beach hunt posts, will have my first beach hunt in few days

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The best of luck on your 1st beach hunt. I've always had decent luck at beaches as well as GREAT luck. I've found gold and silver jewelry as well as 8 silver coins at an old beach.
Chances are you'll find something. You won't know exactly what until you dig that hole.
HH

 

[Garrett424]

yup, Sandy Point is detected frequently. I commute the bridge daily from eastern shore and almost always see a gentleman (or two) wading out there in the AM (6-9am) between Memorial Day and Labor Day. I get so envious wanting to be out there too... After that it's anytime sunrise to sunset. I go there sometimes after work before heading back home. I know the dry stuff is swept by a beach comber. Now off season and not as much fresh drops probably.

I should take a ride down there while it's still warm and take a crack at it myself. I may even have to get my boat back in shape for next year and scout around the area.

I'm thinkin' Kent Island may also hold some promise. You can get to it in no time by boat from Sandy Point.
Also, MANY people swim at Sandy point as well as boat, fish and picnic. I guess the key is being one of the first to get there. There's probably a reason why you see the hunters out there so early.

Both sides of the Bay as well as the many tributaries have great potential for hunting. There were many settlers in the entire area very early on. I'm getting excited just thinking about next year already.

I sure hope this winter goes by really fast.