A rocky beach = possible silver bits, an odd stapled rock and a whatsit.

[SeaninNH]

Yesterday I went to a beach at low tide and noticed it was cut all down the high tide line and it was cleaned of sand.




I started down by the water and worked my way up to the cut. It seems that everything I found was closer to the low tide line, but I dug out a bunch of crap and a penny.

Later in the day I pull out what looks and feels like silver. It was reading as a nickle 6" down on my land star. I tested a silver ring when I got home and it also reads under a nickle.

I went back today with my girl and spent about 2 hours working the rocks. We made our way to the sand and I wasn't getting much for hits so we went back to the rocky area.

A little while into the search I get a nickle hit at 4" and I dig up another bit of this possible silver.
A little while later I got another nickle hit at 4" and I dig up yet another little bit of this stuff. They are not magnetic and It's somewhat soft. Meaning that it's not brittle.





I also dug up a couple of whatsits.

One is an iron type thing with rocks that seem to be encrusted on it. They are solidly on there and It would take effort to remove them.





Other is a rock.... Yup... a ROCK.

I get a STRONG nickle signal that reads 10+ and it's repeatable so I start digging. At about 14" Isee this rock with a staple it in. I pulled it out and notice that it has staples all around it. Rather odd...


I have no idea what it is, but it seems to be concrete inside like someone split the rock and filled it with rocks and cement then somehow got staples into it.


Another interesting day at the beach.

 

[HCW]

That's a ballast weight as far as I know.

 

[wrecker]

Looks like concrete to me. It probably wasn't round and smooth from the beginning, sand and wave action polished and smoothed it just like any other rock in the surf.

 

[Woodland Detectors]

I would say a (test) or ballast weight sounds logical.

 

[SeaninNH]

It seems to me that it was round from the start just beause of the staples that are in it. If it was square I don't believe that the staples would be in a circle around the outside of the rock. I would think that they would appear more in a square pattern.

What would this be used in if it is a ballast weight?

 

[Wayupnorth66]

I think your small soft items there are small parts of aluminum cans......ive found them while beach/rocks hunting up by Ironwood ,MI on lake sup. the cans get broken up and smashed to resemble something valuable

 

[pepperj]

I would guess the small pieces are aluminium that has been through a camp fire, then polished up through wave action. The rock is concrete with the ends of the wire mess being exposed, also polished through the wave action.

 

[dneyedli@res1.mts.net]

I agree, melted aluminum can nuggets from a camp fire.
As for your rock, here is one that I found at the West coast years ago. It has the outer rim of a pocket watch encased in the "rock."
I thought it was gold at first because the wave action polished the brass shiny.
I'd go back and work that shore some more. Could be something old there!
Cheers,
Dave.

 

[SeaninNH]

Wow MuddyHandz that rock is really neat.

The one I have has staples. They are rounded and you can tell they are not structure for the rock. It looks like they were put there for a purpose.

I do plan to go back there as soon as I can.

The little bits come up as nickle on my MD.

 

[Bavaria Mike]

Interesting post, almost looks like you are near a shipwreck. Just my opinion, the rock looks like a ballast stone and the spike could be a ship spike. Probably should have the silver tested to confirm it. I need to get a silver and gold test kit, LOL. HH and let us know if you find anything else on the beach, Mike

 

[dr-quest]

Maybe an old sounding stone for a ship reading bottom depth or type of net wieght
Neat find whatever it turns out to be.

 

[cheese]

The nuggets could also be lead... possibly from a shipwreck. Lead was used on hulls.

 

[elee]

Hey Sean; How big is the rock whatsit? My guess is and old cement lobstertrap weight. Worn round by waves. The staples for holding to the trap mesh. Looks like you were hunting Wallis Sands. I am about ten minutes from there..don't do much beach hunting though..cuz of the millions of lobster trap wire bits that cover the beaches hereabouts.
Elee

 

[saltyshark2002]

The pieces that you found with readings similiar to nickels,were most likely aluminum.Pulltab readings come in very close proximetry as nickels.This is from my experience using a Fisher f-70.I hunt a lot in your area,as I live in Candia.

 

[Tin Nugget]

Nice finds and post. I don't understand the silver ring reading in the nickel range though. Silver shouldn't come up anywhere near nickel. But then again, I don't have a Landstar.

 

[rluckadoo]

I believe the rock is a chunk of rebar reinforced concrete. The metal wires are laid in the whole first and then the concrete conglomerate poured in around it. The wire cross hatch pattern strengthens the concrete. The reason I suspect it is rebar is the perfect 90degree angle pattern of the wires (making a square cross hatch pattern) to strengthen the pour.

 

[SeaninNH]

There are actually a lot of shipwrecks around this beach. That's why I'm going there lol.

This was all found in an area that the ocean is covering the beach with gravel so I'm pretty sure this stuff washed up. The spike is really old. The gravel encrusted on it tells me that.

2 of the little bits seem to be melted. 1 of them seems to have a pattern on both sides.


The spike is about 4" long. The rock is the size of a brick. I could by that as a lobster trap ballast.

I need to test the bits. How do you tell if they are silver or not?

 

[spitfire55]

 

[SeaninNH]

Hey Sean; How big is the rock whatsit?

It's about the size of a brick so I'm liking the lobster trap balast. I did dig up a bunch of trap parts as well on the same beach.

I don't really think the bits are aluminum. They don't have that feel and they are not thin like a can. I could buy they were lead, but as you can see one of them is textured and the other 2 are smooth. It's almost like they were melted.

 

[Damon64]

Great pics!