Identical fire nuggets...two silver turtles

[Crispin]

Dug my second silver turtle at antique site today. I'm not going to clean it up at all. It was a whisper on my sand shark that got louder as I dug. Somewhere around the 18 to 24 inch range. I found the lighter color turtle in the same area three years ago...cleaned that one up. Current theory is that they were Spanish made and traded to Native Americans. Any ideas? I know these are not the best pics. I'm going to have wife use hi-res camera later today/tonight.

 

[SkaBa]

Very interesting finds.

 

[Captain Caveman]

I like turtles.

 

[mcl]

The camera you are using is several times more powerful than necessary and is by all means high resolution. The pictures I post are taken with a 5MP camera. Yours is 14.2MP. I see that the camera was able to pick up dust particles in certain areas of the image, but the objects you were trying to photograph are very blurry. I also see that you have the flash set to auto, and it did indeed fire. According to the image data, you are using autofocus, and I have attached an image showing the exact coordinates of where your camera tried to focus (and the region of focus reported by your camera bordered in green). The camera also reported that the autofocus was not properly focused on the targeted region ("Contrast Detect AF In Focus: No"). It would appear that certain other aspects of the autofocus failed as well ("AF Points Used: None"), but since I am not actually a camera expert, I can't tell you a lot.

In fact it seems that you have a very nice camera, but it is not being used properly. My best recommendations for the short term:

1) Turn off auto-focus and focus manually with the lens.
2) Turn off the flash and take your pictures in a well-lit room instead.
3) Move your camera a little further away from what you are trying to photograph.

For the long term, I mean no disrespect here, you may want to take a look at the camera manual because my quick google search made it sound like the autofocus feature is relatively complex.

This camera should be able to do scanning tunneling electron microscopy compared to the images you have posted. Once you get some better pictures up, hopefully we can get an ID.

P.S., if your camera is broken or something, obviously what I said doesn't mean much

 

[Crispin]

Thanks MCL. That was me trying to take pictures with my wife's camera. You are right. I don't know how to use it. I just had her take these pics.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Some great advice from mcl. Myself I agree turn off that flash. You can post good photos with a 2 pixel camera. I know because I have done it. Myself I prefer outdoor natural lighting otherwise you need to use bright lights from 2 different directions. Im certainly no photography expert but I wouldnt be able to sell on eBay if I couldnt take an in focus photo.

2 more suggestions I want to add. Using your Macro lens setting is a must. Like mcl suggested read the manual and look for this close up setting. Its often marked with a flower or tulip icon.

The other very important suggestion is to push the shutter button halfway, pausing momentarily to allow your camera to focus, and then without moving the camera, push the shutter down completely.


mcl how do you get all that information from the picture? I always wanted to know that.

 

[mcl]

Some great advice from mcl. Myself I agree turn off that flash. You can post good photos with a 2 pixel camera. I know because I have done it. Myself I prefer outdoor natural lighting otherwise you need to use bright lights from 2 different directions. Im certainly no photography expert but I wouldnt be able to sell on eBay if I couldnt take an in focus photo.

2 more suggestions I want to add. Using your Macro lens setting is a must. Like mcl suggested read the manual and look for this close up setting. Its often marked with a flower or tulip icon.

The other very important suggestion is to push the shutter button halfway, pausing momentarily to allow your camera to focus, and then without moving the camera, push the shutter down completely.


mcl how do you get all that information from the picture? I always wanted to know that.

Some of the info is available by right clicking the file and clicking "properties". The best way I know of is to go to http://regex.info/exif.cgi and enter either the URL of the image or upload it to the site. Obviously this won't work for images that a) have had the EXIF removed or b) imaged that were modified and resaved in a program.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

I see the photos have gotten better as I was typing. I had no idea the turtle was that small.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Is that a Sony Cybershot?

 

[Crispin]

I will have to have my wife take photos of the coins, it is asking a lot to get her to do it twice in one day...but I'll try to smooth talk her.

 

[mcl]

What's this? Cleaner? Oxidation?

Edit: here's an enhanced image of the shell if anyone needs it.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

I think the salt has been eating at these. I dont think it was a fire. Go out and find some more because its starting to get interesting.

You must have found a puddle area where all this old stuff is collecting. I know you are not on the Treasure Coast but here is a great site that if you search back it describes how items will puddle into one area. The Treasure Beaches Report brought to you from Florida's Treasure Coast.


Once you get good pics you could even send them to him at Treasureguide@comcast.net for identification.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

If you dont have the camera manual, you could download it online.

 

[bill from lachine]

Crispin,

The turtles were considered holy/good luck to the Native Americans so yes these could very well have been trade goods from the colonial era.

Regards + HH

Bill

 

[mcl]

Due to the concave shape of these turtles, I am inclined to say they are not trading tokens. All the turtle trade tokens I can find are flat-bottomed and have several marks. The one type of item I keep seeing that are turtles with a concave shape is jewelry. Since there are two pieces here, given their size, I am going with earrings until a third is found.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Crispin,

The turtles were considered holy/good luck to the Native Americans so yes these could very well have been trade goods from the colonial era.

Regards + HH

Bill

Im not saying it is or it isnt but dont forget about your Null Hypothesis crispin. https://www.etsy.com/listing/644879...h_query=teametsytx texas etc&ref=sr_gallery_3



Its nice to speculate but remember just because it was found on a Civil War battlefield, doesnt mean its Confederate.

 

[releventchair]

I'm not familiar with Spanish trade goods.
Turtles as bling though as mentioned before,yes.
To some there was/ is a mythology turtles are part of. Multiple tales about them in various creation stories.
Too in a practical sense, turtles were food....and recognizable. Yours are not sea turtles though.......
Your finding a near duplicate raises the likelihood of deliberate manufacture much higher.
The rear step of the shell and the tail are very uniform.
Congrats on getting out and detecting! And on your site and finds recovered from it.
Keep an eye out for nonmetallic debris or items. Some sifting may be in order in highly concentrated small eyeball find areas.
Maybe a pattern will emerge with your metals and a scattered small cache of materials be sorted out.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

In the meantime, try to find an authentic tiny trade turtle thats concave. Heres a much larger one (3 ") in German Silver. Cant see the backside.

Indian And Pre-Columbian Artifacts

 

[Crispin]

Thanks for the input. If they were modern i would think i could find a stamp.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Thanks for the input. If they were modern i would think i could find a stamp.

No its too worn to find a stamp. These items are severely corroded. You cant see any detail. I dont think they were in a fire, just eaten by the saltwater. You can see some legs are eaten off. Remember the cookie coins I posted?


These were at one time dated coins. How are you going to read a stamp/date on these cookie coins? The left one is silver.