🥇 BANNER Bahamian pirate gold

Blak bart

Gold Member
Jun 6, 2016
19,218
102,476
FL keys
🥇 Banner finds
5
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
Mine lab primary fisher secondary
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Just got back from the bahamas !! Wow !! What a trip we had. I spent 3 weeks fishing tuna, wahoo, and blue marlin !! It was go go go with the fishing and I barley had time to break out the metaldetector. But when I did it was an unbelievable ride !! Im still getting my voice back and licking my wounds. When you find a treasure spill like the one I found you hoot and holler until your voice is gone !! You guys will have to grit your teeth and get through this post it'll probably take a page to explain it all. There's alot to cover. Ill dive right in to the good stuff that came from the far out islands. Here we go !!

Boom baby Portuguese gold, and spanish silver !!
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A beautiful 1747 gold reis coin from Brazil, a badly eaten up spanish piece of eight, a 1773or5 big nose piece of eight, and a gorgeous filigree wire silver ring. All these pieces were found in 2 separate 2 hour hunts at low tide on the same beach. My original thinking from talking with locals is that a pirate long boat was dashed to pieces on this incredible shoreline trying to land there treasure. The mix of spanish and Portuguese coinage seems odd but much more research and exploration of this site is needed, and the who, what, and when of this find is driving me nuts with the research....there are some records that make some sense, but I don't want to speculate yet until I hit the books some more.

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I've dug some great iron in the bahamas and keys but this 20 inch pirate long knife has to be one of my favorites....when I hold this artifact in my hands I can feel my pirate blood boiling to life...it evokes as much emotion as the gold coin does !!

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I was able to gather up pounds of seaglass, and handfuls of great colorful potsherds for my art projects !!

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Im an opertunist, and if the detector is not producing I'll lay it aside and start to mudlarking for potsherds and pipe stems !!

I was able to pull a silver or pewter teapot lid while mud larcking an old dump site for potsherds.

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there was plenty of great ships spikes and copper alloy fasteners along with the ever present lead....the plastic of the olden days !! I got a nice ginger beer on one of my hunts and was happy about it as I never found a whole one before. Other finds included some great flat buttons including a spencers treble gilt backmarck with a greek key motiff

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At one point my best coin was an 1826 english/bahamian penny

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a pretty satisfying find...until you hit the silver and gold, and gold fever takes over !! There were harmonica reeds and another type of unidentified musical instrument reed. Im still cleaning and gathering my finds together and I've got plenty of shells too. Found a goats horn, and a boars tusk also while beachcombing for ambergris. Ill post some more pics after work...im currently putting the boat back together after a brutal 14 hour run home in heavy seas.....im battered and beaten but what a trip !! I left all my treasure gear with a fellow t-net member, including my equinox 600, and a nice map with some sites to explore...it was the least I could do for my fellow islander who helped me with transportation and and gave me the best island hospitality that could ever be expected !! I hope to return that island hospitality one day when he visits me in the keys. Ive been more than blessed to grow up both in the bahamas and keys and know many island secerets....hope I'm doing my grandpa justice. He was dual citizen and made sure I respected my bahamian heritage and conch/keys life. Wrecking is alive and well within me and beach combing is in my blood !! Woooo hoooo !! Off to work now....more to come later. Maybe my bahamian friend will make a guest appearance on this thread when he sees it....I hope so !!


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Oh ya....we caught fish too !!

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Cheers folks hope you enjoy and are inspired !! Wooo hoooo !!
 

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Upvote 30
Having just come out of the hospital for heart problems, that would have put me 6 feet under where I stood! Holly Cow thats amazing. Huge congrats on that massive gold and fantastic hunts and Banner so quick. Well deserved.

Thank you so much TheMilDetector....hope your feeling well enough to get out there and get some gold too...I my need a pacemaker after all this excitement myself !! Cheers !!
 

Awesome adventure, for sure. :thumbsup:

Bigscoop...the adventure is what its all about and this adventure was far away and exotic as they come....for me it was the dream spot to knock the gold coin off the bucket list...just an incredible location. Thank you, and good luck to you !!
 

you certainly know how to get it done....both with the detector and the rod and reel. Nailed it once again, congrats bud on a well deserver banner:thumbsup:
Thank you village...my fellow floridian. You know me...if I'm not swinging the coil I'm swinging fish in over the rail !! Wooo hooo !! Happy hunting my friend!!
 

That ain't no reis...THAT is a 6400 reis minted in Rio de Janeiro! known as a "half Johanna" it is also one of 10 coins that make up a "proclamation" set in Australia, which in the right auction, adds a lot of value to it!

Unclemac thank you sir....I've been struggling to call the coin by a name....now I have one. A Portuguese gold half johana !! Sounds alot better than a gold reis coin !! Thanks for that info....happy hunting !!
 

That was a damn fine post Bart. Thanks for sharing! You invoked some of that thrill..

Thank you smallfoot...trying to make us flawda boys proud !! Good luck fishing both in the dirt and on the water !!
 

Bart .For sure ..One Sweet Dream Came True

Bill what can I say....thank you buddy for all the encouragement and support over the past year...your next my friend...get that gold, and ya better tell me when your coming to Florida so we can hunt together !! Good luck out there !!
 

How awesome and the fact it was not found diving is incredible. The Tuna never showed up this past winter in Mexico. I am so ready for a good Tuna haul. Dave

Thank you midlake....im incredibly proud of the fact that I've been able to find some great genuine treasure between the heel of the dune and the low tide mark....its not easy to find these beaches anymore and takes a great deal of effort to locate places where it can actually still be done !!
 

Wow ! awesome pieces , my kind of holiday !

Thank you army of 1....may you be blessed with gold in your hunts also !! Wooo hooo !!
 


Casper....get your arse healed up and get down to Florida again so we can meet up....I hope your getting back in the swing of things...I know its been tough for you this year. Good luck and keep in touch !!
 

Inspired, indeed. Thanks!

Wooo hoooo ! Sandchip....there's some great bottles over here in the bahamas...you would love it !! Happy hunting my friend !!
 

Bart,You the man,man :) Now you gotta update your avatar pix :occasion14::tchest:

Roger ive said it before and ill say it again...2021 baby...you called it and I keep saying to myself ROGER says 2021 is my year !! Its kept my spirit and energy levels high !! Thank you my friend !! I still regret not being able to get up and meet with you when you were here last year...hopefully there will be a next time !!
 

Congratulations on your 4th BANNER Bart! :occasion14:
I had a feeling this was a seriously important find and the Tnet members obviously felt so as well.
Dave

I don't know how it all works dave...but the gods of treasure are smiling down at me and ill enjoy it as long as in allowed...thank you again my friend !!
 

That gold coin is spectacular, very nice that the salt water wont eat gold up. It's most likely those coins are washing up from a wreck further out. The dates of the coins are 1740s and looks like 1770s-1780s for that 8 reale. The golden age of piracy was long gone by the time these coins were lost. Could have been a merchant ship that went down or a larger government vessel transporting large quantities of money. I wouldn't be uncommon at all for a Spanish, English, or Portuguese ship to be carrying hard coin from other nations.
 

keep i mind too that Spanish and Portuguese coins circulated from Buenos Aries to Montreal, Beijing to Sydney... these coins (especially the Spanish) were the U.S. dollar of their day...for 300 years! Reliable, consistent, and plentiful.
 

That gold coin is spectacular, very nice that the salt water wont eat gold up. It's most likely those coins are washing up from a wreck further out. The dates of the coins are 1740s and looks like 1770s-1780s for that 8 reale. The golden age of piracy was long gone by the time these coins were lost. Could have been a merchant ship that went down or a larger government vessel transporting large quantities of money. I wouldn't be uncommon at all for a Spanish, English, or Portuguese ship to be carrying hard coin from other nations.

Yes HessianHunter....you are very right...the possibility of this being a pirate treasure is indeed very slim. The golden age of piracy had faded across the worlds oceans by this time. It much more likely that this involves a merchant or loyalist connection. But keep in mind that this was also the heart of the pirate Republic!! Many of these pirates were settled down in the out islands and were little more than legalized pirates in the form of wreckers. Also piracy never stopped in these waters completely and continued long after and even had a major resurgence in the 1800s. So nothing can be discounted with out much more investigation. There are local theories about the source of the coins and I have some of my own....the research continues and is ever evolving. If there's a wreck its over 5000 feet deep. Survivors of some disaster at sea or an intentional landing was made here. The story i have dug up so far is amazing, and involves a wreck over 600 miles away and an incredible voyage in a long boat. Im not gonna go into the details because I'm just not certain yet and there are many possibilities...I've only been home a few days and have very little time in my library yet. It may never be known where these coins came from, or it may work out quickly....im more excited to know the details of the disaster than I am holding the coin....I can't wait to have some down time to research this !! Wooo hooo !! A real maritime mystery!!
 

...it occurs to me too, gold coins don't just "show up" on a beach... so where did it wash in from?... there are more somewhere, perhaps not so far away?
 

That was a huge dream trip. The gold coin is off the charts but the totality of your shared trip just makes me grin. Congrats to you my friend. Well deserved banner .

You definitely have the starting point for you next adventure. You know full well there are more...
 

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Ya...ya never know with that lunkerhead !! Wishing you success on your underwater adventures this season....im rooting for you brother....let me know if you need something or if I can help...ill do what I can if needed!! Good luck !!

Got a few things on the radar for the season... will see how it pans out....always optimistic!!

You and that "alien life form" disguised as a sorry excuse for a Disney character need to get your heads together and we'll find something for the Battlewagon to do over the winter....you are ALWAYS welcome onboard!!!


ag
 

Yes HessianHunter....you are very right...the possibility of this being a pirate treasure is indeed very slim. The golden age of piracy had faded across the worlds oceans by this time. It much more likely that this involves a merchant or loyalist connection. But keep in mind that this was also the heart of the pirate Republic!! Many of these pirates were settled down in the out islands and were little more than legalized pirates in the form of wreckers. Also piracy never stopped in these waters completely and continued long after and even had a major resurgence in the 1800s. So nothing can be discounted with out much more investigation. There are local theories about the source of the coins and I have some of my own....the research continues and is ever evolving. If there's a wreck its over 5000 feet deep. Survivors of some disaster at sea or an intentional landing was made here. The story i have dug up so far is amazing, and involves a wreck over 600 miles away and an incredible voyage in a long boat. Im not gonna go into the details because I'm just not certain yet and there are many possibilities...I've only been home a few days and have very little time in my library yet. It may never be known where these coins came from, or it may work out quickly....im more excited to know the details of the disaster than I am holding the coin....I can't wait to have some down time to research this !! Wooo hooo !! A real maritime mystery!!

Pre-1998 , wrecking and salvage lines remained rather blurred there. At least for the purposes of incentive and shares.
With underwater activities out of range of prior recovery attempts (at time of wrecks) improved enough to offer better potential.

Can relics from the depths make it to land? They certainly have. By varied methods.
As have those that didn't get sunk at the wrecks timing and were transferred.

Questions lead to questions.
But a bird in the hand is evidence of where one landed. One way or another.
Mute testimony to a flock somewhere perhaps. Or a one off.
Being in the company of other relics , begs the question of the comparable time and context the other relics might share with the bird....
They smell related , from here anyways. But , that's potentially costly speculation too.
A couple guys have a better idea. As they were there!

Stuff gets shuffled. Some things again and again. Bringing us back to , what process/ form of mobility and direction? That's nothing new to your logic though...
 

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...it occurs to me too, gold coins don't just "show up" on a beach... so where did it wash in from?... there are more somewhere, perhaps not so far away?

Almost 99.9 percent sure these coins are not washing in....they are washing out. So if they washed in that would have been 250+ years ago on a hurricane surge !! Once there in person it quickly becomes apparent that no coin can be washed up a vertical rock ledge of 6 -10 ft....so they are washing out....and may have trickled over the ledge.
 

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