🥇 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
 

Gotta note in a bottle too...pretty cool. Ill have to email them...as far as I can tell it was 2 ladies sailing to rum key. They had been to many islands....ill have to find it and post it !! I have found over 100+ notes in bottles in my beach combing career !!
 

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Double tap to open file and read.
 

Gotta note in a bottle too...pretty cool. Ill have to email them...as far as I can tell it was 2 ladies sailing to rum key. They had been to many islands....ill have to find it and post it !! I have found over 100+ notes in bottles in my beach combing career !!

how old is an older one?
 


So glad to see your finds Bart. Such a fantastic trip and so deserving of banner. Everything you found makes the muckraking so much fun. Art projects sound like they are a blast. You'll have to post some images sometime.

ps -those ladies aren't going to know what is happening when they start getting emails from all over the detecting world. :icon_scratch:

Edited to add- Can you share an image of the ambergris you look for?
 

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how old is an older one?

I found one in the 90s that was from the cuban freedom fighters in the 60s....so it had been in the mangroves for 30+ years !! Brown bottle with cork sealed with wax. Have got money several times...usally to pay for postage...once got one that had 2 joints in it and was the last of some weed that these guys had on a cruise ship. They were afraid to make port in Miami so they put the joints in a bottle with a pretty funny note, and threw it overboard before they got to Miami. Most are from cruise ships, school kids, or scientific drift pattern studies. My wife once said to me...Bart next bottle you find I want to open and read/answer back....so I got one and brought it to her to enjoy....what do you think it said when we opened it ?? It said FUC. YOU, In big black sharpie marker !! She never cared to open another....best day was 7 notes in bottles !! I've made several posts in the past !!
 

So glad to see your finds Bart. Such a fantastic trip and so deserving of banner. Everything you found makes the muckraking so much fun. Art projects sound like they are a blast. You'll have to post some images sometime.

ps -those ladies aren't going to know what is happening when they start getting emails from all over the detecting world. :icon_scratch:

Edited to add- Can you share an image of the ambergris you look for?

Thanks pete....already planning a return trip....maybe via san Salvador bahamas....contacts say the island has collapsed....large part of the population has moved to Nassau for work....23 pound chunk of ambergris was found a few months back during covid lock down.
 

Well...its very apparent now that my fantabulos beautiful treasure ring...is nothing more than a modern cheap wire silver ring !! DANG IT !! sometimes you wish and dream and it just ain't so !! I finally had time to clean some stuff up. I needed baking soda for the whole boiling water and tinfoil process. As soon as I started I could see the mark we all love....925 !! Well if your looking for old world silver jewelry that ain't what ya want !! Then I saw a new one online....silver wire butterfly ring...DANG IT !! OH WELL...thats how the ball bounced. IMG_20210524_232809_928.jpg
And it looked so good with the rest !!:icon_scratch::BangHead:???
 

I don't know but he's a giant beast....but a loveable beast also !! A gentle giant smallfoot.
 

goitta get that in the zap tank to keep it alive for many more years.....not the fish but the pirate's machete:thumbsup:
You read my mind villagenut. :hello2:
Do you have any plans to use electrolysis to restore this piece Bart?
Dave

 

I have to build a tank and system....been talking about it for years...sounds like I need to find plans for a good system !!
 

I found one in the 90s that was from the cuban freedom fighters in the 60s....so it had been in the mangroves for 30+ years !! Brown bottle with cork sealed with wax. Have got money several times...usally to pay for postage...once got one that had 2 joints in it and was the last of some weed that these guys had on a cruise ship. They were afraid to make port in Miami so they put the joints in a bottle with a pretty funny note, and threw it overboard before they got to Miami. Most are from cruise ships, school kids, or scientific drift pattern studies. My wife once said to me...Bart next bottle you find I want to open and read/answer back....so I got one and brought it to her to enjoy....what do you think it said when we opened it ?? It said FUC. YOU, In big black sharpie marker !! She never cared to open another....best day was 7 notes in bottles !! I've made several posts in the past !!
That's hilarious Bart... I felt bad for your wife though. :laughing7:
 

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