Gently tapping the crust with various shaped tools, and a soaking in muriatic acid will eventually dissolve all encrustation to reveal the object.....if I have a real good one that I think has objects of value in it.......then I can take it to my dentist who will x-ray it for me.
I feel like at my age I must be at the top of my game at EO identification. I can be towed behind the boat, and identify encrusted objects that are man made with great ease now. Most people won't see it as we glide over the bottom, but my boss and Co workers have very little doubt about what im saying now. In fact my boss has a pretty good understanding about how I am doing this and is now pointing out things to me underwater. This is hands down my greatest contribution to any treasure operation I work with !!
This statue turned out to be a "black mammy" cast iron penny bank !
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Here it is after opening and some chipping and cleaning. You can see the coin slot and screw hole to hold the halves together.
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Here is a large EO it had several silver objects inside.....including an ornate silver spoon bowl !! Later we went on to find an encrusted gold pocket watch in the shallow water.
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