Treasure Set in Stone UPDATED MACRO PIC CLOSEUPS AND X-RAY PHOTOS

1liquigirl

Sr. Member
Jun 13, 2005
393
13
Bellefonte, PA
[size=12pt]LOOK TO PAGE TWO FOR THE LATEST AND THE NEW MACRO PICS!!!!!!! [/size] :thumbsup:

Gambling in Atlantic City is a thing of the past. You'll make out better on the shoreline. I run with a Garrett Ace 250 and came back with this and a few pieces that I think are bayonets, various sand pennies and the mouth of an 1800's amber brown whiskey bottle. It stormed with thunder and lightning the night before, and the surf was really pounding. The beach opened at 6AM and out I went. I turned the stone over and there it was, a chain and a shiny silver coin sticking right out at me. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, and after the shock wore off, you should have heard me whooping it up. I put it in my bag with the shells I had been collecting prior. I didn't care at that point about breaking any of them, to me I don't think I'll ever find anything better. About a minute after I put it in my bag, an ATV cop went by me, and I ecstatically said "Hi" to him. It was probably pretty out of place, but I couldn't help it. I held onto that bag like my life depended on it all the way back to the hotel room, to show my sleeping partner the treasure I had truly found. I wonder how long it takes to embed coins and chains in to sandstone? More than 30 years, I'm sure. :laughing7: We didn't head straight home, we went to a friend of ours that owns a stones and gems shop. He'd never seen anything like this before. He told us that as is, we are looking at a value of at least $400. We plan to get the stone X-rayed at some random dentist's office to see if there may be a pendant or even a gem on the chain and if we're lucky, there may be more coins. There is an indent in the rock underneath the area that the coin is showing that could have held another coin, it is completely round and about the size of a dime. There's alot of MDing that goes on along the shores of Atlantic City and alot of iron content out there, so I bet this stone could possibly have been overlooked by others more than once. I want to get all of the sand removed that is concreted on this coin, but I'm afraid to hurt it in any way. I carefully removed some of the grains of sand with a razor blade and I am sure I didn't scratch it. It is just enough to see that some letters are still present, but not enough to identify them. I refuse to do anything more to it. I trust someone out there can get it clean. The chain located in the top left of the stone in picture one and on my finger in picture two is handmade, the ends of each link are wrapped over the next loop. It is non magnetic, but has been tested for 14 ct gold and dissolved right away at our local jewelry store, so it's more likely to be bronze. A few more links are showing on the other side of the stone from where it hangs out on the other, so most of the chain could be wrapped up inside the stone. I hope to make banner with this one! I live in Central Pennsylvania and I doubt there is anyone around here that could identify this coin as is, it is thinner and smaller than an American Dime.

Update: There have been lots of views, replies and posts for me. Read the whole post to see the progression of IDing this. We will have the Macro pics of the coin tomorrow (Thursday, October 7th). We have used Goo Gone and the sink spigot for two days (alot longer tonight than the last). It's is showing a spot in the middle of the coin, when it hadn't before, but not much more. We used aluminum wrapped around the coin with baking soda and hot water for about 5 minutes, it didn't help much. We're hoping to find a dentist to do a water pick trick on the coin, although none of the dentists we have called wanted to even do an X-Ray. We paid $105 for two X-Ray photos at Metzger Animal Hospital in State College (I had volunteered here 12 years ago, in High School. We received a phone call back from the head of the Earth and Mineral Science Building here at Penn State. The head of the Department gave me an e-mail for a lady in the Anthroplogy Department. She has lived in Florida and has worked with shipwrecks. Just waiting to hear back from her now. Thanks for the five coin rating, on the My Best Finds Forum, but to see how this is progressing, it goes to show you, that everyone wants to find treasure, but the time and effort it takes to ID and find it's place in history, takes alot of work and patience. No one sees that in the beginning, then you find something good and you realize. Please, any other suggestions would be appreciated.
 

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Upvote 0
Pics look good !


I Still never received the Pics
may still be out in Cyberspace somewhere
so glad you got them resized !

Jeff
 

GGTDM said:
Even given the amount of definition in these pics, I bet someone here will be able to ID this. Some of the memebers here are very good at this. Good luck!!!
Thanks GGTDM, I sure do hope so.

jeff of pa said:
Pics look good !


I Still never received the Pics
may still be out in Cyberspace somewhere
so glad you got them resized !

Jeff

Thanks Jeff, did you even get the e-mail at all? Or just not receive the attachments? I was having much difficulty with that. So glad to have had your offer for help. :thumbsup:

Trond said:
Interesting find. :thumbsup:

Thanks Trond, it sure is something isn't it?

To all, I received another e-mail back from the Anthropology Department and I'll attach the e-mail she sent. The stone will hopefully be in for a showing at her department sometime next week, when my partner and I can go together. Keep in mind that she had not viewed the Macro Pics I posted a few replies back. She viewed this thread days ago (as shown in a previous posting). I shared in the post about our e-mails to current. Here's the latest:

10/13/10 12:04PM

Hi Michelle/Jesse,

Well good that the jeweler only impacted a small bit. Mark that I mentioned has a complete conservation lab and staff. We've been working for some time on Blackbeard's flagship the Queen Anne's Revenge -- if you just google that, the lab will come up as well as some on the variety of material classes that are treated -- metals of all types, textiles, wood, glass, ceramics -- the typical types of things. In UW archaeology of course, probably unlike the fellow in Geosciences, there is of course experience in preparing and conserving that extends back decades - they know the pitfalls like how not to end up destroying parts of objects (multi-material items like a wood knife handle with the metal blade and rivets still in place represent the greatest difficulty as to handling, to do the best by each material class and no harm to either one). What you have could represent such as that, i.e. multiple materials requiring different standards of handling/treatment. You mean Penn State anthro right, since you've been in touch w/ geosciences, or you mean actual in person examination, which maybe they did not do then. Well I am past endurance with being swamped trying to get a report off to the federal government on a project, but if you want to stop in today (Wed.) at 2:00, I could meet with you briefly, or Friday between 10:00 & 11:00. I might have more flexibility next week. As I indicated, I do not work with metals but having worked on 247 wrecks by now, I have seen a lot of material, concretions and all, and may have an immediate sense of whether this has been in the sea very long. I actually thought the image of the coin looked to be a recent Roosevelt dime, but it was difficult to see. Was this a fluky chance upon find for you or do you routinely go in search of such things?

Best, Lee

THANKS TO ALL FOR MAKING THIS FORUM WHAT IT HAS BECOME, A POPULAR PLACE TO VISIT, FOR ALL THE HELP AND INTEREST IN THIS PIECE, AS WELL! :wav:

I promise to keep you updated and informed on the latest.

Please, download the macro photos of the coin closeups and zoom in. I'm hoping that the coin just might get IDed here on TNet. Thanks for watching and for all the help. Please let me know what you think. ~Michelle
 

1liquigirl said:
jeff of pa said:
Pics look good !


I Still never received the Pics
may still be out in Cyberspace somewhere
so glad you got them resized !

Jeff

Thanks Jeff, did you even get the e-mail at all? Or just not receive the attachments? I was having much difficulty with that. So glad to have had your offer for help. :thumbsup:

Only EMails I Received were the ones Notifying me
of your PM's no Direct Emails from you :dontknow:

I Even rechecked the Email I Gave you & It was correct

so :dontknow:
 

Jeff, Oh, well, at least you got me going in the right direction.

Okay all, for the latest, look to my last posts and the ones prior have the latest Macro PICS
 

Reading the thread from start to finish, I have to say it's a cool find. Silver is silver, and all the more sweet for being concreted in an interesting specimen.

Unfortunately, I also feel like you've let your hopes carry you away quite a bit with this one. I doubt very much it's anything so romantic as an exploding boiler and shipwreck, but you seem to have approached the investigation as if that were a foregone conclusion. X-rays and chemists and heads of University departments and carbon dating and jewelers and museums and... An epic amount of energy has gone into what may very well turn out to be a common beach concretion with a silver dime poking out.

I think you found something quite cool, but be careful not to let your enthusiasm get the better of you. I found a coin concreted in sand on a beach in Mexico once. It had the glimmer of gold, but turned out to be a modern French 10 Centime piece. It was a neat find, but I'm glad I didn't spend $140 to have it x-rayed...

Been a fun read either way, and I'm sure you've had a blast with it, but pending an ID on the coin, I'd say it's probably time to get out there and do some more detecting.

Happy hunting!
 

Ok, :icon_scratch:

I've been following this post for awhile. I've keep my mouth shut but I can't anymore. This is what I feel... :dontknow: I think you have a Toilet chain with a modern silver coin maybe a Merc. What caused the incrustation to happen so fast is the Iron object that is in the chain. The coin was near bye and it got encrusted with the mess of iron. :read2: The chains links are in no way old. Those are modern links that they could not make without a modern machine for a Toilet stopper. ??? Your on the AC beach and it was filled with casinos and slot machines. Some get torn down and leave behind floor coins. It looks like a Merc but could maybe be a half-dime. :dontknow:

As for finding out what it is, you said you tried home made electrolysis. What did you use a small AC adapter I'm guessing? If so try upping that a little, use a bigger adapter I've heard of people even using car batteries on big items. :icon_scratch: Now I'm not sure how to use a car battery so unless you know how I don't suggest trying it. :help: But you could maybe get a bigger adapter maybe 19 or 20 volt. This may help break up whats on it also don't be afraid to leave it on for awhile. :icon_thumleft:

Anyway this is just what I feel. I'm not trying to put your finds down or anything I'm just curious and this is what I can come up with to help. Whatever it is, its a cool find ! :headbang:

Keep @ it and HH !! ;D :D
 

Here is a similar made chain I dug the other day
 

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Thanks Eathan for posting a reply, I'll be out there detecting, you know I will. I paid the $105 because I wanted to see what was in there, and it just added to the curiosity of the piece, knowing there was more within the piece we'll never see.

MUD(S.W.A.T.), thanks for watching and adding a statement. The electrolysis I used was a wrapped piece of aluminum foil around the coin to make a pocket, then used baking soda and hot water within the pocket to create a little bubbley. I know there are better methods, and I will take it to Mark for a professional cleaning of the coin. I will be keeping it as one and I plan to display this piece proudly. I am so glad you have all had as much interest in the piece as I have.

TNMountains, Isn't it great to find chains? The excitement of having one end in your hand and not knowing what could be attached to the other side.

Thanks all, and just as MUD(S.W.A.T) did, if you've been watching and have been holding off with posting something, don't hesitate to write. I want to know what you think, and ID guesses. Thanks very much.
 

just a thought seeing it's down on the ny nj waters it could be dumped garbage from some fire???? nice find krazyhorses
 

Ok,

Found and seen alot of stuff. Dont want to break dreams, but im sure I wont break your enthusiam on this find. I believe it is some melted down Iron encrusted metal that has a silver coin attached. Many metals have chemical reactions to eachother, I have a bucket full of silver rings and items ive found over the years and sometimes I accidently throw a SS ring or item in there and guess what happens? It bonds and eats the crap out of the Stainless Steel. Now im not saying this is what happened this is just an example. You have silver in there, the chain maybe bronze or brass and the modern bolt encrusted in the item maybe SS. Ive found many chains with the exact same design and they are simply pulley chains as posted and pictured by many members. These chains are not only for toilets but for many many different types of machines, hence the hinge like flexible design. The members here will ID finds alot faster than any University Professor. I know many team leads and achaelogist that consult Treasure Hunters on finds and info, Why? Because we have countless hours digging, IDing and not getting paid because we love what we do. You have been very good through this whole ride by not losing your cool over someone telling you this item isnt treasure. But I say again, many of us are pros and have years of experience in different fields all located all around the world with different specialties and GOD only knows how many amazing finds. I just say this because I spent the time and read ever post on this topic and feel your still up their in the clouds. Come back down, put it in a case and go back hunting. Hope this doesnt offend, its not meant to. Just seeing this post get way out there and needed to throw in my 2 cents.

CB
 

1liquigirl said:
Thanks Eathan for posting a reply, I'll be out there detecting, you know I will. I paid the $105 because I wanted to see what was in there, and it just added to the curiosity of the piece, knowing there was more within the piece we'll never see.

MUD(S.W.A.T.), thanks for watching and adding a statement. The electrolysis I used was a wrapped piece of aluminum foil around the coin to make a pocket, then used baking soda and hot water within the pocket to create a little bubbley. I know there are better methods, and I will take it to Mark for a professional cleaning of the coin. I will be keeping it as one and I plan to display this piece proudly. I am so glad you have all had as much interest in the piece as I have.

TNMountains, Isn't it great to find chains? The excitement of having one end in your hand and not knowing what could be attached to the other side.

Thanks all, and just as MUD(S.W.A.T) did, if you've been watching and have been holding off with posting something, don't hesitate to write. I want to know what you think, and ID guesses. Thanks very much.

Haha, yeah aluminum foil is less juice than a battery. :laughing7: (Click Here)---> http://gometaldetecting.com/electrolysis_cleaning.htm <--- Go there :icon_thumleft: if you want a real electrolysis unit. Note: This may Break the coin loose from the clump or damage the coin but... :icon_scratch: It also may clean it enough to see what it is. Best of luck, keep us posted if you get professional help as you should get ! :icon_thumleft:

Keep @ it and HH !! ;D :D

(Disclaimer: I'm not responsible for injury, damage to items or anything that goes wrong, its up to the viewer/user to be safe.)
 

It's just a chain from an old crapper tank!!Joe dirt...I wished I lived by the ocean...
 

Ive been in the Everglades working. I just got back home and I see this thread is well on the way to making 3 pages.
 

KRAZYHORSES said:
just a thought seeing it's down on the ny nj waters it could be dumped garbage from some fire???? nice find krazyhorses

Yes, KRAZYHORSES, it could very well be, and a good thought. NJ beaches aren't exactly what you could call clean, especially if there's a toilet involved here. :-X :tongue3: yack!!!! :laughing9:

CRACKBADGER said:
Ok,

Found and seen alot of stuff. Dont want to break dreams, but im sure I wont break your enthusiam on this find. I believe it is some melted down Iron encrusted metal that has a silver coin attached. Many metals have chemical reactions to eachother, I have a bucket full of silver rings and items ive found over the years and sometimes I accidently throw a SS ring or item in there and guess what happens? It bonds and eats the crap out of the Stainless Steel. Now im not saying this is what happened this is just an example. You have silver in there, the chain maybe bronze or brass and the modern bolt encrusted in the item maybe SS. Ive found many chains with the exact same design and they are simply pulley chains as posted and pictured by many members. These chains are not only for toilets but for many many different types of machines, hence the hinge like flexible design. The members here will ID finds alot faster than any University Professor. I know many team leads and achaelogist that consult Treasure Hunters on finds and info, Why? Because we have countless hours digging, IDing and not getting paid because we love what we do. You have been very good through this whole ride by not losing your cool over someone telling you this item isnt treasure. But I say again, many of us are pros and have years of experience in different fields all located all around the world with different specialties and GOD only knows how many amazing finds. I just say this because I spent the time and read ever post on this topic and feel your still up their in the clouds. Come back down, put it in a case and go back hunting. Hope this doesnt offend, its not meant to. Just seeing this post get way out there and needed to throw in my 2 cents.

CB

CB, Thanks, it was very well said, start to finish. I agree with you. I got out of hand a few times, just to lead you all on the journey that goes through many THunter's minds when faced with an unknown object, and all the what if's. It already has a case for display, and it goes in and it comes out. As for going back to hunting, you know I will. It's just been pretty rainy and dreary in Central PA as of late and I can't wait to get back out there. Believe me, you didn't offend, no need for appologies, it takes alot to get under my happy go lucky skin. I never knew my thread would be a great place to post trashy potty humor!!! :laughing7: To me, this item will always be treasure, no matter what people say it could be, that's the treasure, it could be anything, and that's what brought us all to this thread. It's been a great ride, just holding back now to read and comment on the posts of those that have been watching and are now posting what they think. As promised, if I have new info to post, from the University or elsewhere, you'll all see it here. If I didn't think the TNet was the best place to ID an object, I never would have posted. You guys are the greatest. You're chemical reaction info and binding metals to silver was a good thing to post. How true, and I agree the chain could have been made for other uses. Thanks.

MUD(S.W.A.T) said:
1liquigirl said:
Thanks Eathan for posting a reply, I'll be out there detecting, you know I will. I paid the $105 because I wanted to see what was in there, and it just added to the curiosity of the piece, knowing there was more within the piece we'll never see.

MUD(S.W.A.T.), thanks for watching and adding a statement. The electrolysis I used was a wrapped piece of aluminum foil around the coin to make a pocket, then used baking soda and hot water within the pocket to create a little bubbley. I know there are better methods, and I will take it to Mark for a professional cleaning of the coin. I will be keeping it as one and I plan to display this piece proudly. I am so glad you have all had as much interest in the piece as I have.

TNMountains, Isn't it great to find chains? The excitement of having one end in your hand and not knowing what could be attached to the other side.

Thanks all, and just as MUD(S.W.A.T) did, if you've been watching and have been holding off with posting something, don't hesitate to write. I want to know what you think, and ID guesses. Thanks very much.

Haha, yeah aluminum foil is less juice than a battery. :laughing7: (Click Here)---> http://gometaldetecting.com/electrolysis_cleaning.htm <--- Go there :icon_thumleft: if you want a real electrolysis unit. Note: This may Break the coin loose from the clump or damage the coin but... :icon_scratch: It also may clean it enough to see what it is. Best of luck, keep us posted if you get professional help as you should get ! :icon_thumleft:

Keep @ it and HH !! ;D :D

(Disclaimer: I'm not responsible for injury, damage to items or anything that goes wrong, its up to the viewer/user to be safe.)

MUD SWATT, thanks, I'll look into that, but this won't be the first piece I'll go practicing on.

JamesBibb, That's great!!! I'll have to go crack out the old cassette tapes and play a salute.

Liftloop, was that a dirty joke???? :D

BigCy, thanks for the PM, send me another PM to let me know how that was. I wouldn't have wanted to go home. If it goes to three pages, you had some help getting me there. Thanks for looking into these new pics for me.

To all, as I said before, in a previous post, ideas and thoughts are welcome, in all forms. Don't hold back, if you've been watching the thread, and haven't posted, let us know you were here. Now's the time to let 'er rip. :notworthy: :thumbsup:
 

Hello Liquigirl. Its hard to criticize someone that is so nice and and has so much enthusiasm for the hobby but I think eathan summed it up best. Im kinda sorry that I first suggested that it may be shipwreck. At the time we didnt know and I was trying to stop you from busting it up until we had a ID on the coin. It now appears to be a fairly modern conglomerate. I believe the rusted iron and chemical reactions with salt water are holding it all together. For some reason, shell and sand will stick to metal. The reason I say modern is because of the chain type, coin, and threaded stud.

IMO the coin is the key to identification. Thanks for the new pictures. It shows a very interesting conglomerate but for some reason, the new pics are of no help reading letters on the coin. In some pics it appears not to focus well enough and in other pics the letters on the coin are showing a shiny reflection. I cannot read the letters. Did you use the Macro setting for the closeups?

In your opinion, is the coin a Mercury dime? The coin appears to be a Merc but we are not certain of this. We are only looking at pictures and you have the item in hand. My suggestion is to either sell the item now on eBay as a mystery item to try and recoup your investment or remove enough of the sand to make a positive ID of the coin or keep it as a conversation piece and keep people guessing forever. Maybe the goop method someone suggested will work. :dontknow:

Here are some examples I found on the Treasure Coast recently that I have been cleaning.. You can see where shells pieces have stuck. Some may be shipwreck but I cant prove it so they are really worthless clumps of rusted metal. Yours is interesting because it has a silver coin and chain. The coin, chain and threaded rod however appear to be early 20th century. There is nothing that I see in the new pics to claim shipwreck.

Keep up the enthusiasm and you are sure to find more interesting items. :icon_thumright:
 

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Why not try CLR? It works well on shower heads...why not a toilet fixture? Use a toothbrush to scrub.
 

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