[meteorite-list] Buried Treasure - OT with Links that work
From: Tim Heitz <midwestmeteor_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon Oct 4 21:07:22 2004 Message-ID: <008101c4aa77$a8f11ae0$0200a8c0_at_tim> Great story Greg !!!!!!!!! Thanks Tim Heitz ----- Original Message ----- From: "Greg Hupe" <gmhupe_at_tampabay.rr.com> To: <meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com> Sent: Monday, October 04, 2004 8:48 PM Subject: [meteorite-list] Buried Treasure - OT with Links that work > Dear list members, > > > > I found buried treasure! > > > > I know that many of you enjoy treasure hunting as much as I do. In fact, > meteorite hunting is one of many forms of treasure hunting so I thought I > would share one of my latest adventures with you. > > > > After 23 years of serious thought and planning of treasure hunting the > Florida coast, I finally found some. While in high school, I had dreams of > traveling to the Florida "Treasure Coast" in search of lost riches from > the ill-fated Spanish 1715 Plate Fleet. It is called the "Plate" fleet due > to the abundance of silver (Plata in Spanish, hence the name, 'Plate'). > The fleet of 12 Spanish galleons sank off of the east coast near Vero > Beach and Ft. Pierce, Florida after a violent hurricane over took the > unsuspecting mariners. > > > > After high school I had planned to fly to the Florida east coast after a > hurricane in search of gold and silver, which washes up onto the beach > after serious storms and hurricanes. Much is buried under several feet of > sand, which is stripped away after such acts of Mother Nature. I suppose > it is her way of giving some back after taking it nearly 300 years ago. I > would plan to use a metal detector for the task. > > > > I had waited over 20 years without any hurricanes hitting the area > directly. Who would have thought that after moving to Florida a few months > before that a succession of hurricanes would devastate Florida, two of > which hit Vero Beach and the surrounding areas dead on within weeks of > each other! I now had two occasions to drive the 2-hours it would take to > get to one of the richest galleon wrecks sites known. > > > > During the wait for a hurricane to hit the area, I did extensive research > on the Internet about where the wreck sites where. I settled with > directions and coordinates from a web site that looked good. > > > > The first trip was a few days after Hurricane Frances tore through the > area. I went three times during a 2-week period and found many modern U.S. > coins and a few artifacts from the site, mostly bronze rivets and possibly > one very weathered Silver Half Real. I will have to take that one to the > local museum to verify. > > > > Click here to see damage created by Hurricane Frances > > http://www.lunarrock.com/treasure/GregZac.jpg > > That's me on the right holding metal detector > > > > Click here for picture of artifacts > > http://www.lunarrock.com/treasure/relics.jpg > > > > The second hurricane, Jeanne, would do even more damage and expose more of > the older layers of beach. I made two trips to the coast and didn't find > anything, not even a penny, during six hours of searching the first day. > The night before my second outing, I decided to compare coordinates and > landmarks from the web site and from a book written by one of the original > finders of these wrecks. I discovered that the web site missed a large > southern area of one of the wrecks closest to the beach. I decided I would > try the area from the web site first and then go to the southern area > overlooked by his notes. > > > > Click here to see up to 8-feet of sand erosion by hurricanes > > http://www.lunarrock.com/treasure/BankErosion.jpg > > > > After my research for the night was over, I decided to watch the movie, > "Pirates of the Caribbean" for good luck, or as the saying goes, "Good > Luck equals Preparation plus Opportunity". I would find out the next day > just how true that is. > > > > The next morning, after 2-hours of detecting the well-searched area of the > web site location, I went to the southern area I wanted to investigate. > After approximately 30 minutes, I found my first Spanish Silver Real in > excellent condition. I couldn't believe it, here in my hand was a 300-year > old piece of Spanish treasure! I was elated and looked around me to see if > there was anyone who saw my body motions or heard my voice exclaiming in > delight. No one was around so I felt confident nobody realized I had found > a good spot. > > > > Click here for a picture of the Silver Real at the beach > > http://www.lunarrock.com/treasure/real1a.jpg > > Notice damaged dock in background > > > > Click here for a picture of the Silver Real > > http://www.lunarrock.com/treasure/real1.jpg > > > > I jotted down notes and made a detailed map for future searching. I > continued in a grid pattern to search the site very carefully and was > rewarded with a small caliber musket ball from an old pistol. This, too, > was from the 1715 fleet. Another few minutes and I found my second coin, > which was not in as good of condition. > > > > Click here for image of mushet ball > > http://www.lunarrock.com/treasure/musketball.jpg > > > > Click here for picture of encrusted coin > > http://www.lunarrock.com/treasure/real2.jpg > > > > I continued my search, when after another hour, my metal detector blared > out the alert of another find. This time I found a gold ring in very good > condition. It was still in its perfect circle-shape but the outside was > dulled from the many years of abuse from sand abrasion. The inside had > some coral growth but revealed brilliant gold along the areas of > encrustation. > > > > Click her for picture of gold ring at the beach > > http://www.lunarrock.com/treasure/ring1a.jpg > > Notice damaged dock in background > > > > Click here for picture of gold ring > > http://www.lunarrock.com/treasure/ring1.jpg > > > > I feel very fortunate to have found such pieces of history. It is amazing > to hold these objects after being lost for nearly 300 years. I will > continue to search the area in the upcoming weeks. I hope you enjoyed > reading about my adventure as much as I have doing it. > > > > Best regards, > > > > Greg Hupe > The Hupe Collection > naturesvault (eBay) > gmhupe_at_tampabay.rr.com > IMCA 2185 > > > > ______________________________________________ > Meteorite-list mailing list > Meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com > http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list > Received on Mon 04 Oct 2004 09:07:17 PM PDT |
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