[meteorite-list] Buried Treasure

From: Michael L Blood <mlblood_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue Oct 5 11:36:12 2004
Message-ID: <BD880D66.10DC6%mlblood_at_cox.net>

Dear Greg,
        YOU DOG!




>> 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
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>
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--
I used to eat a lot of natural foods until I learned
that most people die of natural causes.

Received on Tue 05 Oct 2004 11:35:50 AM PDT