Friday, October 15, 2010

10/15 Report - Helmet Find Sells for Over 3 Million Dollars

18th Century Wine Amphora Artifact from a Spanish Shipwreck

This one is for sale on eBay.

Yesterday I heard on the radio that many recent college graduates wish they had selected a different major. It's hard for young people to know what they want to do in the future. Too bad they don't have exposure to more things that might excite them.

How many of you would have studied history with more interest if you would have done some detecting first? It makes it more meaningful when you are digging it up yourself. And it makes it more meaningful when you conduct research on local history in order to go out and put it to use.

Some of you might want to take a course in archaeology or history or something now that your interest has been aroused.

People gain a greater appreciation for knowledge when they are actually putting it to use in pursuing their own goals.

The metal detecting hobby contributes a lot to a lot of people in a lot of different ways.

One detectorist found a second-century Roman helmet in England last May. It just sold at a Christie's in London for $3,629,469, which was over 11 times the estimate.

Here is the link to that story.

China wants to buy the artifacts of an ancient shipwreck after an attempt to auction the items failed to turn up a bidder. If you read the story you'll know why that was.

Luc Heymans, who salvaged the wreck, said the salvage operation cost 10 million dollars and he is eager to get the money.

Here is the link.

Spanish cobs circulated in China in the later 17th Century. One of the most interesting thing to me about those cobs are the chop marks that are found on them.

Here is one example.

There are not many days left to get registered for the SedwickCoins Auction. I've given links for that in the recent past.

One reader asked me about stoppers for Spanish olive jars. He found some items that he thought could be stoppers for olive jars or amphoras. I asked if anyone knew about anything like that being found before. I didn't get any answers so am asking again.

I was going to present a drawing of an amazing ornate trailboard found by John Brandon and studied by archaeologists at the Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society, but I wanted to get permission first. The wood was protected by a layer of sand and was well preserved. It is shown and discussed in Laura Strolia's fact-filled little book, The Marigalera of the 1715 Fleet. If you haven't read it yet, you can purchase it on

Forecast and Conditions.

Nothing much has changed on the beaches recently. The seas are calm.

One thing you might do is find a beach where shells are piling up on the lower beach and take a walk looking for light materials such as ceramic shards. You might be surprised by what you find.

Beach detecting conditions are still poor. Conditions for water hunting are good in some ways and not in others. There is a lot of sand in the shallow water at most beaches.

Paula is south of Florida and making a turn to the south so we probably won't get much from her.

Happy hunting,