Let's Talk Metal Detecting and Treasure Hunting

Contact Jon Morgan: 543pool@cfl.rr.com What is it really like to be a Treasure Hunter and find hundreds of millions of dollars of Spanish gold, silver and emeralds on the bottom of the sea? Atocha Treasure Adventures: Sweat of the Sun, Tears of the Moon is written by one of the very few people who worked for the Treasure Salvors organization, in the “trenches”, day after day for almost two decades. Syd Jones started out as a diver, worked his way up to captain of several Fisher salvage vessels, and ultimately took over as the operations manager of the company in later years. He and his wife, KT Budde-Jones, were both essential to the daily workings of Mel Fisher’s famous salvage company, headquartered in Key West, Florida. This book is a testament for all of us who labor at sea, be it in body or in mind, pursuing lost wealth. Readers will absorb themselves into the complex themes endemic to the relentless race for the ‘mother lode’ of the Atocha, the richest treasure wreck in the Western Hemisphere to date. This is a page-turner you won’t be able to put down! Contains dozens of previously unpublished photos and eight maps. Syd & KT Jones do a Power Point Presentation from a divers point of view of the search and salvage of the Margarita and Atocha. You can get information about getting them to talk at your Event, Club, Museum, Library, or Meeting at Atocha Treasure Adventure. Topics discussed: Best underwater metal detector. How to use a metal detector underwater. Lessons learned from the 1715 Fleet Capt. John Brandon Recommended equipment for treasure hunting underwater. Lessons learned from 15000 hours of using metal detectors underwater. Skills you can acquire to make you a valuable member of a treasure hunting crew.

In 2014 I listened to Florida Frontiers Radio Program #204. I was astonished to learn that Relic Hunters in Cape Canaveral found the archeological site now known as the “Armstrong Site”. The Armstrong Site was part of the amazing story of our national origins rooted directly in the battle between the French and Spanish for possession of Florida in the year 1565. I became very excited to learn as much as I could about the story of the Metal Detectorists and the Armstrong Site. After over two years I finally put this podcast together thanks to Terry Armstrong. Terry Armstrong runs the publishing house of Signum Ops, and he has produced an array of titles dealing with treasure, salvage, and shipwrecks. This is the place to do your serious treasure hunting research. I have five of his books so far and will invest in more. Here are two of my favorites so far. Signum Ops is the publisher of French Castaways at Old Cape Canaveral which is by Douglas R. Armstrong (Terry and Doug are not related). Douglas R. Armstrong is the person the Armstrong Site is named after. The book’s description is as follows… Wrecked on a foreign shore, hunted like animals by the Spanish and hostile Indians alike, a small group of French Huguenots managed to exist for an undetermined period in the wilds of present-day Cape Canaveral. ‘French Castaways at Old Cape Canaveral’ is a candid and very plausible account of those long lost adventurers, who would otherwise remain unknown in Florida’s documented history. This book is a brief recollection of the events leading up to the heinous Matanzas massacre, followed by the investigative report of what may have happened to the few Frenchmen who escaped the Spanish death trap. More than four hundred years later, the author, in cooperation with the N.P.S. and S.E.A.C. , revisits the ‘Armstrong’ site. A controlled excavation reveals evidence of a Surruque Indian settlement where these castaways lived with the native people. Fully indexed with bibliography, the book contains detailed photos of coins and artifacts recovered during the investigation along with scanned reproductions of the manifests for a number of the French vessels involved in the wreck disaster along the Florida coast in 1565. Terry Armstrong wrote West Of The Bull: A Brief Romance With Forbidden Treasure. Prior to the acquisition of properties on Cape Canaveral and Merritt Island by the federal government for the Air Force Eastern Test Range and the Kennedy Space Center, residents in the vicinity were aware of the many shipwrecks along the coast from Edgewater southward to present-day Port Canaveral, an area now known in Florida as the Space Coast. As the Kennedy Space Center was being developed, a number of treasure hunters combed the area, making remarkable finds dating from ancient times throughout the first contact period between Florida natives and Europeans. Before the creation of the Canaveral National Seashore and the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, some of these treasure hunters managed salvage leases all along the Cape Canaveral area, awarded to them by the State of Florida. This is the story of one such venture, the New Channel Historical Survey Group’s Exploratory Lease E5A. T. L. Armstrong and Randy Andrews worked for the New Channel Historical Survey Group, headed up by Bill and Florence Andrews. E5A was situated along the southern extent of Klondike Beach, perhaps so named for the booty found there in the past. West Of The Bull contains many previously unpublished treasure recovery maps of the area produced by Bill Andrews, Lou Ullian, and Robert F. Marx, as well as a number of aerial charts especially prepared by the author. Personal notes of Robert F. Marx dealing with shipwrecks around the Cape are included, along with a summary of archaeological sites recorded by George A. Long for NASA in 1965.

I take you with me out in the Atlantic Ocean at night during the Lunar Eclipse treasure hunting. On Sept 27th 2015 the Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse created great opportunities for metal detecting because of the extreme tides. Sharks have been frequent visitors to the beach lately making for more exciting hunting especially at night. I mention my favorite coffee company Wahoo Coffee and my favorite coffee Organic Timor Maubesse. They don’t pay me for advertising, it is just what I like. I tell you the lessons I learned from my hunt.  When the extreme tides come at late night full moon hunts, sand is washed away as the tide recedes. Search for the hard sand. When you start to find heavy targets, shift into slow mode and tighten up your grid search. Triple check your holes before you walk away to shake out your scoop. The equipment I used was JW Fisher Pulse 8X, Black Widow Headphones, and Anderson Detector Shafts Custom One Piece Carbon Fiber Surf Rod with a JW Fisher 10″ Coil.

Treasure Beaches Report is the blog that has the best information for Treasure Hunters. The crew of the boat Capitana are Brent Brisben, Jonah Martinez, William Bartlett; and Dan Beckingham. Brent Brisben and his father William  Brisben founded  Queens Jewels LLC. The Brisbens purchased the exclusive salvage rights to the 1715 Treasure Fleet from the heirs of world famous treasure hunter Mel Fisher. Jonah’s right hand man, Bill Bartlett, on July 31 after one of his dives on the Capitana. They had a great season with finds that include: 180 silver coins, 350 pieces of pottery, 2000 musket balls and 362 gold coins all from the 1715 Fleet. The Capitana Crew worked the Corrigan’s Site. Jonah tells you strategies for getting on a salvage crew. How he picked his crew looking for extreme metal detectorists. They had to be masters of the craft. Using techniques such as skip breathing, overlapping coil coverage and double checking holes to insure nothing is left behind. Jonah gives you metal detecting tips for hunting the 1715 fleet beaches: If you see seaweed leave. If you walk on the sand near the waters edge and it feels soft leave. Black sand steaks are a good sign. If you find aluminum or other light material that’s bad, bullets, sinkers, gold rings good. Look for cuts 90 degrees or better. Check surf forecasts websites for approaching cold fronts with strong north winds. November, December, January February are best months for 1715 fleet beach finds. Jonah uses a Minelab Excalibur on the beach. Bill Bartlett uses a White’s Surfmaster Dual Field on the beach. The AQUAPULSE 1B is the detector the Capitana crew uses while diving. Jonah tells us in detail about story of finding 300 gold coins on the 300th anniversary of the 1715 fleet disaster.

Everyone worries about sharks when they go into the ocean. Well that’s the least of your worries. A survey of lifeguards by NOAA found that 80% of all surf rescues are from rip currents. Not sharks or lightning. NOAA Rip Current Safety Article and Rip Current Photos In this episode you go scuba diving, surfing Hurricane Bertha waves, metal detecting in the Cocoa Beach surf, and a trip to Wahoo Coffee . Call The Show 206-202-1580. Email the show 543pool@cfl.rr.com

Full time beach shallow water hunter Jim Brouwer, (aka Foiled Again Jim on Treasure Depot) who sometimes finds over 100 gold rings a year, gives you the benefit of his experience. Jim explains that finding rings in the beach & surf is a science. To find rings, you must understand why they are lost and have the right equipment. He also keeps excellent records of his successes and failures. You can learn from his detailed analysis of what worked for him and what didn’t. If you want to learn more from Jim, check out his his blog, and his book Gold Beneath the Waves: Treasure Hunting the Surf and Sand. Available now on Amazon.com.

In this episode we talk about metal detecting for gold and the science of coil design.  Miner John from Razorback Coils is our expert. We also discuss coils specific for White’s TDI and Minelab metal detectors.

In this episode, you get tips about how to find a lost ring with a metal detector from one of the best experts in the world.  Chris Turner, CEO of TheRingFinders.com metal detecting services. For the first hour, Chris Turner helps you with the most in-depth information available about finding lost rings with a metal detector.  He gives us tips and case studies about finding rings. In the second half, I talk about my own recent lost ring search.  These photos are what I was given prior to the search: These are the photos from after the search with the ring returned:

Greg Bounds is captain of the Goldhound, of the Gold Hound Treasure Divers company. Captain Bounds has worked some of the most renowned shipwreck discoveries in modern history, including the Atocha and Santa Margarita, both off Key West. Among other major finds in his career, Captain Bounds was responsible for discovering millions in treasures in a single day off the Santa Margarita. Those treasures included fine pearls, rare gold broaches, and over 30 feet of solid gold chains, all preserved for nearly 400 years in their sunken hiding spots. Bounds has spent the majority of his professional salver years as a Captain for the legendary Mel Fisher, considered the most successful sunken treasure hunter ever, before venturing out in search of his own legacy, which Bounds believes will be major discoveries from the 1715 Fleet. Captain Bounds found 48 gold coins worth $250,000 off the Turtle Trail Beach Access in Indian River Shores, Florida. Here is a link to the story:  Divers find $250,000 in gold coins among the wrecks of 11 Spanish ships that sank off Florida coast 300 years ago. Greg Bounds stayed in his truck during Hurricane Jeanne on the beach. While everyone else was evacuating the area Greg braved the storm and hit gold coins. Treasure the Hard Way. Captain Greg Bounds suffered the loss of his friend Jeff Croy during a Treasure Hunting Expedition off Corrigans Wreck. Captain Greg Bounds is currently working with his friend Dan Porter. Owner-Operator at Maritime Research and Recovery. They are working in Panama and finding plenty of treasure. This exciting new adventure puts the team in very challenging conditions. For  information about investing in this venture contact Dan Porter, dporterbwv on GMail.

This episode we talk to Nathan Jaeger of Tesoro Metal Detectors out of Prescott, AZ.  We learn about Tesoro’s business philosophy and the various detectors they make.  Specifically their all terrain, relic, gold finding, and water machines. All Tesoro detectors are hand made in the US, all come with a lifetime warranty, and their water machines are all hip mountable. Check out their web site at tesoro.com.

We get to learn from legendary treasure hunter Norman “Indy” Stiles, who has been metal detecting since 1955 and logged over 40,000 hours.  Contact indystiles@yahoo.com to purchase his books.

In this episode I take you metal detecting in the Atlantic Ocean at night in Cocoa Beach Florida. I used the JW Fisher Pulse 8 X with the 10″coil to find one gold ring and one silver ring. I recorded the show with a Roland R-05 Wave Recorder and a Giant Squid Audio Lab Podcasting Omni Stereo Microphone. I talked about the Magnetool Inc N635-27 Stainless Steel Neodymium Magnet I ordered for my Stainless Steel Scoop. A couple of weeks ago I went to Kellyco in Orlando and checked out the metal detectors and the books. I purchased 2 books authored by Gary Drayton  “How to Read the Beach And Water” and Hardcore Beach Hunting. I am currently reading a really good book by Bill Lahr called “Understanding and Using Your Metal Detector” which I purchased from Clive James Clynick. I also talked about Gary Drayton’s new Blog which is very useful for Beach Hunters. The Treasure Beaches Report is a blog that is one of my favorites.

Bit about my work with theringfinders.com.            

Clive James Clynick is a Treasure Hunter and Author of 14 books.  The listeners of LTMDTH contacted Clive and asked him to come on.  I have 5 or 6 of Clive’s books and the concepts I learned helped me find my first ring and my first gold ring.  In this episode, Clive tells us about his background and how he became interested in Metal Detecting, and started to find more gold and silver when he started water hunting. Clive teaches treasure hunters where to search, how to search shorelines, how gold is lost, and where it eventually settles.  He talks about developing the skills of observation, how he developed his body of knowledge through Mentors, like Terry Canton, who has found over 5000 gold items, and Jim Pugh of Biloxi Miss, manufacturer of Anchor Electronics Barracuda.  Clive recommends acting like a sponge and gathering all the information you can. Clives book Site-Reading for Gold and Silver is the only book of its kind in the world. It talks about the concepts of sand movement in relation to gold classification.  He talks about the basic physics of where things come to rest in the dynamic enviroment of the shoreline.  Learning the concept of classification of objects by their weight and density is key to finding gold and silver. Clive talks about his dream detector project, the Minelab CTX 3030, Sovereign and Excaliber.  OldeBeechnut, Joe Priest is putting together Clives Dream Detector a custom detector. It is made with a sword version of the Excalibur, 15′ Coil Tec Coil, and Skullies Headphones by Joe Priest.  Pete Anderson is making an Aussie Wand for Clive’s dream detector. Clive also talks about what is the best size coil for a metal detector, and the advantages and disadvantages of large and small metal detecting coils, and recommends detectors for hunting the 1715 Fleet Beaches on the Treasure Coast. We talk about Tony Dania with a background in music and audio engineering Tony released ‘Basic Ear Training for Excalibur’.  Clive recommends you practice with your detector trying to guess what the signal is before you dig it, as it is a key skill, and that observation is critical to increasing your finds.  He also describes the gear needed to stay in the field metal detecting all day.  Clive uses mostly pulse induction metal detectors. Clive’s website is clivesgoldpage.com

You don’t have to spend a lot of money to have fun in this hobby. Jon from Indiana is a listener who called in with a story about how he found an 1881 Indian head penny with a $50 metal detector. A new metal detecting enthusiast in England finds Roman gold coins on his first hunt with an Ace 250 (story link).  He talks about tips he got from treasure.net, Treasure Hunter Radio, Google Plus, and Face Book.

Russ is a freelance writer and YouTube extraordinaire.  He makes a living at metal detecting, also doing treasure hunting giveaway contests, metal detecting parody films, and treasure in the news.  Check out his blog at treasurebone.blogspot.com and his YouTube channel here. We discuss some of his metal detecting and treasure hunting tips and tricks in this episode.

Planning tips for searching surf zones in the ocean just off tourist beaches. Use USC’s Tide and Current Predictor (example graph above) to determine the water height difference between when you’re hunting and when the tourists were out in the water.  Target water at their waist height. To be successful, you must spend enough time in the water to find something.  I’ve tried to hunt 20 hours a week, but failed due to family and business responsibilities.  I did find the ring pictured above by planning and following strategies such as grid searching tourist surf zones at waist deep points.  Sweeping the coil low and slow and focusing on the task at hand.

Randy is a prodigious discoverer of silver coins, having found 1143 in 2010 and 516 in 2011.  He finds these in sites such as schools, public parks, fields, and private property.  We discuss his methods and favorite gear, particularly the Minelab E-Trac, Wilcox 202s trowel, and Garrett Pro Pointer. To see more from Randy including his latest finds, check out his blog at mapsurfer.com/blog.

Interviews with Mayor Dave Netterstrom of Cocoa Beach Florida, and a park ranger in Titusville Florida. Metal detecting banned in park playgrounds and athletic fields due to irresponsible metal detectors leaving holes.  Don’t let this happen to your parks.  Fill your holes and learn proper techniques for digging.  Check out the YouTube video by Dan Hughes: Metal Detecting – Digging a Coin. Dave Netterstrom, Cocoa Beach Mayor: New city ordinance bans digging holes over 18″ deep in the beach sand.  Any holes dug under 18″ deep in the sand must be refilled before leaving.  Reason for ordinance is to protect beach goers and sea turtles.  New beach rangers program will enforce these new rules.  They will be ambassadors of Cocoa Beach.  Dave advises us to “Leave the beach the way you found it.”

Get your tinfoil hat and let’s go metal detecting in the Atlantic Ocean at night and talk about conspiracy theories. Beware the metal detecting industrial complex.