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Deos anyone remember the detector in Monerey, Cal. who found a $20.00 gold coin on the beach........

SanctionIISanctionII Posts: 11,660 ✭✭✭✭✭
..............10+ years ago after one of the worst winter storms in memory savaged the California Coast?

I remember reading about it and seeing pics of the beachs after the storm hit. Hardly any sand was left, as the waves from the storm washed most of the sand out to sea.

The guy with the metal detector decided to go to the beach area and try his luck. He hit the jackpot by finding a long buried double eagle. I recall it was a Liberty Head double eagle.

That would definitely make a detectorist's day.

Comments

  • Don't recall that one....might have something to do with the fact I didn't detect back then.



    << <i>He hit the jackpot by finding a long buried double eagle. I recall it was a Liberty Head double eagle. >>





    << <i>That would definitely make a detectorist's day. >>




    Or millennium!
    Analog Rules! Knobs and Switches are cool!
    imageimage
  • MadMartyMadMarty Posts: 16,697 ✭✭✭
    I found a 1851 Chile 8 Esc!!
    It is not exactly cheating, I prefer to consider it creative problem solving!!!

  • me and riccar know that person very well. his name is tom. i detected with him on that beach, that same week he got that coin. he also dug another gold coin that week as well. that storm uncovered thousands of old coins and jewlery items. sometimes you did'nt need a detector, you could see the coins just laying there.
  • lordmarcovanlordmarcovan Posts: 43,194 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>I found a 1851 Chile 8 Esc!! >>

    Yeah, and never reposted the pictures of it when I asked you to, on the thread where numisma wanted to buy a beach detector.

    Go stuff your mouth with peanuts, MadMartyBum.

    Explore collections of lordmarcovan on CollecOnline, management, safe-keeping, sharing and valuation solution for art piece and collectibles.
  • Thats crazy... I mean... how do the coins get to the beach anyways? I know shipwrecks... but most of them are out at sea... how does the coin get all the way into the beach? Crazy to think the tides move it that far.
  • shirohniichanshirohniichan Posts: 4,992 ✭✭✭


    << <i>me and riccar know that person very well. his name is tom. i detected with him on that beach, that same week he got that coin. he also dug another gold coin that week as well. that storm uncovered thousands of old coins and jewlery items. sometimes you did'nt need a detector, you could see the coins just laying there. >>



    Do you remember the date and mintmark?
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  • that guy has so many gold coins found, its crazy. can't remember the date, sorry.

    monterey has a history dating back to the 1700's. people have always loved visiting the beach and as always dropped and lost whatever they had. a good storm can move alot of sand in and out. the oldest coin i saw during that time was an 1854 italian coin.

    if tom were to post here, he would blow you all away.
  • Tom has got to be one of the top detectorists in CA. His gold coin coin count is
    in the double digits (and does not include a cache as far as I know). He has
    also found somewhere around 25-30 reales (yes- from CA).

    Recently Tom has been asked to provide lectures that deal with researching
    the Mission Era sites. He was filmed at one of the lectures and that one is
    now on DVD. I haven't seen it yet, but I know it is packed with info.

    Here's the DVD cover:

    image


    <<edited to correct amount of reales Tom has found>>
  • SanctionIISanctionII Posts: 11,660 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Would definitely be fun to metal detect along "El Camino Real" [The King's Highway] in California going from one Mission to another if you had the inside scoop of exactly where along the route to look.
  • shirohniichanshirohniichan Posts: 4,992 ✭✭✭


    << <i>Would definitely be fun to metal detect along "El Camino Real" [The King's Highway] in California going from one Mission to another if you had the inside scoop of exactly where along the route to look. >>



    Finding the exact route may be the hardest part, especially since it changed over the years. It may be hard to detect on the 101, also. image
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  • The coins and relics seen on the DVD cover were actually found right next to the
    "King's Highway" (aka 101- but as you said, it's not exactly the same today)...

    Tom is also a proficient beach hunter and has formula's that use the current tide
    and swell forecasts in order to determine beach storm erosion (when the sand
    is washed out, exposing the older layers... similar to the one where he found
    the $20 gold you mentioned). He has written a couple papers on beach storm
    detecting... and clubs have requested that he provide a lecture on that topic too.

    <<edited to add note about hwy 101>>
  • I sent this link to Tom... He tried to sign up for the forum so he could reply, but had
    some difficulties. (it's been so long, I forget what's required to be able to post but
    I seem to remember a wait period that went through an approval process- -
    -- is that correct LM?)

    Here's Tom's note concerning that $20 gold coin find:

    <<...2 gold coins in a week (6 or 7 days apart) in the big storms of 1997-98. An 1873-s $20 and a 1914 $2.50. On the day I got the $2.50, I had nearly 500 coins, of which 46 were silver, and over 100 wheaties. I told a few buddies about the erosion occuring at that beach, and they joined me the following days. Several hundred silver coins were harvested from that, before it sanded back in, but no more gold coins image The coins are beach-goer losses (picnickers, sunbathers, etc...) not shipwreck stuff. The west coast is not like the stuff you see @ the gulf of Mexico, on Florida beaches, etc.... Our off-shores drop off very deep, very fast, unlike the shallow beaches where galleons wrecked coming and going from the new world (ala, Atocha, etc...). Got an 1886-s $5 gold earlier during that same winter, in 11/97... so it was 3 total, from that winter. I know of 8 or 9 other gold coins that have turned up after storms on beaches near here, but it takes major storms, and knowing when & where to go (and a lot of strike-out days) The rest of my 10 gold coins came from land sites (stage stops, old-town demolitions, etc...). >>

    And, his note concerning reale finds:

    <<No, I don't have 100-ish reales. Maybe 25 or 30? I'm far from first place in this department though, as there are a few sleuths that do have nearer to 100, if not over. I'll take 3rd or 4th place for that in CA maybe image >>

  • shirohniichanshirohniichan Posts: 4,992 ✭✭✭
    Thanks for the update.

    Can you imagine going to the beach with a double eagle in your pocket? Even if it was back in the 1910s or '20s, that was a lot of cash.
    image
    Obscurum per obscurius
  • kevinstangkevinstang Posts: 1,517 ✭✭✭
    Reminds me of a post a while back about the survival rates of coins- just think of the coins this guy and others have found on the beaches of CA, and thats just one state- all would be pretty much written off as loses if not for the detectorists. I wonder how many were semi-rare or rare dates? Like 09-SVDB's, 13-S buffs, 16-d mercs, 23-S standing liberty's- the list could go on.
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