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Still payin my dues!!

Cupajo

Elite Member
Joined
May 9, 2009
Messages
3,347
Location
Old Lyme
Date: May 06, 2008 07:07PM

An undisputed fact of treasure hunting is that one must pay ones dues. We do that by cleaning the unwanted debris from our beaches and in other ways such as offering help or suggestions to newcomers to our "sport".

The past two evenings have found me cleaning junk from the water. After 25 years of working this areas beaches there is amazingly still an unbelievable amount of old junk to dig.

I'm talking small brass strap gadgets that used to be on swim cap straps etc. and lots of other "period" junk. Of course the 1929 class ring-14K is nature’s way of saying Thank You!!

Keep payin your dues. Maybe Ol' Mom nature will thank you too!

(This is an old post from before I had a camera.)


________________________________________


I've thought we could sometimes defuse aggressive behavior on "our turf" by assuring the aggressor we are only protecting their safety by removing all this "HARMFUL TRASH"!!!

I witnessed one rather tipsy lady nearly sobbing at my concern for the welfare of her grandchildren and that effort I was expending to protect them!!

Date: November 04, 2010 06:01PM

Hello Fellow Hunters!

It would be great if every hunt was like the last two I had, but (and there is always a "but") things just don't happen that way!

Yesterday I spent 5 hours hunting in some of the nicest water/weather conditions (clear/calm/comfortable).

I located 87 targets and recovered 85 with the Dual Field. (I can be a bit tricky pinpointing, but obviously recoveries don't suffer too much!!)
19 bottle caps (1 with the glass neck screwed on)

coins, fishing tackle, odd bits of junk, several bullets, 7-nickles (2 buffalo), 8 dimes (1-roosie, 1-mercs), 5 -pennies ( 2-wheaties), 5-clad quarters.

A silver toe ring, a tiny 1/20th 10K gold filled ring and a small brass religious medal to name a few.

From the old coins it's obvious that even though the area has been hunted hard by myself and others, there is still stuff out there for the finding!!

Is this a great hobby or what!!??

After 5 hours of moving a ton or so of sand and small boulders I thought I might have to have a back hoe haul my 69 year old bones home, but somehow I made it and after a busy day’s work today I found the strength to write this post.

This is the kind of hunt I have come to see as "paying my dues" by cleaning up targets so I won't be bothered with them next time!!

When silver coins are lost in the briny deep (or even shallow) they are attacked by the salt/wave action and slowly oxidize.

They often will waste away so badly you can bend the thin wafer/coin between your fingers!

Most of the time they are un-fit for collecting or marketing as rare and are only valuable for bullion content.

I did find a Merc dime and a 1941 quarter recently that were in fair condition and I could make out the dates on them. They had no incrustation to peel away,
rather were coated with a very thin coating of silver oxide,

I am always glad to find them in any condition, but prefer to find them on dry land where they sometimes look brand new!

1-11-12


Today’s 3 hour cold weather water hunt was a typical “dues” hunt with only 35 targets with 26 “being keepers”.

18 coins, 6-clad quarters, 2-clad dimes, 1-silver Rosey, 1-silver Merc, 1-nickel, 7-real pennies, a brass medalion and few small dishing sinkers round out the bag for today.

I may actually be able to clean up 3 or 4 of the coins for use, but most of them are too far gone and will end up in the metal scrap pile.

I find it interesting that hunting the local beaches usually produces at least one bullet and one brass religious medal.

The silver has more left to them than I usually find which is a surprise.

GL&HH FRIENDS,

CJ
 

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I have found similar bad items in parks. Live bullets, tazer darts, the ends of throwing darts, dope pipes etc.

I save it all, just in case I am ever made to make my case before the city council at some point in the future.
 
701/2 and counting Keith!!:grin:

Still working as much as the economy will allow at being a plumbing repair-man.

Hunting as much as weather, workload and family obligations will allow!

So far so good,

CJ
 
it amazes me also at the amount of trash there is in the ocean. to this day, I'm still pulling out a good amount of trash from sites that I thought were hunted out, but it's all good and well knowing that future generations can enjoy a somewhat cleaner beach!
 
When time is an issue or weather/water conditions don't co-operate to allow water hunting, I sometimes like to beach-comb a section of the local beach.

Today wind chill is expected to get below zero at times, so insulated over-alls, snow boots and lots of thermal layers including a thermal hood are the order of the day!!!

Off shore, out in the Atlantic somewhere, there are "dumpimg grounds", so I'm told, where garbage gets disposed of from some of our eastern urban areas.

I have to wonder how much of the flotsam and jetsam that end up on the local shoreline is coming from these dumps!!??

After really heavy rains flush out the Connecticut River "stuff" really starts to pile up on the beaches.

There is no doubt in my mind that a rather large dump truck or two could have been filled with the debris I have picked up along our local shoreline in the past several years!:mad:

After 41 years of residency I feel like these are "my" beaches and I find it difficult to ignore this stuff, including items that may harm someone especially children.:(

Broken bottles, sharp rusty wire etc., boards with spikes sticking up in the air, syrenges often with needles exposed and fish-hooks are the most common articles to be found on "my" beaches!!:shock:

On some days nothing, but plastic, a sneaker or two and a tangle or two of fishing line are the only things I pick up with my mechanical "grabbers" and put in a heavy duty plastic bag to haul away.

On other days it's as if the garbage just got dumped and the bag starts to be hard to carry!

Well, I guess I'll shut up now!!

Sorry about "hijacking" my own thread!!:roll:

Regards to all of you who feel the same way,

CJ
 
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