[meteorite-list] Buried Treasure - OT with Links that work

[Tim Heitz]

Great story Greg !!!!!!!!! Thanks

Tim Heitz


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Greg Hupe" <gmhupe at tampabay.rr.com>
To: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Monday, October 04, 2004 8:48 PM
Subject: [meteorite-list] Buried Treasure - OT with Links that work


> 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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