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

Tue Oct 5 00:26:35 EDT 2004

Hi John and everyone who wrote to me,

Thanks for the replies. I do plan to turn to the water eventually but, as I 
understand it, to search the areas I have been beach hunting, I will need to 
buy a lease from either the Fishers or their sub lessees in order to search 
in the water. I haven't looked into this in earnest yet.

I would look forward to having those kind of problems with the State, that 
means I will have been successful.

Best regards,

Greg

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "JKG" <h3chondrite at cox.net>
To: "Greg Hupe" <gmhupe at tampabay.rr.com>; 
<meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Monday, October 04, 2004 10:08 PM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Buried Treasure - OT with Links that work

> Greg,
> Thanks for the great story!
>
> Treasure hunting can get into your blood worse than meteorites can.  I 
> suggest you get a good hooka rig and an underwater metal detector.  During 
> slack tide periods you can work in 10-20 feet of water for hours and find 
> objects that the beach crowd can't ever get to.  Having been a diver for a 
> lot of years, I've heard many of the stories of the lost Spanish Fleet and 
> particularly the Atocha.  When the ships arrived in the Americas from 
> Spain, they were using rocks for ballast.  On the return trips home, a lot 
> of the ballast was replaced with silver ingots and gold bars, chains and 
> jewelry and a  lot of it ended up in the shallow waters along the Florida 
> coast.  Find the right spot (like Mel Fisher did) and you'll become very 
> familiar with the antiquities folks from the State of Florida.  Of course, 
> you can always learn to convincingly say, "what gold bars?" and they might 
> leave you be.
>
> Good Hunting!
>
> JKGwilliam
>
> At 06:48 PM 10/4/2004, Greg Hupe wrote:
>>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
>>
>>
>>
>>______________________________________________
>>Meteorite-list mailing list
>>Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
>>http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
>
> 