Bahamian Treasure Hunting
Beepin' About with Tom Ivines
The Islands were just as I remembered them from last year. They are as beautiful as ever. The beaches are miles of pure white sand with waters of glimmering cat's eye blue. I was again looking forward to metal detecting the beaches while vacationing there.
The first morning on Grand Bahamas Island, I hit Taino Beach at sunrise and hunted till about 10:00a.m. You see, when metal detecting populated beach areas, it is best to hunt early in the morning before people arrive, or after 5:00 p.m. when people have left. That way you have the beach all to yourself. Among about $10 in coins of various denominations and national origin, I made my first jewelry find: a heavy silver mask broach with diamonds.
In the Bahamas Islands, it is not uncommon to find coins from every free nation in the world. The atmosphere, after all, attracts tourists from everywhere.
Many of the beach areas in the Bahamas Islands are backed with ritzy resort hotels, with most offering bars and lounges directly at the water's edge. Tourists come to throw their cares to the wind and their change and jewelry to the sand and water. The later part unwittingly of course. But when you drink on the beach, your chances of losing change and jewelry is twice compounded daily.
The second day I hunted the part of Taino Beach I had not covered the first time. I was disappointed because I found no more jewelry, only coins, most of what were crusty and corroded from being in the salty sand, especially the pennies. What a treasure hunter likes to see, is silver coins that do not corrode, only darken with age.
My third day was spent at Zanadu Beach, probably one of the most ritzy beaches on the Island. The beach is backed by the Princess Hotel and is probably one of the most luxurious of all the resorts. In the first thirty minutes, in the water, I found a 14k gold cross pendant weighing in at over one ounce. The next find was a silver chain with a coin medallion weighing in at over four ounces. The following day covering the remainder of the dry beach, produced only a small silver pendant with the figure of a cartoon skunk. Of course, I found numerous coins in both the water and dry beach of Zanadu.
Day five was spent at a remote beach at the far end of the Island called Golden Rock Beach. The piece a la resistance' was found in the water about 30 yards offshore: an 1807 one Spanish Reale in excellent shape. Obviously this coin was from one of the shipwrecks off the many nearby reefs.
Because of the remoteness of this beach, it was the only coin found. No other metal articles were detected other than some trash. Funny, because as remote as one can imagine when metal detecting, beer cans were still found at this beach.
The sixth and final day of detecting Grand Bahamas Island was at Lucayan Beach where I found on the dry beach a 22 inch gold rope-type chain with no pendant. The clasp was broken. I looked for the pendant but it was no where to be found. With the combination of beaches, over 30 pounds of coins were found in all.
Gosh, I love the Bahamas Islands. They are a treasure hunter's dream, even if only using a metal detector along their "gold" and "silver" beaches. I'll be back again next year.
