THE HUDSON VALLEY EXPLORER PWMD&AS NEWSLETTER WINTER 2009 From the Vice President’s Desk
The early snow
fall has put a certain finality on the 2009 detecting season. Generally when the Christmas Party is over there is still ample
time to search the woods for a few weeks before accepting the fact that all that remains are trips to the snow free low tide
zones to keep the "hope" alive. Now ,more than ever, we are faced with time on our hands to either reflect on this
past season or prepare for 2010. As Tom Massie of the GPAA often says, "It's not havin the gold that matters
it's findin the gold". Reflection is fine but it doesn't help drop calories and it certainly doesn't
help fill the old treasure pouch. So, as a club, what should we be doing to better our position for next year?
Here are a few suggestions:
1. Read those back issues of the treasure magazines. As
you do look for the "suggested reading" items most have. The club library is getting very little use. Some
new material might spur more interest and we might even pick up a new idea or two. Jot down titles, authors and sources
for the Librarian. Our finances are such that we should be able to add several new titles before the February meeting.
2. Do some research on Competition Hunts. The Fall Classic is one of our
best attended events nevertheless there are always areas that members confess should be improved. The Classic may well be put on the back burner for 2010 unless an active, energetic committee is formed before
summer to plan and to staff the next seeded hunt. Give serious consideration to adding your name to that committee's
organizational list.
3. Find hunt sites (not only for your own use ). Travel consideration
is NOT a major issue. If the round trip can be done in one day the site is CLOSE ENOUGH. Use your personal contacts. Surely
a relative, a friend, a co-worker, a boss, someone has a farm or an orchard or a private beach. Maybe you have an "in"
with someone in the local Land Trust. Is there anyone out there in real estate? These folks should have access
to some interesting properties. If the site is too small for the entire club we can consider a "lottery system
"or two separate sites visited on the same day. We spend a great deal of money for insurance. Let's get
out there and make use of it!
4. Come up with ways to show off your finds. We may well do away with Finds of the Month as it has stood
for many years. This will provide more time during our meetings for personal interaction and sharing information. It
is, however, still a plus to be able to showcase our finds as a positive reflection of what we have accomplished as a club.
Please consider bringing in your own display box along with general information (and a photo) to be shared with
all and to perhaps be sent on to Lost Treasure or one of the other TH magazines to help give the club some positive press.
5. Finally, consider preparing a short article for inclusion in the Newsletter. This could be a hunt tip, a
rare find, a bit of humor, a great photo. The Club has provided a wonderful forum for TH expression. Learn to
take advantage of it. Carol, where are my hip boots? Slate of Officers for February Election All positions are open to nominations from the floor. Please obtain approval
from the nominee prior to their nomination. President
– Ted Izzo Vice President – Rich Markert Secretary – Conrad Rasinski Treasurer
– Larry Cohen Librarian – Carol Mayers Site Research Coordinator – TBD Newsletter
Editor/Webmaster – Paul Maloney Finds of the Month –
Todd Olsen
2009 Christmas Party - The Tradition Continues
In spite of early predictions of cool but sunny
weather for December 5th those THers in the know packed shovels, chains and foul weather gear in preparation for this year's
annual P/WMD&AS Christmas Party. Their efforts were not in vain. Saturday afternoon began with a slow but
steady snowfall which lasted well into the evening. The tradition continued uninterrupted; it always snows for our Christmas
Party!
This year's event,
hosted by Ye Olde Lantern Pub of Mahopac, NY was attended by 45 members and quests. Over $1500 in raffle prizes were
distributed as well as the $125 50/50 drawing. The two big winners were Wayne Homan who took home the 50/50 cash
and Alex Buffi who will be detecting (when the snow melts) with his brand new White's MXT. The success of this event
is the result of a great effort put forth by many P/WMD&AS members. Special thanks are due to Joe Snow, Paul and
Edie Maloney, and Patty Osmer for their generous donations of prizes. Additional kudos are due to our many corporate
sponsors including Fred Krupowicz of White's of LI, Gary Storm, John Housley of Lost Treasure and Ed Zehall of Valley
Coins. Next year's event is already on the books at the Lantern Pub. Additions and or changes to the party's
format will be discussed at the February meeting.
Treasure In The News
DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK,
California (AP) – An archaeologist's search of a cave
yielded a wooden chest filled with gold and silver coins that may have been hidden 149 years ago during an ill-fated Gold
Rush expedition across Death Valley. Archaeologist Jerry Freeman
uncovered the treasure in November as he recreated the steps of a group known as The Lost Pioneers of 1849. He and four others
retraced the entire journey in December. "I was just blown
away," Freeman said Monday. "Nothing prepared me for this." The
chest was propped up on boulders and a board but remained hidden, and was in mint condition. The find is worth an estimated
$500,000, said Freeman, a 56-year-old semi-retired substitute high school teacher. The
National Park Service is examining the find to determine if it is authentic but has not raised any questions so far. With the coins were well-worn baby shoes, photographs and a letter documenting the wagon
train trek of '49er William Robinson, who was among some 100 men, children and women seeking the gold-laden foothills
of the Sierra Nevada. The group wound up
in the merciless California desert. The letter was tucked inside a small hymnal. "My
Dear Edwin," Robinson wrote. "Knowed, now we should have gone arownd.... Ifen I don't raturn by end of fifty
I wont never come." Robinson died 26 days later on January
28, 1850. According to journals, Robinson drank too much cold water at the first spring the party came to at what is known
today as Barrel Springs near Palmdale. He lay down for a nap and never awakened. The group, well-known to historians, was originally from the Midwest. The pioneers started out from Salt Lake
City in October 1849, on an ill-conceived attempt to skirt the southern end of the Sierra Nevada, and ended up crossing Death
Valley. Most of the rest made it to what is now Valencia, in
Los Angeles County, some 300 miles southwest of their destination. Freeman said he believes 13 died on the trek. The team found a manifest of the trunk's contents dated January 2, 1850, along with nearly
80 pieces of currency, including $5 and $10 gold pieces and a number of silver dollars. None of the money appears to have
dates after 1849, Freeman said. There was also a holstered pistol, a wooden
powder horn, a locket adorned with pearls and china bowls. A knitted shawl covered it all. Freeman said he hopes to donate the find to a museum.
November 2008 - AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS - A hobbyist with a metal detector
struck both gold and silver when he uncovered an important cache of ancient Celtic coins in a cornfield in the southern Dutch
city of Maastricht. "It's exciting, like a little boy's dream," Paul Curfs, 47, said Thursday after the
spectacular find was made public.
Archaeologists say the trove of 39
gold and 70 silver coins was minted in the middle of the first century B.C. as the future Roman ruler Julius Caesar led a
campaign against Celtic tribes in the area. Curfs said he was walking with his detector this spring and was
about to go home when he suddenly got a strong signal on his earphones and uncovered the first coin. "It was golden and
had a little horse on it - I had no idea what I had found," he said.
After posting a photo of the coin on a Web forum, he was told it was a rare find. The following day
he went back and found another coin. "It looked totally different - silver, and saucer-shaped," he said. Curfs notified
the city of his find, and he and several other hobbyists helped in locating the rest of the coins, in cooperation with archaeologists.
Nico Roymans,the archaeologist who led the academic investigation of the find, believes the gold
coins in the cache were minted by a tribe called the Eburones that Caesar claimed to have wiped out in 53 B.C. after they
conspired with other groups in an attack that killed 6,000 Roman soldiers. The Eburones "put up strong resistance to
Caesar's journeys of conquest," Roymans said. The silver coins were made by tribes
further to the north - possible evidence of cooperation against Caesar, he said. Both coin types have triple
spirals on the front, a common Celtic symbol. The two other known caches of Eburones coins have been found in neighboring
Belgium and Germany. Maastricht city spokeswoman Carla Wetzels said the value of the coins is not known - their worth
is primarily historical. The Belgian cache of similar size was estimated at around 175,000 euros ($220,000). The farmer
who owned the land agreed to sell his interest to the city for an undisclosed sum. Curfs, a teacher at a nearby junior college,
continues to own the 11 coins he found, but has lent them to the City of Maastricht on a long-term basis. The coins will go
on display at the Centre Ceramique museum in Maastricht this weekend.
June 2008 - KEY WEST, FLORIDA -
Shipwreck salvagers have
recovered a gold chalice while searching for the wreckage of a Spanish galleon off the Florida Keys. The ornate two-handled chalice stands on a gold base and is adorned with etched scrollwork on the
upper portion. It was located by Blue Water Ventures diver Michael DeMar beneath about a foot of
sand in 18 feet of water approximately 30 miles west of Key West. "Oh, my God," diver Michael
DeMar said, describing his discovery of the chalice on the site where the Spanish galleon Santa Margarita is believed to have
gone down during a vicious storm.
Dented on a few sides and encrusted with marine growth, the chalice weighs more than a pound
is etched with scrollwork and boasts decorative handles. The
wreck was from a Spanish fleet that sank during a Sept. 6, 1622, hurricane. Over the past quarter century, it has yielded
the biggest treasure find in U.S. history. The late
Key West treasure hunter Mel Fisher began the search for artifacts from the Santa Margarita, which sank
in 1622, more than a quarter-century ago. Dented on a few sides and encrusted with marine growth, the chalice weighs more than a pound
is etched with scrollwork and boasts decorative handles. The
wreck was from a Spanish fleet that sank during a Sept. 6, 1622, hurricane. Over the past quarter century, it has yielded
the biggest treasure find in U.S. history. The late
Key West treasure hunter Mel Fisher began the search for artifacts from the Santa Margarita, which sank
in 1622, more than a quarter-century ago.
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