A precious coin treasure was recently recovered: The shiny, well-preserved silver coins rested at a depth of 2.5 m (8.2 ft). We congratulate the treasure hunter on locating the hoard and are pleased to be allowed to present this discovery with our professional metal detector eXp 6000. Ancient silver coins found: The obverse shows the head of a man looking to the right - probably Kings Antiochos and/or Seleukos. Successful treasure hunt thanks to professional metal detector. The powerful treasure detector and ground scanner eXp 6000 locates treasures and cavities to a depth of 25 m (82 ft). Thanks to various probes, the eXp 6000 can be used for different treasure hunting tasks:
The story behind the silver coins: The idea of coins is about 2500 years old. The currency was invented almost simultaneously in China and the Middle East. The distribution of coins from Asia Minor to Persia, Greece, the Roman Empire and into the world was driven by the flourishing long-distance trade of that time. Historical value of the silver coins: The splendor of these ancient coins, which probably originate from the Seleucid Empire, not only impresses the discoverer of the coin treasure. On the one hand, it is an impressive discovery of a largely unknown treasure of this size. On the other hand, it is also fascinating to touch silver coins which were once taken as travel duties or from royal estates or were in circulation in exchange for goods and services within and outside the oriental empire – a piece of living history. The historical value of these 2000 year old coins now exceeds the original value as a means of payment. Historical and geographical classification of silver coins: With his victory over the Persians, Alexander the Great extended his territory and reign to India. After his death, the Alexander Empire disintegrated into numerous empires – such as the Seleucid Kingdom, which was located in the area of the extinct ancient Persian Empire (Achaemenid Empire) in the Near East. Map of the Macedonian Empire (334 - 323 B.C.): The Macedonian Empire was an ancient kingdom in the northern-most part of ancient Greece, bordering the kingdom of Epirus on the west and the region of Thrace to the east. For a short period of time it became the most powerful state in the ancient Near East.(Public Domain/Wikimedia Commons)The favorable location on the Silk Road favored trade within and outside the Seleukid Empire. Transport routes and ports were expanded, goods such as ceramics and metal jewelry made of silver, gold and bronze were exported to Iran and Greece, and craftsmen such as mosaic layers were hired in neighboring empires. Glass foundry and shipbuilding were also up-and-coming crafts that emerged in Syria and Phoenicia, while in Mesopotamia and Babylonia textile textile manufacturing became the focus. Shiny, well preserved coin find: The ancient Greek coins are a fascinating piece of history. Ancient treasure trove of coins: The silver coins seem to originate from the Seleucid kingdom around 270 to 220 BC.Is the coin treasure maybe the hidden savings of a merchant? Perhaps a trader was surprised by a storm on his journey and had an accident. Was the collection of silver coins stolen and hidden by a thief? The details remain uncertain, but it is clear: The flourishing trade inside and outside the Hellenistic empires such as the Alexander Empire and the Seleucid Empire brought numerous coins on the market and holds further treasures such as jewelry, ceramics and mosaics awaiting their discovery. The lightweight metal detector Rover UC allows treasure hunting in rough terrain, since only a smartphone is required for the first evaluation of the measured data. Without much preparation, the metal detector is immediately ready-to-use and does not only detect metals, but also distinguish between ferromagnetic and non-ferromagnetic metals. In this case, the Rover UC detected a cavity while treasure hunting in the Middle East: A hidden burial chamber at 2 m depth was found in an ancient temple ruin. The treasure hunter was astonished as his discovery revealed valuable objects that are not made of gold. With the 3D ground scan function, his Rover UC tracked down the underground vault and led the treasure hunter to a successful discovery. The smartphone with the Rover UC App finally became a light source to illuminate the treasure find. The discovered glass mosaic bowl with a diameter of 14.5 cm and a height of 4.5 cm weighs about 145 g, according to the treasure hunter. At first sight, the bowl appears to be very detailed, but rather inconspicuous in color. On closer inspection, the artfully arranged glass stones stand out, revealing their full splendor only above a light source: A beautiful, green shining mosaic showing fish around a spiral-shaped center. The discoverer of this treasure find describes the art object as a Phoenician glass mosaic bowl.
The glass production was originally brought to Egypt by craftsmen from Mesopotamia. Syria and Mesopotamia became important centers of glass production in the Mediterranean region in the 9th century BC. In the Hellenistic period, i.e. in the reign of Alexander the Great, Egyptian glass works in Alexandria again acquired a leading role. From there the technique of glass processing finally reached Rome. Early on it was possible to make open vessels such as jugs and bowls from colored, translucent glass stones. Together with the mosaic technique, complex patterns were created, as the presented treasure trove shows. By fusing glass threads together, further forms and stripes could be created. In fact, the Phoenicians were not only sovereign in the production of beautiful glass mosaic bowls, but also in the trade with the extraordinary objects. The entire Mediterranean area was supplied from the glass manufactories in the coastal towns in today’s Syria. The utility glass from Sidon and the glass artworks from Alexandria were exported in large quantities to Rome. In its peak between 1200 and 900 BC, Phoenicia dominated the entire Mediterranean region as far as the Atlantic and was thus the greatest trading and naval power of antiquity. Phoenicia was famous in the ancient world mainly for its textiles and dyes (purple), objects made of precious metals, ivory carvings and glassware and had a significant influence on Greek art. Impressed by the production of glass, art spread throughout the Roman Empire and brought glass objects via the Silk Road to China. A client of OKM detectors sent us 3D images and photos of his grave chamber find in Tunisia. The discoverer did not comment on found artifacts and burial valuables such as weapons and jewelry. Without any further information on the burial site, it is uncertain for whom it was built and which epoch of Tunisia’s lively history the discovery belongs to – starting with the Phoenicians, influenced by the trading power of Carthage and the competition with the Roman Empire, through numerous battles for supremacy and religion to the French colonial domination. Discovery of burial chamber with Rover C II Numerous data were collected during the measurement with the Rover C II as well as during the immediate inspection of the site. The measurement data were evaluated with the OKM software Visualizer 3D and clearly show a long cavity. According to the client’s specifications, the burial chamber is located at a depth of about 9,8 to 13,2 ft (3 to 4 m). Pictures testify to the underground find and illustrate the nature of the walls of the site. The metal detector Rover C II is not an ordinary metal detector with sound output, but a grave and cavity detector which can create excellent three-dimensional graphics of the scanned underground. The combination of geoelectrical measurement and metal detection makes this treasure hunter particularly interesting for archaeologists and cavity seekers looking for treasures, burial caves and buried artifacts.
The Rover C II has meanwhile been replaced by the advanced OKM treasure and cavity detector Rover C4. The current model Rover C4 offers: simplified operation multilingual user interface LED illumination for night measurements wireless data transfer 4 memory locations for measurement data Standard probe and Super Sensor with innovative LED orbit different modes of operation that make the Rover C4 a versatile treasure detector. We have Rover C4 on sale and you can buy it here Magnetotellurics (MT) refers to a technique in which electrical resistivity is determined by making measurements of electric and magnetic fields related to naturally occurring currents (“tellurics”, caused mostly by lightning strikes) flowing in the ground. Typical MT frequencies are from 0.0005 Hz to 1,000 Hz. The ratio of the amplitudes of the electric and magnetic fields is used to calculate the electrical resistivity of the ground at a depth determined by the ground resistivity and the frequency of the measured signal. Higher ground resistivity and lower frequencies allow greater depth of investigation. For traditional low-frequency MT, typical depth of investigation is up to 20 km or greater, but generally targets within the first 100 meters cannot be resolved.
Audio magnetotellurics (AMT) is similar to standard MT in that it uses naturally-occurring currents, but the frequency band is limited to the audio range, generally from 0.1 Hz to 8,000 Hz. Depth of investigation for AMT is typically from 30m to 2 km. Geometrics’ AMT instrument (Geode EM3D AMT) is designed to investigate this depth range, operating in the frequency band of 0.1 to 10,000 Hz. Controlled-source audio magnetotellurics (CSAMT), in its most common variation, does not use naturally-occurring currents, but instead only uses a man-made transmitter generating currents in the frequency range of from 1 Hz to 10 kHz. Geometrics CSAMT’ instrument (Geode EM3D CSAMT) uses a controlled-source transmitter operating in the frequency band of 0.1 Hz to 10,000 Hz. Depth of investigation ranges from about 20 m to 2 km. Geometrics’ Hybrid-Source AMT (HSAMT) instrument (Stratagem EH4) uses the natural field signals from 0.1 Hz to 100,000 Hz, but also uses a controlled-source transmitter to supplement the natural-field low frequencies for a depth of investigation of 5m to 2 km. The Geometrics hybrid source transmitter provides 15 separate frequencies ranging from 800 Hz to 70,000 Hz. Common applications for AMT (Geode EM3D AMT) and HSAMT (Stratagem EH4): Minerals and ground water exploration to 1,500m depth. Deep engineering site characterization. Academic research. Considerations and Limitations for AMT and HSAMT: Data quality for AMT and the low-frequency bands of HSAMT depend on the availability of natural field sources. Natural AMT signal availability depends on the season, time of day, and weather. Contamination by 50 Hz or 60 Hz power sources such as power lines, industrial machinery, or urban settings negatively affect data quality. Advantages of AMT and HSAMT over similar techniques: AMT acquisition is faster than traditional MT. Acquisition for low-frequency MT data requires up to 12 hours on a single station. Collection of high-frequency AMT data at 10 Hz and above can be done in less than 15 minutes. HSAMT transmitter setup is much faster and easier. A traditional grounded dipole CSAMT transmitter can take several hours to set up. A dual-loop induction transmitter as a high-frequency source can be set up in less than 10 minutes. HSAMT can resolve shallow targets. HSAMT up to 100 kHz can image targets as shallow as 5 meters. Traditional low-frequency MT cannot resolve targets in the upper 100m. AMT to 10 kHz can resolve targets as shallow as 20 meters in conductive earth. AMT and HSAMT sensor setup is easier. Traditional low-frequency MT surveys require the magnetic sensors to be buried at least 20cm in the ground, which can take considerable time and may be impossible in frozen or otherwise hard ground. High-frequency AMT or HSAMT magnetic sensors can often be used unburied. MT electric sensors use non-polarizing porous pot electrodes which must be buried in moist ground. The AMT electrodes can be metal stakes that are simply hammered into the ground. Deliverables for AMT and HSAMT: MT processing is used for MT, AMT, and HSAMT measurements. The processing generates impedance, phase, coherency, and other parameters of the earth’s response. 1-D and 2-D transformation and inversion software are used to generate 1-D soundings and 2-D depth sections of depth and true resistivity. 3-D inversion software is under development in several academic settings . An example of a 2-D section showing a conductive brine zone (red) is shown below. ![]() Canadian rivers are known for its gold findings. Once again we received fantastic pictures of a happy gold seeker. With his Black Hawk metal detector he was looking for natural gold streams on the riverside in British Columbia/ Canada. The result you can see here - wonderful gold flakes. The OKM Black Hawk is available with different search coils for the detection of natural gold and buried metal objects. To order please click here ![]() Aquapulse was the tool used for this amazing find! The crew of a boat known as “Capitana” recently discovered over 350 gold coins! The Capitana is part of the 1715 Fleet-Queen’s Jewels, LLC historic shipwreck salvage operation. The famous 1715 fleet sank in the year 1715, with millions of dollars in lost treasures. The vast amount of coins just recovered were found on exactly the 300th Anniversary of the 1715 Fleet! According to Brent Brisben, the co-founder of of the 1715 Fleet-Queen’s Jewels, LLC, there were 9 rare coins also found, known as “Royals”. Those coins are valued at $300,000 a piece!! Brisben also mentioned, in a recent press release, that the coins were meant for the King of Spain and these make up 30% of all the known Royals out there! Brisben said that all the artifacts were discovered in shallow waters, about 6 feet deep, off the coast of Vero Beach, Florida. The treasure hunter that made the amazing find was William Bartlett, near a location where Co-Captain, Jonah Martinez chose. You can order your aquapulse here 1. There are basically three types of "gold": low concentration disseminated gold in ore, placer gold deposits and solid gold such as that associated with treasure. Magnetometers are used to find disseminated gold by its association with mineralized zones which also contain magnetite or other magnetic minerals. Magnetometers are often used in conjunction with airborne Electro-Magnetic surveys to find the conductive ore bodies. Placer gold is the type found in buried stream channels such as the gold which sparked the California gold-rush in 1849. Gold dust and magnetic minerals have been concentrated in river banks over thousands of years. Where there is gold there is often magnetite and therefore the magnetometer can be used to locate placer gold deposits. Gold treasure is a different story and being non-magnetic gold, silver, and other precious minerals are not directly detectable by the magnetometer.
2. The magnetometer can only detect ferrous (iron or steel) objects. If the gold is stored in an iron box or has iron materials next to the gold (such as colonial ship ballast stones in the marine environment), there is the possibility of detecting the iron material. This is true for land and marine (sunken galleon) gold bullion. The vast majority of target search surveys are performed on a grid in a "lawn mower" back and forth manner to cover the area of interest. Lane spacing is dependent on target size (magnetic mass). 3. At a sensor to target distance of 2 to 3 meters there will need to be at least 1-2 kilograms of iron. This can produce a 1-2 nT anomaly that is detectable in a magnetically clean environment. The ideal environment would be in a plowed farm field or the bottom of the ocean away from human activity i.e., away from a port or harbor. You will probably not be able to detect this small of an anomaly in a city or port location. The more iron mass there is, the better the detectability. 4. Training to use the magnetometer can take 1-2 days depending on experience with setting up computerized survey equipment and a GPS. 5. Processing the magnetic data requires several days of training and would require a geophysical background to interpret the final maps. We provide free software to make maps and estimate the target depth of burial (inversion). If you are unfamiliar with this procedure, we would recommend that you find a local geotechnical firm to look at the data to determine if there are anomalies that should be investigated further. Remembering that non-ferrous materials do not cause anomalies (gold, silver, copper, brass, aluminum, gems) you will be looking for anomalies either associated with the container OR associated with ground disturbance (i.e., gravesite). In this way some anomalies can be detected where there has been an excavation such as a gravesite. |
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