Interesting finds on Tasmanian beaches

[Birdseed]

Have not posted any finds for a year or more, thought it time to get off my butt.

The photos show finds from two recent trips to different beaches in Northern Tasmania. The .22 cal bullets are interesting, Since the implementation of very strict gun laws in Australia it is not legal to own firearms with out a special firearms licence. Classifications dictate the type of rifle you may own, it is now very difficult, verging on impossible to maintain a licence for a hand gun. Individual firearms also must be registered on a national database. That said, I think people are disposing of old ammunition by tossing it into the sea rather than be caught and risk prosecution. I am finding live ammunition regularly both on beaches and in the bush.
The large coin is a medallion issued to school children in 1988 to celebrate Australia's bicentenary year. It is unusual in as much as the medallion was at least 100 yards offshore about 6 inches down in the mud. This area is only exposed at the lowest tides of the year.
The other interesting item is a large lead projectile, looks like it may be a solid slug about 12 gauge shotgun size. The photo is not particularly clear. It is cylindrical with a rounded nose and a concave depression at the rear. I have not researched it yet. Photo will enlarge considerably if viewed full size.
When I clean up these finds I will photograph and resubmit.

Cheers from Tassie

Pete

 

[Maxwedge]

NICE FINDS PETE. KINDA SOUNDS LIKE A SLUG FOR A 12 GAUGE. OBAMA AND HILLARY WOULD LOVE GUN LAWS LIKE THAT HERE IN THE US. JUST HOPE IT DOESN'T COME TRUE. HH-MARK

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Pete nice finds,interesting post.My concealed weapons permit expires in a couple of months,last one was good for three years I understand the new ones are good for 5 years in Michigan.Most treasure hunters in my area carry a concealed pistol.Not happy about the extra weight, responsibility and always good behavior when carrying.Thanks HH Ron

 

[Neil]

Pete do you scrap the lead? Looks like you probably find alot of it, lots of fisherman at your beaches?

 

[JimmyCT]

Hi Pete,
good to hear from you. Neat finds from the beach and interesting bit on your gun laws. I see that starting to happen here USA / Connecticut as well. HH - Jim

 

[Birdseed]

Neil

Yes I do find a bit of lead, it all goes into a container, mostly fishing sinkers and sometimes a bit of stuff from boats. I have also noted amounts of lead in the ground around very old building sites and churches. My guess it comes off the flashing around the roof. I also have about 40 or 50 kilos here that I salvaged while I worked in the power industry. One day I took all the scraps and melted it down and poured it into the hollow in an old building brick to make ingots. The stuff has been laying up in the shed for 20 years or more. I will probably do the same with the sinkers and such some day and take the lot into a scrap dealer. I don't know its value these days, though not much I suspect.

Pete

 

[Critterhunter]

Nice finds! I think lead is paying pretty good these days in scrap. If I remember right car batteries go for $20 if I heard right from a neighbor that scraps a lot. Back in the day I messed with scraping you couldn't give those things away. Even if I heard wrong and it's $10 that's still pretty good. I plan to start saving all the lead, brass, and copper I find these days. Can't tell you how much of that stuff I've thrown out detecting over the years. Copper is pratically worth it's weight in gold and brass pays about half that I think. Garden hose spickets are worth holding onto for that reason alone, even if they are brass and not copper. With my river hunting I plan to save all the lead sinkers for one. Wheel weights for balancing tires on a car are worth money too being lead, but I think they pay less because it's mixed with something to make it not as soft so it doesn't deform and sling off the rim. When I think of all that copper pieces of water piping and such I've dug up and threw out over the years I bet I could have bought a coil or two easily with it.

 

[Maxwedge]

Ron, there are lots of places I would love to hunt in San Antonio, but I wouldn't go alone or without a concealed carry permit. I've been to some places that are ok, but a lot of places aren't cool over there. I do need to quit putting it off and get one. Thank goodness I don't live there, but close enough to visit sometimes.

 

[Birdseed]

CH

Not worth much in Australia. I think we get ripped off pretty badly as compared with other countries

See here for an indication

Very different story if you want to buy though, last year I was quoted $Au18.00 a kilogram (2.2 pounds) for second hand copper pipe to use as an antenna component.

Ron/Max
Only cops & crooks carry guns here. The rest of us cannot be trusted.

Cheers

Pete

 

[Neil]

Neil

Yes I do find a bit of lead, it all goes into a container, mostly fishing sinkers and sometimes a bit of stuff from boats. I have also noted amounts of lead in the ground around very old building sites and churches. My guess it comes off the flashing around the roof. I also have about 40 or 50 kilos here that I salvaged while I worked in the power industry. One day I took all the scraps and melted it down and poured it into the hollow in an old building brick to make ingots. The stuff has been laying up in the shed for 20 years or more. I will probably do the same with the sinkers and such some day and take the lot into a scrap dealer. I don't know its value these days, though not much I suspect.

Pete

Yeah man it sure all adds up to some cash down the road. Thats quite a bit you have there.

 

[foiled again tab hunter]

I did see one Mate swinging a Soverign but he had his coil about 5 inches off the sand & using a big arc.....& he wasn't digging very much......We also made a stop in Hobart for just one day...Good Hunting to you down there wish you much success on your finds.....Tab.

 

[Birdseed]

TAB

Glad you enjoyed the Cruise/Tour. My wife and I have also had a couple of cruise/tours to NZ. Could not get over how clean the beaches were in NZ, and all that black sand on the west coast. Tasmanian beaches are clean but NZ beaches are pristine. Never had a detector though and never saw one in use.
Only ever met up with one other beach-detector here in Tasmania. He had an ETRAC and about $AU80 in his finds bag. First day after school went back and about 3 hours in front of me. I had noticed his holes all over the place, none filled in either, though it was blowing on shore and the tide would have sorted it out in a short time. Not a good look though. It went on to prove to me that a lot of coins get dropped over a month of hot weather at a popular beach. This one had a caravan park and camping ground adjacent..

Thanks for the good wishes. Hope to do a cruise to Hawaii and possibly the west coast in the next year or two. May have to look at hiring or borrowing a detector when we get there, just to say I tried. I talk to a lot of Hams there, so arranging something is not impossible.


Cheers

Pete