Fort Lauderdale Sunrise Wreck, Fort Lauderdale Florida, USA

11 Assorted other artifacts

2009-05-03T11:50:00.011-04:00

There are eleven other assorted artifacts from the Fort Lauderdale Sunrise Wreck. They are all rather interesting. In the web album most of them have multiple views shown. In this post I am providing one view of each to conserve time and picture space. Click on any of the pictures below to view larger and multiple views.

From Assorted other artifacts

This is a composite artifact composed of cork, green bottle glass, calcium deposits iron, and rust stains. The height of the composite is 2 3/4 inch (7 cm.)

From Assorted other artifacts

This is the threaded top of a container. The diameter at the threads is 1 inch (2 1/2 cm.). The material is perhaps bone, but that is not confirmed. The artifact is being held together by calcium deposits.

From Assorted other artifacts

This item appears to be the remains of a pencil. The material projecting out of broken area is a lead tube. It will actually make a mark on paper. The pencil is made of bone or ivory, I think. the length of the item is 3 inch (7 1/2 cm.)

From Assorted other artifacts

This looks very similar to the last "lead pencil" item, although the lead is missing here. Also, the length is the same 3 inch (7 1/2 cm.) This one is a hollow tube throughout. Material also the same - bone or ivory.

From Assorted other artifacts

This also appears to be made of bone or ivory. Length is 3 inch (7 1/2 cm.) I make this out to be a knife handle, or a utensil handle. Note the fastener holes. Only half the handle was found.

From Assorted other artifacts

This piece of hemp rope has retained the curve of its thimble. There is no iron left, just rust. Height is about 3 1/2 inch (9 cm.)

From Assorted other artifacts

This shows the reverse impression left behind after removing coin #40 from concretion. Coin is an 1830 Ferdin VII.

From Assorted other artifacts

This shows another impression left behind after removing a coin from a concretion. Coin is #15 1802 Carolus IIII

From Assorted other artifacts

There was no ballast stone pile at the 1956 cultural deposit excavation. Two small ballast stones were found: One 14 oz and one 12 oz.

From Assorted other artifacts

There was a small amount of coal, the largest being about 2 inch high.

From Assorted other artifacts

One small concretion was kept because it showed signs of copper within. The length of this piece is about 2 inch.

Wood artifacts

2009-05-03T07:57:00.005-04:00

There were a few wood pieces found. This piece of wood is the largest found, and measures about 7 inch (18 1/2 cm.) long. It's of a very hard type. It's uncertain whether it is from the ship's wood supply for cooking, however the left end of this piece appears charred. The right end looks like it is rust stained where it may have been pined under some iron, thus keeping it from floating away.

The rest of the wood found consists of seven fragments ranging from 4 1/2 down to 1 1/2 inches (11 to 4 cm.) in length.

Silver (or pewter) spoon

2009-05-02T19:36:00.008-04:00

From Pewter or silver spoon

This silver (or pewter) spoon was found in two pieces. The overall length of the existing pieces is about 7 inch (18 cm.) The inscription on the handle is: "P. Barnes & Co. London". The weight of the combined pieces is: 15.85 oz (44.9 gm).

Click the picture for a larger view.

Iron Artifacts

2009-05-01T08:28:00.009-04:00

There were a few iron artifacts recovered in 1956/7. There was flaking from these iron pieces during the fifty some years of storage without any conservation other than keeping them folded up in newspaper in a shoebox, inside, out of the weather. My recent conservation of these pieces consisted of encasing each item in four coats of two part laminating epoxy resin. Below are some of these iron items:

These two links are still interlinked. Combined length is 8 inches (18 cm.).

This partial double (reinforced) link is 3 3/4 inch long (12 cm.)

I believe that these chain links are way too small to serve as the ship's anchor chain. This ship had a draft of approximately 13 to 16 feet, based on the depth of water at mean low tide of 12 ft. where the ship first made contact with this reef, had its hull breached, and deposited all the artifacts that we later recovered.

This iron spike is 7 1/8 inch (18 cm.) long. Weight is about 3/4 pounds.

This is a square head bolt 1 1/2 inch X 1 1/2 inch, 4 3/4 inch long, weight about 1 pound.

This closeup of the square head bolt above shows remnants of threads.

The complete inventory of the iron artifacts can be viewed by clicking the picture above. Use your back button to return to this spot.

John Davenport's Mark

2008-11-19T13:36:00.010-05:00

Here is a shard with John Davenport's stamped and impressed mark on it. I am hoping that someone is able to provide a valid date range for the use of this particular mark. There is a data sheet with more information below.

From Pottery artifacts

Here is the related data sheet.

From Pottery artifacts

Click on either picture above to view the entire ceramics web album containing 29 artifacts. If you recognize a ceramic, please let me know. Any information would be greatly appreciated. So far the only one reasonably identified and given a date range is #13, a blue edged pearlware - 1785-1840.

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Large anchor raised

2008-09-11T15:42:00.039-04:00

It was Christmas break 1955 and Chuck and I were taking advantage of good weather to explore the nearby reefs for spots that looked favorable for fish collecting. On one of those days we stumbled upon a very large anchor out from Sunrise Blvd. in 32 ft. of water. The length of
the anchor was 9 ft. from the crown to the ring. Here is a photo of the anchor in "Boys' Life" magazine, November 1957.

From Anchor

The anchor was raised in March 1956, with the use of five 55 gallon drums. The drums were filled with seawater on site and taken down, one at a time, and lashed to the anchor. Compressed air was then pumped into drums to displace the water. Each drum was only partially filled in rotation so as to give an even lift when the anchor began to rise. It was a was a welcome sight to have the anchor and drums rise to the surface, and stay on the surface, after ten weekends of struggling with the project.

The weight of the anchor was estimated at 2,000 pounds. That was calculated upon the displacement of seawater for the five drums (8 pounds per gallon X 50 X 5 = 2,000). On the ocean's surface the drums were almost awash, so this is a fair weight estimate. We then plugged the drum holes to contain the air and started towing the whole assembly towards Port Everglades Inlet. The lashings had lengthened considerably due to the burden they carried. The sea was not calm and there was a lot of motion on the drums, so the towing was at a very slow pace for the 2 & 1/2 mile trip to the beach area just west of the north jetty.

Just as we rounded the jetty one of the drums broke loose and the tow settled in about 15 feet of water. Fortunately, we had the foresight not to be in the main channel with it's 40 feet of depth and shipping traffic, which could have been disastrous. As it was, we had the drum refastened and the rig re floated within about an hour and shortly grounded everything on the beach.

Waiting for us there were the buyer, 12 laborers and a large flatbed truck. The men could not lift the anchor. However, they were able to roll it to the truck it on its outstretched appendages and up onto the truck bed.

The anchor was placed, as shown in the picture above, in front of a shell shop in view of U.S.1, a little south of Ft. Lauderdale. It was there for number of years, before it was moved, I understand, to a junk yard and displayed there. I don't know where it is now. Our fee for this effort was $50. Earlier we had offered the anchor to a number of beach hotels without any takers.

The finding of this anchor preceded the finding of the cultural deposit related to the Sunrise Wreck. It is only recently that I realized a possible connection between the two finds, for the anchor was found in about 32 feet of water somewhere seaward of the general area of the cultural deposit. To pursue this idea, I decided to get educated about the history of anchors. I thought that the style of this anchor might help to connect it to the Sunrise Wreck.

After reading, Anchors, an Illustrated History, by Betty Nelson Curryer, and History and Development of the Marine Anchor, by Baldt Anchor & Chain Corporation, it seems that the anchor we raised is called a NEW ADMIRALTY FOLDING STOCK ANCHOR , probably made in England.

The date the anchor was manufactured still needs to be determined, and that will have to be before May 22, 1841, in order to say, "This this anchor could be associated with the Sunrise Wreck debris field".

The Nautical Archaeology Society is sponsoring http://www.biganchorproject.com/ and I will participate in the project by submitting the particulars of this anchor. For now I will make an effort to locate it's present abode, if the anchor still exists. If it is located I may be able to get valid measurements, and photos. I hope that this will help in dating this anchor.

http://www.nauticalarchaeologysociety.org/

Lead Artifacts; Visit Art McKee; New Crowbar

2008-07-14T08:54:00.015-04:00

There were also some lead artifacts recovered from the cultural deposit in 1956/7. There are a few featured here:

This soft lead item is about 5 & 1/2 inch (14cm) long and weighs about 5 & 1/2 oz (156.5 grams). It looks as if it is some one's makeshift hanger. What do you think it is?

This hard lead item has an outside diameter of 3 & 1/8 inch (8cm). The center has a 3/8 inch (1cm) hole through it. The thickness near the center is 3/8 inch (1cm). The item is shown with its rounded side towards the camera. The other side is flat. The object weighs about 1 pound (0.45kg). It has been suggested that this is a water pump flapper weight. What do you think?

This item represents a supply of lead sheeting used for various purposes aboard ship. This piece was found as shown, folded several times. As folded the item is 4 & 1/2 inch (11.5cm) long; and 1 & 1/2 inch (3.8cm) high. Its weight approx 1 pound (0.450 kg).

At some point in time we unfolded the previous item to see if there was anything inside. There was nothing within. It has now been refolded as it was originally.

Bear with me as I digress a little with a human interest story. These lead musket balls are part of the artifact collection, but they were found in the Florida Keys by Art McKee prior to the summer of 1956. They possibly were found on the wreck Capitana el rui, or any one of the other wrecks of the Spanish treasure fleet of 1733, or the wreck of the HMS Winchester that sank in 1695 near Carysfort Reef. In other words, I do not know, but if I had to guess, I would say they came from the Winchester. It was a 145 foot British-Man-of-War, and certainly had a great amount of armament, including musket balls. But so did the Spanish, I'm sure. They range in weight from 1.67 oz (47.3g) to 0.66 oz (18.6g).

It happened that the cultural deposit that we had discovered was so encrusted that we could not take it apart with the tools at hand. We decided to seek the advice of Art McKee, a treasure hunter and salvager based in the Florida Keys. We called him and introduced ourselves. We told him about the discovery and the problem we were having getting the debris to come apart. We asked about the use of dynamite, and Art discouraged its use saying that it would do too much damage. He invited us to down to visit with him to see what he had been doing. Shortly, we made the the trip to the Keys.

We arrived at McKEE's MUSEUM OF SUNKEN TREASURE, which was built to look like a castle. I can remember a gigantic stocked anchor, missing the wood stock, on display that must have been at least 17 feet tall within view of the overseas highway.

Art gave us an extensive tour, going into much detail. He showed us the treasure housed inside,including the items in a large safe.

Also, I remember the open yard behind the castle. Back there Art had assembled an actual ballast stone mound, shipwreck timbers, cannons and anchors to resemble a shipwreck, but in air, not water. (I can feel the marine archaeologists cringing).

We finished the visit with an exchange of gifts. We gave Art three of our milled silver coins and Art gave us the four musket balls pictured above. And that was how we acquired the musket balls.

Internet information: "One of the pioneer treasure hunters. Indeed, he is called the 'The father of Modern Treasure Hunting.' Using a diving helmet, he excavated his first wreck in 1938." (Art McKee 1910 - 1979).

P.S. As far as getting any tips on tackling our cultural deposit, we came away from our visit with Art McKee with very little. At least we were advised not to use dynamite.

We had had some limited results using a crow bar. We thought that perhaps a larger crow bar might help. We went to the local junk yard to browse around. Sure enough, there it was, a 6 foot, 30 pound, hexagonal jack hammer rod which we snapped up immediately. Using a new hacksaw blade we cut a chisel point at the working end of the rod. That did the trick. The added leverage allowed us to work away the entire deposit down to the original reef surface.

Click on a picture above to view entire lead artifact inventory.

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Pottery Artifact

2008-07-06T20:47:00.010-04:00

The cultural deposit also contained pottery artifacts recovered in 1956 and 57. They add another dimension to the Sunrise Wreck story. Some of them are featured here.

These pieces appear to come from a common pottery artifact. The bottom piece is 3 & 1/2 inch (9cm) long.

This is another view of the top piece in the picture above. It has been tilted 90 deg towards the camera to show the 7/8 inch (2.2 cm) rim. I wonder what this artifact held within when in use?

This dainty flower design was embedded in a 1/2 pound concretion until recently. There were three chocolate brown pieces within the concretion. I took my time to crack it open with the aid of a large bench vise. The vise gave me controlled pressure to crunch specific areas of the concretion. Finally, this small piece of pottery came loose to see the light of day again after 167 years. This little piece is 1 & 1/4 inch (3.2 cm) in height.

There are a number of other pottery pieces with floral designs, and this is one of them. The partial cup is 2 & 3/4 inch (7 cm) in height. There are no maker's marks on this cup.

Another floral piece of cup here. Top edge is finished. Height is 1 & 5/8 inch (4.1 cm).

And another floral one. Length is 1 & 3/4 inch (4.1 cm).

Small piece with a leaf or petal. Height 1 & 1/4 inch (3.2 cm).

And another floral one. Height is about 1 & 1/4 inch (3.2 cm).

There are 6 pottery artifacts with floral designs. Are there enough flowers and leaves to postulate that there was a woman's influence on board ship?

To view the entire pottery inventory click on the picture above.

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Some more in situ artifacts

2008-06-27T18:06:00.006-04:00

I recently picked up a disk from Dr. Kira Kaufman, our local Florida Public Archaeology Network marine archaeologist, containing additional in situ artifact pictures. So here are some more of the artifacts that have been located within the debris field.

This is an iron rod about 5 & 1/2 ft long with an eye at the end of it. There are two of these in the area.

This item I hadn't been able to relocate until recently. I thought it had been taken. But it was there all along, covered with a great amount of growth. It is 24 x 12 x 4 inches, and resembles a figure eight, using imagination.

There are two of these "V" shape structures at the site. This I have named the round nosed one. The other, pictured in the background here, I named the square nosed one. The"V" legs of the round nosed structure are 37 & 58 inches. The angle between the "V" is approx 40 deg. These, I have been told, are related to the steering mechanisms. Does anyone Agree?

This seems to be a heavy tackle item, a lifting hook, lying on its side. The overall circumference of this object is 102 inch. The measurements are 38 x 26 x 5 t0 6 inches. I estimate its weight at 200 to 300 pounds. It seems as if rigging gear of this magnitude would indicate that it came from a large ship. The object is fastened firmly to the reef with encrusted matter.

Here is a schematic of the heavy tackle item.

Click on above picture to view the entire in situ artifact web album .

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Glass artifacts

2008-06-22T21:22:00.009-04:00

A significant number of glass artifacts were recovered from the Fort Lauderdale Sunrise Wreck cultural deposit in 1956/7. Some of them are featured here:

This small clear glass round stopper measures 1 & 1/2 inch (3.7cm)long.

This stopper was also recovered. The top is eight sided, an octagon. It measures 3 inches (7.5cm) in height.

Here is another view of the same stopper. We are looking at it from the stopper end. Look carefully and you will notice a "II" scratched into the bottom of the stopper. Does this mean anything to anyone?

This is a base of a clear stemmed glass. Its diameter is 2 & 1/4 inch (5.6cm). A second one, slightly larger, was also recovered.

This piece of pressed glassware was recovered along with another piece of exact facet size. I just recently discovered that it fit in a broken area above. It is now more complete.

These two pieces (glued together) are from another glassware object. The facets are larger than with the previous one. This one is fancier, wouldn't you say?

If you study this picture, comparing it to the preceding one, you will see that this partial handle has come from it. The partial handle is 1 & 1/2 inch (3.8cm) in height.

This wine bottle is a clear green. Its height is 3 & 3/4 inch (9cm). Compare this bottle top to the champagne bottle top below.

The champagne bottle top here shows the extra lip built in to secure the cork with twisted wire so it does not pop prematurely.

Click on the picture above to view the entire glassware inventory.

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Some of the larger cupreous artifacts

2008-06-17T09:25:00.007-04:00

Here is the sextant prior to cleaning and conserving.

The piece in the lower right with concretions on it is the four-shade filter assembly. It was found separate from the sextant.

The claw-like piece in the upper right has a beveled edge and is not like the shade glass of the sextant. However, it does fit in the shade ring snugly. I have parked it for safe keeping in the shade ring with the missing shade glass. Does anyone know what this curved piece of black glass might be?

This is the sextant after cleaning and conservation. There are missing pieces, including the pivot arm assembly, the mirror, the telescope, the handles and 1 & 1/2 shade glasses.

These, approx 6 inch, brass spikes are incredibly hard. I cannot bend any of the six square-shanked spikes with my bare hands. The bends in the spikes above are a testament to the forces applied on them at the time of foundering.

This is the only round-shanked spike found. Length is about 5 inch.

This 4 inch hinge leaf, made from very hard 1/8 inch brass stock, was amazingly torn away from its knuckles and the rest of its hinge.

This approx 7 inch cupreous marlin spike was found with both ends blunted as shown.

Click on the picture to view the entire inventory of cupreous artifacts.

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We may have found the ship!

2008-06-17T08:43:00.005-04:00

The remains of the Fort Lauderdale Sunrise Wreck may have been located. With the use of modern technology, a suspect site has been identified. The problem is that it is covered totally by sand. A 4 foot, 1/4 inch stainless steel rod was used by hand to probe the sand in the area. The results were interesting in that in one area, instead of only being able to push the rod into the sand about 2 foot, it went all the way to 4 feet in after passing through a "crunchy layer."

This area is certainly of interest. We are only in the initial stages of surveying the site, starting with a request for permit from the State of Florida to use a magnetometer.

Updates concerning this discovery will be posted as more information develops. Wish us luck.

Some of the smaller cupreous artifacts

2008-06-01T09:20:00.021-04:00

Here are some of the more striking small brass artifacts found at the cultural deposit in 1956/7.

This brass doorknob was not shiny when found. Also, the iron spindle and set screw had turned to mostly mush due to the reaction in sea water and contact with with the brass. The iron was the sacrificial metal and that helped protect the doorknob from corrosion. All the mush was removed, revealing that the handle is hollow. At a handle diameter 1 & 5/8 inches the, doorknob is not large.

This brass fixture and partial ring were found concreted together as posed in this picture. What was originally held by this hanger we can only guess, but it might have been a small lantern. It could not have held a heavy object because of its small size. The ring would have been 1 inch in diameter, and the hanger base disc diameter only 19/32 inch.

The brass object in this picture I believe is a seal holder. Its length is only 1 & 5/16 inch. It fits my fingers with a feel of good control for pressing a seal. Also, it looks as if the left end is made to unscrew for mounting other seals. However, if there was a seal mounted there when the wreck occurred there was no sign of one when it was found. Anyone out there an expert on seals and seal holders of the early to mid 1800's?

This small padlock was recovered in one piece. However, it's iron interior workings had been transformed over time into a black sulfide mush. The cleaning process resulted in the three separate pieces as shown. The key way cover still swivels 360 degrees. The size of the padlock is about 1 x 1 inch. It's weight is 0.460 oz (13.0g). I like to think that this padlock was used to keep the sextant secure when it was not in use. I have read someplace that in actual practice the sextant was housed in its box on the exterior of a ship near the captain's or officers' quarters. This was done to eliminate the sextant error caused by the difference of temperature inside the cabin and the temperature outside. It's plausible that the sextant, box and padlock went over the side as one. And what we recovered were an incomplete sextant and a padlock not far from each other 115 years later.

Click on a picture above to view the entire inventory of cupreous artifacts.

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Some debris field artifacts

2008-06-01T09:11:00.012-04:00

Here are a few pictures that Dr. Kira Kaufmann, Marine Archaeologist took while touring the Fort Lauderdale Sunrise Wreck debris field recently.

This is part of a mast being held in place by the weight of an iron mast ring since around 1841. It came to rest here in about 20 feet of water after first being washed over the shallow reef, along with it's ship. Interestingly, the iron ring is holding a splinter of the mast, the whole assembly being about 55 inches in length. The wood seems to be very hard and has suffered only little worm damage. The iron ring has much growth of sponges and other sessile organisms. Consequently, it is difficult to make accurate measurements. My reckoning is that has an outside circumference of 75 inches. And from the outside to the inside of the ring is about 4 inches.

This is another iron ring not far from the splintered mast, a few fin flips to the northeast. Measurements for this ring are: 23 inches outside diameter, 73 inches outside circumference, and 7 inches high.

Moving to the east about about 450 feet over the shallow reef, one encounters more wreck debris as the depth drops again to 20 ft. This is where the ship first made contact with the reef. This is where we found all the artifacts in 1956/7.

The structure in the picture above is a piece of decorative railing or support, and is 88 inches in length. It is not a complete piece. There are a few broken ends.

There are two of these structures, this one that I named the square nosed V structure, and the other one that I named the round nosed V structure. They are both rather stout pieces. The V legs vary in length from 34 inches to 58 inches. Probably this variance can be attributed to breakage as they were wrenched from the hull. Both of these V structures have an inside angle of approx 40 degrees.

To see more of Kira's pictures, click on the picture above.

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Kayak Diving

2008-05-30T08:03:00.009-04:00

Kayak diving is a great way to visit the site. Also, it's good on gas, and good exercise.

This is the launch point. Our destination is about 3/4 mile away. That's Dick Trodick working on his red kayak. I'm working on my yellow one in the background. The third kayak is going to being used by Dr. Kira Kaufmann, Marine Archaeologist. We are giving her a tour of the Sunrise Wreck debris field this day.

We are checking our gear to be sure that everything is tied down well, and that tether lines are fastened to the SCUBA tank, the buoyancy compensator, gear bag, paddle, etc. We don't want to loose anything in a role over.

Here Dick Trodick is about to change position. The yellow line here acts both as an anchor and a tow line for the kayak. The kayak tows easy. You almost don't notice any drag. It's nice to have your boat with you all through the dive.

The British Connections

2008-05-15T14:42:00.025-04:00

There seems to be enough evidence present to consider that the Fort Lauderdale Sunrise Shipwreck to be of British origin. Some of the artifacts point in that direction. As far as it is known at this time none of the artifacts point to any other origin.

These artifacts, and others, were recovered in 1956/57 from the primary cultural deposit located about 1/2 mile off shore from the beach at Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

First, there is the sextant with the maker's name and city, "W. Hogg, London".

Then there is the silver or pewter spoon with the name of the maker and city, "P. Barnes & Co., London"

Next, is the pottery shard with a maker's mark, identified as used by John Davenport, Great Britain, 1793 - 1882.

From THE EUROPEAN CONNECTION?

Also, there is this partial saucer or plate of edged pearlware, refined eathernware, England, 1785 - 184o. Note the small piece in the upper right that may have come from another edged pearlware saucer or plate because the edged pattern is curved slightly, in contrast to that of the larger ceramic.

Finally, there are the coins. Of the 40 or so legible Spanish coins recovered, only one was minted in the New World, from the Mexico mint. Note the mint mark on the reverse at about 8 o'clock on this 1788 coin. The rest of the legible coins were minted in Spain.

When we recovered Spanish coins we thought that they must have come from a Spanish ship. It was only a year or two ago that I learned that such an assumption was incorrect. Actually, Spanish coins were the primary medium of exchange in the American colonies, and continued to be so until just before the the American Civil War. There were a number Spanish Mints in the Americas.

So if the ship was a trader plying the waters of the American Atlantic and Gulf coasts, it seems that there should be a large percentage of Spanish coins found with New World mint marks. But, in this case only one of about 40 legible Spanish coins is New World minted.

Of course these artifacts do not prove British origin. It's only that there is likely a connection.

What is it?

2008-05-11T15:17:00.012-04:00

There are some unidentified artifacts in the Ft. Lauderdale Sunrise Wreck collection. Do you know what these two items are. (there are two views of each item.)

Note the threads in the narrow area.

The objects are made of brass or bronze; weight of both pieces together is 1/2 pound; overall length is 5 inches; diameter of bowls are 2 3/4 inches. Also, notice the evidence of threads in the narrow area.

The meaning of the over-stamps.

2008-05-02T08:22:00.009-04:00

(This post is being prepared by Matthew de Felice, , County Archaeologist, Broward County Historical Commission.)

Matthew has been very busy and hasn't been able to report his findings. In fact he has not finished his research on these counter stamped coins. Matt has provided me with a copy of his correspondence with Rafael Valentine, a numismatist with some knowledge about the counter stamped Spanish coins found at the Sunrise wreck cultural deposit in 1956.

Rafael says that the counter stamps were made for the island of Cuba. On May 22, 1841 the Cuban authorities recalled the 2 and 4 silver reales minted at Madrid, Seville, Catalonia, Cadiz, and Valencia mints in peninsular Spain. These coins were then struck with the counter stamp and released at a devalued rate.

If this information is correct, then Sunrise wreck could not have wrecked before May 22, 1841, and probably somewhat later to allow for the counter stamping process to be completed. (j.c.n. 11/28/2008).

Cuban overstamped Spanish reales

2008-04-28T20:43:00.005-04:00

From OVERSTAMPS

Here is one of the Cuban over stamped Spanish reales.
Click on the coin photo to view the other over stamped coins. Use your back button to return here.

Navigate to: "The meaning of the over stamps" to find the answer.

The Fort Lauderdale Sunrise Wreck - Wreck date

2008-04-27T14:07:00.011-04:00

Until recently we had always assumed that the earliest wreck date possible was 1839. This assumption was based upon the youngest coin found: An 1839 Isabel coin.

However, this has recently been revised due to the diligence of Matthew de Felice, County Archaeologist, Broward County Historical Commission.

In the summer of 2007, I invited Matt, and others, to my home for a showing of the artifacts from the Fort Lauderdale Sunrise Wreck. After Matt arrived, and had surveyed the displays that were spread about, I noticed that he was studying some of the coins, and sketching one carefully. Several of the coins had been struck on the obverse with an over-stamp. It was one of these over-stamps that he was sketching. I have never had a clue as to the meaning of it, until the next day when he messaged me.

Navigate to "Cuban over stamped Spanish reales" to view the coins that bear the over-stamp.

"OLD SPANISH COINS FOUND ON BEACH"

2008-04-23T08:39:00.002-04:00

"Marvin Grim Discovers 14 Silver Pieces"

"Possibility that Las Olas Beach may once have been the haunt of pirates and buccaneers was evidenced this morning by the discovery of 14 old Spanish silver coins on the north beach ----.

Marvin Grim, 15, found the coins and brought them to the Chamber of Commerce, August Burghard, Chamber secretary, said. The coins, when found, were stuck together by some kind of corrosion, indicating that they may have been in a container at one time. They all bore legible Spanish writing and the dates were readable. Some of the dates were 7775, 1779 and 1801."

Fort Lauderdale Daily News, Tuesday, November 5, 1935, pg. 2.

This 1935 news article was discovered in the summer of 2007 by the staff of the Broward County Historical Commission. Young Mr. Grimm was probably just as excited to find his coins as we were in 1956 when we made our finds. Again, the coin dates coincide well with the other coins found associated with this wreck.

The fact that Marvin's coins were found on the beach leads me to suggest that the hull, or fragments of it, and iron structures are located near where the coins were found.

A search of the 1935 hurricanes leads one to suspect that the 1935 Yankee hurricane uncovered the cluster of coins for Marvin to find. That hurricane came south from off shore of the Carolina's making landfall near Miami Beach as a category 2 hurricane on November 4th Marvin found the coin clump on the morning of November 5.

This was also the year of the Labor Day Hurricane that was a small intense hurricane which came ashore in the Upper Keys on September 2Nd as a category 5. That storm probably caused substantial beach erosion of Fort Lauderdale beaches, helping to uncover Marvin's find.

Possible salvage by others:

2008-04-22T08:17:00.002-04:00

Reference is made to: Potter, John S., Jr., THE TREASURE DIVER’S GUIDE, revised edition (New York, 1972), 212.

“Calling it the Fort Lauderdale Wreck, Potter wrote ‘While surveying wreck sites, Colonel Frank F. Tenney’s team located a wreck yielding many interesting artifacts and a number of Spanish coins dating from 1772 to 1816. The January 1965 moratorium on leases prevented Colonel Tenney from obtaining rights to the site, and the recoveries were turned over to the State.”

The above reference came from an article: “Shipwrecks of Broward County”, by James Dean, BROWARD LEGACY, Volume 6 Winter/Spring 1983, Broward County Historical Commission, 25.

Because the date range of Colonel Tenney’s Spanish coins coincide well with the ones that we found, it is possible that coins have come from the same site. I would find it interesting to view those artifacts held by the state of Florida that pertain to the Fort Lauderdale Sunrise Wreck.

Fort Lauderdale Sunrise Wreck Introduction:

2008-04-21T12:42:00.012-04:00

1956 – 1957 Fort Lauderdale Sunrise Wreck salvage history.

The initial cultural deposit was discovered by Charles & John Noyes in 1956 while collecting tropical fish.

It looked like there was man-made debris here. A gentle blow to the area with a crowbar released a telltale black, iron sulphide cloud, confirming our suspicions. Fanning around by hand, it was’t long before we brought up a couple Spanish milled silver coins. We were then hooked on working the site whenever we could for the next couple of years.

Actually, this deposit was only that, a deposit. This was not the ship's remains, however pieces of the ship are scattered in a long debris field in a westerly direction. Apparently, the ship was caught up in a heavy storm, or hurricane that swept it onto the seaward edge of Hillsboro Ridge, a shallow reef running parallel to shore about a half mile off Fort Lauderdale beach, and where the water's depth is 12 to 15 ft. depending upon the stage of the tides. It was caught up there long enough for the hull to be breached and the debris to be deposited.

This deposit was spread in a north/south direction for 15 to 20 feet along this reef. This is where all of the recovered artifacts were found. The entire area was cemented with encrustations and was hard to break loose. We used crowbars with some success. However, the really tough material was broken loose using a 30 pound 6 foot jackhammer rod, with a chisel point, as a high-leverage pry bar. We worked carefully so as not to damage individual artifacts. The larger iron pieces, once broken away from the deposit mass, were moved east a few feet to gain access to the deposit, where they still are to this day.

Note: Underwater archaeologists today would condemn such heavy handed destruction of a cultural deposit. Please remember that the deposit was worked in 1956 & 1957 when underwater archaeology did not exist, or was in it's infancy. Now the State of Florida protects it's Underwater Cultural Heritage (UCH).

Recovery of these artifacts by us was fortunate in that the collection has been kept intact, with a few exceptions (noted later). Considering the very shallow depth of the site, the and ever increasing number of divers entering the coastal waters here, I think this find was truly an exceptional experience.

We found many artifacts, including an incomplete brass sextant with what looks like a silver calibration inlaid in the arc and bearing the inscription “W. Hogg, London”, two halves of what appear to be a brass cannon ball mold (recently these have been described as possibly being filials for maybe bedposts), brass spikes, a silver or pewter spoon with the inscription “P. Barnes & Co., London”, a bronze marlin spike, a couple of brass hinges, a brass doorknob, a brass padlock, a few small pieces of coal, over 40 Spanish milled silver coins ranging in date from 1774 through 1839, around 60 Spanish milled silver coins and pieces of milled coins in various poor conditions, a sounding lead, lots of glass pieces including some wine and champagne bottle necks and bottoms, and assorted pottery pieces (one with a stamped mark of English, origin identified by Christopher R. Eck, MA, JD).

We discovered that the substrate here contained potholes up to 10 inches deep. Many of the coins were found by fanning the sand and debris out of these potholes. However, their quality was generally poor due to lack of contact with a sacrificial metal as well as the anaerobic or semi-anaerobic conditions at the bottoms of potholes.

The ship’s registry is possibly British based upon the several of the artifacts, but that is unconfirmed, and the ship's name is unknown.