Evening star., 1942-05-22
Coin Beach Still Lures
Hunters for Treasure
Writer Tells How Wreck
Of lSth-Century Ship
Planted Rehoboth Shore
Bu Mdru-Cdrter Roberts.

Oy MuTy-CuTLcT HOOcTLS.
Setting down for all time the defini-
| ton of the species small boy, Mark
! Twain noted. among other phenomena,
that ''there comes time in every rightly
constructed boys life when he has a
| raging desire to go somewhere and dig
for hidden treasure" With one amend
ment. Mark might have made the OBJ
servation apply to grownups as well as
| children.
| For grownups likewise are sensible of
the lure of treasure boards, as witness
all literature from the tales OF the Argo-
nauts to the legends of the leprechaun.
But the difference between the childish
and the adult interest in pots of gold
is this: That, with the child, the mere
digging is enough. but, as one grows
older, one begins to want to find as well
as seek. For. as time gets short with u.s.
romance itself comes to require a proof.
So, If one be whimsically inclined, one
may allow oneself to believe that the
matter of fact existence of coin
beach" on the Eastern Shore today is
dispensation made by an indulgent
Providence to romanticists of mature
years and generally safe-and sane habits
For there is such a beach and, on it,
even in this Goth century, the seeker
after buried treasure almost any dav
can scoop out Of ocean sands an ancient
copper penny. with always the implied
chance in the offing that he also may
turn up gold dubloon or stored piece
~ o;rrlzt - 10 kn hut
not in hope alone. For proof. solid and
tinklng. OF the beach's treasure hoard
exists in plenty all through the neigh
borhood roundabout.
There indeed, is hardly dweller with
in twenty miles of the spot who does not
have coin or two he has found there,
and some can measure their treasure
trove by the prosaic quart. For thirty
years now the stretch of sand has yielded
this dispensation to all seekers, and the
hoard still shows no end. The grown
up boy or girl who. in Washington's
scramble for place and precedence. feels,
in nostalgia. a simple yearning for the
innocent gold of honest working pirates
can satisfy that same by taking only a
short journey and digging only little
while. Yes, it must be Providence, in
deed.
About five miles south of the resort
town of Rehoboth Beach Del, favorite
vacation spot for many Capital dwellers.
fronting on the Atlantic Ocean and
backed by lonely dunes and marshes, lies
this seemingly inexhaustible treasure
hoard. a stretch of beach about a quarter
OF mile long that tn the eye, is quite
indistinguishabl from the shore to north
and south of it. The coins seem to be
scattered through its length and breadth
about equally. They are found some
times at the waters edge and sometimes
in the banks that mark high tide The
writer of this article once picked up one
about half way between the two points
Locally the tradition persists that they
are more easily located after storms,
and. all year round, even in the bit
terest winter, there is hardly blow that
does not bring it's after-train of dig
gers. But. storm or no storm, a little
roofing usually will turn up a piece or
two. No spade is necessary Scratching
with the hands in the loose sand will
do it.
There gre many local legends concern
ing the source OF this obliging hoard.
The youth of the neighborhood hold 10y
ally to the faith that 1t was indeed a
pirate who planted their Shore so LIBERAL
ly with penny pieces; they differ. ac-
cording to their personal creeds. as to
whether 1t was Captain Kidd or Black
beard There also is a proud legend of a
local boy who went pirating and made
good at least to the extent of getting his
original name. Levi West, horribly
changed to "Blueskin." and those whose
home pride scars high claim further that
this Blueskin was trusted friend of
Blackboard. The older people speak
vaguely of Spanish vessel" which
foundered, As they say, ofIshore way
back. long time ago"-this despite the
fact that practically all the coins found
plainly are marked with the plethoric
countenance of Georgius III, by grace OF
God King Of England. not of the Span
ish Main. So hard does romance die.
Actually, the records tell fairly prosaic
story.
~ "oo oiitlSil lIlSdIe, not rowing
freebooter, which, by sinking lowered
the coin beach" She was decorously
named the Faithful Steward and, far
from being considered a treasure ship.
was called in contemporary accounts q
passenger vessel. with the dispiritins
mention, even, that her passengers were
people of ''respectability" But these
are merely facts, and legend will sturdily
survive them.
The end of the Faithful Steward, re-
ported in the Londonderry, Ireland,
Journal, issue of November 15 1785,
may be called a subsidiary piece of
treasure in itself. for it is a fine speci-
| men of early model journalism. 1t reads
as follows:
"On Thursday, September /, l7S5. the
vessel Faithful Steward bound from
Londonderry to Philadelphia with 249
passengers, at the hour of 10, it was
advisable to take soundings, and to
their surprise they found themselves in
four fathoms of water, though at dark
there was not the slightest appearance
Of land. Every exertion was used to run
the vessel off shore. but in a few min
utes she struck the ground when it
was necessary to cut away the mast,
etc, all of which went overheard.
"On the morning of. September 2 they
found themselves off 'Mohoboa Bank,
TnIt