Beach Scavenger Discovers Real Treasures Are At Parks

Lifeguards, sharks, outlaw swimmers... are there any other beach stories one can squeeze out of summer? Yep! The Daily News has published a piece about sand scavengers! One of their reporters recently rented a metal detector and searched for treasure on Coney Island. The rental alone costs $37.95 a day plus $25 for a sifter, and the employee at the rental company told her that she'd likely only find nickels and crushed cans! Indeed, she only dug up $2.07 in beach booty—so much for that bailout (pailout?).

However, the education may have been worth the price of the rental. One veteran treasure hunter explained that the real finds aren't buried in the sand at all! "The guys you see on the beach—they're called 'coin shooters.' They're only interested in coming back with $15 or $20 in change" (albeit some have found watches and engagement rings). The dedicated hunters looking for more than a few soda pull tabs are elsewhere; "The real finds are in parks and wooded areas where determined treasure hunters may dig up Revolutionary War and Civil War artifacts—uniform buttons, bullets, historic coins."

It's a bit riskier in parkland, since the rules state, "No person shall use a metal detector in any park, except in unvegetated beach areas. Use of metal detectors in other park areas will be permitted if the prior written consent of the Commissioner is obtained." Sounds like unpermitted treasure hunting is the new outlaw urban exploration!