The end of a vacation is always the hardest part. I’m already thinking about everything I have to do when we get home. But I have something like a gazillion photos to play with later in Photoshop and a pile of shells to add to our collection (which is entirely too big already, but what can I do? I have to bring home shells. I’m pretty sure it’s a rule.)
So, of course, I took a picture before I packed them up.
And then I thought, people are going to want to see some of these close up. That’s our one piece of beach glass there in the middle plus the claw of an anonymous crustacean, a whelk egg case, and a vetebral bone from I-don’t-know-what because beachcombing isn’t just recreation for me, it’s a fairly serious compulsion.
And here’s our man-made stuff (i.e. artifacts, because I am convinced at least one of these items came from a shipwreck and not just from a tourist’s pocket). My partner found the quarter (obviously modern). Her sister found the crucifix and I found the coin I’m not going to identify for you. Your guess.
Time to pack the car and go turn in the keys.
alessandro ciapanna
/ April 14, 2012it’s definitely a rule. all my drawers are full of shells and bones and bits of glass
Fork in My Eye
/ April 14, 2012Outstanding. I bet you’ve found some interesting things in your travels. Thanks for visiting.
kentiki
/ April 14, 2012Nice haul! Fascinating to look at. I really like the patina of the crucifix.
Fork in My Eye
/ April 14, 2012Thanks! It’s fun to imagine where that crucifix might have come from.
cravesadventure
/ April 14, 2012What a great haul and some unusual items to boot too!
Fork in My Eye
/ April 14, 2012I’ve been beachcombing on Atlantic and Gulf beaches all my life but still manage to find things I can’t identify right away. Fun stuff.
frenchfry36
/ April 15, 2012What a fantastic haul! I’m not sure you’re allowed to collect shells from the beaches in Australia – I think at the very least it is “discouraged”.
Fork in My Eye
/ April 15, 2012Really? I would have such a hard time with that. I could take photos though. That’s actually pretty fun too, trying to find the perfect still life in the sand. My brother and his family are living in Melbourne for a while. I’d love to visit but probably too much to manage financially. He takes beautiful photos though, so I get to visit vicariously (like when I get to visit France through your blog). Very fun.
mthew
/ April 15, 2012Nice haul. The ‘Banks must have some awesome stuff, not least one more whelk species than up here in the north. I’m trying to remember how big a “Kennedy” half dollar is… bigger I think than your mystery coin, so I’ll opt for a dollar coin.
Wilma Milton
/ April 15, 2012More like a silver dollar.
Fork in My Eye
/ April 16, 2012Hi Wilma! I’m so glad to see you stopped by! It’s hard to tell the size in the photo but it is a Kennedy half dollar. I can’t see the date though, so it’s possible it’s one of those early ones that were silver. (I looked it up. The 1964 coins were 90% silver and from 1965-1970, they were 40% silver.) I thought about trying to clean it to find out, but decided it’s more fun not knowing.
Fork in My Eye
/ April 16, 2012The lightning whelk? I didn’t know how to tell the whelk egg cases apart until I searched and found your post. Very cool. So that’s a channeled whelk egg case in the photo? And one I brought home is a knobbed whelk. Fun stuff. The coin is a Kennedy half dollar. I enlarged the image and could see some of the lettering and a very small part of the eagle’s wing on the back. I was hoping it was a foreign coin or an older half dollar but still fun.
muddledmom
/ April 15, 2012Wow, that’s great! When we go to the beach, my kids pick up every broken, crappy piece of shell and say, Look, Mommy! and throw it in the bucket. We come home with lots of junk mostly and the few bits my husband and I can manage to find between making sure the kids don’t wash out to sea.
Fork in My Eye
/ April 16, 2012Our boys used to do the same thing! And I remember how exhausting it was trying to keep them safe near (or in) the ocean. It’s a lot more relaxing with teenagers, though we had to practically drag our 16-year-old away from his computer to get him to just go for a walk with us on the beach. By the end of the week, when the rest of us were at least a little sunburned, he looked like he had spent the week in a cave.
Jody
/ May 26, 2012Wow, you have some great finds here! I especially love the little smooth bits and pieces. They’re great pocket bits! It’s hard to beat the Outer Banks.