A made-in-Detroit basement find

[Michael Hojnacki]

The historical museum might put that on display

[beachboy]

2004 guy found 400 k worth of 1600s gold coins washed up on the beach after the hurricane.I wonder how long he had to wait for a hurricane to come along.

Thank you for jogging my [[failing) memory -- 2004: Hurricanes Frances and Jeannie [[sp?) ... metal-detector enthusiasts crawled over the beaches like ants at a picnic. As you noted, a few hit it big:

http://archive.tcpalm.com/specialty-...341551001.html

My metal-detecting friend lives off his "earnings" ... little bits of gold he finds in the sand after the surf has been up for a few days ... claims to make $50-70k annually. That's a lotta "bits" ... did you know the phrase "two bits" comes from Spanish money - a dollar [[worth 8 silver reales) was chopped [[sometims by hatchet) into eight pieces [["pieces 'o eight") so "two bits" made a quarter-dollar.