Log onto eBay. A seller known by the screen name “Chuckiepoo” is about to close a deal on a small jar of sand from Iwo Jima on the island of Okinawa. In two minutes, his buyer, “Yoda9906” will be forking over $20.00 for the privilege of owning a minute piece of history. The photo included in the listing verifies the seller’s statement that this is “not a rinky-dink test tube, or vial” but “a right fair amount” of the sand from the actual battleground. The gentlemen in question are among the ranks of a little-known but quickly growing group of sand collectors who travel to far-flung destinations in search of their hidden treasure.

For many of us, as we’ve begun to grow older, traveling has lost its manic character and developed a gentler, less athletic feel. But if your last vacation trip left you with nothing but a T-shirt, a sunburn, and the “been there; done that” feeling, then perhaps it’s time to consider one of the most intriguing adventures in the Wide World of Hobbies: Sand collecting.

Who in the World Collects Sand?

I met my first sand collector at the post office. He was ahead of me in line, about, as it turned out, to mail a sand sample to a prospective buyer. When I overheard him ask the postmaster to let people know he had sand for sale, I jumped into the conversation. As a horse farmer, I’m always in search of odd piles of dirt, sawdust, gravel and sand, items most folks might find worthless. I was envisioning tons of grit just waiting for me and my truck to haul it home for my riding ring. The gentleman patiently waited for me to complete my transaction before disabusing me of the notion that he would fill my yard with sand.

Donald C. Beck, known on eBay as “MrSand,” lives in rural Branchville, New Jersey. In real life he works as a representative for a securities firm, but on his own time he travels the country in search of exotic sand for his collection and for bartering and selling to other collectors.