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.

Choose your beaches carefully

What constitutes a “great” sand? Surprisingly, Mr. Beck assures me that a “big name” sand may not be the one that brings the highest price at auction. Indeed, as I checked eBay, I discovered that the sales pitches were geared toward particular qualities of the sand in question, with little regard to the “name” of the location. One vial of sand from Iwo Jima had been bid up to $20.00 as I searched, but I did note that the description of the sand indicated that it had been a part of the owner’s collection since the landing on that beach during the war. That, apparently, was the key to its value. “Anyone can get sand from a famous beach,” Mr. Beck informed me. “That’s not a big deal. It is a big deal to get sand from a beach that’s closed to the public and that you have to hike half a day over rocks to get to. That’s where the best sand is.”

His most valuable sand? MrSand found that question impossible to answer. The value of the sand is in the eye (and wallet) of the collector. As with most collectibles, this is a case of “run it up the flagpole and see who writes the biggest check.” His favorite sample was easier to identify. He smiled and held up a small bottle. "I walked miles over the worst rocks to get this." The beach in question had no name, lying as it did within the perimeter of a government military installation. "It wasn't easy to get in there," he explained quietly, a conspiratorial sparkle in his eye, "so I'm pretty sure not too many other people will have a sample like this one."

Be a Stand-Out

Sand collectors tend to specialize. A complete set of the sand from every beach in one particular geographic area may be worth far more than the solitary baggie scooped up from the beach where Columbus first planted his feet (unless, of course, it was Columbus who collected the sample). The beaches with big parking lots and on-site bars and souvenir shops are, generally speaking, not particularly collectible. Samples from those locations may fill out a collection of “Sands of Massachusetts,” but they will not be the centerpieces. The truly exciting finds are the sands from tiny spits of land which require half a day’s hike beyond the end of the last beach past the final rock pile around the hook from the place no one has ever seen before. If the sample cost you a pair of hiking boots and a few bumps and scrapes (or a potential arrest for trespassing on a top-secret government installation), so much the better when marketing time arrives.

Sample preparation is key

A great deal of preparation is involved in creating a saleable or trade-worthy sand sample. Assuming you’ve found some collectible sand samples, the steps for preservation are as follows:

1. The collected sand must be washed, picked through to remove anything noxious, then spread in the sun to dry. Keeping the sand samples separated is key, so a large picnic table is helpful. “Some sand,” says Mr. Beck, “is known for a particular feature, so you can tell right away where it came from.” You can’t fudge with a die-hard sand collector! Some sand is colored or has particular marine artifacts incorporated.
2. Store the dry sand in tightly closed bottles. Beck prefers the small, airplane-style liquor bottles that are better known for holding rum. He cleans and sterilizes the bottles, and removes their labels before filling them with the clean, dry sand. There is a little side bonus to using liquor bottles. “I’ve got a lifetime supply of rum,” he quipped.
3. Label the bottles carefully. The name of the beach, the location, and the date of collection are all important bits of information for a collector. If there’s a story that makes the sand more meaningful, include that as well. You may think you’ll remember forever that day on the pink sand beach on Bermuda, but as the collection grows, the memory dwindles.
4. Store the bottles in a dry location so the labels won’t peel and the appearance of the display will remain attractive. Though some collectors store in bulk then parse out the sand when it’s sold, Mr. Beck takes pride in his sand display cabinet. In fact, he arrived for our interview carrying a small travel-version of his larger collection, and regaled me for some time with the stories attached to each collection adventure.

Get going!

So, as you pack away your summer clothing and prepare for a long winter’s hibernation, you might want to drag out that atlas and magnifying glass and investigate the beaches in your area. Start small and local, and you can start now, saving the big trips and distant beaches for next summer’s travels. It’s never too late to adopt a new hobby, and one like sand collecting is not only rewarding, but can be a wonderful excuse for finally making those reservations for distant destinations.