No. 178 - Sand Dollar

While scouring the beach this morning for sea shells, my son would occasionally exclaim, "Hey, there's a sand dollar!" For the record, we have never found a sand dollar. I was thinking that we'd be more likely to find a federal reserve note than a sand dollar and then wondered what the value of a sand dollar is.

I learned that a sand dollar is a name used for many species of flattened, burrowing sea urchins. The name "sand dollar" comes from the shape and color of the skeleton, or test, after it washes up on the beach. At that point the test is usually missing its velvety covering of minute spines and is often bleached white by the sun. The test is generally similar in shape and size to a large silver coin.

A review of a website specializing in the sale of sea shells, showed that a sand dollar the size of a quarter cost about twenty-five cents. A sand dollar needs to reach about three inches in diameter in order to be traded for a U.S. dollar.