I was on a beach a few days ago, birdwatching, when I noticed a small corroded metal disk stuck in a crack.

“Wow, a coin!” I thought, and did what anyone else would and picked it up.

Well the face was completely illegible, and I thought I could just about discern a Queen Victoria young head

But to be honest it could have been the King of Thailand, it was so corroded. It didn’t appear to have any reeding or milling on the edges so my first guess was a nineteenth century half penny.

However, it wasn’t my lucky day. When I flipped it over all was revealed

it was simply a very corroded standard 10 cent coin.

Now we all know that more often or not what turns up is not that interesting, but it’s the finding and tracing that’s fun …