While searching the beach in Saint Augustine, Florida, with his metal detector, a 37-year-old American made a sparkling discovery.
Coins, fake jewelry, lost keys… Metal detector hunting is often much more disappointing than it is prolific. Sometimes, however, it happens to lucky little ones to come across real treasures. This is what happened to Joseph Cook. During a recent treasure hunt on a beach in Saint Augustine, Floridathis 37-year-old American made a particularly unexpected discovery: a platinum ring topped with a real diamond!
“When I detected it, I thought it would be 5 cents, he remembers in the columns of DailyMirror. But I dug it up and it was a big diamond on a platinum ring” Without really realizing the value of his find, Joseph Cook kept his loot in the trunk of his scooter. But once at the jeweler to have the object appraised, he had the biggest surprise of his life. . “When I went to the jeweler, they told me it cost $40,000 (around €39,000, editor’s note), he says. I said, ‘Oh my God, she’s been riding my scooter for almost a week!’ I could not believe it…”
“I returned $60,000 worth of goods this year, but nothing worth that fortune…”
If some would have hastened to resell the ring to pocket a small fortune, Joseph, decided to share his find on social networks. Its goal ? Find the owner of the jewel! A few weeks later, it turned out that the ring belonged to a couple from Jacksonville. “They were happy, he confides. The woman was present during the Facetime call and she said ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe it’ and she started crying.” Delighted to have made two happy, the good Samaritan explains that he has no regrets. “It was really not disappointing to have to return it (…). Karma always does its job. Every time I return something to someone, I find something better, so I’m happy to have been able to return it. It was very nice. I have returned $60,000 worth of goods this year, but nothing that was worth such a fortune…”
And the treasures continue to pile up in the young Floridian. In his words, “about thirty rings“would wisely wait at home to be returned”to their owners“. You know what to do if you lost a jewel in Florida!