Recently, a couple found ambergris (whale throw up) and the news outlets exploded with the couple’s new found money. It also sent people rushing to the beaches to look for ambergris to sell to perfume makers.
The same thing happened back in 1912 when a man found something weird on the beach, had it tested, and found out that he was suddenly $19,000 richer – a lot of money at that time.
Whale Coughs Up $19,200 [Ambergris]
Brockton, Mass., Jan. 12 — While William White was walking along Nantasket beach he ran across a chunk of something that didn’t look like anything he had ever seen before. Scraping off a piece he sent it to a chemist for analysis.
Careful tests showed that it yielded all the properties of ambergris, that precious matter used in cologne making. William carried the whole chunk to town.
Ambergris is worth $60 an ounce; Williams find will bring him $19,200. It is thought that a sick whale coughed it up.
Nantasket beach is now patrolled by fortune seekers, each anxious to find a sick whale that may be persuaded to cough up.
[Source: (1912, January 12). Whale Coughs Up $19,200. The Day Book.]
