Looking for lost treasures in parks and on beaches has become a bit of a passion for Chilean Luis Alvarez.
He has become so good that he can collect coins worth a couple of thousand every week. Seven days and a metal detector were all it took to raise enough money to buy a new television for his daughter.
– That’s about as much as I usually find in a week, between SEK 2,300 and 2,500 in coins alone. And because I needed to buy a new TV for my daughter, I collected them and stayed up all night to clean them, he says and continues:
– It was very late, so I couldn’t go to the bank. So I collected all the coins and put them in small bags of different denominations and then I set off to find a shop that was willing to accept them.
Had a hard time looking at first
Luis Alvarez has gradually become a bit of an expert in finding hidden and valuable things on the beach. But in the beginning he had a little difficulty and it took time before he learned to master the art.
– I thought it was enough to just turn on the metal detector to find amazing things. At first it was a strange experience because I found a lot of caps, nails and rubbish. Then I started to understand the device, the different notes and what they meant. Then the finds started to become more and better. And I collected many coins, then I made my first jewelry find, and then my first gold find, he says.
The search for coins and other valuable things is something he will continue with.
– It is rewarding because you clean up and in the end it does you good, both financially and mentally. A win-win situation, says Luis Alvarez.