Have you ever found a whole sand dollar on the beach? Lots of folks look for them, but it’s a treasure when you find one still intact.
Sand dollars are actually burrowing sea urchins. When they wash up on the beach and are bleached by the sun, they look like a large silver coin, hence the moniker.
A legend about these creatures says they represent the story of Christ:
On the top of the shell is a symbol that looks like a star, a reminder of the Star of Bethlehem that led wise men to the Christ Child. Around the star is an outline of an Easter lily, a reminder of the Lord’s resurrection.
There are five holes in a sand dollar – four around the ends of the star and one in the center. According to the religious legend, the four holes represent the four wounds of Christ when his hands and feet were nailed to the cross. The center hole represents the wound made from a soldier’s spear.
When you turn over the sand dollar, you see the outline of a poinsettia, the Christmas flower. And if you break open a sand dollar, five dove-shaped pieces emerge. Doves are often used in art and literature as a symbol of peace and goodwill.
Now you know the legend of the sand dollar, a story of hope and peace. See if you can find one on your next visit to Alabama beaches.
I found my first sand dollar on Friday June 25/21. I had heard about them but never found one! I will cherish this for the rest of my life!
My grandmother found a Sandollar that represents the dove of peace
A store owner broke a sand dollar open for me to see and experience the 5 doves and the little star. I was stunned!!! Coming from South Africa, i haven’t seen anything like this in my life. This is such a blessing!! Thank you mr Storeowner, you blessed me today
My father just died this month, my mother almost six years ago. I was looking for their death certificates because I was on the phone with their life insurance provider that I didn’t even know existed, while doing that I broke one of my mothers sand dollars- I felt terrible. My daughter frantically picked up all the pieces and put them on the table. My brother came over and shared this story and said you merely released the doves Dee. That moment brought me so much peace. My parents were my rocks and will always be.
I Have my Sand dollar coin for over 20 years just
As I was walking the beach if Avon,NC looking for shells a sand dollar washed up in front of me! I just lost my horse, will be1 month in the 25th! I believe it was a sign from heaven that he’s happy & ok!
I found my sand dollar in the sand in the water near saint pete pear. And it was so cool. But I bleached it to long and broke. I’m going back Sunday. And going to see if I find anymore
My mom lived in Pismo Beach & found some sand dollars . She learned online to bleach them . It ruined them . It’s best to let them bleach , naturally. Bleaching them yourself, eats away at the star, & all of the designs on its surface. I was there one nigh on the beach , I had a basket with 42 of them that had washed up. They ranged from enormous to tiny …. Bigger than my hand spread out to as tiny as the head of a thumb tack. Along came a little boy & his mother . They had been searching for hours for just one. I gave them all to him . I had to . I can still see the boys look on his face. They were from another country . He learned about them in school. I told him everything I knew of them . He was so excited . I walked away more content than him.
Some of mine got crushed when we moved from California to Idaho. I was devastated. So I salvaged the jaws and was able to get them glued together . It was very hard to do. Inside the sand dollar they fit together as one . So when you find one , & you shake it, it rattles because… the 5 Jaws, fall apart after it dies. When you reconstruct them , they look like a beautiful star. I made a necklace from them . When they are alive , they are very dark gray. If you look on their back , you can see movement from the center. I always put them back into the water . . Since they are a live sea animal. The ones I collect have unfortunately died. On times when the tide is very low they end up being washed up as the tide deposits them on the beach. Some are lucky enough to go back out with the tide. Those that are left die eventually. It’s just the way nature works.
I grew up on Siesta Key and walked the beautiful beaches every day. I found so many cool things including tons of sand dollars. Intact also. Those were the best times, growing up in paradise.
My fiance found one intact at low tide in old orchid Beach in Maine. I was so excited about the find. As a Beach comber for many years,i was so excited and he didn’t know why and what the excitement was all about. He said he wasn’t sure what it was and when he showed me I screamed with delight. It was the last day there and we were there to bury his grandmother who passed away 3 years ago to the date 6/21/22.I feel very fortunate to have found this beautiful sand dollar and that my fiance who knows nothing about shells,took the time to pick it up and ask me what it was.
Wow my 1st time to ever find a sand dollar was Galveston Beach ⛱️ 4/ 22. My entire life here I never found one. This is an honor to me. So exited I mounted it with story. I’m a Texan. Beautiful story. Thank you.
I found them when I first moved to Florida in 1983 and I saw them in the stores and it was beautiful along with that story. But then at the beach we went to a Sandune with my daughters and we found them and I didn’t know that they were living things they were brown and the kids picked them up and on the bottom with technicals that’s what it look like to me they were alive and I could not take them home and bleach them to turn white because I didn’t want to kill a living creature. So I have them that they already passed and they’re absolutely beautiful. In the story behind. It is beautiful, but I will never go in search of the living ones again I had no idea.
I love to find them on my beach walk. They are my lucky omens. I found them often and most are intact in different shapes, different colors. Every time I feel down, need an answer for my prayers they just show up. If it is not a sign of good luck I don’t know what is. I also released some live ones back to the ocean since they got caught in low tide, they cannot survive without water for long. I am looking forward to my beach walk every time. Happiness is found in little things and for me one of this moment is spotting a sand dollars half buried in sand.
I live in Atascadero ca right up the hey from pismo beach. I lived in the 5 cities area for a few years and remember whe. I first moved there we would walk the beach at night in low tide and there would be hundreds of sand dollars on the beach that had been washed up.
Fast forward to Jan 2023, I went and had a bon fire on pismo beach with my family, and we walked the beach to not see a single sand dollar. But plenty of clan shells. I guess these stories got out and most tourists started going to look for them. I hope that they will eventually comeback because they really are something neat to see and talk about.
There’s lots of sand dollars on the west coast