Travis Nichols has spent years walking Nantucket’s beaches with his metal detector.
His persistence just paid off in a way he never expected.
And this Nantucket treasure hunter made one discovery on a beach that will blow your mind.
Metal detecting hobbyist Travis Nichols spends his days helping others find lost jewelry and valuables on Nantucket’s beaches. But his real passion lies in uncovering pieces of history buried beneath the sand.
Nichols recently struck treasure hunter’s gold on a south shore beach. The 1782 Spanish silver one-reale coin represents more than just another addition to his already impressive collection of over 300 historic coins.
The discovery raises fascinating questions about how a coin minted in Mexico City ended up buried on a Massachusetts beach more than 240 years later.
"This coin came from Mexico City, somehow sailed to New England and then probably took another ship to Nantucket," Nichols told the Nantucket Inquirer and Mirror.¹ "What was it doing on the south shore?"
A hobby that pays dividends beyond money
Nichols has become a fixture in the Nantucket community for his willingness to help folks recover lost possessions. People call him several times a day during the summer months when they’ve misplaced wedding rings, bracelets, or other precious items in the sand.
"Is returning a $25,000 ring super-important and community-focused? Absolutely," Nichols explained.² "But selfishly, finding a $30 silver coin is the top."
The dedicated detectorist estimates he spends 12 to 15 hours per week searching Nantucket’s beaches during peak season. His reputation for recovering lost items has spread through word of mouth, making him the go-to person when valuables disappear into the sand.
Beyond helping neighbors, Nichols traveled internationally for eight months through Mexico, Aruba, England, Wales, France, and the Netherlands, turning up medieval coins dating back to 1100 A.D.³
His most significant Nantucket finds include two rare "kettle points" – pieces of metal used for trade between Nantucket’s original settlers and local Native Americans in the 1600s.⁴
The beach location that keeps producing treasures
The spot where Nichols discovered the Spanish coin has proven to be a productive hunting ground. He previously found a historic penny at the same location that had been clipped to half its value.
"To think on Nantucket, a penny was too much money," Nichols remarked about the find, revealing just how economically strained early island residents were at times.⁵
The detectorist plans to keep patrolling the area to see what else turns up.
Nantucket’s south shore beaches are less touristy than other parts of the island, which means less modern trash competing with historic finds. The location also sits near shipping lanes where countless wrecks occurred over the centuries.
Nichols believes the coin is relatively young compared to other Nantucket discoveries. Other detectorists have found coins on the island dating back to the 1650s.
The 1782 coin would have circulated during Nantucket’s heyday as America’s whaling capital. Between the early 1700s and late 1830s, Nantucket dominated the global whaling industry.
Nantucket’s maritime past preserved in the sand
Ships carrying New World riches regularly passed through New England waters during the 18th century. These Spanish coins were everywhere back then. The "pieces of eight" you’ve heard about in pirate movies? That’s exactly what Nichols found. Spain minted them in Mexico, Peru, and Bolivia, and they ended up all over the American colonies because Spanish territory stretched from California to Argentina.
Nantucket wasn’t some sleepy island back in the 1700s and 1800s. Whaling ships, merchant vessels loaded with Chinese porcelain and silk, ships carrying exotic goods from around the world – they all stopped here. Foreign coins flowed through the island like water.
Nichols isn’t alone in striking gold this year. A detectorist in Romania dug up 1,469 ancient Roman coins. Treasure hunters in Poland found pots filled with coins and gold while they were searching for old German V-2 rockets.⁶ The hobby’s exploding – manufacturers can’t keep up with demand as more people realize you don’t need to be an expert to find history buried in your own backyard.⁷
What drives Nichols isn’t the money. A 240-year-old coin connects you directly to someone who carried it in their pocket, bought goods with it, maybe lost it during a storm. That person’s long gone, but the coin survived. That’s what keeps him coming back.
The Spanish coin sits in his collection now, proof that Nantucket’s beaches haven’t given up all their secrets yet.
¹ Andrea Margolis, "Treasure hunter’s persistence pays off with rare Spanish coin discovery on Nantucket beach," Fox News, October 20, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ Chris Perry, "Chris Perry Column: Look What I Found!," Nantucket Current, August 26, 2025.
⁴ Ibid.
⁵ Margolis, Fox News.
⁶ Ibid.
⁷ "Metal Detectors Market Poised for Significant Growth Through 2032," Persistence Market Research, May 14, 2025.
