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Swampscott Police Officer Finds Rare Pearl In Seafood Stew

SWAMPSCOTT (CBS) - It's the find of a lifetime, a rare, lavender pearl, and it all started out with a bowl of stew. "We thought it was a rock. We didn't know what it was," says Mike Serino, a Swampscott Police officer.

He found the egg shaped object in his seafood stew during a birthday dinner at a Peabody restaurant. "We thought it was pretty, so we took it home," he says.

Mike put it in a jewelry box and there it sat for nearly six years, until he saw a news story about a similar find. "I told my wife, I said, where is that pearl? It's valuable!" says Serino.

Mike Serino
Mike Serino holds the pearl (WBZ-TV)

About the size of a jelly bean, the 6+ carat pearl has been authenticated and will hit the auction block next month at Kaminski Auctions in Beverly. Harry Morgan from Kaminski's appraised the pearl. "It's likely to bring 10 to $15,000, but being on the Internet with the whole world able to bid on it in real time, who knows," says Morgan.

One thing he does know is that there are collectors out there who will pay a handsome price. "It might end up in a ring, it might end up in a pendant, it might end up in a little plastic box in someone's collection," he says. "It was a good seafood stew and now it's even more tasty now that I've got this pearl that's worth thousands," says Serino.

Pearl
Pearl found by Mike Serino (WBZ-TV)

But what to do with the money? "I wanted a new Corvette," Mike says. But the rest of his family wants a new kitchen. "I think we're going to go with the kitchen because I have to live with my three daughters and my wife, and they can be tough," he says, laughing.

As for the restaurant where Mike made the find, it closed a few years ago.

For more information, check Kaminski Auctions: http://www.kaminskiauctions.com/

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