Jul 20, 2009 11:00 pm US/Eastern

Ocean County Man Finds Purple Pearl

MYSTIC ISLAND, N.J. (CBS 3)

An Ocean County man turned his craving for some fresh clams into a possible small fortune.

Ed Seitzy asked his clam-digging neighbor, Joey, last Thursday if he could have a few clams for dinner.

"I opened it and it had this funny looking thing in it. I sort of knew what it was, but it sort of looked like dirt. I hit it and thought it was a pearl," said Seitzy.

What Ed found wasn't just any pearl, it was a purple one.

When Ed learned the odds of finding a purple pearl, one in two million, he decided to call a jeweler.

"The reaction was pure disbelief because nobody had heard of it before. Several jewelers didn't know what we were talking about," said Seitzy.

In January, a Florida couple found a smaller purple pearl and netted $25,000. But Ed has heard about even bigger payouts.

"A million dollars maybe."

Ed is going to get the pearl appraised and said if the pearl is worth a million, he will give Joey his boat.

After all, Ed may be upgrading.

An Ocean County man turned his craving for some fresh clams into a possible small fortune.

LINK TO VIDEO:

  http://cbs3.com/local/Ocean.County.pearl.2.1093877.html