David Cohen, who combs the beaches in the Edgemere section of Long Island, as well as adjacent areas, for trinkets and coins lost during the Summer months by bathers, has an ambition.
With the proceeds of his “finds” this winter, Cohen, one of Long Island’s veteran beach-combers, a gentry that is slowly fading into oblivion, plans to make a trip to Palestine.
Cohen’s only implements are a shovel and a sieve. With these he sifts sand from around poles and jetties, as well as other vicinities where the Atlantic Ocean is likely to cache valuables. He has been at this unusual occupation for six years, during which time he has found thousands of coins and retrieved scores of pieces of lost jewelry. To those owners who have been able to establish complete identity, Cohen has returned items.
This season has been one of Cohen’s best. He has found several valuable pieces of jewelry, all of which, apparently, had been tossed around by the ocean for a number of years.
He makes it his business to be on the beaches with the rising of the sun and stays until darkness makes his searching impossible.
Cohen, whose chief hobby aside from his unique business is reading, has read much of Palestine, and it has been one of his wishes to visit there.
He is a graduate of New York University, holding a B.A. degree.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
