She walked along the Baltic Sea and found a treasure worth 35 million

While walking on the beach, Britta Krause came across an object that looked like ordinary plastic. It turned out that she was holding a unique piece of amber in her hand.

The greatest treasures are hidden in the most unexpected places – in dusty basements, shopping bags abandoned in the garbage, and sometimes the sea itself throws them away. This was the case for Britta Krause – an avid beachgoer who, in early May 2025, on the beach in Lindhöft on the Baltic Sea , came across something that looked like plastic. In fact, it was amber – and not just any amber, weighing 190 grams.

A piece of amber in the sea, sample photo / Shutterstock

Amber , called the "gold of the Baltic", has been valued for centuries for its aesthetic value. Today, it also has great scientific value. Formed from the resin of coniferous trees that grew in the Eocene (56 to 33.9 million years ago), it is one of the most important sources of knowledge about ancient ecosystems.

At first, Britta Krause, who has been combing the Lindhöft beaches for over 40 years in search of natural minerals , sea urchins and belemnites, thought the find was just a piece of plastic. However, thanks to her many years of experience, she quickly realised that she was dealing with something special.

Natural amber can be recognized by several characteristic features:

• floats on the surface of water with added salt,
• glows under UV light (blue-white or greenish),
• can be scratched with a fingernail.

Amber - the gold of the Baltic Sea / Shutterstock

Britta Krause's find was taken to the Geological and Mineralogical Museum in Cologne. Museum expert Matthias Alberti confirmed the authenticity of the amber and its age – around 35 million years .

In the coming months, the amber will be analyzed using computed tomography. The aim will be to detect so-called inclusions – remains of organisms preserved in the amber , such as insects, plant fragments or microorganisms. For paleontologists, this is invaluable material for research on the history of life on Earth.

It is worth adding that one of the most expensive amber pieces sold at auction was a specimen containing an inclusion of a dinosaur (theropod) tail, which in 2016 reached a price of nearly 100,000 dollars.