A CT boy became a “treasure hunter” at age 9. He found one.

A boy from Connecticut became a treasure hunter at just 9 years old.

For Matthew Collins, now 11 years old from Granby, it seemed completely natural.

The Collins family loves history: Matthew’s mother, Jenna, is an eighth-grade social studies teacher at Granby Memorial Middle School, and she and her husband, Dave, take educational trips with their two sons.

During one of these trips, Matthew discovered a large yellow object on the shore while camping in Salem, Massachusetts in the summer of 2022. It was dirty and rusty, but he wanted to keep it.

“He found a blob,” said Jenna Collins. “It was shaped like a bone. He showed it to us and Matthew was convinced it was a treasure, so we took it to the museum. He was convinced. They were so kind and accommodating to us… They had no idea what it was either.”

The family took the find to the nearby Real Salem Pirate Museum. The museum was interested and asked if they could keep the find so they could work on it and remove the many layers of concretion that lay on top of it.

Jenna Collins said the object was first examined in Salem and eventually shipped to Florida, where it was examined by archaeologists and eventually determined to be a long iron nail used in ships as early as the 18th century.

“He was right. Ultimately, it was a cool historical find,” said Jenna Collins.

Matthew decided to donate the nail to the museum. Last summer, the Collins family was invited to a ceremony in Salem. The nail is now housed in the museum and is attributed to Matthew.

“They made a big deal out of it and showed him the nail,” Jenna Collins said. “Being a little historian, he donated it so other people could see the artifact and look for more themselves.”

Matthew was also awarded the museum’s first annual Bold Explorer Award and a $1,000 scholarship.

Now, nearly two years later, Matthew hopes to inspire even more treasure hunters. He used the $1,000 to buy a metal detector.

“He’s a little nervous, but he’s really excited,” Jenna Collins said. “Last April, the museum invited him to come back and tell his story, and the Salem Chamber of Commerce held a ceremony for him. They wanted him to tell his story.”

Matthew is entering sixth grade and will attend Granby Memorial Middle School. His big brother Ryan, 14, will be a freshman at Granby Memorial High School in the fall.

Jenna Collins, 43, is a native New Yorker. She said her two sons are Boy Scouts and play football and lacrosse. Both are also active in their church.

Dave Collins grew up in Windsor and has lived in the state since he was born.

“We go hiking a lot as a family and always enjoy being active,” said Jenna Collins.

“This summer we’re going away again and who knows what adventures await us. We’re also hoping to come back to Salem in August because there’s so much great history there. We weren’t necessarily looking for treasure, but somehow it all came together.”

Carolyn Shapiro, co-founder and executive director of the Real Salem Pirate Museum, said Matthew is a perfect example of the museum’s mission to inspire brave explorers.

“The family was inspired by our museum, and when he found this artifact on Winter Island, he was curious about it,” Shapiro said. “Matthew is so sweet and his mom and dad were so proud. The whole thing worked out really well and we ended up making him the recipient of our first Bold Explorer Award.”

“We were inspired by him bringing us this artifact,” she added. “We were also curious and wanted to know what it was, and after a month our conservator told us he thought it was some kind of ship nail, and there are a lot of shipwrecks in the Salem and Beverly area… It was a pleasure working with Matthew and his family.”

Shapiro said the museum has been open for three years and has received good feedback from its visitors.

“We run a lot of groups,” Shapiro said. “Teachers bring kids to learn about history and experience it in different ways. People can bring their groups to us and we take good care of them. That’s how Matthew and his family found us.”

Christine Edgar, information services librarian at the Farmington Library, has been friends with the Collins family for years and is excited to have Matthew share his story on June 27 at 6 p.m. in the Jay Johnston Community Room at the Farmington Library.

“We are very excited about this event and believe it will be well received by people of all ages,” said Edgar.