The sand dollar is an unlikely architectural muse. It is hard, often misshapen, and relatively flat, all of which makes it just about the last thing you’d model a building after.

The record sand dollar, according to the Guinness World Records, measured just over 5 inches in diameter. But Talaska says the sand dollar he found was of a different species.

Sand dollars have been found dotting the coastline, an iconic beach find once a common sight along Southern California beaches. Winter low tides help expose the dead sand dollar skeletons, which ...

Taking home a live sand dollar from a South Carolina beach is illegal. On Hilton Head Island, you could be hit with a $500 fine.

2. Check out the color. Live sand dollars don't look like those perfectly white "shells" you see in gift shops. The living creatures are much darker, usually somewhere between brown and purple.