Cop's seafood stew had a gem of an extra ingredient

SWAMPSCOTT, Mass. -- When Swampscott, Mass., policeman Mike Serino sat down for a birthday dinner in nearby Peabody he didn't expect to find anything in his seafood stew.

"We thought it was a rock. We didn't know what it was," Serino told CBS Boston. The egg-shaped object was an attractive find, "so we took it home," and it sat in a jewelry box for nearly six years, until he saw news of a similar discovery.

"I told my wife, I said, where is that pearl? It's valuable!" says Serino.

The "rock" turned out to be a rare lavender pearl, weighing more than six carats. It's now authenticated and is expected to go on auction at Kaminski Auctions in Beverly, Mass.

"It's likely to bring $10-15,000, but being on the Internet with the whole world able to bid on it in real time, who knows," says Morgan, who appraised the pearl.

Serino, who expects the pearl to fetch a handsome price, said he'd probably spend the money on a new kitchen for his home, where he live with his wife and daughters.

"It might end up in a ring, it might end up in a pendant, it might end up in a little plastic box in someone's collection," he says. "It was a good seafood stew and now it's even more tasty now that I've got this pearl that's worth thousands," Serino said.