Found Objects: The Key

Spanish Banks, image via Wikipedia,

This story is about the coolest object I ever found. It happened when I was about 6 years old and my family went on a day trip to Spanish Banks  near Vancouver BC.  For those of you only slightly familiar with Spanish Banks and the Vancouver area I should inform you that no, Spanish Banks is not the nude beach. Wreck beach is the nude beach ( I don‘t want you thinking my parents brought a 6 year old to a nude beach) . They are near each other but not the same place. If you ever visit the area make sure you don’t get them mixed up! Now that I have your attention with talk of nudity, on with the story…
I was walking along the shore playing and jumping around the rocks  when a tiny piece of metal sticking out of the sand about an inch caught my eye.  I reached down and pulled out this:

An old huge rusty key. There were some other chunks of metal and some rusty old bolts and nuts in the sand too but the key was by far the neatest object.

Comparing the skeleton key to my house key

I’ve always wondered how did the key end up there? Was there a ship wreck way back in the day that finally made it’s way to shore?  I don’t think someone planted it there just based on the other debris that was also washed ashore. Sadly I will never know. Maybe that’s a good thing, I would hate to be disappointed if the real story behind the key was less interesting than the wild scenarios I came up with in my head.
I love finding neat old stuff like the key.  It’s rare that I actually do find anything but  it’s the rarity that makes it more special when you do.
If this key could talk, what stories would it tell?