A lucky stone is actually the unique ear bone or

otolith An otolith (, ' ear + , ', a stone), also called otoconium, statolith, or statoconium, is a calcium carbonate structure in the saccule or utricle (ear), utricle of the inner ear, specifically in the vestibular system of vertebrates. The saccule ...

of a freshwater drum ('' Aplodinotus grunniens''), also known as the sheephead fish. The fish's otoliths are quite large and look almost polished and ivory-like. In times past they have been worn as protective

amulet An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word , which Pliny's ''Natural History'' describes as "an object that protects a perso ...

s, made into jewelry, and traded into areas far from the fish's native range (such as

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

and

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

). Lucky stones (otoliths) have been found at ancient archaeological sites, where they are thought to have been used as good luck charms to ward off illness. Lucky stones wash up on beaches along the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

, especially

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...

. This white "stone" is desirable to collectors as the letter L and the letter J appear naturally on these "lucky stones". The J stones come from the right side of the fish and the L stones come from the left side of the freshwater drum. Oldest freshwater drum sagittal otolith

University of Minnesota Biologist George R. Spangler gives a technical explanation of the "letters" which appear on the lucky stone. "The 'L-shaped groove' is technically known as a 'sulcus'. In the living fish, the sulcus is adjacent to a series of neuromast cells in the inner ear. Pressure exerted upon these neuromasts by movement of the otolith due to gravity or to acceleration of the fish provides information to the brain regarding the orientation of the fish's body."Dr. George R. Spangler "Freshwater Drum" c 2005, 2006 Many beachcombers walk the beaches in the morning as the waves tend to wash small rocks, "beach glass" and lucky stones to the shore on a daily basis. Lucky stones are also known in other freshwater areas of North America. David Starr Jones notes that "the otoliths of the river-drum are known to Wisconsin boys as 'lucky stones' each having a rude impress of the letter L."

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