I think its a fossilised sea bed?

[DIYDave]

I found this on a beach on the isle of wight. I think its fossilised sea bed fragments. It appears to have gold imbedded in much of it. Could someone confirm what it is? I expect it to be fools gold but it adds a good spin to the story when told. Thanks

 

 

[DIYDave]

[DIYDave]

[grandpa]

Welcome to the Forum from Austin, Tx.! 

I think you are correct that the mineral is fool's gold, a.k.a. iron pyrite. 

You are correct about the fossil seafloor ID as well.  This type of collection of fossils is commonly called a "hash plate" when it contains multiple species jumbled together and a "death plate" when one or two species clustered together as above.  It is likely indicative of an event such as a flood that would have glomed a bunch of animals together in a death event and covered them with sediment for preservation/fossilization.

[DIYDave]

Many thanks! That's great information and makes a great story for the kids.

 

[Manticocerasman]

there is more to be found in those hash plates from IOW, if you are lucky you can find, fish remains in there ( shark teeth and spines from hybodont sharks) , fish scales and even pterosaur teeth.

 

this is an example of a shark spine in those beds: