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I just read this sentence:

... estis nenio sur ĝi escepte de malgranda ora ŝlosilo ...

It's obvious what "escepte de" means, but I previously learned the word "krom" for "except".

So can the sentence also be:

... estis nenio sur ĝi krom malgranda ora ŝlosilo ...

Is there any difference between the two?

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Your two sentences mean the same thing. However, krom means "besides", and as a result there are situations in which it could mean both "except" and "as well as".

Mi havas, krom la ŝlosilo, ĉion bezonatan.

I have, besides the key, everything I need.

Do you have the key or not? To distinguish the two, we can say:

NO: Mi havas, escepte de la ŝlosilo, ĉion bezonatan.

YES: Mi havas, krom la ŝlosilo, ankaŭ ĉion bezonatan.

or better: Mi havas, (kune) kun la ŝlosilo, ĉion bezonatan.

In case you are wondering, krom is only followed by the accusative if there is ambiguity otherwise.

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    I can add that ambiguity that could be solved by adding an -N practically never appears with "krom". I at least have never been able to imagine such an example. That's why "krom ...N" is normally not used.
    – Bertilo
    Aug 31, 2016 at 15:32
  • If the word with krom is a direct object, the word takes the N-ending in the usual manner. An example from PMEG: Krom Vilhelmon Petro batis ankaŭ Paŭlon vs. Krom Vilhelmo ankaŭ Petro batis Paŭlon. Thus Mi havas krom la ŝlosilon ankaŭ ĉion bezonatan.
    – Juha Metsäkallas
    Oct 28, 2019 at 10:50

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