The Curse of Oak Island: Fantastic New Find Makes Gary’s Toes Tingle (Season 5) | History

NARRATOR: As a new day begins, Drayton, along with Fornetti and Jack Begley, start searching for new clues at the area known as Isaac’s Point, located on the eastern side of the island.

GARY DRAYTON: Well, I’m going out to the Point and doing a sweep around.
There were a couple of big storms there, so erosion down that side.
There might be something that got pulled away.

JACK BEGLEY: Yeah, that’s what I’m hoping.
Gotcha.

GARY DRAYTON: Alright, now let’s go.
One of the first things I was told when I walked onto the island was that there had been a couple of bad storms, and there’d been some beach erosion.
Like, that makes you think because when things are eroded, anything that was in those areas is now on the beach.

[beeping]
“I’m getting a signal.”
“No, it’s jumpy.”
“But it’s hard to tell.”
“Once you start putting search coils down, you get wonky readings.”
“[beeping]”
“It might be out. It just might be surface.”
“I hope not.”

JACK BEGLEY: “Don’t keep us in suspense.”

GARY DRAYTON: “Oh, it’s part of a coin!”
“It’s a cut coin.”

GARY DRAYTON: “I bet you this is a cut maravedí.”
“Oh, this is great!”

NARRATOR: Often deemed the first coins of the new world, the maravedí was a Spanish copper coin that was used by explorers who traveled to the Americas during the 17th and 18th centuries.
They were also used by pirates of various nationalities as payment for their crews, and were commonly cut into pieces when it was necessary to make change or offer an advance on a purchase.
It was a 17th-century Spanish maravedí that was found in the Oak Island Swamp nearly four years ago.
Could finding another one provide even more fuel to the theory that pirates frequented the island more than previously thought before it was used as a base by the British military?

GARY DRAYTON: “Definitely have to have this cleaned.”

JACK BEGLEY: “Yeah.”
“Do you think we should call my uncle?”
“Yeah, for sure.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“We’ve actually found something that’ll blow them away.”

[phone ringing]

RICK LAGINA (ON PHONE): “Hello, Rick?”
GARY DRAYTON: “Yeah, Gary.”
JACK BEGLEY: “We have got some good finds. Some of the maravedís we found might be the oldest coins we’ve found. And they’re the best indication that someone was here back in the mid to late 1600s.”
“You’re going to love this.”

GARY DRAYTON: “Well, you’re always telling me to find something.”

MARTY LAGINA: “Yes.”
“And this time, we found it.”
“What do you got?”

GARY DRAYTON: “Well, this doesn’t even make the pocket. This is a top pocket.”

RICK LAGINA: “And you think that is—”

GARY DRAYTON: “That’s a cut maravedí.”
“And that’s an old one.”

RICK LAGINA: “Right.”
“What do you mean, ‘old’?”
“I’ve got no doubt that it’s from the 1700s.”
“It might even be earlier.”
“And look at the way it’s been cut.”

GARY DRAYTON: “Yeah.”
“It looks like it was done intentionally.”
“That’s for sure.”
“I agree with you. That’s not worn away; that’s cut.”

MARTY LAGINA: “We need to do some research on when they quit cutting these.”

GARY DRAYTON: “Yeah.”
“And the reason why this is in such good condition is because it was in the ground. It’s had no contact with saltwater.”
“We might get lucky. This might be the one with the date on it.”

MARTY LAGINA: “With the date on it?”

RICK LAGINA: “Yeah.”

MARTY LAGINA: “Gold would be great.”
“And it’s always exciting when the date is super significant.”

GARY DRAYTON: “Yeah, no doubt. This is old.”
“I mean, these maravedís were copper.”
“Then they had silver—”

MARTY LAGINA: “Right—”
“—and then gold.”
“So maybe we’re working our way up.”

[laughter]
Gary being turned on to finding stuff really underscores the importance of doing this metal detection.
If he can go out there and get this stuff reasonably, then there’s probably a lot more to find.”

RICK LAGINA: “We’ve got to get that cleaned and—”

MARTY LAGINA: “Yeah, that’s fantastic.”
“But still, no gold dance?”
“No, no gold dance.”
“But that had me wiggling.”

[light chuckling]

MARTY LAGINA: “Alright, keep going.”
“Oh, yeah, we’ve only just begun.”
“Yeah, Gary, alright!”