HUGE Coin Discoveries | The Curse of Oak Island

We’ve got coin.
I found a coin.
Come on.
Wow.
It’s a gold coin.
Yes.
[laughter] NARRATOR: A gold coin.
Could this be the first solid evidence that an incredible treasure still lies buried deep within the Oak Island Money Pit?
[music playing] Huh.
[laughing] That’s got some marks on the side of it.
Let me see.
OK.
There is wording around the outside of it.
Yeah, spit on it.
Just moisten it a little bit.
[laughing] Well, there’s– there’s writing on the outside.
Wouldn’t you say?
My eyes are horrible.
I can’t tell.
All right, this I gotta see.
Honest to God, a coin out of this spoils pile?
I think so.
It’s either a coin or a button. I’m– There’s marking around the outside, Marty.
Look at that.
Put some water on that.
[mumbling] Give me the bottle.
Give me the bottle.
I can read it.
You can’t.
When treasure’s found, friendships go out the window.
That’s right.
I just want some info.
[laughing] Can you read the writing?
I think it says plated.
What the hell would that mean?
If it says plated, it’s a button.
What’s it doing deep in the money pit, almost an untapped area?
It’s highly meaningful.
It’s something out of place.
It’s in the Money Pit, very deep, in an area where it shouldn’t be.
Well, maybe that is a button.
Well, I don’t know.
I mean, the reason you think it’s a button is because it looks like there’s– –like a little dimple in the middle.
But it doesn’t go through.
Yeah, the officers back in the day, in the army and the navy in the 1700s and 1800s, they used to wear nice gold-plated buttons.
Yeah.
And if it’s a button, it’s a cuff button.
NARRATOR: A gold-plated British military button, possibly dating to the 18th century?
Could this be further evidence of British military activity on Oak Island in the years before the Money Pit was first discovered in 1795?
Holy smokes.
Look at these.
Wow.
All in one spot?
Yep.
NARRATOR: Earlier this year, while searching an area of the island that was once owned by a former American slave named Samuel Ball, the team found a number of 18th century British coins, buttons, and other artifacts.
Now we’ve got to start pulling things together.
We’ve got a button, we’ve got coins, and this.
Maybe this is some kind of cam.
Well, we are starting to zero in on something, something happening here of substance in the mid 1700s.
Fred Nolan felt that the Money Pit was engineered, that it was done by a disciplined group of individuals.
Where are you going to go?
Who has all of those capabilities, if you will, at that time?
It would be military.
If that little gold button predates the discovery of the Money Pit, then yeah, it is the most important thing dug out of the Money Pit since, well, maybe ever.
Well, the fact that you found it– were able to find it– Well, the fact that you found it is what’s amazing.
Well that’s what you guys invited me to– Yeah, true.
–told me to do.
You said you’d find gold, by god.
You were supposed to find a tiny bit more than that, but that’s OK.
GARY: No mistaking these spoils, mate. Now, all of these spoils that we’re gonna go over today, came from Lot 5 around the big feature. There’s a big pile…
NARRATOR: Metal detection expert Gary Drayton and Peter Fornetti arrive on Lot 4, located on the western side of the island. -Now, let’s get stuck in there, mate. -Okay.
NARRATOR: They are searching more than ten tons of spoils that were excavated last year from the mysterious round feature near the shoreline of Lot 5. Since the team has found artifacts in that stone-lined foundation that wildly vary in age– such as the 14th-century lead barter token and 17th-century iron tools– and also, because they have recovered a mortar-like substance within it that matches materials discovered more than 100 feet deep in the Money Pit, as well as below Cone E of the potentially 800-year-old Nolan’s Cross… We’ll go over it twice, Pete.
-PETER: Sounds good. -Nonferrous first.
And then we’ll pull some ferrous out.
NARRATOR: …Rick and Marty are hoping that Gary and Peter will find more clues to help confirm when the feature was created, and, most importantly, why. (metal detector beeping) -Ooh, a banging signal, mate. -Okay.
It’s gonna be good, mate. Just there.
Let’s do it.
(metal detector beeping) -It’s out. -Ooh, it’s out.
Let’s see what we’ve got.
(pinpointer beeping) PETER: In your hand?
GARY: What a find! -I think we’ve found a cut coin. -Okay.
GARY: And if this is a cut coin, mate…
(stammers) Oh…
-I’m getting… -(chuckling) -I’m getting bumswizzled, mate. -Yeah.
If this is a cut coin, mate, -it could well be a Spanish coin. -Mm-hmm.
-More than likely, it’s silver, mate. -Okay.
GARY: And that has got to be a really clean break to cut in like a quarter like that.
‘Cause that’s what they used to do.
-They used to cut the silver and gold coins up. -Okay.
-It was to make change back in the day. -Mm-hmm.
NARRATOR: A cut– potentially Spanish– treasure coin? Between the 15th and 18th centuries, when European nations such as Spain, England and France were colonizing and establishing trade routes throughout the Americas, it was common practice for both militaries and outlaw pirates to cut coins and distribute them as payment to crew members. This can tell a story, -and I know that my Uncle Rick… -Yeah.
…is going to be really excited to see this.
-He is, mate. -(laughs) -High five, mate. -All right.
This is absolutely brilliant.
We’ll put it in a bag, mate, and let’s get it back to the lab.
All right. Let’s do it.
-What a day. -GARY: Wow. What a day, all right. NARRATOR: Following their discovery on Lot 4… RICK: Well, well, well…
-(sighs) -(laughs) -Look at that walk. (laughs) -What a strut.
NARRATOR: …Gary and Peter arrive at the Oak Island Laboratory to share it with Rick and Jack Begley and have it analyzed by archaeologist Laird Niven and archaeometallurgist Emma Culligan. -What’s up? -GARY: Well, Pete and I -What’s up? -GARY: Well, Pete and I have been searching those spoils off Lot 5, and we have just recovered a real top-pocket find.
You are gonna love this.
Ooh…
What do you think of that beauty?
It’s got some weight to it.
What is it?
LAIRD: It’s a cut coin.
GARY: And Pete and I believe it’s more than likely gonna be silver.
-No way! -Way!
-And it’s perfectly cut. -GARY: Yeah.
-It’s quartered, right? -Yeah.
This is treasure. This is Oak Island treasure.
I’m gonna pop it out, put it in the CT scan, and try to get an image.
LAIRD: Let’s do it.
NARRATOR: In order to visualize any identifiable features on the coin, Emma will now analyze it with the Skyscan 1273 CT scanner. The device works by emitting X-ray radiation to produce magnified, three-dimensional images of artifacts. This is a really, really quick scan.
So, it’s not gonna be a great image.
There is a lot of scratch marks.
A longer scan should reveal a lot more detail.
RICK: So, you’re gonna run a longer scan?
Mm-hmm. Oh, yeah.
We’re gonna have to be a bit more patient.
-Mm-hmm. -It’s early days.
-It’s early days. -RICK: Where there’s one, there might be two, three, four, five.
GARY: Oh, yeah.
Yeah, because this was cut up as change.
RICK: So, look, a great day.
You guys did your high five out in the field.
-LAIRD: Yeah, yeah. -We’ll do a high five in here, all right?
Come on.
GARY: Uh… Uh.
RICK: There’s only one thing to say. Let’s go find more. RICK: Lady, gentlemen, today we’re gonna learn about something that I think has caused great excitement.
NARRATOR: Rick and other members of the team meet via video conference with Marty and Craig in the war room. They are eager to hear an updated scientific report on the silver coin that was discovered in the spoils removed from the stone foundation on Lot 5. Hopefully, Emma can tell us what she found out about this cut coin.
So, the CT scanner, although it could catch some of the abraded surface, like all the scratches on the surface, getting any detail was nearly impossible.
We couldn’t really see any details, but there was faint signs or faint engravings on one side.
LAIRD: You could see some sort of writing on it, -but couldn’t make it out. -Mm.
So I just popped that into the XRF map scanner.
So this is a compositional surface scan of one side of that coin.
It is, in fact, silver, but it does have a little bit of a lead content.
Like, I only left these elements ’cause they image really well on the XRF map.
NARRATOR: X-ray fluorescence– or XRF scanning– uses highly-focused beams of x-rays, which assigns specific colors to the elements that are present on the surface of objects. The process reveals fine, microscopic details that are not visible to the naked eye. Initially, when you guys brought it in, we did think that it could be Spanish.
But as you can see, you see the “GVLI” -really clearly. -GARY: Hmm.
EMMA: And this little… little design over here…
…and these two little triangular spots.
ALEX: Mm-hmm.
So, this right here is a William III shilling.
Silver, same diameter.
And it matches the designs to a T.
-MARTY: Wow. -ALEX: Wow.
EMMA: So it’s an English shilling from the 1690s.
Oh, yeah. You can see the ponytail.
EMMA: Yeah.
And the little two triangles is its little ribbon.
Wow, that’s a shocker.
Emma, fantastic detective work.
I mean, there’s a million coins out there, and to have that match like that is really, really cool. Very impressive.
She’s figured out what coin this is. -Yep. -ALEX: Mm-hmm.
Absolutely.
MARTY: Laird, doesn’t this kind of go to your thought that that habitation there on Lot 5, you know, was older than mid-1700s, pushing things back into the 1600s or very close? Is that all correct? Yeah. Yeah.
It certainly supports a possible earlier date.
So this may also suggest that this was a stopping place for them over a period of time.
Yes.
The hell was they doing there?
MARTY: Well, this is much less likely to be a component of treasure, but rather -somebody who was on Lot 5 doing something– some -Yup.
-officer, perhaps, being paid. -Yup.
This makes me think of a book I read by, uh, This makes me think of a book I read by, uh, Graham Harris and Les MacPhie about the British military trying to recover, um, William Phips’ treasure here on Oak Island.
NARRATOR: In their 1999 book entitled Oak Island and Its Lost Treasure, Graham Harris and Les MacPhie put forth an extraordinary theory about secret events that they believe took place on Oak Island after Sir William Phips allegedly buried a treasure vault in the Money Pit area. According to their research, English allies of Phips, who assisted him and Andrew Belcher during the second treasure salvage operation of the Concepción, made a number of failed attempts to retrieve the valuables on Oak Island between the late 1600s and the 1750s. DOUG: So, if-if that’s true, this could be evidence that the British military were here.
That fits in really well.
NARRATOR: Could Doug Crowell be correct that this 1697 silver English coin might be connected to one of those failed treasure recoveries? DOUG: They didn’t retrieve the treasure.
And the gold and silver particles in the current water test indicate that that treasure’s probably still there.
You got to find it, man.
And I think this is somehow significant. The things happening on Lot 5 have certainly moved the dial. I’m sure of that.
Yeah.
RICK: Oak Island is a very complex mystery. Perhaps a mystery that has been developing over decades, if not centuries.
But there’s one way for this to be put to bed. We have to find proof that the most hardened skeptic says, “I believe.” And we continue to endeavor to do that. Okay, I think we’re all set to get out back and keep digging.
-Okay. -Okay.
MARTY: Get back out there and find some more. (laughs) NARRATOR: As a new day begins on Oak Island, Marty Lagina’s son, Alex, along with Jack Begley have brought metal detection expert Gary Drayton to the area on the island known as Lot 6.
It is also one of the lots once owned by Samuel Ball, a former American slave who once lived on Oak Island.
So this is the property line right here.
OK.
What do you say, about 20 feet?
Right in here would be probably a good place to start.
[metal detector beeping] Let’s see if the first target of the day could be a Spanish coin.
Cross your fingers.
NARRATOR: Having traveled to Oak Island from his home in Florida, Gary Drayton brings over 25 years of experience detecting near surface artifacts and treasure.
Is that a good hit?
Yeah, that’s a good deal.
All right.
NARRATOR: Over the years, he has recovered more than $1 million worth of everything from ancient jewelry and coins to priceless historic artifacts.
[metal detector beeping] Wow, straight on it.
A nail.
Yeah.
OK.
So let’s keep looking.
[metal detector beeping] NARRATOR: Using the Minelab CTX 3030, Gary will be able to detect up to three feet underground.
He will also be able to distinguish between ferrous metals, such as iron, and non-ferrous metals, such as gold or silver.
Nothing so far, huh?
No.
All it takes is one good target.
There’s a lot of iron in this area, which means people have been there– man-made stuff.
[metal detector beeping] That’s not iron.
That’s a good sound.
[flat beep] Yeah.
Straight in the metal.
Gary gets what he thinks is a possibly an exciting hit.
And he thought it was great because it was so deep.
I started getting down there and digging a bunch of dirt up.
So dirty as heck, but we’re sticking to our guns.
[metal detector beeping] GARY: That’s a good target.
See how good it sounds now?
We’ve got real readings.
It’s not moving around.
Hopefully it’s something good.
Oh!
It’s a coin.
GARY: It’s a coin.
We’ve got a coin.
NARRATOR: A coin?
Could it possibly be one that was once in the possession of Samuel Ball?
Perhaps even one he found while searching for treasure on Oak Island?
Face on that side.
Now that’s exciting.
Way to go, Jack.
Way to go all of us.
Hey, guys.
CRAIG: What’d you find, Gary?
GARY: A coin, just the wrong color.
I’m still looking for that gold-colored coin.
CRAIG: Well, I’m hoping you’re going to find the gold one.
Here’s the coin.
Nice.
And then Jack found a ring.
– Here? – Yeah.
Look.
Just over there.
Way to go, Jack.
What do you make of that?
If we’re finding copper rings, copper coins, I’m sure there’s other items we can find.
So this is a hot little area you’ve put us in.
I’d love to watch you find the gold one.
I want that big grin on your face.
And see my gold dance.
[laughter] RICK: Exactly.
GARY: I don’t want to spoil it for you.
Whoa.
Whoa!
Is it a coin?
I believe this is a coin.
No.
You serious?
What?
No!
NARRATOR: A coin found in the Oak Island Swamp?
That is a– Is that– what’s that?
Eight [inaudible]?
What the hell is it?
An eight?
What is it?
Yeah.
It is an eight, isn’t it?
NARRATOR: A strange coin with an eight on it?
What is it?
I’ve got no idea, mate.
NARRATOR: Could this be the first of many waiting to be found, part of a mother lode?
Were those trapezoid edges at one time, do you think?
Well, it’s copper.
Yeah?
You know, I’ve seen something like this.
They’re called like “mervadas” or something like this.
I’ve seen something like this before.
Mervadas? That’s Spanish.
– That’s Spanish. – Yeah.
Really?
Yeah, they are.
Like, 1500s or 1600s, or something like that.
NARRATOR: For more than 200 years, people have been wondering about just what, if anything, lies buried on Oak Island.
In addition to theories about the Knights Templar, or their successors, the Freemasons, having hidden priceless religious artifacts deep within booby-trapped vaults, there are those that tell stories of Spanish explorers hiding a portion of their golden plunder rather than turn it all over to the king.
Could finding a Spanish coin on Oak Island be evidence that this theory is true?
This is probably the most valuable-looking thing that’s ever been found on Oak Island– – Yeah. – Yeah.
[laughter] – –to date.
But we’ve got a long ways to go.
Oh, yeah.
NARRATOR: For Marty Lagina, finding tangible evidence of something valuable being buried on Oak Island is critical if he is to continue pumping more time and money into this project.
MARTY LAGINA: It’s a great thing to be here with Rick right now because, like, here we are, off again, collecting money from our paper route.
Only this time, it’s a pirate coin in the swamp.
I’m just ecstatic about that because I see the happiness on my brother’s face.
And that’s great.
But even so, the other day, I had serious discussion with Rick about throwing in the towel.
So I said, jeez, Rick, we don’t have a lot here.
I need to see irrefutable proof.
NARRATOR: Could this be the proof Marty has been looking for?
A small copper coin?
MARTY LAGINA: This at least says a lot.
We’ve got to figure out what it is.
He’s always looking for proof.
Show me the proof.
OK, here’s the coin.
Here’s the proof.
OK.
I just have one question.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I can feel this coming.
Talk to me.
I’m sorry I doubted you.
How’s that?
How’s that, brother?
That’s a good deal.
That’s a good deal.
But just one doesn’t quite get you all the way there.
All right?
Let’s keep going.