UNBELIEVABLE Button Discoveries (Season 12) | The Curse of Oak Island

on Lot 5, located
on the western side
of the island…

GARY:
All right, mate.
I’m ready for these spoils
here to get a Jack attack
and find some good stuff.

• Let’s get after it.
  JACK:
  Okay, mate.

NARRATOR:
…Gary Drayton and Jack Begley
prepare to once again
search for clues
in more than ten tons of spoils
that were recently removed
from the nearby
stone foundation on Lot 5.

JACK:
Work your magic, Gary.

• (beeping)
  GARY:
  Oh.
  (Jack chuckles)
  So we’ve got something
  just there.
  Is it on that top layer?
  Move this plug.
  And that is ringing
  loud and clear.
  (beeping)
• Here it is!
• (gasps) Oh, is that a coin?
• Yeah! (chuckles)
• Oh… No, it’s a button.
  Wait.
  Dang. I thought
  that was a coin. Look.

JACK:
Oh, yeah.

GARY:
See the curve in it?
And that’s the base of the loop.
Wow. That’s been
through the ringer,

• that has, innit? Look.
• Yeah.
  But it’s a great start, mate.
  Another little button.
  We have found a heck of a lot
  of buttons in these spoils.
  Bingo! We’ve just found
  another nice,
  old button in the Lot 5 spoils.
  I’m excited about this
  because I can see it’s irregular
  and I know it was
  a banging signal in the area
  where we have found
  a lot of other artifacts.

JACK:
Yeah. When we first saw that,
I mean, my toes were tingling.
I thought
it was gonna be a coin.

GARY:
Okay, mate.
We’ll put it in the bag
and keep moving.

JACK:
Movin’ and a-groovin’.

• Let’s go, Gary.
  GARY:
  All right. Nice and slow.
  (beeping)
  Ooh! Right into it.
  Nonferrous.
  That is not iron.
  Here we go.

JACK:
Come on.
Another coin
or button would be great.

GARY:
Yeah.

• (beeping fast)
• Here we go. It’s in…
  It’s getting smaller.
  Let’s see what we got.
  Oh, a lead ball.
• Whoa.
• It’s another lead shot.
  Love it, mate.
  A little bit of armament.
  And I’m sure when it gets
  back to the lab,
  they’ll run scans on it
  and test it
• and see what caliber it is.
  JACK:
  Mm-hmm.

GARY:
Okay, mate.
I’ll put it in the bag.
I always like finding old ammo.
Yeah, I feel pretty
good at the moment.
But let’s try and top it.
Lot 5 had a specific use
and we haven’t figured out
exactly what that use is yet.
But every little piece
of the puzzle helps us
figure out more and more.
Hopefully, we’re able to find
some older artifacts
that directly tie with
who was here.
(beeping)

• That sounds…
• That doesn’t sound too bad.
  Here. Let’s have this out, mate.
  Just there.
  It’s still a strong signal.
  (beeping fast)
  (gasps) Ooh!
  (gasps) Ooh!

GARY:
That’s a bobby-dazzler,
all right.
This is what
we’re here for, mate.
It’s a treasure hunt.
Silver, mate.

JACK:
Oh, yeah.
This is definitely a clue to
whatever is going on on Lot 5.

GARY:
This looks like
a – an hammered piece of silver.
The archeologists
are just right over there.
Why don’t I send Helen a text
and see if she wants
to take a look at this?

JACK:
Yeah. Perfect, mate,
because the archeologists
are gonna be excited about this.
This little piece in me hand
makes me very happy,
because I’m pretty certain
this is a cut piece of silver.
And if Helen, the archeologist,
confirms it,
to me, that smacks of some
kind of treasure business

• going on on Lot 5.

HELEN:
Hey, Jack.

• Hey, Helen.
• You summoned me?
• Hi, Helen.
  We got something
  you’d like to see.

GARY:
Check this out.

HELEN:
Oh, my heavens,

• it’s tiny.
• What’s your thoughts on this?

GARY:
Yeah. Look at it.

HELEN:
Ooh, look at that.
It looks like silver to me.

GARY:
Yeah. That was our hope.

• We knew it.

HELEN:
And it’s got
quite the shine to it.
It looks like that edge
has been cut, right?

• It’s very thin.

GARY:
Yeah.

HELEN:
I think this could be
a version of a very old coin.

NARRATOR:
A possible silver coin?
If archaeologist
Helen Sheldon is correct,
then just how old might it be?
And could it help identify
just who originally created
the feature on Lot 5?
We can take it back
and Emma can scan it

• and make sure it is silver,
  but it definitely looks it.

JACK:
Yeah.

• Yeah. It’s got
  that look about it.

JACK:
Yeah.

HELEN:
It does have that look
about it, yeah. So, yeah.

• Good job. Go and find…
  GARY:
  Yeah. Thanks.
• …some more for us.
• Yeah. We will.
• Thanks, Helen.
• Yep. Thanks, Helen.
  And this is going
  in the top pocket.
• Great digging, mate.
• Oh, yeah.

GARY:
Great find.

NARRATOR:
The following morning…

GARY:
Interesting finds
we’ve been pulling out
of the spoils on Lot 4.
It’s like, every time
we go there now,
we’re finding small artifacts.

NARRATOR:
…Rick
and other members of the team
meet with archaeometallurgist
Emma Culligan in the lab
regarding the silver artifact
and the lead ball
that were found one day ago
in the spoils from
the stone foundation on Lot 5.

RICK:
Have you had a chance
to scan them, Emma?
So, yeah, so, I’ve done an XRF,
um, a few points.

NARRATOR:
Prior to today’s meeting,
Emma scanned the artifacts
in an XRF,
or X-ray fluorescence device,
which employs
nondestructive radiation
in order to determine an
object’s chemical composition.

So, the hammered silver
is modern, unfortunately.
The main indicator is
the high aluminum content,
which makes it…
just undeniably modern.

RICK:
That’s surprising.
Emma has suggested that,
because of the high
aluminum content,
it has to be more modern.
You know, that’s not
information that we want.
But it’s still treasure.
It still has that lure,
that fascination
that – that leaves
the glint in your eye.
There’s no question
about it, but…
but we’re looking
for something more than that.
But the lead ball has proved
to be more interesting.
This is the first time
I’ve seen it cleaned up.
I assumed it was
just a lead pistol ball.
It looks almost like it’s got
a design on it from here.

GARY:
Yeah, that’s not
just from carrying
it around in your pocket,

• or something like that
  and chaffing.

RICK:
Yeah.

GARY:
This looks like it’s been
made like that on purpose.
Soldiers were famous for being
bored in the trenches
and carving, um,
objects and musket balls,
and pieces of lead.
It is unusually, almost pitted
I guess you’d call it.
And I have no idea why.
But this has been used
for something else
that we haven’t figured out yet.

RICK:
Hm.

EMMA:
It is pure lead.
Um, and I’m not seeing any
intentional alloying elements,
so it’s not a modern piece.
Um, all these are
naturally inputted.
How old could it be?
It has been used
for a very long period of time.
You’ve always
been very consistent
that that feature on Lot 5
is much older
than the current
artifact recovery.
Is that still your intuition?

RICK:
I would say it’s older, I think.

EMMA:
And what is that window?
Well before 1700.

RICK:
And you’re saying
that this indeed
could fit that metric as well.

EMMA:
Yes.

RICK:
What the heck was going on
on Lot 5?

EMMA:
Don’t ask me.
Such a wide variety
of finds, as well.
All of them different.
All of them unique.

RICK:
Mm-hmm.
Pre-Money Pit story, for sure.

EMMA:
Yeah.

RICK:
And one other artifact that
was collected from that area

• that is also old was
  that scalloped disk.

GARY:
Oh, yeah.

RICK:
I believe that scalloped disk
is really old.

GARY:
Yeah.
Well, the starburst button,

• it dates
  before the 18th century.

RICK:
Yeah.

GARY:

• So, it’s definitely worth
  further research.

RICK:
Yeah.

LAIRD:
Specifically, into the design.

NARRATOR:
Could the team’s
mounting discoveries
that predate the 1800s,
such as the lead shot,
the scalloped lead barter token
and the button
bearing a starburst design,
represent critical clues
that they’re getting closer
to identifying just who created
the rounded foundation on Lot 5,
and perhaps
the original Money Pit?

RICK:
We’ve got some homework to do.

• Yep.

LAIRD:
I do think
it’s important.
So, let’s see if we
can’t figure that out

• amongst all
  the other mysteries.

RICK:
Yeah.
To me, it speaks eloquently
to why this lab is here
and why you are here.

GARY:
All right, mate.

• Let’s get stuck back in
  and find some more.

LAIRD:
Let’s go do it.

GARY:
See you later, guys.

LAIRD:
Thank you. See ya.
GARY:
See you later, guys.
LAIRD:
Thank you. See ya.