A Spoonful of Clues on Lot 26 (Season 12) *Exclusive* | The Curse of Oak Island

We’re looking for treasure
on Oak Island.
So when we make finds
like a silver spoon,
it’s not only treasure
but might also be a clue
that can help us figure out
who might have buried
the mother lode
in the Money Pit.
♪ ♪

-Here we are, mate.
-Okey doke.
There’s the next cluster
of flags, mate.
And we’re down
on the bottom of Lot 26.
-Mm-hmm.
-And I’ve sniffed out
some
nonferrous-sounding targets.
In all the discoveries
you’ve made here,
what’s the best one
in your opinion?
That’s like asking me
which is me favorite kid.
I can’t choose, mate.
They’re all as good.
Okay, I’m gonna make
another statement, then.
I think your favorite find
that you’ve found on Lot 26
is right there.
I love it, mate.
I love that positivity.
All right.
-GARY: Let’s dig
some good stuff up.
-Let’s see what it’s got.
(metal detector beeping)
-There you go.
-Yeah.
Get in there, my son.
That sounds really good.
That’s gonna be
a two-part hole here.
I always know when you think
there’s a coin coming up, mate,
’cause you start making
another island.
(Rick laughs)
Okay.
(beeping)
That’s a good sign.
Still in there.
(pinpointer beeping)
Mm.
GARY:
What’s this?
Whatever that is– Oh!
Wow.
-What is it?
-That…
is a nice little spoon handle,
mate.
By the look of it, look.
RICK:
Oh, yeah.
-And you know what?
-Silver!
We’ve just found silver, baby!
It is! Wow, I thought it would
have to be
an higher tone to be silver.
That–
We found some silver, mate.
-(laughs)
-That-That’s an old silver spoon
by the look of it.
And, of course,
a little spoon bowl like this
is definitely a sign of wealth.
Because back in the day
a little spoon like this
would’ve been used
for sugar or salt,
which were
two valuable commodities.
And you had to have money
to have
sugar and salt back in the day.
The spoons were small,
and this is
your typical small spoon.
Wow.
And I’m sure Laird would be able
to date this by the base.
It’s…
it’s looking period for the lot.
-It looks like a colonial…
-Mm-hmm.
…silver spoon handle.
-Ah!
-(Rick chuckles)
That’s sweet.
RICK: Can you see something
there, or is that just…?
GARY: If there’s something
there on the-the back here,
that would be an hallmark
or the maker’s name.
And that would mean more than
likely it’s a British spoon.
And if there were no hallmarks?
Then more than likely
North American.
And it’s gonna be nice actually
taking in some precious metals
-into the lab.
-RICK: Yep.
Cracking little find, mate.
-Some silver.
-It’s a cool…
it’s a cool little find.
Can’t beat
a bit of silver for breakfast
-on Oak Island.
-Yeah.
-Yes, we can.
-Yeah, we can.
-With a coin.
-Yeah, exactly, a gold one.
RICK: Gary has done
exhaustive work on Lot 26.
He has a number of flags
in the ground.
But Lot 26 has the old wall.
It has the old well.
It’s the lot adjacent
to Samuel Ball.
And if one believes
that Samuel had something
to do
with the original treasure story
or perhaps treasure recovery,
then that whole area
is of significant interest.
On to the next.
Come on.
-(beeping)
-Oh.
-Ooh.
-Not so good.
You never can tell, mate,
till you dig ’em up.
Definitely go deeper.
Wow, what a little hot spot
this has turned in to be.
(metal detector beeping)
-Is that high enough?
-That’s making
me toes tingle, mate.
Ah!
(beeping)
-It’s in my hand, mate.
-Did you see it?
No, not yet.
(metal detector beeping)
That is tiny.
It’s that, whatever that is.
GARY:
I think, mate,
that this is silver.
And this could be the handle
for that spoon bowl
that we found.
Is that a mark or an emblem?
It looks like it’s
some kind of design on it, mate.
Look at this.
Sure does resemble silver
on the edge, doesn’t it?
That– you think
that would be the handle?
Maybe, maybe this is
too large to be an handle.
That’s what it looks like.
It looks like an handle.
Like the design
has been embossed.
Think we might found
two pieces of silver, mate.
(Rick chuckles)
That would be cool, wouldn’t it?
I’m sure Emma will be able
to scan these and tell us.
Absolutely bloody fantastic,
mate.
-RICK: Okay.
-GARY: That’s brilliant.
Right, on to the next.

These are the artifacts
we found on Lot 26.
So, both spoon-related?
Yeah, it looks like one’s,
like, an handle
off a spoon or a fork, and
-obviously that looks
like a fork or a spoon.
-LAIRD: Mm-hmm, right.
GARY: A small spoon would have
been for sugar or salt.
So what can you tell from
the metal of a silver spoon?
I think silver–
this is the first time
we’ve tried to do
this with silver,
-isn’t it?
-That would be up to Emma.
Um, so I can tell you
that it is indeed silver.
-Woo-hoo.
-There you go. Yeah.
-Cool.
-Precious metals.
-EMMA: Precious metal,
there you go.
Um, 90% silver.
It’s got about four to five
percent copper on average.
Um, it does also have
a three percent
aluminum content,
which does date it
-around Samuel Ball.
-Oh.
-Oh.
So it’s kind of Napolean post.
ALEX:
Hmm.
GARY:
Absolutely fantastic.
I was hoping maybe
there were some hallmarks
-on it because it is silver.
-Yeah.
GARY:
Hmm.
RICK:
There’s the little piece
-that broke off.
-LAIRD: Yeah.
Do you make anything
by the stem here?
-Where the bowl
meets the handle?
-LAIRD: Well, I think you’re–
-I think it’s later 1700s, yeah.
-Yeah.
LAIRD:
The hallmark should be there.
They’d be tiny, tiny hallmarks.
But you’re right,
it’s a delicate spoon.
Interesting.
And you found these where, Gary?
On Lot 26,
not too far off the pond.
Okay, so pretty close
to the Ball foundation, then.
RICK:
I’d say it was halfway between
the Ball foundation
and the pond.
If the Ball foundation’s here,
it’s–
They weren’t in line.
-Yeah, angled away.
-It was over here
and then it was
-over there.
-Oh, okay.
Well, isn’t that a strange place
to find something like this?
-That’s exactly
what we both said.
-Yeah.
We couldn’t figure it out.
It’s not something
you carry around
-in your pocket.
-ALEX: No.
How did they break down
to get into
such small pieces?
With silver, I’d have to think
it’s deliberately broken.
-Yeah, that’s
what I would think, I mean…
-Yeah.
Yeah, I think
it’s called axe silver.
-LAIRD:
Yeah, to be melted down, yeah.
-GARY: Yeah.
And these two pieces
stood out to me
’cause they don’t look
like they’re a match.
-No.
-They look like
two separate things, so…
what is someone doing
hacking up pieces of silver?
I was just gonna say, you didn’t
find the rest of this,
so it’s not like
they just broke where they lay.
-GARY: No.
-So maybe somebody was
hacking up pieces of silver.
-Yeah, and of course
it’s a precious metal.
-Right.
GARY:
And…
you know, there is a rumor
that Samuel Ball
-found part of the treasure.
-Mm-hmm.
This would have been an
expensive item back in the day.
Both of these pieces.
ALEX: Samuel Ball is one
of the first property owners
on the island in the late 1700s.
He was a cabbage farmer,
but there are some legends
that he died very wealthy.
Samuel Ball was living on Lot 26
at the time that
the Money Pit was discovered.
So the question
in our minds has always been:
was he aware of it?
Did he witness anything?
Finding something
like these silver spoons,
which you would
not treat flippantly–
like, you wouldn’t just be
discarding these
all over your property,
especially at the time–
it does lend a little bit
of an air of mystery
to whatever was going on
at his property on the island.
Laird, how much
would this have cost?
I mean, would this have been
a precious thing?
Yeah, we don’t,
we don’t recover silver
in an archaeological context
very much.
How close were these
to each other?
-RICK: Oh,
they were quite close.
-GARY: Yeah, maybe…
-Quite close.
-…three or four feet?
-If that.
-Yeah.
The only curious thing, then,
if-if you follow that is,
right across
from where we found those,
remember, we found
a preponderance of iron.
There were, there were chunks
like this laying about.
-Yeah.
-And we thought
maybe that was an area for
either a smithy
or a portable smithy,
and we’ve been told
by Carmen and by you
that iron was a resource.
-Yeah.
-So if there was a intent
to process or melt down silver,
it was very close.
-How far would you say it was?
-Maybe 20…
20 feet?
ALEX:
How close was this to the well
-on Lot 26?
-GARY: I would say
40 feet.
-Hmm.
-LAIRD: I think you’re working
towards a really good point,
where the-the well…
-ALEX: Yeah. Yeah.
-…if you have a forge,
that would be essential.
-That is what I was thinking.
-LAIRD: Yeah.
CRAIG: One thing odd
about the well water,
it’s one of the few areas
that there was
silver in the water.
LAIRD:
Well, there you go.
I think the next step is,
-try to decide
if there is a smithy there.
-Yeah.
ALEX:
I think that’s a good idea.
The conclusion that I’m drawing
here is that somebody
-was melting this down.
-RICK: Yeah.
And maybe a clue, then,
to who Samuel
might have been other than just
a very industrious,
creative person
who excelled at what he did
-and-and made his mark.
-ALEX: Right.
RICK:
I’m for heading back out.
Going to find more.
The more, the more pieces,
the more data.
The more data,
the more speculation.
Speculation can lead
-to hard facts.
-Yeah.
RICK:
Okay, let’s get out there.
-LAIRD: Good luck.
-CRAIG: Thanks, Laird.
Bye, Emma.
RICK:
All right, thank you, Laird.
-We will be back.
-LAIRD: Okay.
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