The Curse of Oak Island: ANCIENT KNIFE UNEARTHED (Season 8) | History

Let’s go find something good, Gary.
Yep.
Oh, that sounds nice.
Yeah, and it’s just there to the side of the tree.
You might have got it out.
Here, see what we’ve got.
Is it in my end?
Oh, look at that!
We are looking at a little pocket knife.
Seriously?
Yeah, on lot 25, near the foundation of the house that once belonged to Samuel Ball.
Metal detection experts Gary Drayton and Marty Laguna have just found what could be an important discovery.

I’d say that’s copper or something.
Yeah, the ends are copper. That’s why we detected it.
They don’t make them out of that anymore, do they?
Not so much.
Yeah, it looks like half of a pocket…
Yeah, and the blade must still be in there.
That looks like a fine gentleman’s pocket knife.
So, you know, we’re hoping that it’s valuable.
And I think Samuel Ball was just a highly successful man,
and he may have had some things we’re unaware of.
Well, we’ll see what it looks like when it’s cleaned up.
Nice little find.
This is a great start.
It really is.
It’s an excellent start.
Yeah, let’s keep going. I’m excited.
Let’s go find some more stuff.
Yeah.
Oh, not so good.
Yeah, it doesn’t sound as good.
That sounds good to me.
That sounds good.
Here we go.
Cool.
I’m on it. We’re on it.
I feel something, though.
Oh yeah, that’s nice.
Well, what is it?
A badge?
No, it’s not a bug. Smoke.
Yeah, to me that looks like musket decoration.
Oh, like you found with Samuel Butler?
Yeah, that might clean up and have some kind of design on it.
Now, some letters or numbers.
Sure, it has letters on it. It has…
Oh, yeah, I was hoping.
It’s his patent.
It says “patent.”
Mm-hmm.
No, you see it?
Oh yeah, that’s nice, isn’t it?

Right now, you know, a patent plate—possibly from an old rifle or musket—during the 17th and 18th centuries, as firearm technology advanced in Europe and colonial North America, manufacturers placed engraved patent plates on their muskets as a way of protecting the ownership of any unique innovations,
such as the firing mechanism or the weapon’s design.
Similar to a maker’s mark, a patent plate could help reveal when and where an artifact was made, as well as possibly identify who it once belonged to.

What do you think, Gary? How old is that with that design?
The way it’s got that nice old-style lettering?
I’d say that’s period, mate, for this lot—1790–1830, Samuel Ball era.
Yeah, I think it’s period.
Yeah, I’d bet a lot that was on a firearm.
It could have easily been on the stock.
Yeah, for the boat.
Maybe that’s the way to look for whatever this is.
That’s what I would do. I would start with guns.
Probably British armaments.
Yeah, I mean, if you find out that that was some kind of nice shooting firearm, it might speak to wealth.
Yeah.

The little patent thing was really exciting because I view it as yet another indication that Samuel Ball had a fair amount of wealth.

Gary, partner, let’s put it in a bag and we’ll go on to, uh, hopefully bigger and better things.
Yeah, and we’ll tell Lead about this.
Yeah.
Cheers, mate. We found some cool stuff.
Yeah.