The Curse of Oak Island: NEW CLUES in Samuel Ball Investigation (Season 8) | History

I brought a trowel in case you need some help.
Oh, excellent! You can always use help.

Marty Laguna’s son Alex arrives at the foundation of late 18th-century Oak Island landowner Samuel Ball.
“We’ve got the cellar all cleaned out, just some final, you know, getting rid of dirt and excavating in there.”
“It looks good.”

It is here where archaeologists Laird Niven and Liz Michaels continue their meticulous investigation for clues that might help explain how Mr. Ball, a simple cabbage farmer and former American slave, mysteriously became a very wealthy man by the early 19th century.

“Piece of pottery here.”
“Oh, you should find lots.”
“I see why you needed somebody to sift.”
“Yeah, it’s… I think I’ll be here all day.”
“It slows things down.”
“That’s true.”

“I’m impressed with the patience these archaeologists have to unearth all of that with a trowel.”

“I’m very interested in what’s gone on on the Ball foundation. They’ve been digging over there for quite some time, and I want to see it.”

“There you are, thank you.”

“Hey, look at this! I got a coin.”
“I think it’s got… oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. A little green.”
“Yep, yeah, this looks old.”
“It’s got kind of irregular edges, like a flat portion.”
“It does look like the design’s a little off-center.”
“Well, I’ll entrust it to you.”
“Oh, it’s heavy enough. When I first picked it out, I thought I could see a pattern and it seemed off-center to me.”
“Oh, I see what you mean.”

“Part of the reason we’re doing all this work on the Ball foundation is to investigate the possibility that Samuel Ball had a closer involvement with the Money Pit than was previously known.
So if we can date this coin to the same time period as these other finds we’re making, that’s it. That’s our connection.”
“I see what you mean, but the edges…”
“Yeah, I think we’ll bag it, get it to the research center, see what we can see.”
“I’ll just… I’ll find a few more for you.”
“Okay, thank you.”

Later that afternoon…

“Hey guys!”
“Hey, hey!”
“Take a look at this.”

Alex Laguna and Laird Niven have gathered in the research center with Rick, David, and Gary Drayton to share their new discovery.

“So, this just came off of the Ball property.”
“Oh, we found it sifting through some of the stuff at the most recent test bed that Laird’s been doing right by the edge of the house. Yeah, the northwest corner.”

“So if you look, you see the anchor on the right, yeah.”
“Right.”
“So is the middle an anchor, or is it a cross?”
“If you pull it down to show the edge, there’ll be a larger anchor.”
“Well, there you can see me in there. There’s three anchors: there’s one on the right, there’s a large one in the middle, and then there’s one on the left down the side.”
“Oh yeah, and then they see the other one on the left there.”
“Yeah, it looks like little waves and I can see a rope design around the outside of it.”

“I know what that is. It’s a navy jacket button. If it’s got anchors on it and a rope design around it, without a doubt, that is a British navy jacket button.”

“What time period is this though?”
“1804-1825.”
“Solidly within the Ball period we’ve been searching for.”
“We’ve been searching and searching for some military connection with Samuel Ball because we know he served the British during the Revolutionary War, which is how he gained his freedom and came to Nova Scotia. So I think you just made that connection.”

“It’s one of the nicest buttons we’ve found in terms of legibility.”
“Yeah, the front is spectacular. I mean, those anchors are amazing.”
“Look forward to seeing how much information we can get off of this.”
“Yeah, beautiful piece.”
“Oh yeah, whether there’s more information or not, it’s stunning.”

“I think that is gold or gilding right there.”
“I think so.”
“That would make sense.”
“Yeah, that would point to officer though, wouldn’t it?”
“Yeah, normally the gilded buttons are an officer’s button.”

“If so, why did a high-ranking British naval officer visit the home of Samuel Ball on Oak Island? And could it have something to do with the mysterious wealth Ball came to possess?”

“It’s a royal navy button. Apparently, it would be somebody on a ship of some import, an important person. What’s that doing in Samuel Ball’s foundation? I mean, we’re talking about an officer being in his house. That’s kind of a big deal, I think.”

“Okay, all right.”
“Thank you, thanks for calling, and we’ll keep you posted.”
“Thank you. All right, all right, see you later, guys.”