The Curse of Oak Island: Strange Artifacts Unearthed at Lot 25 (Season 8) | History

Rick Laguna, along with metal detection expert Gary Drayton, look at all these like, “See ya flags, mate.”

They have arrived at Lot 25 in the hopes that critical new clues and evidence of valuables can be found on the property that once belonged to former 18th-century American slave-turned-wealthy Oak Island landowner Samuel Ball.

“Lot 25, mate, Laird was good enough to let us come in here to melt the check around this Samuel Ball foundation.”

Although he was known as a simple cabbage farmer from 1786 when he bought his first lot on Oak Island until his death in 1846, Samuel Ball would mysteriously become one of the richest men in the entire province, ultimately owning nine lots on Oak Island as well as several more on the mainland.

This has led many to speculate that perhaps he found at least a portion of the legendary treasure.

Until recently, this area was completely off-limits to Rick, Marty, Craig, and the team. However, with the help of archaeologist Laird Niven, they are now legally permitted to conduct supervised surface investigations while Laird and his team carefully excavate the foundation and surrounding area.

“But as you can see, there’s a sea of flags here in the grid.”

“Yeah, the grid work. And what I’ve been doing is flagging all the non-ferrous targets I can get right.”

“Well, we’ll see what we can find.”

“I have high hopes for the day.”

“Yeah, so do I.”

“I know there’s no mistaking my pink flags. I think there’s eight and nine in this area.”

“There is some interest in it here for sure. All of these are good two-way repeatables, and it’s just ceremony.”

“What do you think?”

“Um, all I know is more than likely, it’s not iron, and it should be something good because, I mean, Samuel Ball was here a long time ago and no one’s ever lived here since the early 1800s.”

“Okay, see if you’ve moved here.”

“Still a good two-way repeatable.”

“Oh, it’s in my hat! Look at that. Oh, it’s a bit of lead! Always a great sign. I think that is not too far off the size of a musket ball, so this could possibly be either a lead splash or a musket ball.”

“When I say a lead splash, that is the remains of musket ball moulding. And I’m sure Samuel Ball made his own musket balls, but that’s a great sign. Whenever you find old lead on an old site, good news is that it’s a good start.”

“Right? Yeah, one flag, one fine.”

“Yep, exactly. You’re going to have to mark what we found.”

“Okay, every find on Lot 25 certainly can be partially attributed to Samuel Ball and his life that he created for himself on Lot 25.”

“All right, next one’s over here.”

“The man is an enigma. He’s a mystery, and slowly but surely we’re pulling back the veil on his life and what he accomplished and what he did, and maybe what he learned about the Oak Island mystery.”

“That sounds very, very good. If I was guessing what this was, I’d say that is your typical coin or button signal.”

“Right there, mate. Coin or a button on this one, right?”

“Okay, pretty hard bar there. They were metal detecting in a very old area.”

“Yep, got it out. Your sound’s good, Dylan’s done it.”

“Oh, I do not know at the moment. It looks like— I know it’s thick, but it kind of reminds me of the back of a pocket watch. Part of a pocket watch found on the property of Samuel Ball.”

“Could it have been something he bought with the wealth that he mysteriously came to possess, or could it have been part of a valuable discovery that he made while living here?”

“It’s a steep curve, but it looks like there would have been an old air and an old layer, so I am unsure on this one. I have no idea. I know it’s fragile.”

“I know what it is. It’s a top pocket vine. It really is a top pocket five, mate. We found it and we’ll bag it and tag it. That’s the safest place for it. On to the next, hopefully, this one is just as productive.”