About This Artifact
A lead disc with a distinctive scalloped edge and a thick crust consistent with centuries of burial. XRF analysis by Emma Culligan revealed the light layer is 99.96 percent lead with trace copper and iron, while the darker layer carries higher concentrations of iron, copper, and silicon. XRD testing matched the lead to geological samples from mines in Iran or off the coast of Italy, within a mineral belt extending across the Mediterranean region.
Gary Drayton and Jack Begley found the piece on Lot 5 during Season 10, in the same area that had already produced ancient tools and a half Roman coin. At the Interpretive Center, archaeologist Laird Niven described the piece as brittle and old, with intentional scalloping that appeared molded rather than cut.
Numismatist Sandy Campbell examined the token in the War Room and recognized it immediately, having seen a near-identical piece roughly a decade earlier in a collection of ancient and historical money. He identified it as a barter piece and showed documentation from the British Museum depicting a matching artifact found at Stonea Grange in Cambridgeshire, a Roman Empire site just 13 miles from Royston Cave.
Laser ablation testing by Dr. Chris McFarlane at the University of New Brunswick produced results that carried particular weight: the token's lead isotope values closely match those of the 14th-century lead cross recovered from Smith's Cove in 2017, suggesting both artifacts share a common ore source. The token was found in proximity to the 13-foot-diameter circular stone pit on Lot 5, a feature whose dimensions match the original Money Pit and which has also yielded Roman coins, Venetian trade beads, and pottery dating to the mid-1700s.
Historical Context
The Curse of Oak Island Season 11 finale
Where It Was Found
Found at Lot 5 — Oak Island, Nova Scotia, Canada.
