About This Coin
A small coin recovered by Gary Drayton and Rick Lagina from Lot 16 during Season 5. The coin was found in the same area as a piece of grapeshot, a type of cannon ammunition used in naval and land warfare dating to as early as the fifteenth century, and a horseshoe fragment. Gary believed the coin could be another maravedi, consistent with the Spanish copper coins found elsewhere on the island.
Lot 16 was the site of Robert Dunfield's massive spoils pile, created when his 1965 excavation collapsed and displaced material from the Money Pit area across the island. Gary Drayton had previously recovered two seventeenth-century English coins from the same lot: a 1673 Charles II and a 1694 William III. The presence of grapeshot alongside the coin raised questions about military activity on or directed at the island, as grapeshot was a standard antipersonnel and anti-rigging projectile in naval combat.
The coin's condition prevented definitive identification of its denomination, mint, or exact date. Gary estimated it as seventeenth century based on its size, weight, and patina. If confirmed as a maravedi, it would join a growing inventory of Spanish-era coins from the island, including the 1652 swamp maravedi, the 1598 Smith's Cove maravedi, and cut maravedis from Isaac's Point and the Lot 15 area. The cluster of seventeenth-century artefacts on Lot 16, despite their displacement by Dunfield's equipment, points to significant pre-1795 activity in the Money Pit zone.
Historical Context
Gary Drayton & Rick Lagina
Where It Was Found
Found at Lot 16 — Oak Island, Nova Scotia, Canada.
