About This Coin
An old rectangular object initially thought to be a coin, recovered by Gary Drayton on Lot 7 during Season 10. Jack Begley was also present during the search. At the Interpretive Center, the object was scanned with both the Skyscan 1273 CT scanner and the XRF spectrometer. Emma Culligan's analysis showed the piece was mainly copper with high tin content and arsenic, making it arsenical bronze, a material used for coins, swords, and statues but which disappeared from use after the 16th century because the high arsenic content produced dangerous gas during forging.
Numismatist Sandy Campbell examined the piece and told the team it was not a traditional coin shape. Without any visible detail, he identified it as more likely a barter piece, at least 500 years old. Doug Crowell added that the metal mixture had been used as far back as the 5th millennium B.C. In Rome, numismatist Umberto Moruzzi later examined the piece and identified it as ancient bronze, probably a thousand years old, weighing just over 4 grams. Moruzzi noted the weight matched that of a golden Byzantine coin bearing the image of Christ, suggesting it could be a monetary weight for that denomination.
The piece was found on Lot 7, near where a garnet brooch had been discovered five years earlier and where a bunk hook and other artifacts were found the same season.
Historical Context
Gary Drayton, Jack Begley; analysis by Emma Culligan, Sandy Campbell, Umberto Moruzzi. The Curse of Oak Island Season 10 Episodes 1, 3, 23
Where It Was Found
Found at Lot 7 — Oak Island, Nova Scotia, Canada.
