About This Button
A British Royal Navy jacket button recovered by Alex Lagina at the Samuel Ball foundation on Lot 25 during Season 8. Alex discovered the button while sifting excavation spoils alongside archaeologists Laird Niven and Liz Michels near the northwest corner of what was once Ball's home. Under magnification in the research center, Gary Drayton identified three anchors and a rope design on its face, confirming it as a Royal Navy officer's button dating to between 1804 and 1825.
Traces of gold gilding on the button's surface indicated it had belonged to an officer rather than an enlisted sailor, as gilded buttons were restricted to commissioned ranks during this period. The discovery raised the question of what a British naval officer was doing at the home of a former cabbage farmer on Oak Island during the early 19th century. Samuel Ball arrived on the island in 1787 and over the following decades accumulated substantial wealth through means that have never been explained. He owned nine four-acre lots, making him the largest private landowner on the island during his lifetime.
The button's dating placed it squarely within Ball's time on the island. In the War Room, the team discussed its significance in connection with Captain James Anderson, a pirate, privateer, and high-ranking Freemason from Baltimore who defected to the British during the American Revolution with a ship called the Betsy and its rumored valuable cargo. Anderson purchased Lot 26 on Oak Island before selling the property to Samuel Ball. The scale of a wharf structure confirmed by divers off the south shore, combined with the naval officer's button in Ball's foundation, suggested a military or commercial maritime connection to the property.
Historical Context
Alex Lagina
Where It Was Found
Found at Lot 25 (Ball's home foundation) — Oak Island, Nova Scotia, Canada.
