About This Coin
A copper-alloy coin identified by numismatist Sandy Campbell as a British Tudor portcullis coin from the 1500s. Emma Culligan's XRF analysis showed a composition of 94 percent copper and 5 percent silver with no tin or lead, a distinctive alloy consistent with Tudor-period minting. The coin was one of four recovered by Rick Lagina and Gary Drayton from the circular depression on Lot 5 during the Season 11 premiere.
The portcullis was the heraldic badge of the House of Tudor and appeared on English coins throughout the 16th century, most prominently on testoons and groats minted under Henry VII and Henry VIII, and on the Elizabethan portcullis money struck for trade with the East Indies. The absence of tin distinguishes this coin from later British copper alloys and supports the Tudor-era dating.
The coin was found alongside a Roman coin from 100 to 300 AD, a second Roman coin estimated at over 2,000 years old, and a third coin carrying a woven pattern that Emma matched to a 13th-century French denier. The mix of coins spanning over 1,500 years from a single uninhabited lot continues to challenge conventional explanations for activity on Oak Island.
Historical Context
Sandy Campbell (numismatic identification), Emma Culligan (XRF); The Curse of Oak Island Season 11 Episode 1
Where It Was Found
Found at Lot 5 (circular depression) — Oak Island, Nova Scotia, Canada.
