About This Material
A small piece of rolled copper found between two rocks on the Lot 4 beach by Gary Drayton, who was metal detecting with Peter Fornetti and his father, David Fornetti, in Season 9. Drayton identified it on the spot as copper sheathing from the mid-1600s to mid-1700s, the material shipwrights nailed over wooden hulls to keep out shipworm, and called it the duct tape of its era.
Alex Lagina, Marty Lagina's son, and David Fornetti took the piece to blacksmithing specialist Carmen Legge at the research center. Legge found it had been made with primitive rollers and showed visible impurities in the metal. He read it less as hull plating than as protective sheeting for a box or chest holding valuables, and said it could date as far back as the 1100s. The find came from the same stretch of Lot 4 that had recently produced an adze and a gold-plated button from the late 17th century.
Historical Context
Gary Drayton; Carmen Legge; The Curse of Oak Island Season 9 Episode 12
Where It Was Found
Found at Lot 4 (beach, between two rocks). Location: the shoreline areas of Oak Island.
