About This Artifact
A lead musket ball ingot recovered by Gary Drayton on Lot 24 during Season 4, one of nine four-acre properties once owned by Samuel Ball. The ingot was a standardized block of lead from which soldiers would chop off pieces and cast musket balls in a hand-held mould, a common practice in military camps from the 17th through 19th centuries. The process allowed troops to manufacture ammunition on site rather than relying on supply chains.
The ingot was found alongside a concentration of military artifacts that included an 18th-century dandy button, a copper coin bearing the image of King George II (dated 1727 to 1760), a metal plate from the stock of a musket or pistol bearing what appeared to be an engraved name or signature, and six additional George II copper coins clustered in a small radius. Gary concluded that the density and type of artifacts pointed to a British military encampment. Similar lead splashes consistent with musket ball manufacturing were later found on the Samuel Ball foundation on Lot 25 during Season 8, where Gary and Rick Lagina recovered musket-making debris alongside a single-loop flat button dating to approximately 1750 to 1850.
The military artifacts on Ball's properties supported Fred Nolan's longstanding theory connecting the treasure to the 1762 British sacking of Havana, when the Royal Navy confiscated a vast hoard of Spanish gold and sailed to the port of Halifax, roughly 60 miles north of Oak Island. The presence of both ammunition-making materials and officer-grade personal items across multiple Ball lots indicated sustained military activity rather than a passing visit.
Historical Context
Gary Drayton
Where It Was Found
Found at Samuel Ball's property — Oak Island, Nova Scotia, Canada.
