Original subtitles

[narrator] Tonight on The Curse of Oak Island...

[Terry] Here we go.

[Marty] The strategy is to figure out

where that treasure went way deep.

[narrator] ...a special two-hour premiere.

[Scott] Oh. Looks like we broke through the ledge

-in the solution channel. -Oh, yeah, that's it for sure.

[Steve] If we're gonna hit, this is the one that should pay.

-[Gary] Woo-hoo! -[Marty] What's that?

It could be a gold or a silver coin.

[Charles] In the original Money Pit...

[Doug] Found this item

-on the drill bit. -[Steve S.] In 1849.

I believe this is your one thing, Rick.

This may be what lies below.

-[Fiona] That's a game changer. -[Laird] So, Fiona

-just found this. -[Alex] No way.

Early stuff.

We're changing Nova Scotian history, really.

I hit something hard, so I'm gonna pull it up.

-Please do. -[Charles] Could we hit a vault?

We're hoping to find a coin, something.

-[Alex] What is that? -[Terry] That's a chunk of metal.

-[Scott] It's very thick. -[Charles] You know,

-we may be onto something. -[Steve] See how shiny that is?

[Charles] Oh, my god.

I can confirm that it is silver, likely from 1367 to 1383.

[Judi] Does that look like a Templar cross?

-[Alex] Yep. -[Rick] It does.

-[Steve S.] Yeah. -It's real.

[narrator] There is an island in the North Atlantic

where people have been looking for

an incredible treasure for more than 200 years.

So far, they have found a stone slab

with strange symbols carved into it,

man-made workings that date to medieval times,

and a lead cross whose origin may be connected

to the Knights Templar.

To date, six men have died

trying to solve the mystery.

And according to legend, one more will have to die

before the treasure can be found.

♪ ♪

So, here we are again, on our way to Oak Island.

How are y'all feeling?

[Alex] Well, it's exciting because

I'm basically satisfied that something happened

on Oak Island that's outside

-of recorded history. -Yep.

[Peter] We're finding more things that say

-that the legend is true. -[Rick] Absolutely.

[narrator] For brothers Rick and Marty Lagina,

their partner Craig Tester and the members of their team,

a new chapter in the world's longest-running treasure hunt

is about to begin on Oak Island.

[Rick] For me,

I just want it solved.

And I do believe there'll be success this year.

Yeah.

[narrator] Beginning in 1795,

when three young men first discovered

an ingeniously designed shaft

that reached more than 90 feet deep,

known as the Money Pit,

generations of treasure hunters

have tried and failed to uncover a legendary fortune.

And now, after spending more than a decade

finding clues that suggest a vast treasure is indeed

hiding deep below ground,

Rick, Marty, Craig and their team

are determined to write the definitive chapter

of the Oak Island mystery.

[Marty] And away we go.

[Rick] We begin a new year with this mission statement.

Let's solve it, let's find the answers.

[Marty] We're here.

Our hopes are as high as they've ever been,

and I'm really and truthfully pretty excited about it.

-Hey, everybody! -[cheering]

-We're back! All right. -Hey, chaps.

[Rick] When you walk into the museum, everyone is smiling.

There's a certain energy in the room,

there's a sense of commitment.

Hey, partner.

And I draw inspiration from that.

Welcome, everybody.

Back to the quest, right?

-Yep. -So, let's start with this:

if you try and make sense out of everything other people

have done and what we've done the last 12 years,

what makes sense is that the treasure

has gone even deeper in the Money Pit

and is now in the solution channel.

That's right.

[narrator] In 1804,

a large stone bearing strange carved symbols

was discovered in the center of an oak platform

exactly 90 feet deep in the Money Pit.

Upon its removal,

the shaft flooded with seawater

that was fed from a reported cobblestone tunnel

that originated 500 feet away at Smith's Cove.

Over the next two centuries,

numerous companies of treasure hunters

dug more than a dozen adjacent shafts and tunnels

all in the hopes of bypassing the believed booby trap

and recovering whatever had been so skillfully buried

at the bottom of the Money Pit.

Each one fell victim to flooding and cave-ins.

This resulted in the ground across the Money Pit area

becoming unstable and prone to collapse.

One year ago, Rick, Marty, Craig and the team

believed that their efforts to solve the mystery

would finally pay off

after groundwater testing

pinpointed a large source of precious metals

more than 100 feet underground.

They began digging a series

of seven-foot diameter steel shafts.

-[Marty] What is that? -[narrator] But while recovering

numerous artifacts,

including digging tools that predated 1795...

We found this concrete.

[narrator] ...and also obtaining possible evidence

of a treasure vault nearly 160 feet deep...

[Jared] Stop.

It's caving.

It's caving all the way back.

[narrator] ...the earth beneath two of the shafts,

known as TB-1 and TOT-1, suddenly collapsed.

This has led the team to suspect

that the treasure has now fallen to more than 200 feet deep

and now lies in a natural feature in the bedrock

known as a solution channel,

a geological term for a large cavity that forms over time

due to limestone dissolving in groundwater.

[Marty] I am just really, really enthusiastic

that it resides deeper.

And with that, Scott,

you've been doing a ton of work on that.

Why don't you tell us the thoughts on that?

So, as you know, we want to look in the solution channel

-to try to find the treasure. -Yeah.

So, Steve and I sat with Rick and we've came up with

a drill program this year.

So, Steve, do you want to bring up the map there

and we'll talk about the holes that we want to do?

Okay. So,

now we're looking at a map of the solution channel.

[Marty] The green is

-the solution channel. -Yes.

So, my understanding of the solution channel

is between-- anywhere between 150 and 220 feet

is a moving mud river with different-different depths.

Yes.

[Gary] So, it's not a mud river,

-it's a gold river down there. -[laughter]

Now, the total area in the solution channel

is less than five percent that we've actually explored.

So, Scott and I and Rick sat and discussed this,

and this is what that map looks like.

So, we're gonna start the boreholes this year

-in and around TOT-1. -[Marty] Okay.

Well, these are the holes, Rick, you want to drill?

-The green things? -[Rick] Yep.

What I want to do is systematic drilling.

We're going to drive the casing down around 210 feet

because we want to explore the solution channel at depth.

So, if we found something with the drilling program,

we would then turn over to this gleeful

planning of a recovery effort.

-Absolutely. -That would be fabulous.

[Marty] Okay, so that wraps up the first part

of this discussion about the Money Pit.

Now, I think that is the focus of treasure,

but Fiona and Laird would say, "Wait a minute.

There's a lot more to this story

as far as what actually happened on this island."

So, Laird, I'll kick it over to you,

and why don't you pick up and summarize all that.

Yeah, we're really excited about getting back to Lot 5,

given all of the artifacts we found.

And we're starting to see that story on Lot 5

expand within itself.

-Yep. -The soils

from the round feature and Feature Two--

the rectangular feature--

that match the soils from the area of the Money Pit

at depth.

-And to me, that's huge. -[Marty] Hmm.

Absolutely.

[narrator] After acquiring Lot 5

from the estate of Robert Young in 2022,

the Oak Island team discovered a rounded stone foundation

near the shoreline,

and another rectangular feature several yards to the south.

Both had been deliberately buried

and have produced astonishing clues

that suggest they were related to the Money Pit

and were used by multiple groups as base camps

between the 14th and the 18th centuries.

These finds include a mortar-like substance

matching soil samples unearthed from more than 100 feet deep

in the Money Pit area.

A lead barter token which, just like the 14th-century lead cross

that was recovered at Smith's Cove in 2017,

may be connected to the medieval order of the Knights Templar.

Several Venetian trade beads, as well as two garment buttons

that have been matched to the kinds worn by members

of the Knights of Malta,

a group who descended from the Templar order

and who were known to have inhabited parts of Nova Scotia

as early as the 1630s.

[Fiona] We haven't been able to find

another feature in Nova Scotia

that matches what's happening on Lot 5.

-Yeah. -[Laird] So,

this year, we're hoping

to expand our excavations around the round feature

that will give us even more insights

into the who, what, where and why

-on Lot 5. -Right.

[Rick] Look, everybody knows that

I think the research is an important

facet of our work.

So, we have been actively engaged in following

the clues we have come to learn of to date.

That includes possible Templar connections.

Certainly, the Knights of Malta connection.

Yeah.

[narrator] Ever since the Laginas

and Craig Tester began their quest

to solve the Oak Island mystery

in 2006,

they have been investigating the incredible theory

that the order of the Knights Templar

and related groups

began transporting priceless,

religious treasures from Europe to Oak Island

as much as 800 years ago.

Oh, wow.

And during the past several years,

they have visited numerous former Templar strongholds

in countries such as France,

Scotland,

Portugal,

Italy

and Malta, where they have

seen amazing evidence

that it could be true.

[Emiliano] There's something there

-that you might recognize. -[Alex] Yeah, four-dot cross.

[narrator] Evidence such as symbols

meant to represent religious artifacts

that have also been found over the years on Oak Island.

[Alex] It's just absolutely incredible.

[narrator] Tunnels that match the reported design

of those found deep underground in the Money Pit area.

[Alex] The stone path looks exactly like this.

[narrator] And even a stone road in Portugal that is

nearly identical to one they themselves unearthed

in the Oak Island swamp back in 2020.

[Rick] So, the research continues to evolve

and I think there's a real chance

that it will be highly

-enlightening. -[Marty] I love it.

I'm very enthused because I think

there is potentially an answer this year

as to why we haven't found this treasure,

at least in the Money Pit.

I want to get to the bottom of that,

so we got a lot to do and we got the team to do it.

-Yep. -[Craig] Yeah. So,

I'm eager to get started.

Jack's eager to get it started.

He's got some stuff at home

he's finishing up on, and I see

-a lot of eager faces. -[Marty] Yeah.

[Rick] For me, it's always about

you guys,

about the people.

We can throw science at this. We can throw

technology at this. But look at

each other and realize that within each of us,

that's where the real importance lies.

Let's figure out who, what, when, where, why and how.

Let's really commit ourselves to doing that.

-Well said. -Yep.

[Rick] I do know one thing:

The answers aren't in this room.

Let's get going.

-[Alex] Hear, hear. -Let's go do it.

[Rick] Let's make it so.

[Craig] Hola. I see we're drilling.

[narrator] Following the team's meeting

in the Interpretive Centre,

Rick Lagina and Craig Tester

join other members of the team

in the Money Pit area

as their first core-drilling operation of the summer

has begun in borehole J-6,

a borehole located just five feet south

of the seven-foot-diameter TOT-1 shaft,

which was dug one year ago.

It was at that location

where the team recovered a pickax

more than 160 feet deep

that was dated to as early as the 16th century.

And it was also where a massive cave-in occurred

at nearly 180 feet that caused tons of earth

and possible valuables to fall into the solution channel

more than 200 feet underground.

[Terry] We're down only

about eight feet, just the very first run.

It's the beginning, but I mean,

I think this is a really good bet

that we're going to find some treasure

-in the solution channel. -All you got to do

is find one thing. One thing.

[Marty] The strategy

this year for the Money Pit is

to figure out where

that treasure went way deep.

Where did it fall

into the so-called solution channel?

And what is also different from the other years is,

we are absolutely going

deep with every one of them-- 200 feet, maybe even more.

If everything works out, we've got

a good chance of finding something here.

[Terry] We're about to find artifacts and be searching

at a level well below where

any seeker-- any-- has gone.

[Rick] All the more reason to keep a really close eye

on these cores because

the slightest thing might be the most important thing.

[Terry] Time's gonna tell as we get a little deeper.

[narrator] As the core-drilling operation

continues in the Money Pit area...

...later that afternoon...

-[Peter] Hey. -[Laird] Hey. -[Rick] Hey. How are you?

[Laird] All right.

[narrator] ...Rick Lagina,

his nephew Peter Fornetti,

and metal detection expert Katya Drayton

arrive on Lot 5,

where archaeologist Laird Niven

and Alex Lagina are investigating

the mysterious, rounded feature near the shoreline.

[Rick] We thought we'd come over and see if we can help.

[Laird] Yeah. The artifacts we found there,

they're all concentrated on the west side,

between the rectangular feature and the round feature.

So I'd be really interested in having you

go carefully over the east side.

[Katya] I'm excited to see what we can find here.

Thank you, Laird.

-You're welcome. -I appreciate it.

[Rick] There's always the hope

that you will find some piece of the puzzle

that will tell you the whole story of what happened

as to when this occupation occurred,

who was here, and what were they doing.

[metal detector beeping]

I would say that's one.

Yeah.

I would say right in there.

-[beeping] -[Rick and Katya laugh]

Let's try it with the pinpointer now that we're deeper.

Come out, come out.

[beeping]

-There it is. -Found it.

[beeping continues]

Make sure that's the last of it. Yeah.

That.

Heavy.

What do you think? Heavy?

-It's got some weight to it. -[Peter] Yeah, it's not light.

Some sort of fastener?

-Not modern. -No. -No.

[Rick] It's interesting to be

-that far away, right? -[Katya] Yeah.

'Cause they're looking for clues

as to what else might be here.

Lot 5 is certainly interesting.

This fastener--

is it possible that it's evidence

of a structure or structures? Sure.

The story of Lot 5 continues to expand.

I don't know that we're even close to having an answer yet.

[narrator] A possible iron fastener?

Because the team has made

similar discoveries

in both of the nearby foundations,

could Rick's notion that this may be evidence

of another potential structure be correct?

So, that's a bag-and-tag for sure.

And that's a CT scan object.

Emma will tell us what that is. No question about it.

-That's great. -Good find.

All right.

-[Peter] Good digging. -[Katya] Thank you.

[Rick] Okey doke. Let's see if there's anything else in there.

[narrator] As the investigation on Lot 5 continues...

[Terry] Here we go. Down into the solution channel.

...and while the core-drilling operation

proceeds deeper in the Money Pit area,

over on the eastern end of the island at Smith's Cove...

[Marty] Let's go find something, guys.

-[Craig] Billy. -[Marty] Billy's here.

[narrator] ...Marty Lagina,

Craig Tester,

and metal detection expert Gary Drayton

join Billy Gerhardt to further investigate

the massive collection of spoils

from last year's excavations

in the Money Pit area.

Hey, Billy, this whole pile came out of

the caissons. What we know is,

though, it came from deep in the Money Pit area.

[Gary] Yeah. And we found that old iron.

I mean, that old iron

-went back to the 1600s. -Yep.

What is that?

[Gary] This looks like it's part of a tool.

[narrator] After finding the potentially 16th-century pickax

during the excavation

of TOT-1 at the end

of last year's search...

[Gary] That could be a really old tool, mate.

-[Marty] Yeah. -...the team began scouring

through the Money Pit spoils

that were deposited here

at Smith's Cove.

And incredibly, they found an iron chisel

that was dated to the same approximate era.

Whenever there's a lot of iron,

there's a possibility of iron masking.

There could be a gold or a silver coin

waiting for us, mate.

All right. Well, let's get going.

[Billy] Yeah.

[narrator] Now the team is continuing

to search the remaining spoils

in the hopes of recovering more artifacts

-or evidence of treasure. -[metal detector beeping]

This might be something.

[beeping]

I can see it

but just can't pull it out.

Want me to try and get it with this?

Yeah, you can see it sticking out the hole.

-Where is it? Right there? -Yep.

[Marty] Oh, yeah.

Got him.

There it is.

[Gary] What you got, Marty?

What is it?

[Marty] What's that?

[Gary] Woo-hoo!

[Marty] Well, that's interesting.

[Gary] What you got, Marty?

A pin.

I don't know if it's old or...

What do you think, Craig-er? That looks old.

[Craig] Yeah.

[narrator] At Smith's Cove,

while searching spoils excavated

from more than 180 feet deep

in the Money Pit area last year,

Marty Lagina

and other members of the team

have just uncovered another potentially important clue.

Yeah, that's wrought iron, I think.

[Craig] Yeah. It's old.

I don't know.

[Gary] I wonder if it's a possible

-cribbing spike. -[Marty] No, I think it is.

Like when you're building cribbing,

like cribbing for a shaft

-or something. -Yeah.

[narrator] A possible cribbing spike?

Potentially used to connect large beams of wood together?

Because no previous searchers were known to have built

shafts that deep underground,

could the team have found more evidence

of the original Money Pit?

If so, what else is still waiting

to be discovered in these spoils?

[Gary] So, this should be good.

Yeah, I'll probably need this digging out.

It might be on edge.

-We're all on edge. -[Marty laughs]

[Marty] Right?

Where is it?

Right there?

[metal detector beeps]

[Gary] It's in that area there.

I'll try to pinpoint.

[beeping]

Yep, I was a little bit off. Ooh.

There we go. That's more like it.

Hmm. That is a tool of some kind.

Look at that.

Yeah.

Wow.

That is unusual.

That's got the look of being old as well.

Yeah, it is. No question.

It's not new.

[Craig] Definitely has some heft to it.

I thought it was like a chisel when I first picked it up.

-[Craig] Yeah. -[Marty] It could be.

Yeah, chiseling in the tunnels or...

[Gary] Yeah.

[Marty] I'm not surprised at all at what came out

of that spoils pile.

That could be very significant. Once again,

possible proof that somebody other than searchers

were way deep in the Money Pit.

Still, we have to keep going

through the spoils carefully because anything here

could be something that could be very significant.

[Gary] And we've picked up where we left off last year.

We were finding great old tools

and artifacts in these spoils,

and we have just pulled up another one which could

potentially go back to 1600s or older.

-[Craig] Mm-hmm. -Yeah.

-Okay, I'll bag it. -Nice one, Billy.

Another good artifact.

Good.

[Gary] Finally, a decent find.

-[Marty] Not bad. -[Gary] Yeah.

Not bad. Not bad at all.

Good digging, guys.

Yeah. I mean, the gold's still in there, right?

Oh, yeah, it is.

[Marty] That's the hope.

[Marty laughs]

[narrator] The following day...

...while the drilling operation continues

in the Money Pit area...

[Rick] There are moments around this table

that have been really quite impactful

in terms of our understanding of this mystery,

and today is one of those days.

[narrator] ...in the war room, Doug Crowell has arranged

for the Laginas and members of the team

to meet with a man he has been corresponding with

for several months named Steve Salomon.

Well, I'm really excited to say we have

a really special guest with us today:

Steve Salomon.

[narrator] Steve is prepared

to present what Doug believes

could be a major breakthrough

in the 230-year-old treasure mystery.

[Doug] Well, Steve's got something

to reveal to us today

about a gentleman by the name of James Pitblado

and a really prominent Oak Island family:

the Archibald family.

Well, Steve is a member of that Archibald family.

[Rick] Interesting. Charles, you and I

have talked about this so-called Pitblado incident

forever, right?

So, tell everyone

what the Pitblado incident is about.

Well, James Pitblado was a foreman with the Truro Company,

and they were here from about 1849 to 1851.

And there was an incident that happened

in the original Money Pit.

[narrator] In the summer of 1849,

members of the Truro Company

conducted the first major excavation

of the Money Pit since it had flooded after the removal

of the 90 Foot Stone

back in 1804.

After constructing a platform nearly

30 feet deep in the shaft,

which was still flooded below,

company foreman James Pitblado

oversaw a drilling operation

to find out what might be buried below the 90-foot level.

Incredibly, at 98 feet,

a hard wooden surface was penetrated

before the auger bit passed through what was described

as nearly two feet of loose metal pieces,

another hard wooden surface,

and then another two feet of loose metal.

The workers excitedly suspected that two stacked treasure chests

were buried some 100 feet deep in the Money Pit.

Upon extracting the auger bit,

James Pitblado was seen removing

a reported shiny object from its tip.

But when confronted, he would not reveal

what it was to anyone on the island.

[Charles] So, Pitblado approached

a gentleman by the name of Charles Archibald.

And they attempted to buy the eastern end of the island.

So, whatever was found

on that auger enticed him to leave his job

and attempt to purchase

the eastern end of the island,

so it had to be something really significant.

Wow.

[narrator] Charles Dickson Archibald

was a businessman from Londonderry, Nova Scotia

who served as the manager of a mining company

named Acadian Iron Works.

Curiously, members of his family had helped to finance

an earlier search for treasure on Oak Island in 1804.

After meeting with James Pitblado,

the two approached landowner John Smith,

one of the three young men

who originally discovered the Money Pit in 1795,

and offered him a considerable sum

to acquire the eastern end of Oak Island.

The proposal was refused,

and no one has ever confirmed

what was found by James Pitblado.

[Steve S.] After that incident, they went

to the town of Lunenburg and put in an application.

And this is an excerpt

out of that application to dig

on Oak Island.

"Having been represented to me

that certain persons have discovered the situation

of certain hidden treasure

beneath the surface of the earth on Oak Island,"

and then it goes on with the legal stuff

and the town person to sign it.

And it's, on this particular day,

Charles Archibald.

This was from 1849.

Interesting.

So, I want to talk a little bit more

about the family, but first I would like to show you

what contributed to this application.

And I believe this is your one thing, Rick.

I know you've been looking

-for this for years. -Wow.

I am on the edge of my seat.

[laughter]

[Steve S.] I'll hold it up so Marty can see it.

[Marty] Whoa!

-[Marty] Whoa! -This is a coin.

This is a silver Portuguese coin.

That's what came out of the hole?

Yes. This was a coin that was

passed on from the Archibald family.

My mother-in-law was given this by Great Nana Edith Archibald,

and it was given to me.

From my own research, I believe

it's from about 1367.

I mean, that's incredible, right?

Like in every sense of the word.

-Yes. -[narrator] In the war room,

Steve Salomon,

a man with historic family ties

to the Oak Island treasure hunt,

has just presented Rick, Marty

and the team with a potentially

14th-century silver Portuguese coin,

a coin that he believes was retrieved

from some 100 feet deep in the Money Pit

back in 1849.

How big is that? What's the diameter, say?

[Rick] No bigger than a quarter.

[Marty] I mean, I was just wondering how such a thing

would be carried up by the auger, but that easily could be.

Yeah.

Over the winter, Marty, we researched

what a pod auger looked like, and its dimensions

are more than enough

to allow a coin to settle

-into the mouth of the bit. -Mm.

[Rick] The coin is spectacular.

It's quite beautiful, artfully made,

handstruck.

Well, that certainly raises an eyebrow, doesn't it?

It's a very smallish coin.

It's the kind of thing

that would get stuck in a drill bit.

[Steve S.] We want to confirm

what type of coin it is, of course, but

the condition of that coin is quite remarkable

for something that's been around since the late 1300s.

Yeah.

[Billy] Thinking about the treasure

being deposited way back,

it also, if it was in circulation,

it would be all worn off, right?

It just looks to be... it's in really good shape.

-[Charles] Yeah. -[Steve S.] The fact

that it is in such good condition

might represent that it came up out of,

say, one of the sealed cases where it's been sealed

for many years and has not been subject

to any of the water, dirt, elements.

I mean, what caught my imagination

was that this coin

was Portuguese, right?

And what theories have we been looking at

that might involve the Portuguese?

We're, of course, we're looking at the Templars finding

sanctuary in Portugal

-and-and... -Knights of Christ.

...evolving into the Knights of Christ, yeah.

Of course.

[narrator] The Catholic military order

known as the Knights Templar were formed

in the early 12th century

to fight for Christian interests in the Holy Land

during the Crusades.

They amassed great wealth by establishing

an elaborate banking system

but were also rumored to have discovered

priceless religious artifacts

including the Holy Grail

and the Ark of the Covenant.

In 1307,

they were disbanded and persecuted

by King Philip IV of France

and Pope Clement V on charges of heresy.

Many were arrested and executed.

But much of their treasures were never found.

The order rebranded themselves

where they could find refuge

in countries such as Portugal,

where they were known as the Knights of Christ.

In 2021,

when Rick Lagina and other members of the team

visited former Templar-related strongholds across Portugal...

The circle and the dot in the center of the cross--

that's one of our symbols on the H+O Stone.

...they were stunned to see numerous

stone carvings matching symbols

that have been found on Oak Island.

Is it possible that after nearly two decades

into their quest for answers,

the team is finally looking at a genuine piece of the treasure

that people have been seeking for 230 years?

So, I-I think what happened was,

Pitblado found this item on the drill bit

and he goes to Charles Dickson Archibald,

who had the Acadian Mining Company at the time,

and he says, "Listen, there's treasure on that island,

and here's the proof."

And then we know

by the paperwork that Steve has that

it is Charles Dickson Archibald

that was approached by Pitblado.

Pitblado went to him and he showed him

something so convincing...

-Mm-hmm. -...that he took these steps

to try and take over the treasure hunt on the island.

-Mm-hmm. -Yep.

And the only thing that got in their way was,

they were given the right

to hunt for treasure on Oak Island

on unoccupied lands.

Well, we know the Truro Company maintained

their license on the Money Pit.

So, while they gained

right to hunt on the island, they didn't gain

-a right to hunt in the Money Pit. -Mm-hmm.

[Marty] This is a really thrilling and exciting thing

that's happened on Oak Island.

And the story all makes sense, it really does.

It's difficult to make up a story

like the Pitblado story itself.

[Rick] This coin is singularly unique

in terms of its importance for one simple reason:

there is a narrative associated with the coin.

We have an artifact and we have a possible association

with that famed incident, the Pitblado incident.

That's quite convincing.

To give it obviously more credibility,

the way this coin ended up in my possession

is the direct line from the Archibald family.

[Doug] So, when Steve approached us,

we wanted to see if the framework

was truly there for this coin to have been

passed down from Pitblado

to Steve's branch of the family

that you see in this chart.

Charles Dickson maybe was left with that coin

because he had to go to the government and secure

a treasure trove license

and all of that.

Charles Dickson Archibald was related to Thomas Archibald.

And when Charles Dickson Archibald

kind of left the province

pretty much for good in the 1850s,

and then he died in 1868,

if he had left that coin behind with the members

of the family that were still here in the province,

then it's very plausible

that it came down through Steve's family.

And the Pitblado family--

members of that family were actually married

-into the Archibalds over time. -[Steve S.] They were, yeah.

Mm-hmm.

This is quite something.

[Steve S.] This coin

has been with the family for years.

I think it came up in 1849. I do.

And it's bent, too.

[Alex] Yeah, it is slightly bent.

[Steve S.] My question is:

can the heat that's generated by that auger,

could this have been picked up and, by a slight amount of heat,

potentially have curled?

[Marty] Having drilled

a lot of stuff, anything powerful enough

to drill through oak

and a cask is powerful enough

-to bend the coin. -Yeah.

-Yeah. -It adds credence

-to the story. -[Scott] Yeah.

I think this all makes sense

and has a high likelihood of being

the object that was found.

If anybody's head isn't

reeling like mine

as to what theory this fits...

-[Alex laughing] Yeah. -I mean, come on.

Yep.

[Rick] If it's true about the loose metal,

there could be a coin in there from 1307,

right after the Knights Templar disbanded.

Or even earlier. Crusade times, right?

'Cause... there's nothing that precludes them

from adding to their treasure cache over time.

Correct. We know the work,

the carbon dates here on the island--

we call it a multigenerational attempt,

but there might have been a series of

operations needed to set this in motion.

Mm-hmm.

This could be part of a generational event.

-Correct. -Yeah.

[Rick] Our modern minds think

we can traverse half the globe in an afternoon.

Back then, if there was a plan

initiated to save or protect something,

they-they understood that it was a transatlantic voyage.

Months just in the sailing.

Months again, if not years,

in the final completion of the task.

My biggest problem with it is,

I wish I had seen it come out of the drill bit.

[Rick] Of course.

My favorite thing about it is that everything,

if we just assume that all of it is true,

then that really focuses our dig.

We believe

the area we're investigating

-this year. -Yeah.

[Rick] Could we bring it to the lab and have

Emma do some metallurgy, look at it,

-and render an opinion? -Of course.

[Marty] Is that coin 51%

likely or better that that's the coin

that Pitblado had found?

I, on a jury, would vote yes.

I think the data is compelling.

Let's go aggressively look for this treasure

down deep 'cause that's where it must've gone.

-I agree. -Yep.

[Marty] If this coin

were 100% known

to be what came out of the Money Pit,

it's the strongest thing we've ever found.

And I think we're looking at,

with a high degree of probability,

the coin that was found that day so many years ago.

To me, it's proof that something is

at the bottom of the Money Pit.

There's nothing like that moment.

You see it, you hold it in your hand.

You know how close

you are to the one thing.

It's a real reason to be hopeful.

This, even though

there's some blanks that have to be filled in,

this very possibly is what lies at the depth of the Money Pit.

And how many years have we spent

talking about what lies below?

-This may be what lies below. -Yeah.

-[Rick] We can't say "thank you" enough. -[Marty] Big-time.

Yes. Very much so.

-Thank you. Appreciate it. -[Alex] Yeah. Thank you.

[Rick] Let's move forward.

[Terry] We hit the bedrock plateau in J-6.

We're down to 178 right now.

We're still in the bedrock. We haven't popped out

into the open solution channel.

Let's hope we're gonna pop out shortly.

-Yeah. -Yeah.

[narrator] After the incredible revelation

of the 14th-century Portuguese coin

in the Money Pit area,

operations manager Scott Barlow,

Charles Barkhouse,

geologist Terry Matheson,

and surveyor Steve Guptill eagerly monitor

the progress of borehole J-6.

So, we've hit the ledge.

We're gonna hopefully get down through the ledge

and we're gonna get back down into the solution channel

and look for that treasure.

[Scott] Hopefully, we find something down below

because as we saw with TOT-1, we found material

-made by man deeper. -Absolutely.

[narrator] Because the drill

has passed through the ground soil

and is currently cutting through rock,

it is Terry's belief that they are drilling through

an outcropping-- or ledge-- of bedrock,

and that the solution channel

will hopefully be encountered several feet deeper below.

[Steve] We came into this year

not so much looking to data-collect anymore

-but treasure-hunting. -Absolutely.

Yeah.

You know, Steve Salomon

brought a Portuguese coin to the island, right?

-Yeah. -[Charles] I'm excited about that coin.

I mean, if we find a coin

deep in the solution channel predating searchers,

that's huge, right?

-Yeah. Absolutely. -If there's something down there,

this is where we're gonna find it.

Yeah, we've got to cross our fingers.

-[motor whirring] -[Scott] Oh.

-Did we break through? -[Terry] I don't know.

[Scott] Looks like we broke through the ledge

into the solution channel.

The rods just started going down pretty quick there.

Oh, yeah. That's it for sure. That's it.

[Scott] As the drill comes down and encounters

a bedrock ledge, it really pushed through there.

It fell down deeper,

so we know the solution channel

has got some hidden cavities under ledges.

And we're waiting for that next core to come up,

hopefully containing some treasure.

[Terry] So, the rest of this should be very interesting.

We'll see if there's any of that

debris field that we're looking for,

-the falling treasure. -Yeah.

Hey, guys.

I've got some other things I got to go check on.

So please keep me informed of what's gonna happen.

I'm really excited about what may be down here.

Of course.

[Rick] I think we're only

in the infancy of trying to understand

the solution channel.

I don't know what's in there.

I know what we found to date, and it is quite compelling.

We have to have patience because we believe

whatever was above

fell to those depths.

-Thank you. -Thank you. What's...?

-[Kyle] 178. -[Steve] 178.

[Terry] Thank you.

So, here's the bedrock...

...from 168

down to 178, and here's

the little bit of mud where we opened up into

the solution channel, where we popped out.

Hand me that scalpel over there.

Thank you.

[Rick] Every hole is a little mini treasure hunt

in and of itself.

What I would like to do is to find something--

the one thing-- and then immediately turn our resources

to a large-scale recovery effort.

[Charles] Clear.

Anyway, we're going to go another 20 feet,

uh, now from 178 to probably finish

at 198, and we'll see what we've got.

Maybe we'll have an artifact or three.

Could be the one thing, Charles.

-You never know. -Yeah.

[Steve] What we're really looking for is treasure

that could be sitting in a pocket at the bottom

of the solution channel in and around 210 feet.

So every sloppy mess

we see in those cores becomes exciting.

Wait.

So...

-[Terry] Yeah. -...it's soft,

then I hit something hard.

Yeah, this is the pay zone.

We're really very hopeful about very good recovery in this zone.

-Okay. -[Terry] That's good. -[Steve] How deep?

What's your, what's your depth?

-Kyle? -[Kyle] Uh, 188.

-[Steve] Okay. -[Charles] 188. -[Terry] Excellent.

[Steve] He's hung up

right now on something hard

at that 188 level, and, I mean,

that's the whole reason we're drilling right here.

[Terry] Absolutely.

The next core sample

-is gonna tell the tale. -[Steve] It will.

What I'd really like to see is a coin

or an artifact that says "treasure."

[Terry] That's what we need.

[Charles] Your mind goes to all kinds of possibilities

that, as we're drilling down in the Money Pit area,

going to the solution channel, could we hit a vault?

We're hoping to find a jewel, a coin, something

that changes the ball game here completely.

-We have a core, gentlemen. -[Steve] Hopefully,

we get something here.

Here's hoping.

What we got, Kyle?

-188. -188.

-Yep. -[Terry] Thank you.

Let's see what we got.

[Rick] As the drill goes down, if it hits something hard,

the hope is that we will find a man-made obstruction,

the actual vault or treasure.

I mean, that's always the hope every single time,

and I hope at some point it comes to fruition.

It's pretty tight.

Not likely what we might have run into.

[narrator] Gypsum is a naturally occurring rocky mineral

that is often used in the production

of plaster and cement.

However, due to its relatively soft composition,

it is geologist Terry Matheson's opinion

that it would not explain the obstruction

that the drill encountered.

Now's the time we can find an artifact or two.

[Terry] Absolutely.

Very loose material.

[Steve] If we're gonna find an artifact,

it's gonna be in something like that.

Absolutely.

It's a little cakey, but anyway... Okay.

-[Steve] Thank you, fellas. -Thanks a lot.

[Terry] That's slush right there.

So, there's some debris that fell off of the wall.

This is actually bedding, so that's not what we really want.

He hit something that was a little harder.

It's hard to say what we might have run into.

Perhaps the bit pushed it deeper.

[narrator] Because the team is not finding

evidence of the obstruction,

is it possible that the drill bit made contact

with a hard object and perhaps pushed it deeper into the sludge

and water-filled solution channel?

If so, what was it?

And might they encounter it again at a greater depth?

We're only at 194, so we'll see what happens.

W-We're planning on going to at least to 210.

-Yeah, a-at least 210. -Yeah. -[Charles] Yeah.

[Steve] All right, guys, I'll get out of your way.

[Charles] Normally, when we're drilling

and if you hit something, you can still deflect off,

but hopefully the drill rod was able to keep its verticality.

We're trying to go deep to the bottom

of the solution channel.

And if we can find something,

then it's a whole different ball game.

-Hey, guys. -How you doing?

-Charles, Terry. -Welcome.

Anything so far?

-No. -Okay.

[Charles] We hit something solid at 190 feet down

that may have pushed it into the solution channel.

We have a core.

What's going on?

-How far did you get? -213.

-213. Did you hit bedrock? -Yes, sir.

Oh, wow.

Okay, this is the whole enchilada, then.

Okay.

[Charles] Okay.

Okay, let's cut this right about here.

It's a little firm.

-[Alex] Yeah. -It's more than I'd like.

-Just a little too dense. -Yeah.

That's nothing.

[Rick] I hope we don't have to drill

every inch of that solution channel.

I hope we find the one thing here shortly.

But you have to cover the solution channel

in its entirety.

Just got to get after it.

[Terry] It's disappointing, but we're gonna keep mapping out

the bottom of that solution channel

-until we find what we hope we're gonna find. -[Alex] Yep.

Then we'll move on to the next hole.

[Charles] That's right.

[narrator] A new day begins on Oak Island.

And while the core-drilling operation

continues in the Money Pit area...

...nearly half a mile to the west on Lot 5...

These are the spoil piles from last year of the round feature,

so I'm really excited to see what we can find here.

...metal detection expert Gary Drayton

and Peter Fornetti join the archaeology team

as they continue to investigate

the large stone foundation near the shoreline.

[Gary] I mean, they're using sifters, but sometimes

some stuff can go through

-that quarter-inch screen. -Oh, yeah.

Well, we'll give it one last shot.

[narrator] Today, Gary and Peter have been directed

to search through a pile of spoils

that were removed last year

from the mysterious round feature

for any clues that could help determine

who occupied it and, most importantly, why.

[beeping]

Yeah, this could be something, Pete.

This sounds like it's nonferrous.

Well, I know the rules is, we have to stand down

-for the archaeologists to dig these targets... -Mm-hmm.

...'cause we're in this special area.

Let me call Fiona. Fiona!

We've got a target.

-Oh, great. -Whoo!

Yay.

[narrator] Because the round feature

was designated by the government of Nova Scotia

as a "special place" in 2024,

Gary and Peter must obtain permission

from one of the team's accredited archaeologists

before digging up any targets in this area.

[metal detector beeping]

Yeah, we've got a target here, Fiona.

You think it's nonferrous?

Mm. Yeah, a little piece of nonferrous there.

It's ringing up loud and clear.

-Yep. -Just there, please.

Dig 'em out.

[mutters]

[Fiona] You know what? This-- you can tell--

this is in between the spoils piles,

so this would be something probably more in situ.

-Well, it-it's looking like it so far. -I see.

[narrator] An in situ target,

meaning that it is not in the previously removed spoils

but rather in the ground near them?

All right, I'll try to pinpoint.

-Let's see what we got. -[high-pitched beeping]

[narrator] If so, could Gary have identified a new area

outside the rounded feature

that contains potential clues or evidence of treasure?

[Gary] Oh, look at this.

Yeah, I had a feeling it was gonna be a little bit of lead.

-Tiny little bit of squashed lead shot. -Okay.

[narrator] A lead shot, or bullet?

Ever since acquiring Lot 5 three years ago,

the Oak Island team has unearthed

a number of gun-related artifacts,

such as musket balls and a ramrod guide from a rifle,

that could all date as far back as the 17th century,

more than 100 years before the discovery of the Money Pit.

[Fiona] That probably created somebody's

-supper one day. -[Gary] Yep. -[Peter] Oh yeah.

[narrator] Could the team have just found

more evidence of people who may have used this site as a camp

while possibly hiding valuables in the Money Pit?

If so, who were they?

If that had been a gold nugget now, we'd all be dancing.

Should we flag this little area as well?

Sure. Yeah, I mean, that was in the ground,

-so that's great. -Okay.

Are we allowed to search this?

[Fiona] Yeah. No, absolutely.

Uh, I think we're just gonna try and stay away

from any of the perimeter of-of the feature

-'cause we're gonna still dig there, but... -Yeah.

...I think it really would be good to detect on this side

because realistically, most of the artifacts have all

been kind of on the-the west side of the feature.

-Yeah. -I find it very strange

that we're not finding as many artifacts right here.

Let's find some treasure in this area.

Go for it. No, th-this is perfect.

So, I'm gonna get back over here.

Anything we can do to help you guys.

-Awesome. -Cheers.

[beeping]

-Got something? -[Gary] Yeah.

It's iron.

Let's take this out and see what we've got.

Okay.

Just there, please.

Hopefully, it's a chunky old thing.

I like me chunky old things.

Especially on Lot 5.

[Peter] Lot 5 is the lot that keeps on giving.

We're finding artifacts that were here

well before the discovery of the Money Pit.

So, we want to work together with the archaeologists

to metal-detect, and my number one objective for Lot 5

is to get some answers to help the archaeologists

tell the story about what's happening in the feature

and how that relates to the Money Pit.

[beeping]

-It's out? -[Gary] Oh, yeah. Yeah.

-What was making all that noise? -[high-pitched beeping]

Ooh, there it is. Ooh.

What the heck is that?

That is something. I mean, look at the shape of it.

-Yeah. -And look.

You see it's got these bumps on it.

I don't know if these are corrosion

and it's just encrustation on it or not.

Yeah. It looks like it has some sort of shape to it.

-[Gary] Yeah. -Like a design of sorts.

My first thought was like, door hinge, almost,

-like the-the locking mechanism. -Yeah.

[narrator] A piece of a possible door hinge?

If so, could it be related to the nearby rounded feature?

This could still tell a story and help solve the mystery.

-Yeah. We're not too far from the round feature. -Yeah.

[Gary] The people on Lot 5 would have had locks of some kind.

They could have had chests

and doors that needed locking.

And I'm looking forward to seeing what the archaeologists

dig up about this find.

[beeping]

Got something?

[Gary] Yeah.

Bigger piece of iron.

Fiona, when you get a chance, can you come over here?

-Sure. -Thank you.

Yeah, we're close to the round feature.

I like your location over here.

We haven't found a lot o-over at this side

of this round feature.

Well, I'm hoping this is something interesting.

It's an iron hit,

-but... -[beeping]

...it's substantial.

Go for it.

Oh, that's gonna be tricky.

Oh, well done.

-Wow. That's really deep. -[high-pitched beeping]

I wonder if I should grab my trowel just in case.

-[Gary] I was thinking that it would be... -Yeah. Okay.

-Maybe it'd be a good idea... -I'll be right back.

-...to trowel it out. -Just to be safe.

[Gary] I mean, we're in worm tickler territory now.

-[chuckles] -Okay.

-I'll pinpoint it for you, Fiona. -Okay.

-[high-pitched beeping] -[Gary] Oh, it's a screamer.

-Right there. -[Fiona] It's really deep.

Yeah, it is. That's about ten inches.

Yeah, I can, I can see it right here.

It's-- and it is a substantial size.

I just don't want to break it, right? Like...

There's a piece.

Like, that looks like glass. That-That's glass.

That's older stuff.

[Fiona] It-- and look at the color of it.

And that's pretty green.

But that's looking like older glass.

You know what? There's all sorts of things down here.

To be honest, I'm t-- I'm seeing

-some coarse earthenware now, too. -Mm-hmm.

So, the fact that... [sighs]

...the fact that we've got coarse earthenware,

you've got glass and a big piece of iron,

I think we need to, um, not dig this up right now.

Yeah.

I want to take out just a bit of the roots.

I think we'll just make it a little bit bigger.

This may just be a pile of something

that got thrown here, but what if it's something else?

-Yeah. -Yeah. What if this another part

of a foundation?

We are not that far away from this feature.

'Cause we found the starburst button right over here

and which is literally four feet away from us.

We found the spiral button right over here,

and that's really, really close to-to this.

-Oh, wow. -This could potentially be--

be part of whatever's going on

over at this feature.

[narrator] Another potential section

of the mysterious round feature on Lot 5?

And mere feet from where the team uncovered

two ornate buttons that may be connected

to the 17th-century order known as the Knights of Malta?

A religious order

who, just like the Portuguese Knights of Christ,

descended from the Knights Templar?

[Gary] We're in total agreement.

And who knows what else is down there?

Well, that's what I'm thinking, too.

So we'll-we'll-we'll hold this for now,

and if you're okay to keep going with the rest of it...

For sure.

[narrator] Due to provincial regulations,

because Fiona believes that Gary and Peter

may have found another part of the rounded feature,

she and the archaeology team

must now perform further excavations of this site

to locate the large metal object

and whatever else may be buried here.

Now we've found this,

who knows what else is waiting for us over here?

[Fiona] This is really encouraging.

-[Terry] It's treasure time. -[Charles] Yep.

[narrator] As the investigations continue

in the Money Pit area...

This is just starting to hit gravel.

...and on Lot 5...

[Marty] Okay, everybody, this is the first

of what are going to be, hopefully,

a whole bunch of sessions in the lab.

-Yeah. -[narrator] ...Rick and Marty Lagina,

along with other members of the team,

meet with archaeologist Laird Niven

and archaeometallurgist Emma Culligan

in the Oak Island laboratory.

While Emma is still conducting scientific analysis

of the 14th-century silver coin,

she has prepared a report on the chisel

that was recently found in the Money Pit spoils

from last year's large-scale excavations.

-What did you find out, Emma? -[Emma] All right.

So, the chisel did get a good strip of bare metal

from this area right here.

So, I have the compositions up here.

[narrator] Earlier today,

Emma scanned the iron artifact

using an X-ray fluorescence, or XRF, device,

a device that emits nondestructive radiation

to identify an object's chemical composition,

which can help determine when it may have been created.

[Emma] It lacks any modern alloying element like manganese

or any other element I would normally find,

which indicate "older."

-Brilliant. -This is definitively not modern.

So, it would p-- comfortably put it in the 1700s.

-Sweet. -Yeah.

And it could potentially be older.

-Well, I love those dates. -Yeah.

The chisel is actually very exciting,

'cause that's before the story

of the first treasure hunt efforts on Oak Island,

so it could be part of an original deposit.

Think it's interesting.

[Rick] It's a great find, uh,

to start off the year like this.

We have an old tool found at depth in the Money Pit.

This is not the one thing, but we're getting there.

[Marty] All right.

I'm satisfied. Well done. We'll get you some more.

[Gary] There's gonna be some more finds coming.

And I'm hoping it's made of gold and silver.

-Well, as Rick always says, "We got to go find it." -Yep.

[Laird] See you later.

[Rick] Thank you.

[narrator] The following morning...

[Alex] Hey, Terry, Charles.

[both] Hey, Alex.

[narrator] ...in the Money Pit area,

Alex Lagina joins geologist Terry Matheson

and Oak Island historian Charles Barkhouse

as they continue monitoring the drilling operation

in borehole H.5-8.5.

-[Alex] What depth are we at? -[Terry] What they're gonna

bring up in a second here is from 168 to 178.

Okay. And anything so far or...?

What's coming up right now should be a good, clean run.

-[Adam M.] Terry! -Whoa. Here we go.

-Come here. -[Charles] Could be something in the barrel there.

-Something's sticking out. -It looks like.

What you got, Adam?

-What is that? -That looks like some steel to me.

Yeah, it does.

[Terry] That's a chunk of metal.

[Alex] Yeah.

[narrator] A large metal object

extracted from nearly 180 feet deep in the solution channel?

[Charles] You know, finding this piece of metal, I mean,

it's very exciting because we're not sure what it is.

Anything below 150 is a really interesting,

uh, level for us to search

because we don't know the exact location

of the original Money Pit.

I don't know.

-I don't know what that is. -[Terry] Pretty interesting.

Hey, Scott. Check that out.

[Scott] It's very thick.

I agree. It's really substantial.

[Charles] You know, we may be onto something.

Yeah.

Let's spit it out.

-Spit it out? -[Alex] Yep.

[Scott] We're drilling down pretty deep here.

At this point in the solution channel,

first thing we need to do is get it out of there

and have a look and see what it is.

[Kyle] It's still sitting right there.

-[Adam M.] That's another piece. -[Charles] That's another piece.

[Scott] Let's see what it is.

-We can take a look on the table. -Yeah.

[narrator] A second metal object

found in the solution channel?

The questions that now arise are: just what could they be,

and who may have left them buried in the Money Pit area?

-[Charles] What's the depth, Kyle? -178.

So, let's have a look here. This is the bottom.

This is where the-- that chunk was sticking right out.

That looks like a chunk of old drill rod.

[Scott] Yeah, it does.

[Terry] That was projecting out the bottom.

That was what we were looking at.

[Scott] It's twisted up there pretty tight.

Yeah.

-Yeah, look at that. -[Terry] Another chunk.

-[Scott] Yeah. -[Terry] Yep.

[Alex] I'd say you're, you're maybe looking at

the whole piece right there, though.

The whole enchilada.

-The whole chunk, yeah. -You know what I mean?

Like, it was very small diameter.

It's buckled a couple of ways, yeah.

[Alex] This is good.

Somebody else was here in this area.

We know other treasure hunters throughout the search

have come really, really close to the point

that they got indications that they had hit something.

-Yeah. -[Scott] And I love finding old drill steel.

Especially here in the Money Pit because,

like I said, they didn't get the recovery back from that.

-So they never got to check what's below that. -Yeah.

-Interesting. -[Alex] It's about the right size

to be a two-inch diameter casing,

which could have been the casing for that pot auger.

Potentially brought back

-that silver coin we saw. -[Scott] Yeah.

[Charles] Yeah. So, actually, James Pitblado--

he was seen taking something out of the pot auger,

he put it in his pocket, he didn't show up the next day.

Hey, and, you know, another reason for casing

to still be in the ground

is if your driller quits and walks off the site.

-Because he found something on the auger. -That's right.

-[laughter] -[Alex] Look,

I think Emma's gonna be able to test this

and tell us whether this dates to the 1840s.

If it does,

then it means we're-we're in the same vicinity,

-if that dates to 1849. -Yep.

-Yeah. -[narrator] The fact that

the team has found pieces

of what appear to be drilling rods

from previous searcher activity

may actually be a critical clue

that they are now drilling down through the original Money Pit.

[Scott] We might be able to determine

which company it came from.

If it's 1850 and earlier,

the earliest searchers knew where the Money Pit was.

That means we could be onto something.

There could be something below it.

There could be the remains of the vault.

[Alex] And then, of course,

178 feet, we still have, you know,

30-plus feet to drill, and we really don't know

what's at the bottom

of the solution channel in this area yet.

Well, let's keep our fingers crossed.

-Yeah. -All right.

-[Alex] Exciting. -[Scott] Great day.

[narrator] While the drilling operation continues

in the Money Pit area...

[Adam S.] This is 180.

...later that afternoon...

[Rick] What do you think, Tansy?

-Have you found anything? -Eh, Not much over here.

[narrator] ...Rick and Alex Lagina arrive on Lot 5

as members of the team continue investigating

the mysterious round feature...

-You still have iron left, eh? -[Fiona] Yeah.

...and a possible new section of it

where a large metal object was detected just one day ago.

[Fiona] There's definitely more in here.

[Laird] Think that's it.

It almost looks like an iron bar.

[Fiona] What a weird-looking artifact.

Would they just have, like, metal around

that they could use to fashion tools with?

[Laird] A blacksmith would have a stock.

It is an odd-looking piece.

So I think we keep it dirty and take it to Emma.

[Fiona] Well, it's still pretty cool.

I'm excited to see what else might be in here.

[Laird] Good stuff.

[Rick] I think Lot 5 continues to evolve.

We're all quite puzzled by the uniqueness of the structure,

and it continues to grow larger.

So all of these artifacts could be highly relevant.

We have to bring them to the lab.

We need more of these finds to hopefully fill in those gaps

and give us those answers.

Ooh, what's this?

Hey. Look at this.

Oh, that looks good.

I don't think I've seen anything like this before.

[Laird] I can tell you what it is.

-Really? -Yeah.

-Oh, I've heard of that. -Yeah. Yeah.

And this is one of the earliest pieces.

We've nev-- we haven't found any more of this before.

So, when you say "early," how early are you talking?

Staffordshire slipware is like

-1675 to 1770. -[gasps]

Well, that's a game changer.

-[Laird] Alex, Rick. -Yep?

-We've got something to show you. -All right.

[Laird] So, Fiona just found this.

It dates 1675 to 1770.

Mm. That's pretty good.

-Yeah. -That's really exciting, actually.

So, early stuff.

[Alex] We know we're not done here

on Lot 5 by a long shot.

We're finding these earlier artifacts

that are hinting at an occupation in the 1600s

in this whole new test pit.

All of which seem to predate

the treasure hunt in the Money Pit.

We're gonna expand the pit,

dig down deeper, and hopefully

we can find more artifacts like that or better.

Who knows what we're gonna learn?

Well, you can tell our work here is definitely not done on Lot 5.

I mean, this is starting to intrigue me.

When you're looking at these date ranges,

that's really encouraging to me.

[Laird] You have to remember, this feature is completely

-undocumented. -Yeah.

We're changing Nova Scotian history, really.

Oh, absolutely.

I have long believed that the 1750

and onward date is searcher era

because of the preponderance of finds.

If you're a searcher, you don't care that people

make note of your activity.

We have the earliest dates around 1200.

And then we have that middle ground, right?

The 14, 15, early 1600s.

When you think of it,

long ago they viewed time differently than we do, right?

-Oh, yeah. -All the big projects

like castles, cathedrals and all that stuff,

-if you look, it's 200 years. -It took generations.

-Yeah. -Yeah. And so that's what I think happened here.

[narrator] Could Rick's notion be correct?

Is it possible that this potentially 17th-century pottery

was left by one of several groups

who may have occupied Lot 5 while also hiding something

of great value in the Money Pit?

If so, what else might those mysterious people

have left here for the team to uncover?

That's really cool. I hope I can find one of those.

-[Laird] Yeah. -[chuckles]

-Find a big piece. -I'll work on it.

Believe me, I've been trying.

[Rick] Hopefully, we'll find more.

-[Tansy] Alex? -[Alex] Yeah?

I think I found a...

No way.

How in the heck did you find that?

[Alex] How in the heck did you find that? That's a bead.

Hey, Laird.

Tansy found a bead.

-Oh, really? -Yeah.

[Fiona laughs] Oh!

[narrator] While excavating the round feature on Lot 5,

archaeology assistant Tansy Rudnicki

has just uncovered another potentially important clue.

Honestly, I-I can't believe she even found it. It's tiny.

-[Laird] Excellent. -[Fiona] Wow.

-[Alex] Want me to hand it to him? -[Tansy] Yeah.

-[Laird] Don't drop it. -[Alex laughs] Yeah.

[Alex] There you go.

-[Laird] Oh, look at that. -Tansy, you found it

pretty deep, right?

I mean, you're getting close to sterile soil there,

-it looks like. -Yeah.

Moya had found a-a similar bead

almost at the similar depth that you're going to,

and she found it right over here in what we call "the yard."

But we've also found two other Venetian beads which were,

uh, the striped ones that had blue and red stripes on it,

-and the white ones. -I remember those.

[Laird] Two Venetian beads, for sure.

[Fiona] Yep, those were Venetians, but the other one

that, to me, is the most interesting is the green

wound bead that we found over in the test pit over there.

-Who found that? -I found that one, yeah.

-[laughter] -That was exciting,

because that was one that you said

had a really old age range or date range on it.

[Laird] It's walled glass,

uh, which means forest glass,

and it was produced in forests in Northern Europe.

It was, like, 1200 to 1500.

I mean, it-it was old.

Believe it or not, this is

-what we call a seed bead. -[Alex] I can see why,

-like 'cause it's so small? -Yeah. 'Cause--

-for that very reason, yeah. -[Tansy laughs]

Probably not worn as you would think beads are,

it's probably embroidered,

-which is pretty cool. -Oh.

[Alex] Is there a way to get, like, an age

or a, a date on it?

We can probably find if it's most likely Venetian,

but the Venetians just kept that tradition up

over hundreds of years.

Probably on the earlier side

-of what we're finding here. -Yeah.

[narrator] In 1291,

artisans in Venice, Italy

began producing decorative glass beads

that soon became a highly sought form of currency

as well as status symbols

used to adorn ceremonial garments,

jewelry and religious artifacts.

Over the past two years,

the Oak Island team has found four Venetian trade beads

in and around this stone foundation on Lot 5

that could date back to between the 16th and 17th centuries,

two of which may even be connected

to the Knights of Malta.

However, they have also recovered

a so-called forest glass bead in this location,

which scientific analysis determined could date

as far back as the tenth century.

Is it getting to the point that it's an unusual amount of beads

-for a site like this? -[Laird] The number of beads

and the variety we have seems to be unusual.

-Well, and they're scattered... -Yeah.

-...everywhere. -I know. I know.

[narrator] Given the number

of potentially ancient and valuable trade beads,

as well as the 14th-century barter token

that the team has found in this feature,

is it possible that it may have been used

not only as a base camp long ago by different groups of people

but also as a place to hide valuables?

If so, what else might the team find

as they continue to excavate it?

-[Laird] Hey, Rick. -Hey. -[Fiona] Hey.

I know one thing, when people are standing here talking,

-something's been found. -[Laird] Take a look.

-Oh, my gosh. -It's a little seed bead glass.

[Rick] Wow. Wow, congratulations.

-[Tansy] Thank you. -[Rick] Well done. -Yeah.

One thing that's curious,

when you speak about going back in time,

we now have this possible connection

to a 1360, 1380 Portuguese coin.

Can that-- the date of that-- go back to that time?

It could.

[Alex] Before, I think

we've investigated who could have come here.

Now we have what appears to be pretty good hints

of connective tissue in the form of the coin.

And we're looking for other things

that we-- might help that connection.

-Right. -So, like, the beads would be one.

-Yeah. -If you can trace these beads

back to a Portuguese merchant...

-Yeah. -...then that helps us have more confidence

in, in what the coin might be telling us.

Yeah, you can see how finding that little thing is kind of

-the tip of the iceberg. -Yeah. -[Rick] Really,

the bottom line is, there's probably more here.

-[Alex] Yeah. -Yeah. -And that's cool.

-[Alex] Cool. -[Laird] All right.

You guys can go back to work.

I'm gonna take this back to Emma and...

-Okay. -...see what we can find out.

-Fair enough. -We'll try to find more.

[Alex] Everybody get ready to pull out the gold coins.

[narrator] As the investigation on Lot 5 continues...

[Terry] All right. Here we go.

H.5-8.5...

178 to 188.

We're going at 'er right now, guys.

Here we go.

[narrator] ...over in the Money Pit area,

other members of the team closely monitor

the core-drilling operation in borehole H.5-8.5

as it reaches deeper into the mysterious solution channel.

This is a very hot spot for drilling.

[Charles] 186 is deeper

than any searcher that we know of has been.

Exactly.

That's why we're gonna look at these areas in much more detail.

Lots of dark water. Looks like we've got a sample.

-[Charles] Here comes a core. -Here it comes.

Let's see what's in store.

[Charles] What you got, Adam?

-[Adam S.] 188. -Thank you.

[Terry] Somewhat bedded and firm, unfortunately.

Look at that.

-And here's the top. -Thank you.

Very tight, clay-rich material.

But slightly looser here.

Look at that.

Now, this material is different.

That is loose material.

[narrator] Although much of the core is made up

of hard, claylike material,

which Terry believes is undisturbed,

the looser soils in the core could suggest evidence

of the solution channel,

which means they could potentially contain

something of value.

I'm gonna run over it with the metal detector.

-[Terry] Go ahead, Charles. -Okay.

Yeah, hold that-- thanks, Steve.

-[beeping] -[Steve] Oh, you have something. -Yeah.

There's something in here, right here.

[Terry] Okay.

[beeping]

[Charles] I got a hit right here, guys.

-It's in here somewhere. -Yeah, you got it.

[Steve] Look at it. It's all shiny.

What is all that stuff? You see how shiny that is?

-[Charles] Okay. -That's shiny.

[Charles] What is that?

-[Charles] See it right there. -[Scott] Yeah,

-that looks like steel. -Does it?

-We'll bag it anyway. -[Terry] It looks like it.

-Yeah, bag it. -[Charles] Yep.

Yep.

[narrator] Upon drilling to a depth

of some 190 feet in the Money Pit area,

members of the Oak Island team have just unearthed

another potentially significant clue

from the mysterious solution channel.

Okay, let's start breaking 'er down.

-Okay. -[Steve] This would be

a broken piece of metal.

From what era, I don't know.

[beeping]

[Charles] There's something in here and there.

Okay.

-That's it. -That's it.

That's it right there.

[narrator] More pieces of metal?

Could the team have found additional evidence

of previous searcher activity?

Or could this be a clue

connected to someone who buried valuables

in the original Money Pit centuries ago?

[Terry] So, be sure to get

every little fragment.

We're gonna bag it all and take it back to the lab.

Okay, guys, I'm gonna go check on a couple things here

around the island, but I'll be back.

If something comes up in that last core, give me a call,

-would you, please? -[Terry and Charles] Will do.

-Take care. -[Steve] Thanks, Scott.

[Terry] Right now we got another core coming up.

[Charles] Here it comes, guys.

You know, over the years. We've looked at a lot of cores,

run the pinpointer over a lot of cores.

Full-on anaconda here.

[Charles] But after seeing the coin that Steve Salomon had...

That's 214 right there.

...I mean, your mind

just kind of goes to the possibility

that, "Are we gonna get another one of those?"

And that-that would be amazing,

to find the one thing to put in Rick's hand.

Okay.

Here we are. There's the bedrock interface

right there where we go into solid bedrock at 212.

But from 201 down to about 208, I think

we've got a lot of slushy material.

Yeah.

[beeps]

[beeping stops]

-Okay, that's clear. -[Terry] This material

is not what we're looking for.

-[Charles] Yeah. -[Terry] Not what we're hoping to find.

Let's get a sample of those loose materials back

to the lab so that Emma can tell us exactly what's in there.

[narrator] Although the team did not recover clear evidence

of treasure in this borehole,

they will collect samples of the soil

from the bottom of the solution channel

so that they can be tested for traces of precious metals

back in the lab.

[Rick] Finding those metals at great depth, beyond which

searchers-- at least recorded searchers--

have been to,

it proves that the collapse is real,

and that's the enterprise this year:

to explore those depths to hopefully

find what we believe has fallen.

Okay, I'll get some pictures and write this up

-and we'll move on, Charles. -Okay.

[Terry] More information

from the bottom of the solution channel.

[narrator] The following morning,

while the drilling of a new borehole begins

in the Money Pit area

and the archaeological dig

proceeds on Lot 5...

[Rick] You know, as everyone knows, Steve Salomon

was kind enough to bring this coin

to the war room meeting the other day.

[narrator] ...Rick Lagina and other members of the team

meet with archaeometallurgist Emma Culligan

and Steve Salomon in the lab.

We turn to Emma, as we always do,

to see what the coin is saying to us.

[narrator] Emma has just completed

her scientific analysis

of the believed 14th-century Portuguese coin

that was reportedly recovered from the original Money Pit

back in 1849.

Okay, so I've done a full report on the coin.

It's made of .375 silver.

It's got a high copper, high silver content.

-It's got a slight bend. -Mm-hmm.

-Right. -[Emma] But other than that,

it's in perfect condition.

-[Rick] Beautiful coin. -Yep.

So, I can confirm that it is a real Portuguese coin.

It is consistent with every coin

that I've compared it to, that is confirmed.

-Oh, okay. -It's a Tornês de Escudo,

uh, Ferdinand I from Portugal.

Most likely from 1367 to 1383.

It's real.

-That's cool. -Yeah.

[narrator] Ferdinand I, also known as "the Handsome,"

reigned as the king of Portugal from 1367 to 1383.

It was a period when the Knights of Christ,

a rebranded order of the Knights Templar,

maintained numerous strongholds across the country

and had meaningful influence on the crown

due to their economic power and military might.

Is it possible that this coin,

reportedly found deep in the original Money Pit

back in 1849,

could be another clue linking a vast Templar treasure

to the Oak Island mystery?

Emma, would you...

get it larger, the bottom of the coin,

a little bit to the left?

-[Steve] Ooh. -That looks like a Templar cross.

-[Judi] Does it to you guys? -Ooh.

-[Alex] Yeah. -[Rick] It does. -[Steve S.] Yeah. Good catch.

[Doug] That's an interesting catch, Judi, 'cause if that's

a Templar cross, the Knights of Christ,

they're, of course, one of our suspects

for deposition here on the island.

[narrator] A possible Templar cross?

Has Judi Rudebusch just made a critical observation

that offers more evidence to suggest

that the Knights of Christ may have been one

of the Templar-related groups

who buried something of great value on Oak Island

between the 12th and 17th centuries?

There's a lot of interesting things about

the coin that I think we can push further.

What do you make of the six-pointed star

on the sides?

[Doug] Fontarcada?

-Fontarcada, yeah. -Over top of that doorway.

[Alex] Fontarcada, over the doorway.

[Corjan] We might be looking at

what I think is near the oldest

Templar commandery or place, uh, in-in Portugal,

-maybe Europe. -[Doug] Wow.

[narrator] During the team's visit to Portugal in 2021...

-[Alex] Oh, wow. -...one of the most

profound sites they toured

was a 12th-century church in the town of Fontarcada

that once served as a house of worship

for the Knights Templar

and later the Knights of Christ.

We will find symbolism in some details of the church.

[narrator] There, they not only saw a carving of a star

that matches the one on the 14th-century coin...

This symbol is definitely on the 90 Foot Stone.

...but also a symbol inside the church

that was reportedly etched into the legendary 90 Foot Stone.

Haven't we learned over these many years

that the smallest clue relays

some really important information?

There is something that that coin is saying.

This is incredibly interesting.

Fascinating, really.

This coin strongly hints, to me,

of supporting the idea of a multigenerational attempt

because for one simple reason: we have dates

that precede this 1367 date, supported by hard science.

That's quite significant to me.

The likely presence of this coin at depth years ago

means that there's a lot more like it down there.

And if there's a lot more like it,

it's quite likely to be deep.

And I think we're onto a very rational effort this year

to get down into the solution channel.

So we're not going home without doing that.

Yeah, look, we're all quite fascinated with it.

[Doug] Well, I don't know about all of you,

but it would be nice to talk to a coin expert.

-Absolutely. -[Judi] That's for sure.

[Rick] And you know what? Steve Salomon,

we owe you a debt of gratitude.

We're very grateful that you're now--

unfortunately for you-- you're part of the family.

-[laughter] -Yeah. -Yeah.

Thank you. I appreciate being here.

[Rick] There are probably a lot more

ancient coins to be found.

So let's get going.

[narrator] The 230th year in the search

for a vast treasure on Oak Island has just begun.

And thanks to the efforts of Rick, Marty,

Craig and their team,

it has already produced a discovery

that may validate the tireless efforts

of all the faithful believers who came before them.

Now, as the team digs deeper than ever

in the Money Pit area and across the island,

what else might they bring to the surface?

Chests full of 14th-century silver coins?

Or could there be even more profound and priceless secrets

that have waited centuries to be revealed?

This season on The Curse of Oak Island...

-[Craig] Ready? -[Marty] Let's get going.

If it's there, we should find it.

We just need to find the right spot.

[Rick] We have to figure out

where that treasure fell into the solution channel.

[Adam M.] Whoa! Whoa!

-We're probably into the void. -Who was here?

-[beeping] -[Charles] Here it is, right there.

It's got some sort of design on it.

[Rick] Why were they here?

-[Sandy] This is clearly Roman. -[others exclaim]

Like, 250 to 270 AD.

What do you think it would fetch?

-Sky's the limit. -[Marty] A chest of coins

such as that could easily be a billion dollars.

Find some treasure, boys!

[Rick] It's a treasure island. It's a treasure story.

-Whoa, whoa, whoa! -[Gary] Another feature in the swamp.

What in the world is happening?

This feature could help us unwrap the whole mystery.

-Oh! -[Fiona] This is a jewel?

-Jeweled crown. -Hallelujah!

[Rick] It's a megalith. A huge boulder.

-Look at this tunnel. -See if there's

-anything in here. -[Marty] What do you think of that?

-[Rick] It looks like gold. -[Fiona] Yeah.

-[laughs] -Lift that boulder up

to see what's underneath it.

[Rick] Roll our dice and see if sevens come up.

We got it. It's what I'm looking for!

Wowzer. There!

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