‘Rare’ gold coin found in Canada may break record and reshape history, officials say


Photo from the Newfoundland and Labrador government

Brendan Rascius
Tue, November 15, 2022 

A gold coin recently discovered along the Canadian coastline by a metal detectorist may be the oldest English coin ever found in the country.

Its discovery may call into question the commonly accepted timeline of European exploration of the continent.

The coin, which is warped and intricately embossed, was found during the summer of 2022, according to a Nov. 9 press release from the the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Edward Hynes was scanning the coast of Newfoundland, Canada’s easternmost province, with his metal detector when he heard a “thrilling” beep, according to Saltwire. He then dug a five-inch-deep hole and unearthed the shiny piece.

“It was so bright yellow and really thin, and I wasn’t thinking it was a gold coin. I was thinking it was almost like a tag from something or a button, or something like that,” he told the outlet.

Hynes later reported his disinterred treasure to the government, according to the release, and a currency expert determined the coin to be a Henry VI quarter noble. It was minted in London at some point between 1422 and 1427, meaning it is more than three times older than the nation of Canada, founded in 1867.

As to how the coin made the 2,000-plus mile journey from the old world to the new, experts aren’t sure, though they say it was likely not in circulation when it was lost.

A silver coin produced in Canterbury, England, in the 1490s was found in the same province last year and heralded as the oldest English coin ever discovered in Canada — and potentially in all of North America, according to a government release.

John Cabot, an Italian explorer, is credited with being the first European to travel to Newfoundland in 1497, according to the Royal Museums Greenwich.

However, the discovery of the Henry VI quarter noble, minted in the 1420s, in addition to unconfirmed accounts and new research, could challenge Cabot’s achievement.

According to one popular legend, Irish monks, led by Saint Brendan, sailed to Newfoundland in the 6th century A.D.

And a 2021 study published in Nature revealed evidence that vikings lived in Newfoundland in 1021 A.D.

“There’s been some knowledge of a pre-16th century European presence here for a while, you know, excluding Norse and so on,” provincial archaeologist Jamie Brake told the CBC. “The possibility of perhaps a pre-16th century occupation would be pretty amazing and highly significant in this part of the world.”