This article was originally published by The Art Newspaper, an editorial partner of CNN Style. The discovery of a rare gold coin on the south coast of Newfoundland, Canada, may challenge traditional historical accounts of the timing of European contact in the region, predating explorer John Cabot’s arrival on the island by at least 70 years. In a press release last week, the Newfoundland and Labrador government said the English coin was found in the summer of 2022 by Edward Hines, a local amateur historian, who reported it to officials as required by its Historic Resources Act. province. The 600-year-old coin predates the first documented European contact with North America after the Vikings, in an area with a 9,000-year history of human settlement and rich indigenous traditions. After consultation with Paul Berry, former curator of the Bank of Canada Coin Museum, the coin was identified as a Henry VI Quarter Noble, minted in London between 1422 and 1427. In the 1400s, the coin would have represented a significant amount of money , worth 1 shilling 8 pence or about 81 Canadian dollars ($61) today. Prior to this discovery, a coin struck in the 1490s found in 2021 at the province’s Cupids Cove Plantation Provincial Historic Site was believed to be the oldest English coin ever found in Canada. As Berry says the coin was likely out of circulation when it was lost, there is much speculation as to exactly how the gold quarter courtesy coin arrived in Newfoundland and Labrador. The exact location of the discovery is being kept secret to discourage treasure hunters. Both sides of the coin, which is pictured next to a modern Canadian quarter for scale. Credit: Darek Nakonieczny In an interview with CBC, provincial archaeologist Jamie Brake – who says after the ongoing study is complete, the coin will likely go on public display at The Rooms museum in the provincial capital of St. John’s – commented on the significance of the finding. “Between England and here, people there still didn’t know about Newfoundland or North America at the time it was cut,” he said. The discovery of the coin highlights the interesting archaeological record in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada’s easternmost province. Stories of the arrival of the Vikings are contained in Icelandic sagas, which refer to visits by Leif Erikson more than 1,000 years ago, and archaeological evidence of a Norse settlement found at L’Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland, which has been declared a World Heritage Site. Unesco in 1978. Other unconfirmed accounts of European contact include stories from England’s Channel Islands of a ship blown off course in the late 15th century in a strange land teeming with fish. historical Portuguese maps depicting Terra do Bacalhau (or cod country). and “St. Brendan’s Voyage,” a legendary account of an early 6th-century sea voyage by an Irish abbot. In 1583, Newfoundland became England’s first possession in North America, and the establishment of fishing operations on the island’s outer coastline cut off access to traditional food sources for the indigenous population. “There was some knowledge of a European presence before the 16th century here for a while, you know, excluding the Norwegians and so on,” Brake told the CBC. “The possibility of an occupation before the 16th century would be quite surprising and very important in this part of the world.”
