A gold coin found on the province’s south coast over the summer may be the oldest ever found in Canada.
It was discovered by Edward Hynes, who reported it to the provincial government.
Through consultation with Paul Berry, a former curator with the Bank of Canada’s Currency Museum, it was discovered that the coin is a Henry VI quarter noble, that was minted in London in the 1420s.
(A Henry VI quarter noble, minted in London between 1422 and 1427.)
Government says the coin would have been a sizable amount of money at the time, valued at 1 shilling 8 pence.
Exactly how the coin came here is a mystery, but Berry notes that it was probably not in circulation when lost.
In 2021, a similar discovery was made at the Cupids Cove Plantation Historic Site.
That coin was said to be minted in the 1490s, and at the time was considered the oldest English coin ever found in Canada.
