Ancient Roman Coin Discovery Pushes Oak Island Mystery Into New Historical Territory
The Curse of Oak Island returned this week with one of the most intriguing developments of Season 13: the confirmed discovery of a Roman coin dating back to the 3rd century AD. The find, located on Lot 5, has intensified speculation about who may have visited or operated on the island centuries before European settlement — and whether the artifact may be tied to the island’s elusive treasure narrative.
The episode opens in the island’s research laboratory, where Emma Culligan and the team review CT scan images of the coin recovered by Marty Lagina and Katya Drayton. Emma’s analysis identifies clear Roman characteristics, including the “officina” marking denoting the ninth workshop and a distinct profile commonly attributed to Emperor Claudius II, who ruled from 268 to 270 AD.
“It’s Roman — without a doubt,” Emma concludes, prompting astonishment from both Rick and Marty Lagina. The team has previously uncovered five Roman coins in the same vicinity, but this specimen’s clarity and detail make it the most compelling find to date.
Roman artifacts are rarely found in Nova Scotia, and according to numismatist Sandy Campbell, who later examines the artifact, the island may hold the only known collection of such coins in the region. “I’m unaware of Roman coins being found anywhere else in Nova Scotia,” Campbell notes. “The real question is: who brought them here?”
Campbell explains that Roman coinage continued circulating well into the 1500s, meaning the pieces found on Oak Island could have been carried by European travelers or laborers centuries after the Roman Empire collapsed. Nevertheless, the cluster of discoveries on a single lot remains difficult to ignore. “It’s puzzling how so many ended up in one place,” he adds.
While the lab analysis deepens the mystery, the field teams continue their work on Lot 5, where archaeologist Fiona Steele leads the excavation of a rounded feature near the shoreline. The area has produced a growing number of artifacts spanning different centuries, supporting the theory of multi-generational activity on the island.
The latest discoveries include fragments of a large earthenware bowl dating from the 1600s to 1800s and a pipe stem dated between 1753 and 1800. These items suggest that individuals were preparing food or living in the area well before official historical records document any settlement there. “Every piece is adding another layer,” Steele says. “It’s becoming increasingly curious.”
Meanwhile, in the swamp — long considered one of Oak Island’s most enigmatic zones — the team uncovers handmade wooden stakes similar to those discovered near the centuries-old stone-paved area last year. The stakes appear to have been shaped by hand rather than by saw, suggesting purposeful construction or navigation efforts in the bog. Carbon dating from similar stakes has previously placed such activity between the 1630s and 1700s.
The swamp findings continue to support theories that the area may have functioned as part of an engineered system, perhaps as a transportation route or staging ground used by early visitors to the island. With the swamp’s proximity to Lot 5, the emerging connections between the sites are raising new questions about coordinated activity across the landscape.
In the Money Pit — the focal point of the island’s legendary treasure hunt — drilling reaches unprecedented depths. Borehole J5-8.5 reveals a 30-foot void composed of loose material nearly 228 feet below the surface. The depth surpasses many historical shafts, suggesting previous diggers may have unknowingly collapsed structures or pushed material downward.
“If treasure is dense, it sinks,” Rick Lagina observes, noting that whatever once lay above the void may now be resting at the bottom of the solution channel. The team believes this deeper zone may represent unexplored territory where evidence — or valuables — could still exist.
As the episode concludes, the combination of Roman artifacts, 17th-century pottery, medieval-style wooden stakes, and an unusually deep void paints a picture of Oak Island as a site with a far more complex and layered history than previously imagined. While definitive answers remain elusive, each discovery adds momentum to the investigation.
“It deepens the mystery,” Campbell says — a sentiment that has become the hallmark of Oak Island’s most compelling chapters.
