Historic hinges found on The Curse of Oak Island this week are believed to have come from an old chest, and could be connected to the island’s legendary Money Pit.
Footage shows at least two of the hinges being discovered on Lot 12 of the island, which used to be owned by long-time treasure hunter Fred Nolan before he passed away in 2016.
The Oak Island team, led by brothers Rick and Marty Lagina, were granted access to all of the Nolan-owned land on the island last episode after Fred’s son Tom agreed to work with them to help solve the island’s famous mystery.
The hinges are discovered in an area previously thought to be an “ancient dump site”, which it’s believed could contain items connected to the original construction of the island’s legendary Money Pit.
Previously released footage from the episode shows team-member Charles Barkhouse holding one of the hinges, before asking metal-detecting expert Gary Drayton what it is. After examining two of them, Gary says: “These are the types of hinges that come off chests or boxes.”
At one point Rick Lagina adds: “That could be the missing chest.” Last week’s episode saw Tom Nolan showing Rick and Charles a skeleton key which his father Fred was said to have found on the island.
It had a distinctive cross worked into it, which fitted neatly into the handle when the key was folded. Earlier in Season 5 several other keys also surfaced while the team examined a chest once owned by privateer and Freemason Captain James Anderson.
This week’s episode of The Curse of Oak Island also sees the team return to the island’s famous swamp, which Fred Nolan believed was man-made after finding what he believed to be survey markers used to create its boundaries.
Historian Zena Halpern, who has previously featured on the show, also returns to discuss the medieval lead cross discovered earlier in the season. Last episode saw the origins of the cross discussed, with expert Jerry Glover saying that it could have theoretically have belonged to members of the Knights Templar but that more research would need to be done to give a conclusive answer.
Speaking on the phone to Rick, Gary and local historian Doug Crowell in the sneak peek for this week’s episode, Zena is heard saying: “This one is from the Phoenicians, from 1200 BC. This is stunning. This is the find of the century.” In the trailer she adds: “You have a spectacular find!”
Meanwhile, this week also sees the team’s final caisson of the season — named DMT after Drake Tester, who passed away last year — hit something “very, very solid” in the Money Pit area, with operator Mike Jardine from Irving Equipment describing it as “not something normal”.
It comes after the team’s previous shaft, H-8, also hit something underground, which the team believed was the so-called Chappell Vault. That caisson then moved into a void, prompting speculation that they had pushed whatever they had previously hit into the area they are now searching with DMT.
The Curse of Oak Island airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on History.