Recaps

The Curse of Oak Island recap: An ancient ring is found indicating possible Spanish treasure in the swamp

Oak Island team examine a new artifact
Marty Lagina and the guys study the ring artifact intently. Pic credit: History

This week on The Curse of Oak Island, the team commenced deep drilling at OC1, where they believe the Money Pit to be. However, while there was excitement early on, it, unfortunately, turned to disappointment.

As the massive bucket from their new heavy-duty drilling equipment took its first scoop of earth, the excitement was palpable. With a target depth of 200 feet, they were bound to find something, maybe even the treasure shaft itself.

It appeared to be all hands on deck as the guys gathered to sift through the dirt, hoping to get what Rick Lagina always describes as an “aha! moment.”

The first possible aha moment came at approximately 120 feet when Oak Island researcher Paul Troutman found a bone.

The shape and size made the guys speculate it was human, a workman who tragically lost his life perhaps. It will have to be sent for expert analysis to determine if it was a searcher or original workman, or neither.

There was further excitement later when they discovered a fragment of wood, and the guys speculated it was part of the top or bottom of a barrel.

Gary Drayton pointed out that treasure was often kept in barrels, not chests.

These turned out to be the only significant finds from the dig, and as the drill went deeper and deeper, the guys found less and less wood.

The disappointment was starkly etched on the teams’ faces as they decided to call it a day.

Thank God for Gary Drayton and his metal detector

Thankfully, all was not lost.

The episode also saw Gary and Rick down by the swamp in an area where the metal detector had not yet been swung.

The first item they dug up was a tin can lid.

“Definitely not Templar related,” Gary joked.

Never discouraged, the pair continued searching, only to moments later unearth a ring.

The ring looked old; it had an ornate floral pattern, unlike modern rings, which tend “to have stones” in them, according to Gary.

“That’s “a sweet find,” he said. “You’re my lucky digger,” he told Rick.

The pair excitedly took it back to the Oak Island research center to show it off to the others. A cursory examination proved it perhaps belonged to a child or a small woman.

Laird Niven put in under a microscope where we could easily see a beautiful starburst floral pattern. Most exciting was the appearance of white specks that looked like silver.

The guys agreed to despatch the ring to an expert asap.

A ring found on Oak Island
The ring has an ornate hand-carved floral pattern, which suggests it is at least 300 years old. Pic credit: History

Expert says the ring is from before 1730

A short time later, the team gathered in the war room with the gemologist, and master goldsmith, Charles Lewton-Brain, beaming down at them from a large monitor.

He stated that the floral design was chiseled, which means it was probably made before the 1730s.

Lewton-Brain said it was probably Spanish in origin. Could it be related to the Spanish coin from the 1650s that the guys found in the swamp six years ago?

Gary pointed out, “floral designs were common on the Spanish treasure fleets.”

Could this ring have come from a Spanish treasure chest?

Given it was found in the swamp, perhaps it’s related to the theory that a Spanish galleon might be buried at the bottom of the marshy land.

Catch The Curse of Oak Island Tuesday’s at 9/8c on History.

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Wenrella
Wenrella
4 years ago

I’m watching TBN channel.
The Watchman With Eric Stakelbeck
There is a Large stone with this similar flower on it.
They possibility found a city where Jesus met Mary of Magdla where the Tora was read. Just a thought.

michael Lewis
michael Lewis
4 years ago

Whoa ! we found a hinge ! same type as what they used on treasure chests. ” We got us a piece of rock don’t we and its got Iwozere on it. This piece of tin that looks like a top of a can, is similar to the armour the pirates wore ! Talk ,more talk, scanning, whoa whats that ? Looks like gold, oh its a candy wrapper, lets send it off to the limpopo laborotory and get it analysed. Why not cut all the repeated flashbacks, the wild assumptions, the banal war room speculation, the ecstatic whooping every time a nail or piece of bone is found, and give us an interesting, better edited show ? I record a lot of programs now, so I can fly through the stupid adverts, the first 15 minutes of the start, then the war room sequences, and metal detecting unless something interesting turns up. This means there is about 16 minutes towards the end that is of any interest. When any diving is required ,your interest is aroused, and you are waiting for the inevitable ” Oh the weather is getting bad, or we are run out of air, or we” caint “dive co’s its raining. Then the chestnut, its coming into winter and we have to close up till summer. Just give us some decent finds, stop talking and get digging. If something breaks, stop boring us with the problem, and save wasting film. At least the movies give us a story, beginning, middle and end. I appreciate the money invested into this program but it is becoming predictable and boring.

Kenneth
Kenneth
3 years ago

My wife has a ring that looks exactly like that was found in the swamp I emailed the Oak Island people and they seemed to not be interested in what that I was saying to I believe that the ring is very modern.