The discovery of a gold coin in Newfoundland has the potential to “rewrite the history books.” This coin gives the impression that Europeans arrived in Newfoundland much earlier than is now recognized, which directly contradicts the conventional account of the discovery of North America.
Coin from the Middle Ages Found in Canada, an Exciting Find
Edward Hynes, a local amateur historian, was the one who discovered the contentious gold coin this summer, according to a news release that was distributed this week by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. This quarter noble was produced in London some time between the years 1422 and 1427 AD. At the time of its creation, it had a value of one shilling and eight pence, which is equivalent to approximately $81 in today’s money. It has been heralded as the earliest English currency ever found in Canada.
The finding of this medieval coin on a beach in Canada has presented archaeologists with “a historical puzzle” due to the fact that it was no longer in use around the year 1470 AD. Is it possible that this coin is the smoking gun that proves Europeans inhabited North America earlier than what is commonly believed?
The Crucial Query Concerning the North American Discovery
Leif Erikson was claimed to have rediscovered North America in the year 1001 AD, according to medieval Icelandic sagas; however, archaeologists have always ignored these stories as being fictitious. However, all of that changed in 1978 when archaeologists uncovered a Norse village at L’Anse aux Meadows in Canada that dated back to the 11th century.
It is generally agreed upon in historical circles that the second European explorer to arrive in Newfoundland did so in the year 1497 AD. It was the Italian explorer John Cabot who is credited with rediscovering Newfoundland. Cabot was known as “The Navigator.” The freshly discovered medieval gold coin unearthed in Canada, on the other hand, predates John Cabot’s expedition by around seventy years.
The fact that “people in England were not yet aware of Newfoundland or North America” when this coin was minted, according to the generally accepted historical narrative, is one of the reasons why the discovery is “so exciting,” as stated by Jamie Brake, an archaeologist working for a provincial government in Canada.
The researcher went on to say that if there was proof of people living in the New World prior to the 16th century, it would be “quite astonishing and incredibly significant in this region of the world.” This was a modest assertion because, in all likelihood, such a discovery would necessitate rewriting history, smearing the reputation of John Cabot, and inventing a completely new explanation for how things got started.
The Oldest English Medieval Coin Uncovered in Canada
This gold coin, known as a quarter noble, was minted during the reign of King Henry VI, which occurred in the 1420s AD. Therefore, it is older than the “half groat” coin that was discovered on the beach at the Cupids Cove Plantation provincial historic site last year. That coin had a date of the 1490s and was found there on the beach.
Due to the fact that this is the oldest coin that has ever been found in Canada, the precise site where it was found has been kept under wraps for reasons of national security. However, he did reveal that it was “discovered on a beach near a registered archaeological site that dates back to the 1700s.” Brake told CBC News that everyone involved is being “very cryptic about the location.”
The mystery of how the medieval coin came to be where it was discovered “is likely to remain for some time,” according to Paul Berry, the former curator of the Currency Museum at the Bank of Canada. Berry stated that even though the coin was probably no longer in circulation when it was lost, “that doesn’t help provide answers as to how it got there.”
It has been suggested by Paul Berry that it was discarded “after” it had been taken out of circulation; however, archaeologist Brake thinks that it may have been discarded by someone “before” the arrival of the Italian explorer Cabot in 1479 AD. Who then might have accidentally thrown the gold coin before Cabot made the first recorded discovery of North America in 1497 AD?