28 August 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Archaeologists in eastern Newfoundland unearth the oldest English coin ever found in Canada

Archaeologists in eastern Newfoundland have unearthed a rare two-penny piece minted between 1493 and 1499 more than 520 years ago. The silver half-groat is the oldest English coin ever found in Canada.

The currency, known as a half groat, dates from Henry VII, England’s first Tudor ruler, who reigned from 1485 until 1509. Cupids Cove Plantation Provincial Historic Site, where English trader John Guy built a settlement in 1610, was the site of the discovery. The artifact was discovered near what would have been a fortified settlement’s bastion.

The rare silver coin – around the size of a US nickel and just smaller than a 10p coin.

A better-preserved example of a Henry VII half-groat Public domain via Metropolitan Museum of Art
A better-preserved example of a Henry VII half-groat Public domain via Metropolitan Museum of Art

An Elizabethan coin, dated 1560-1561, was discovered on the same spot in 2001. At the time, the piece was thought to be the earliest English currency ever discovered in Canada. This recently recovered coin is around 60 years old and would have been in circulation for at least 111 years before being lost at Cupids.

“Some artifacts are important for what they tell us about a site, while others are important because they spark the imagination. This coin is definitely one of the latter. One can’t help but wonder at the journey it made, and how many hands it must have passed through from the time it was minted in Canterbury until it was lost in Cupids sometime early in the 17th century. This is a major find and I am proud of my team for all their hard work. We look forward to the next great discovery.” says archaeologist William Gilbert, who discovered the site in 1995 and continues to supervise digs there today, in a statement.

Steve Crocker, Newfoundland’s Minister of Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation, adds, “The historical significance of the Cupids Cove Plantation Provincial Historic Site has long been known and its value to the local tourism industry is proven. It is incredible to imagine that this coin was minted in England and was lost in Cupids over a hundred years later. It links the story of the early European exploration in the province and the start of English settlement.”

Research on the coin is ongoing. It is expected that it will go on display at the Cupids Cove Plantation Provincial Historic Site in time for the opening of the 2022 tourist season.

Newfoundland Labrador Canada

Related Articles

The Temple of Persian Water Goddess Anahita Discovered in Iraqi Kurdistan

8 March 2024

8 March 2024

Archaeologists excavating the Rabana-Merquly mountain fortress in what is present-day Iraqi Kurdistan suggest that it may also have served as...

8,000-year-old Yarmukian ‘Mother Goddess’ figurine discovered in Israel

9 July 2022

9 July 2022

An 8,000-year-old Yarmukian Mother Goddess figurine was found at Sha’ar HaGolan archaeological site, located on the northern bank of the...

China’s construction of the first archaeological museum which will house the famous Terracotta Warriors has been completed

19 April 2022

19 April 2022

Construction of the first archaeological museum in China’s northwestern province of Shaanxi, which will house the famous Terracotta Warriors, was...

In Turkey’s Zerzevan Castle, a badge bearing the US national symbol was discovered

4 October 2021

4 October 2021

Recent investigations have led to the discovery of a badge bearing the pattern of the Great Seal of the United...

“Non-returning” Aboriginal boomerangs were discovered in Cooper Creek dried-up riverbed

22 November 2021

22 November 2021

The drying waters of the Cooper Creek river have revealed extremely rare 4 boomerangs that have been partially buried. The...

Could the Kerkenes Settlement be Gordion the Second?

1 August 2022

1 August 2022

Although the settlement on the Kerkenes mountain, located within the borders of Sorgun district of Yozgat, has been known and...

Archaeologists discovered the first evidence of early administrative management in eastern Iran

21 June 2022

21 June 2022

Iranian archaeologists believe they have discovered the first evidence of early administrative management in an eastern Iranian province, which they...

The Oldest “Book” of Europe: Derveni Papyrus

4 September 2022

4 September 2022

The Derveni papyrus is considered Europe’s oldest legible manuscript still in existence today. It is an ancient Greek papyrus roll...

Teacher unearthed stone with ancient ogham writing from Ireland in Coventry garden

9 May 2024

9 May 2024

A geography teacher, Graham Senior, stumbled across a rock with mysterious incisions while tidying his overgrown garden in Coventry, England. ...

Ritualistic Dog Burials Associated with the Goddess Gula Unearthed at the Harran Archaeological Site in Southeastern Türkiye

15 December 2024

15 December 2024

Excavations at the Harran archaeological site in Şanlıurfa, one of the world’s oldest settlements and listed on UNESCO’s Temporary World...

The Mysterious Origins of the Cerne Abbas Giant Finally Revealed

3 January 2024

3 January 2024

There’s a huge chalk image of a man with a powerful erection and no clothes on his butt located in...

“Nikasitimos Was Here Mounting Timiona,” 2,500-year-old erotic graffiti on Astypalaia, Greece

7 April 2024

7 April 2024

In 2014, an archaeologist working on Astypalaia, a remote Greek island of the Dodecanese discovered one of the world’s oldest...

Paleontologists Unearth 139 Million-Year-Old Pregnant Dinosaur Fossil in Chile

10 May 2022

10 May 2022

Archeologists in Chile have unearthed the fossilized remains of a 13ft-long pregnant ichthyosaur from a melting glacier -marking the first...

The oldest evidence of human cannibalism as a funerary practice in Europe

7 October 2023

7 October 2023

According to a new study, cannibalism was a common funerary practice in northern Europe around 15,000 years ago, with people...

Ancient Greek Marble Workshop Unearthed on Paros Island

20 May 2025

20 May 2025

The world of ancient Greek art continues to amaze modern scholars, with recent excavations on Paros Island unveiling a long-lost...