COINS FOUND ON OUTER BANKS BEACHES
The E-Sylum (1/10/2021)
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COINS FOUND ON OUTER BANKS BEACHES
Chris Neuzil passed along this article about a collection of coins found over the years along the beaches of the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Thanks! -Editor
The William E. and Catherine F. Sell Coin Collection was donated to the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum in Hatteras, North Carolina, in 2006. It includes 55 coins, the oldest of which date to221-203 B.C. The newest, a five sucres coin from Ecuador, was minted in 1943.
The collection includes coins from China, Ecuador, England, France, Egypt, Germany, Greece, Italy, Mexico, Spain, and the United States. Even long-gone civilizations like the Byzantine Empire arerepresented in the historically significant treasure trove.
All that on the Outer Banks? Experts believe that the vast array of coins is likely tied to the number of shipwrecks off the state's coast.
"That doesn't necessarily mean that there were Greek and Roman sailors traversing the coast," an N.C. Maritime Museums spokesperson explained to Southern Living. "Instead, the oldest of the coinswere conceivably scooped up with ballast from the bottom of harbors overseas and then washed ashore in North Carolina as ships broke up alongside the state's treacherous shoals."
There may also be some pirate loot in the haul.
"Since pirates would not have cared where a coin came from but would care about the material used to make them, the oldest silver coins could possibly have been carried here as 'treasure,'" thespokesperson added.
Coins are notoriously hard to display in a format that allows visitors to see detail, as well as both sides, clearly. As such, the collection is not currently on public display at the Graveyard ofthe Atlantic Museum.
The nonprofit museum is currently seeking funding to move forward with plans to create an exhibit that appropriately showcases the collection. That exhibit, as conceived, would include each coindisplayed in a traditional case with a moveable magnifier to enlarge details. An accompanying electronic display would allow visitors to further explore each coin's history and significance.
Chris adds:
"The pre-European contact ones, like the ancients, are the ones that get me. The ballast idea doesn't really resonate, but I don't have a better one."
To read the complete article, see:
Exhibit Planned for Couple's Collection of Coins Found on Outer Banks Beaches Over theCourse of 70 Years (https://www.southernliving.com/news/outer-banks-rare-coin-collection-graveyard-of-the-atlantic-museum)
