This week on Season 8, Episode 23 of The Curse of Oak Island, the team tries to uncover the secrets of Samuel Ball and actually find some treasure in the form of a gold coin.
This season on Oak Island is gradually coming to an end now; severely disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, it seems as though the guys were hampered in what they could achieve this year. The social distancing restrictions certainly ruled out any massive excavations, so we were left with the guys conducting some small-scale jobs around the island.
However, in some sense, this may have been a blessing in disguise, as it means in this episode, the team gets to focus on the mysterious Samuel Ball.
Ball was a former American slave born in South Carolina in 1765, who found his way to Oak Island shortly after the American Revolutionary War, where he established himself as a successful cabbage farmer and landowner.
Ball amassed a comfortable level of wealth and over 100 acres of land on Oak Island and the mainland, which has led many to wonder, including the Fellowship of the Dig, if he might have found some of the treasure buried near his house.
Oak Island team hopes Samuel Ball left some treasure behind
Archaeologist Laird Niven has been busy this Season excavating Ball’s property in the hope of finding some clues, and last week he unearthed a wooden trap door in the flooring of the former cabbage farmer’s home. The guys are clearly hoping to find prise open that door to see what’s underneath.
The History Channel description of this episode reads: “When an Oak Island local leads to the team to a previously unknown giant wharf, the mystery of Samuel Ball deepens.”
With that in mind, it looks like the guys will try to find an ancient wharf located off-shore but near Ball’s property. From the episode preview, we can see the team has recruited diving expert Tony Sampson to help them find the wharf.
Sampson went diving for a couple of wharf’s by the swamp earlier in the season, but unfortunately, nasty conditions under the surface meant he didn’t find much; perhaps he’ll have more luck this time.
Treasure finally found on Oak Island
We can also tell from the show’s previews that they’ve actually found a gold coin! Hurrah! And it appears as though it was found on Samuel Ball’s property, which will only deepen the air of mystery surrounding this 18/19th-century landowner.
Fingers crossed that there are many more of those left to find!
The Curse of Oak Island airs at 9/8c on History.