CUPIDS, N.L. -
An archeological fieldworker excavating a site in eastern Newfoundland has unearthed what could be the oldest English coin found in Canada.
William Gilbert, head archeologist and supervisor at the Cupids Cove Plantation Provincial Historic Site, says one of his colleagues found the silver coin in September, adding that research has confirmed it was minted sometime between 1493 and 1499.
"It's important because it sparks your imagination," Gilbert said in an interview Wednesday. The coin, he added, is more than a century older than Cupids, founded in 1610. "You just have to wonder when you look at this thing: how many hands did it pass through?"
