This is a postscript to our earlier story, Windows into the
Past.
Since returning from Rose Blanche, we've been searching the internet in an effort to identify the coin we found while digging
around Katie-Lew's foundation. It was buried in the mud and badly corroded, but still
had a number of identifiable features. The most prominent was on the head's
side, a woman's face looking left, along with the remains of a border well
inside the perimeter. On the tail's side, there was a wide border of what we
thought was flowers and swirls, then near the middle, a capital N. The coin
appeared to be made of a copper alloy and was exactly an inch in diameter.
A search of old coins from various countries where the earliest fishermen originated, found the coin to be a Canadian ONE
CENT with Queen Victoria on the head's side. The decorative fringe around the
circumference on the backside was actually leaves and swirls. The visible N is
positioned correctly for the N in ONE, and when we looked more closely, the E
from CENT is also distinguishable. According to CoinQuest.com, the coin was
minted between 1858 and 1901.
At that time, Newfoundland was a self governed British colony, not becoming a Dominion until 1906, while Canada became a Dominion through confederation in 1867. Then of course, Newfoundland didn't join
Canada until 1949.
The French had fished the Rose Blanche area seasonally
starting in the 1700s, with the English settlement being established around 1810.
Census data indicate the community had grown to 663 inhabitants by 1869.
According to Wikipedia, both Canada and Newfoundland used
British currency prior to creating their own. Canada created its currency in 1858, while Newfoundland
created its own in 1863. Both had a Queen Victoria penny, but each
was quite different from the other.
So, what's the coin worth? On the open market, it's pretty much worthless because its so corroded, but to us, it's priceless. The old coin is a treasure that was lost by someone that lived and worked on Parsons Point
long before us. It was buried for well over a hundred years, and is a part of
Rose Blanche and Katie-Lew's history.