The
discovery of a silver coin, deliberately embedded in the keel
of the Newport Ship, has excited archaeologists working on the
ship. It points to a French origin. The coin had been wrapped
in what appears to be tarred caulking and carefully nested in
a hole cut into the keel, at the point where it connects to the
stempost (the timber forming the bow). The find position is highly
significant because the keel and the stempost would have been
the first timbers put in position by the ship builders. Probably
inserted as a good luck charm, it gives the date after which the
ship must have been constructed. One face of the coin depicts
a cross, and the inscription in Latin 'SIT NOME (D)NI BENEDITU.'
which can be translated as 'Blessed be the name of the Lord'.
This was the face left facing uppermost, almost certainly deliberately.
The coin is not worn, suggesting that it was quite new when placed
in the keel.
There
is a centuries-old tradition of placing coins under the mast during
ship construction, and a few parallels for coins between keel
and stempost.
The
coin has been identified by Edward Besly of the Amgueddfa Cymru
- National Museum Wales - as a petit blanc of the Dauphin, Louis
de France. Minted in the town of Crémieu between 1440 -
1456, it comes from Dauphiné, an area of south eastern
France, traditionally held by the Dauphin, the eldest son of the
king of France. Louis of France succeeded to the Throne of France
in 1461, as Louis XI, and reigned until 1483. This type of coin
was in general circulation throughout fifteenth century France.
The dolphin, the symbol of the Dauphin, is found on both sides.
Discovery of a French coin, placed between two of the most important
constructional timbers of the Newport Ship and obviously right
at beginning of construction, strongly suggests a French origin
for the Ship. The fact that many of the artefacts discovered in
the ship are not British, but European, again points to a continental
origin, and certainly a working life which involved voyages to
the Iberian peninsula at least. Repaired with timbers felled in
southwest Britain in 1465-6, and left abandoned on supporting
struts dating from c1468, the team working on the ship have known
for some time that she was older than 1465, due to the large number
of repairs she had undergone. The coin gives a much closer idea
of the date at which she was constructed, and therefore the length
of her working life.
Dating
from the early years of the Age of Discovery, but before the discovery
of America, the Newport Ship is the most complete surviving fifteenth
century ship discovered in recent years and has already given
experts a window into ship building techniques of this period.
The
Newport Ship project has recently been awarded a grant from the
Heritage Lottery Fund. Over the next two years there will be detailed
recording of each of the 1,700 timbers which make up this unique
and fascinating discovery. As found in the ground, the ship had
undergone serious distortion so that her original shape is as
yet unknown. Following the completion of the next stage of work
we will have a much better idea of her original shape, tonnage
and usage. More discoveries are expected.
