Alistair Hardaker | Imagery: HMS Victory
Victorian coins and 1835 Canadian token found during £42m restoration reveal maritime tradition of placing coins beneath masts for good fortune.
Six 19th-century coins and tokens have been discovered beneath the foremast of HMS Victory during the latest stage of the ship’s conservation programme.
The find was made following the removal of Victory’s foremast at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, part of the £42 million project to conserve Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson’s flagship.
The discovery connects to a maritime tradition in which coins were placed beneath a ship’s mast as a symbolic act, often intended to bring good fortune to the vessel and her crew.
Andrew Baines, executive director of museum operations at Royal Navy Museums, said: “The placing of coins beneath a ship’s mast has long been seen as a symbolic act, often associated with protection and good fortune for the vessel and her crew. Following the earlier discovery of a single farthing beneath the main lower mast, we had hoped there might be something similar beneath the foremast. But to uncover six coins was an extraordinary surprise.”
The coins sat beneath the fore lower mast for 132 years, bearing the weight of approximately 50 tonnes of masts, yards and rigging. Prolonged pressure and corrosion left them heavily degraded.
Karoline Sofie Hennum, Conservator at HMS Victory, explained: ‘‘To unlock the secrets of the coins covered up by decades of corrosion, they needed to be removed from the base plate, cleaned and x-rayed. Luckily, overall, the condition of the coins was good, and they came away from the base easily.
“Then using a microscope, we carefully cleaned them with brushes, wooden skewers and tweezers, bringing more information to light. Finally using a technique called X-radiography, we could see beneath the corrosion revealing both side of the coin in one image.”
The six finds are: an 1892 one penny with Queen Victoria “bun head” portrait, an 1890 one penny with Queen Victoria “bun head” portrait, an 1882 farthing, another 1890 one penny with Queen Victoria “bun head” portrait, an 1890 halfpenny with Queen Victoria “bun head” portrait, and an 1835 Prince Edward Island “Ships, Colonies and Commerce” token.
The discovery follows the earlier find of a single farthing beneath Victory’s main lower mast in 2021.
The six newly discovered coins and token, together with the earlier coin discovered beneath Victory’s main lower mast, will go on display in the Victory Gallery at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard from 23 May and will remain on display throughout the summer.
