SimonLakeSub
Full Member
- Dec 6, 2006
- 160
- 1
Captain Kidd's Cache Found ?
The following article is from the Sun newspaper dated May 18, 1897
Curious Old Coins Found
Turned up In The Sand On A long Island Beach
There has been, since "that time whereof the memory of a man runneth not to the contrary," a tradition along the shore of Long Island between Astoria and North Beach that Capt. Kidd of piratical memory suffered shipwreck about two miles above hell Gate. According to this tradition the ship was driven on the treacherous sands, and the Captain and his murderous crew barely escaped with their lives. But the next morning they went back to the wreck and took off their treasure and buried it not far away, with the intention of returning for it. For some unaccountable reason the treasure was never recovered, but has remained buried ever since to vex the soul of many a hunter for gold. If, indeed, the old coins of different centuries and different countries now in the possession of Mrs. Kate Woolsey of Woolsey manor, Astoria, were not a part of Kidd's buried hoard, at any rate they are sure to stimulate the narrators of the old traditions, and perhaps even the pirate fortune hunters. They were found in the neighborhood of the place where tradition has buried the treasure, and seem to be genuine. If genuine, they are probably of very great value. They are gold and silver, of different sizes, and much worn; in fact, there are but two or three whose inscriptions are legible.
A small boy found the coins about a week ago. Mrs. Woolsey has, had some men at work on Casino Beach, a part of her property, preparing it for the bathing season.
On the beach was a big boulder that the men had turned over. A small boy was seen around it, and after a bit he left, carrying something in his hat. One of the men stopped him and saw that the hat was full of queer old coins, most of them silver, a few of them gold.
When asked where he got them he said that he picked them up from the sand underneath the boulder. He refused to give them up and Mrs. Woolsey was told about it. She sent for the boy and managed to secure a part of them by giving him a silver dollar for each one.
The coins range widely in date. Those which she showed the Sun reporter yesterday ranged from 1120 to the sixteenth century. Some of them were coined in England. One in Prussia, and one in Spain. Several were carved with what seemed to be Arabic characters, and the rest were so worn that even with a glass an unpractised eye could not make them out. One of the best preserved coins is a very thin silver piece, an Elizabethan sibling or crown, fairly round, which bears the date of 1561, and is about the size of a half-dollar.
Happy Hunting
Simon
The following article is from the Sun newspaper dated May 18, 1897
Curious Old Coins Found
Turned up In The Sand On A long Island Beach
There has been, since "that time whereof the memory of a man runneth not to the contrary," a tradition along the shore of Long Island between Astoria and North Beach that Capt. Kidd of piratical memory suffered shipwreck about two miles above hell Gate. According to this tradition the ship was driven on the treacherous sands, and the Captain and his murderous crew barely escaped with their lives. But the next morning they went back to the wreck and took off their treasure and buried it not far away, with the intention of returning for it. For some unaccountable reason the treasure was never recovered, but has remained buried ever since to vex the soul of many a hunter for gold. If, indeed, the old coins of different centuries and different countries now in the possession of Mrs. Kate Woolsey of Woolsey manor, Astoria, were not a part of Kidd's buried hoard, at any rate they are sure to stimulate the narrators of the old traditions, and perhaps even the pirate fortune hunters. They were found in the neighborhood of the place where tradition has buried the treasure, and seem to be genuine. If genuine, they are probably of very great value. They are gold and silver, of different sizes, and much worn; in fact, there are but two or three whose inscriptions are legible.
A small boy found the coins about a week ago. Mrs. Woolsey has, had some men at work on Casino Beach, a part of her property, preparing it for the bathing season.
On the beach was a big boulder that the men had turned over. A small boy was seen around it, and after a bit he left, carrying something in his hat. One of the men stopped him and saw that the hat was full of queer old coins, most of them silver, a few of them gold.
When asked where he got them he said that he picked them up from the sand underneath the boulder. He refused to give them up and Mrs. Woolsey was told about it. She sent for the boy and managed to secure a part of them by giving him a silver dollar for each one.
The coins range widely in date. Those which she showed the Sun reporter yesterday ranged from 1120 to the sixteenth century. Some of them were coined in England. One in Prussia, and one in Spain. Several were carved with what seemed to be Arabic characters, and the rest were so worn that even with a glass an unpractised eye could not make them out. One of the best preserved coins is a very thin silver piece, an Elizabethan sibling or crown, fairly round, which bears the date of 1561, and is about the size of a half-dollar.
Happy Hunting
Simon
as well as a few that he found.
