BLACKBEARD - Recovering "Queen Anne's Revenge"

R E C E N T N E W S A R T I C L E S

Little object, big find from shipwreck

October 28, 2008 -
By Jannette Pippin
Freedom ENC

One of the smallest artifacts recovered during the latest dive expedition at the shipwreck presumed
to be Queen Anne's Revenge is getting big attention.

The circular, dime-sized piece has been resting on the ocean floor for 300 years, but early examination indicates it may be the first coin to come from the site believed to be the flagship of the pirate Blackbeard.

"Just looking at it you can't see what it is, but from an X-ray of it you can see a little image and what looks like a head (of a coin)," QAR Conservation Field Supervisor Wendy Welsh said of the silver piece.

Welsh said a coin weight with a bust of Queen Anne was recovered from the site during a 2006 dive
but no actual coins.

Shanna Daniel, assistant conservator at the QAR lab in Greenville, said it will likely be one of the first items from the 2008 dive reviewed at the lab because it could reveal important markings used in confirming important information, such as the time period of the shipwreck.

"I think this is going to be one of our top priorities; it could have a date or something on it," she said.

But the coin wasn't the only artifact of interest.

Also among this year's finds are a guard for a dagger or small sword, pieces of pewter plates, shards
of ceramic, grinding stone fragments, cannon ball and hundreds of concretions containing artifacts yet to be uncovered.

Some of the artifacts recovered from this year's dive, which ends Friday, will be available for the public to view Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the N.C. Maritime Museum in Beaufort. The museum is the repository for the conserved artifacts from the QAR site and currently has three cannons as well as other already conserved items on display.

Inclement weather has cut this year's dive expedition back to six weeks rather than eight, and plans to raise a 12th cannon from the shipwreck site on Tuesday were hampered by weather conditions as well.

The QAR team hopes to bring the cannon up later in the week but it wasn't possible in time for today's public viewing of the artifacts.