Six nineteenth-century coins and tokens have been discovered hidden beneath the foremast of HMS Victory during a major conservation project, shedding new light on a centuries-old maritime tradition believed to bring good fortune to ships and their crews.
The remarkable find was made at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard during the latest stage of the £42 million “Big Repair” programme, which is aimed at preserving Admiral Lord Nelson’s famous flagship for future generations.
The discovery came after conservators successfully removed the ship’s foremast as part of ongoing structural work.
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Buried beneath the massive timber base, which has supported around 50 tonnes of masts, rigging and equipment for more than a century, the coins had remained completely undisturbed since the mast was stepped in 1894, as reported by Whats The Jam.
Experts say the objects appear to be part of a long-standing naval superstition in which coins were placed beneath a mast as a symbolic offering, intended to bring protection, stability and good luck to the vessel at sea.
Andrew Baines, Executive Director of Museum Operations at Royal Navy Museums, said the team had been hopeful of finding something similar to an earlier discovery beneath the ship’s main mast, but were still surprised by the number of items recovered.
“To uncover six coins was an extraordinary surprise,” he said, adding that the practice of placing coins beneath a ship’s mast is a tradition stretching back thousands of years.
The coins themselves were heavily corroded after 132 years under immense pressure, requiring careful removal, cleaning and X-ray imaging to reveal their details.
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Conservators used microscopes and delicate tools including brushes and wooden skewers to gradually uncover the surfaces.
Among the finds were several coins dating to the 1890s, including multiple Queen Victoria “bun head” pennies, a halfpenny, and a farthing.
These are believed to closely match the period when Victory’s foremast was installed.
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However, one object stood out: a 1835 Prince Edward Island token, issued in what is now Canada.
The token bears the inscription “Ships, Colonies and Commerce”, a phrase closely associated with nineteenth-century maritime trade and imperial networks.
Conservators say the inclusion of this token is particularly intriguing, suggesting that the selection of objects may have carried symbolic meaning beyond simple superstition.
Karoline Sofie Hennum, Conservator for HMS Victory, said the coins were carefully extracted and examined using X-radiography, which allowed researchers to see both sides of the heavily corroded objects without damaging them further.
She explained that while the coins were in surprisingly good condition given their age and environment, decades of compression made identification extremely difficult until advanced imaging techniques were used.
The discovery follows a similar find in 2021, when a single farthing was uncovered beneath Victory’s main lower mast.
Together, the finds suggest that the practice of placing coins beneath masts may have been part of the original 19th-century installation of the ship’s new rigging.
Experts believe the coins were likely placed there by shipwrights or dockyard workers during major reconstruction work in the late 19th century, continuing a tradition intended to protect both vessel and crew.
Now undergoing one of the most ambitious conservation projects in its history, HMS Victory remains open to the public as specialists work to stabilise and preserve its historic structure.
The Big Repair programme aims to ensure the ship survives for future generations while allowing visitors to witness ongoing restoration work at close range.
Alongside its role as Nelson’s flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, HMS Victory is also one of the world’s oldest commissioned warships still afloat and a globally significant example of Georgian naval engineering.
The newly discovered coins and token will go on display at the Victory Gallery in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard from 23 May, where they will be exhibited alongside the story of their recovery and scientific analysis.
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