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And one of the province’s top archeologists, Royal B.C. Museum curator Grant Keddie, told Postmedia News that he’s made plans to examine the 460-year-old shilling, noting that “this now makes three coins from the 1500s” that have been found along the B.C. coast.

“I am encouraging [relic hunters] to take another look at things they may have found here that are not identified — such as ceramics or glassware — that might date to the same time period as the coin,” added Keddie, who has described Bawlf’s theory as compelling and worth continued investigation by scholars.

The newly discovered coin bears marks indicating it was produced between 1551 and 1553 during the reign of King Edward VI, the son of Henry VIII and half-brother of Elizabeth I. It was found in December by retired security specialist Bruce Campbell, who told Postmedia News he initially had no idea the centuries-old bit of silver could help rewrite the early history of Canada.

“I made an off-hand comment that everybody I hunt with finds all the goodies and I don’t,” said Mr. Campbell, 59, recalling the Dec. 13 outing with friends. “So I said I’m going where no one else is and walked down and into the high-tide line.”

Over the next hour, in the fading light of what would become Mr. Campbell’s luckiest-ever Friday the 13th, he repeatedly hit paydirt: first a rare 1891 nickel, then an interesting dime from the 1960s, then a large penny from 1900.

Finally, as dusk was setting in, his detector turned up an old, encrusted piece of metal from under eight centimetres of blue clay.