Silver Coin
1766Silver coin.
The "Prise de Possession"
On 29 March 1772 the Gros Ventre commanded by Louis de Saint Alouarn. anchored off Turtle Bay at the north end of Dirk Hartog Island: de Saint Alouarn sent a boat with an officer, boat crew and five soldiers to reconnoitre the land. A flag was raised, and a prepared document read aloud.
The document was put in a bottle and buried at the foot of a small tree. Two coins, or écus, of six francs each were placed nearby.
In January 1998, a team led by French historian M. Philippe Godard, including Geraldton residents Tom Brady, Max and Kim Cramer, John Eckersley and Chris Shine, discovered a French ecu of 1766 near the cliff top overlooking Turtle Bay. The silver coin was encased in a lead capsule.
Modern refuse indicated that the site had clearly been used as a campsite over many years by railway construction workers, visiting fishermen, army and naval personnel on training exercises, and others.
2006 investigations
In 2006 the Dirk Hartog Landing Site 1616- Cape Inscription Area was added to the National Heritage List. The List recognizes and protects our most valued natural, Indigenous, and historic heritage places.
The results of the project concluded that the first coin and cap found were not in their original location but had probably been discarded by a fossicker and the bottle they had once sealed (and possibly the annexation papers) had long since gone. However, the bottle, found by the Museum team in 1998 was found in situ and had clearly been buried by the French explorers. No further evidence of artefacts from the annexation was found within the areas surveyed and excavated.
Details
Details
Ecu au bandau, Louis XV, 1766 Bayonne, France.
Inscribed: "1766 SIT NOMEN DOMINI ? BENEDICTUM"
Engraved: Crown, Fleur-de-lis x3 within an oval, Laurel wreath (olive branches)
