CRUEL SEAS
Mystery over pirate robbery dubbed ‘most heinous in history’ may finally be solved after 17th Century coins found in US
Harry Pettit, Senior Digital Technology and Science Reporter
2 Apr 2021, 9:45
Updated: 2 Apr 2021, 9:47
A HANDFUL of coins unearthed from a pick-your-own-fruit orchard in rural Rhode Island may help solve one of the planet s oldest cold cases.
The villain in this tale: A murderous English pirate who became the world s most-wanted criminal after plundering a ship carrying Muslim pilgrims home to India from Mecca, then eluded capture by posing as a slave trader.
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An Arabian silver coin that research shows was struck in 1693 in Yemen. It s believed to have fallen into the hands of pirates in the 17th centuryCredit: AP
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A 17th century Arabian silver coin that research shows was struck in 1693 in Yemen, rests against a piece of 17th century broken pottery featuring a likeness of Queen Mary, on a table in Warwick, Rhode Island, March 11, 2021 (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
An 18th-century depiction of Henry Every, with the Fancy shown engaging its prey in the background (Wikipedia / Public Domain)
Amateur historian Jim Bailey uses a metal detector to scan for Colonial-era artifacts in a field, March 11, 2021, in Warwick (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
A 17th century Arabian silver coin, top, that research shows was struck in 1693 in Yemen, rests near an Oak Tree Shilling minted in 1652 by the Massachusetts Bay Colony, below, and a Spanish half real coin from 1727, right, on a table, in Warwick, Rhode Island, March 11, 2021 (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
WARWICK, R.I. (AP) A handful of coins unearthed from a pick-your-own-fruit orchard in rural Rhode Island and other random corners of New England may help solve one of the planet s oldest cold cases.
The villain in this tale: a murderous English pirate who became the world s most-wanted criminal after plundering a ship carrying Muslim pilgrims home to India from Mecca, then eluded capture by posing as a slave trader. It s a new history of a nearly perfect crime, said Jim Bailey, an amateur historian and metal detectorist who found the first intact 17th-century Arabian coin in a meadow in Middletown.
17th-century coins found in R.I. may solve mystery of murderous 1600s pirate
A 17th-century Arabian silver coin, top, that research shows was struck in 1693 in Yemen, rests near an Oak Tree Shilling minted in 1652 by the Massachusetts Bay Colony, below, and a Spanish half real coin from 1727, right, on a table, in Warwick, R.I., Thursday, March 11, 2021. The Arabian coin was found at a farm, in Middletown, R.I., in 2014 by metal detectorist Jim Bailey, who contends it was plundered in 1695 by English pirate Henry Every from Muslim pilgrims sailing home to India after a pilgrimage to Mecca. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)