Andrew Baines links six finds to Hms Victory Mast Coins
Six 19th-century coins and tokens were found beneath HMS Victory’s foremast after hms victory mast coins were uncovered during its removal at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. Andrew Baines, executive director of Museum Operations at Royal Navy Museums, said the discovery connected to a long-standing maritime tradition and called it an extraordinary surprise.
The newly found pieces include an 1892 one penny with Queen Victoria’s bun head portrait. They had sat beneath the fore lower mast for 132 years, under approximately 50 tonnes of masts, yards and rigging above them.
Portsmouth Historic Dockyard display
The coins and token will go on display in the Victory Gallery at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard from 23 May and will remain there throughout the summer. A single farthing had previously been found beneath Victory’s main lower mast, adding a small but useful clue before the foremast work began.
Baines said, “The placing of coins beneath a ship's mast has long been seen as a symbolic act, often associated with protection and good fortune for the vessel and her crew.” He added, “But to uncover six coins was an extraordinary surprise.”
The Big Repair work
The discovery came as HMS Victory is being conserved as part of The Big Repair, a £42m project. Victory remains open to visitors throughout the conservation work, so the new finds will sit alongside the ship’s repair story rather than remain behind the scenes.
For visitors, the immediate change is simple: the foremast removal has already produced a set of objects that had survived for more than a century in place, and they will be visible in the gallery this summer. The display turns a routine conservation task into a specific stop within the ship’s ongoing repair work.
