# Arabian coin may link Thomas Jones to Captain Every’s escape

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/amateur-treasure-hunters-astonishingly-lucky-find-links-famous-new-yorker-to-grisly-pirate-past/
- Published: 2026-11-08T13:22:03+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-08T13:32:59+00:00
- Original publisher: Daily Mail (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16265967/treasure-hunter-thomas-jones-pirate-past.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
- Topics: Research, Science, World

## Key points

- A Rhode Island coin find prompted a claim linking Thomas Jones to Henry Every.
- Bailey says colonial documents suggest Jones helped the pirate crew escape.
- Historians face uncertainty because Thomas Jones was a common name.

## Summary

A Rhode Island metal detectorist says a 17th-century Arabian coin he found may connect pirate Captain Henry Every’s escape to Thomas Jones, the colonial landowner after whom Long Island’s Jones Beach is named. The claim could add a piracy connection to a well-known New York figure’s history, though the identity of the Thomas Jones in the documents is disputed.

James Bailey found the dime-sized coin at Sweet Berry Farm in Middletown five years ago and believes it was minted in Yemen in 1693, after Every’s crew raided the Red Sea ship Ganj-i-Sawai. Bailey says depositions and other colonial records suggest Jones helped the pirates evade authorities as a “wheelman”; later, New York’s governor investigated Jones, who became a wealthy landowner and whaling operator. The raid triggered an international manhunt, but Every and many of his crew were never captured.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.