The answer was four letters: ANCE. A brass combination lock recovered from a 1583 shipwreck has finally opened after researchers used CT scans to work out its code.
Amgueddfa Cymru and Cardiff University announced the result on November 4. Micro-CT imaging revealed the internal mechanism in three dimensions, allowing researcher David Williams to match its notches to the letters on the dials. Museum staff then tested the combination successfully without damaging the lock.
The Ann Francis wrecked at Margam Beach, near Port Talbot, during a December storm while returning from Spain. Much of its hoard was recovered by detectorist Peter Hughes between 1996 and 2017. The new development is the decoding, not the discovery of the wreck.
The lock probably secured a small chest. Nearby silver coins offer one possibility for its contents, but documents or textiles could also have been protected. Opening the lock has not revealed a newly opened treasure chest.
One personal detail remains out of reach: did ANCE mean something to its owner? The mechanism has given up its secret. The person who chose those letters has not.
Sources: Museum Wales announcement, November 4, 2026; Cardiff University. The announcements include photographs of the actual lock.
Context photograph: “Traeth Margam / Margam Beach,” April 26, 2024, © Alan Richards, Geograph, CC BY-SA 2.0. This shows the beach where the ship wrecked, not the lock or its recovery. Photograph unchanged; any adapted photo versions are shared under CC BY-SA 2.0.
