It was a buckle kinda day!

[ANTIQUARIAN]

It was a 'buckle' kinda day!


*Update* Before & After pics of cleaned finds at the end of this post!

This is a farm that was expropriated by our provincial government for the extension of a toll highway north of Toronto. I last checked the property in September, at that time there were still chickens running around the yard and the house was still occupied. Unfortunately, when I finally went back yesterday the house had already been demolished, it looked fairly recent too. I feel pretty lucky to have found what I did considering the ground had been pretty much leveled by the excavator!

I found all of the older pennies dating from 1940 - 1967 in the same hole, obviously some kids 'life savings'! The older buckles were a nice find, sure wish there would've been some silver here though.

The first shot is up the driveway looking at the barns, the house stood to the right. The second pic is looking through the trees in the front yard to where the house once stood. The third pic is a 'screen shot' from Google Maps of what the house originally looked like.

Thanks for looking and best of luck to all,
Dave

 

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[jewelerguy]

I'd bet there's some silver hiding somewhere on that place

 

[Old Dude]

What a shame such a beautiful old farm has to be sacrificed for progress. Those barns look huge! Are those buckles from a saddle, you think? They look pretty big. Great pics!

 

[PeteWmass]

wonder what is in the barns.....

 

[Msbeepbeep]

Nice assortment of buckles! I've never seen the Canadian penny with the bird flying, nice! Ya see if you can get permission to search the barn, you never know!

 

[Zodiacdiverdave]

Man that place has to have some silver there. Nice find still.
Oh yea, where is all your snow? I thought you guys got some snow this week.
ZDD

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

I'd bet there's some silver hiding somewhere on that place

I think so too JG!
If the snow holds off tonight, I'll likely head back tomorrow morning!

Thanks for your post,
Dave

What a shame such a beautiful old farm has to be sacrificed for progress. Those barns look huge! Are those buckles from a saddle, you think? They look pretty big. Great pics!

I've detected over 100 of these 'expropriated' farms in the past 3+ years, you should've seen some of the beautiful old homes that are now only a memory! I was amazed at the size of these barns as well. I took a walk around the entire structure and saw that it used to be a dairy farm at one point. As far as the buckles go, they're blacksmith made and likely date to the mid-1800's.

Best of luck to you D,
Dave

wonder what is in the barns.....

Hey Pete!
I took a walk around the barns and saw that this was a dairy farm at some point. The barns are locked up tight to keep vandals out, so I usually don't go inside the 'out buildings' unless they're open to the elements.

Thanks for your post,
Dave

Nice assortment of buckles! I've never seen the Canadian penny with the bird flying, nice! Ya see if you can get permission to search the barn, you never know!

I hear you Msbeepbeep, which in it self kind of unusual because I never hear a darn thing my wife says! Sorry I couldn't resist! I think a lot of kids collected the 1967 Canadian Centennial year commemorative coins when they first came out, I know I did! I'll post a pic at the end of this post of what the 1967 coin set looks like.

Best of luck to you,
Dave

Man that place has to have some silver there. Nice find still.
Oh yea, where is all your snow? I thought you guys got some snow this week.
ZDD

Most of the snow came north of Toronto in the Georgian Bay area. The weatherman is calling for 1 - 2" tonight though, should make for an interesting hunt tomorrow morning with the temps around 27F!

Best of luck to you buddy,
Dave

 

[The Boots]

Nice finds, love the old barn

 

[Zodiacdiverdave]

Good luck tomorrow Dave, I'll watch for your post.
ZDD

 

[pepperj]

Do you think they're going to leave the barns or is the highway going right through? Huge looking operation and a shame to see such a sturdy structure going to be taken down. Your digging old and there's no reason why there can't be LCs and older silver around, good luck on the return hunt as today will be a lot nicer than tomorrow's wind chill.

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Nice finds, love the old barn

I love old barns like these as well, I can really feel the history when I'm on a site like this!
If only I could make a living driving around all day photographing barns in the country, I'd be a happy man!

Thanks for your post Boots,
Dave

Good luck tomorrow Dave, I'll watch for your post.
ZDD

Thanks for your post Dave!
The only problem . . . this morning the temps 14F, with a wind chill of -4F!
A tad chilly even for me to be out there!

I'm sure you you'll be getting this cold weather blast tomorrow,
Dave

Do you think they're going to leave the barns or is the highway going right through? Huge looking operation and a shame to see such a sturdy structure going to be taken down. Your digging old and there's no reason why there can't be LCs and older silver around, good luck on the return hunt as today will be a lot nicer than tomorrow's wind chill.

Thanks for your post J!
Unfortunately, everything on the 407 sites like this will be gone by the spring. Within half a kilometer of this farm, bridges are already being built in the middle of fields close-by. I most definitely feel there's more here than just 'modern' pennies and old harness buckles. I hoped to get back there this morning, but I'm sure as you can appreciate the weather is just to darn cold this morning!

Was down at the 'plant site' on Thursday morning, tried the field on the far east side, but no luck. Next time I'm down, I was thinking I might head north across the road to the visible foundations now that the grass is down.

Dave

PS. This bridge is situated just north of the farm.

 

[Zodiacdiverdave]

Dave, Rick and I were going to take my grandson up to a ghost town today. The town is called Roxbury and was a logging town in the 1800s - the early 1900s and was abandoned around the 30s after the lumber industry died out. Roxbury near Bridgetown, NS - a hiking trail We had to cancel our plans due to the wind chill. My grandson is only 3 1/2 so it's a little extreme for him.
HH,
Dave

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Dave, Rick and I were going to take my grandson up to a ghost town today. The town is called Roxbury and was a logging town in the 1800s - the early 1900s and was abandoned around the 30s after the lumber industry died out. Roxbury near Bridgetown, NS - a hiking trail We had to cancel our plans due to the wind chill. My grandson is only 3 1/2 so it's a little extreme for him.
HH,
Dave

I hear you about the weather Dave, hopefully your grandson wasn't too disappointed. Next weekend should be better weather wise. I checked out the link to Roxbury and it looks very interesting! I love these pics with the stone walls, that's one thing we don't have here in Ontario.

Let me know what you find if you're able to do some hunting there before the 'big freeze'!
Dave

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Here are some 'before & after' pics of the iron finds from this site after 36hrs of 'tumbling'!

Thanks for looking,
Dave