Old Brass Spigot and some BIG Iron Could use some help with ID/Date on Spigot

[bonepicker]

Havent been hunting alot lately due mostly to the heat, and also due to my not having any new and exciting sites to visit.
Havent posted in a while, so i thought i would just throw this out there for the heck of it, and maybe get some help on ID's.
Last weekend i went to my old faithful early 19th century homesite and dug a toasted GS Eagle button.
It was the worst/ugliest, almost unidentifiable one iver ever dug, i mean it was so corroded it crumbled into pieces while cleaning.
However; finding that button last week gave me a little hope, so i decided to head back to this place for more abuse this morning.
Since this site has been cherrypicked hard, ive been digging everything except the low iron grunts on the XP, and also trying to work areas that are almost inaccessible due to heavy brush.
While dodging banana spiders and following some cow trails through the woods i dug my first older brass spigot which i thought was pretty neat. Would love to get a date range on this one. Kind of reminds me of some of the keg taps ive seen posted on this site before.
I hope the valve/spigot is an older one, because i dont like spiders, and i ended up having one crawling on the side of my face when i was working the thick trails. The things we will do.....
Also ended up digging a large double headed axe head and an iron clothes iron.
Lots of other iron and junk, but nothing much worthy of photos.
The grass is getting tall in the field and the tractor is broken. So i might have to give this place a rest for a while and revisit in the winter when some of the underbrush dies back.
Thanks for looking....

 

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[Worm-Slicer]

I love the spigot! That's something I never found. I don't know how to date those, but it looks Civil War period to me. My brother found one at a Civil War site and it has the same lined end as yours. I guess that helped hold it in the barrel.

 

[bonepicker]

I love the spigot! That's something I never found. I don't know how to date those, but it looks Civil War period to me. My brother found one at a Civil War site and it has the same lined end as yours. I guess that helped hold it in the barrel.

Thanks Worm, i think it has a pretty cool design, especially that little curve at the top of the opening. The upwards curve makes me think it was made to hang a cup or pail from it.
I dug one of those heart shaped pad locks from this place a few trips ago, and from what ive seen alot of those tend to be CW era.
We have also dug many pre 1860 half dimes and other stuff from this site, so im pretty sure people were still living here in the 1860's.
Not certain that the valve/spigot/Keg-tap is that era, but it definitely looks like it could be.
I think those marks/reeded lines on the end could have come from a pipe wrench of some sort that was used to tighten down the valve to a pipe.

 

[DownNDirty]

I'm not sure of a date range but I have dug a couple of keg taps like that at colonial sites.

 

[Evolution]

Looks a little older than Civil War era. Closer to 1800 is my guess. Nice finds.

 

[DirtStalker]

Bone Please send those to DirtStalker @ 449 EVALUATION RD. SC. I'll get you a date. Does it matter if she's ugly?

 

[bonepicker]

I'm not sure of a date range but I have dug a couple of keg taps like that at colonial sites.

Thanks DnD. I just did a little search for Colonial Brass Keg tap and i found this interesting tnet link on brass keg taps.
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/t...lonial-barrel-spigot-dug-today-mebane-nc.html
Most of the ones pictured look similar to mine in some ways.
Turns out the tap in question could be older than i initially thought.

 

[bonepicker]

Bone Please send those to DirtStalker @ 449 EVALUATION RD. SC. I'll get you a date. Does it matter if she's ugly?

I will send you the big iron if you pay the freight..
And no it doesnt matter if shes ugly, it never mattered before.

 

[port ewen ace]

real nice. I dug one same design made of pewter at the Colonial farm this spring. it was marked TIMMINS. likin' the lock a bunch too!!

 

[Pacivilwarluke]

I would think late 18th century to early 19th century- the way the grooves run "horizontially" is the giveway there. I've dug pieces with that configuration at colonial sites too! Way cool, congrats!

 

[Patriot Relics]

Nice looking barrel tap bud, glad to see you back in the dirt

 

[bonepicker]

Thanks for the ID help guys.
Now im wanting to go back in the morning.
Thats how this site is. Every time i go there, i find just enough to draw me back in for one more hunt.

 

[DirtStalker]

Bone I'm with the rest of these guys. I say very early 1800s based on a couple I've found that look very simular.

 

[trapperart]

Nice find, I found this one a few weeks ago at a colonial site

 

[DownNDirty]

Thanks for the ID help guys.
Now im wanting to go back in the morning.
Thats how this site is. Every time i go there, i find just enough to draw me back in for one more hunt.

I know exactly what you mean-I went back to mine yesterday. Speaking of which that site predates the Rev War and I found a tap just like yours there earlier this year.

 

[bonepicker]

Nice find, I found this one a few weeks ago at a colonial site

Thats a nice one Trapper. Thanks for posting the pic.

I know exactly what you mean-I went back to mine yesterday. Speaking of which that site predates the Rev War and I found a tap just like yours there earlier this year.

Cool, Lets See a pic....
I went back this morning and there was no overcast today and it was super hot.
Didnt find much of anything. Guess im gona wait til we get a freeze or two and hope everything dies back.
Sure was hoping to find another barrel tap though.
This hobby if funny. You start out looking for one thing, and then find something else that is more interesting than you ever thought it would be.
Now i want a barrel tap collection too, lol.

 

[DownNDirty]

Here you go. The only diffence between mine and yours is the handle from mine was the detachable kind and apparently was lost.

 

[bonepicker]

Here you go. The only diffence between mine and yours is the handle from mine was the detachable kind and apparently was lost.

That is a nice looking barrel tap.. Thanks for posting the pic. They do look similar.
I wish mine still had the complete intake portion, but i think part of it must have broken off.
I also think my key might be detachable, but fortunately it was probably lost with the key still intact.
Kind of makes sense for the key to be removable, and alot of the pics i saw were missing the key, or showed the key seperately.
In that link i posted earlier i saw where someone had also found an old barrel tap that was missing the key.
He said that he dug a key that fit his 8 years later that was 50 miles away. So you never know, you might find a key for it one day...

 

[DownNDirty]

That is a nice looking barrel tap.. Thanks for posting the pic. They do look similar.
I wish mine still had the complete intake portion, but i think part of it must have broken off.
I also think my key might be detachable, but fortunately it was probably lost with the key still intact.
Kind of makes sense for the key to be removable, and alot of the pics i saw were missing the key, or showed the key seperately.
In that link i posted earlier i saw where someone had also found an old barrel tap that was missing the key.
He said that he dug a key that fit his 8 years later that was 50 miles away. So you never know, you might find a key for it one day...

Some of them had the handle permanently attached and others had a detachable key, presumably so that the owner could lock it away to prevent "unauthorized access" to the keg contents.