Two Homesteads - Barrel Tap & 1825 Halfpenny

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Last week I received permission to detect a large section of farmland that had a couple of early 19thc homesteads on it. I was away earlier this week on business in the States, so yesterday I decided to investigate both sites. On the first site, the road had been widened at some point in the past 100 years and there was little left to find. On this site I found a decorative, engraved thin brass plate and what I feel might be a horse rosette (I'm now told this piece is more likely to be a Victorian sash buckle), pottery fragments, a couple of early (1865) H.B. & H. oil lamp (lip) burners and 3 brass teaspoons.

The second homestead site you can see indicated on the 1870 map, which is on the same 200-acre property had been torn down about 20 years ago and was heavily overgrown. Detecting the areas where the weeds weren’t too thick, I found a brass barrel tap and an 1825 Halfpenny. for some reason, I can't resist taking pictures of wooden fence rails where horses have chewed on the wood.

Lower Canada 1825 - ‘To Facilitate Trade Halfpenny’
“When a government does not supply coinage so that trade can happen, someone or something steps in to fill the void. Back in 1825, Canada was a British Colony and Great Britain issued these tokens 'to facilitate trade.' This token is believed to portray Col. de Salaberry, who repelled the Americans at Chateauguay and Crysler's Farm during the War of 1812, saving Montreal from the fate of York (Toronto) in Upper Canada.”


Thanks very much for looking!
Dave

 

[Hawks88]

Nice saves Dave. Congrats

 

[xcopperstax]

Nice stuff thanks for sharing. I'd like to find a nice barrel tap like that! And of course I have to mention the coppers! Great job!

 

[Tuberale]

Gr8 Saves Dave!

 

[Wildcat1750]

A very interesting variety of finds. Nice hunt and I love the landscape pictures too!

 

[A2coins]

Awesome finds coppers and that tap is really cool looks like alot of ground to cover bet theres no pop tops lol. Great post and finds Dave. Thanks for sharing them. Tommy

 

[invent4hir]

Dave, another excellent outing! The old maps sure do come in handy. I compare old maps to aerial photos dating from the 1930s to present day, to see what buildings are left and how the roads have been widened/re-routed. If nothing shows above ground, sometimes you can see where the vegetation is stressed - a good indication that a structure was once there.

 

[Digger RJ]

Very Nice!!! Congrats!!!

 

[CRUSADER]

Nice pictures, always like the look of muddy fields. I must spent half my life staring at them...

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Nice saves Dave. Congrats

Thank you Hawks!
Dave

Nice stuff thanks for sharing. I'd like to find a nice barrel tap like that! And of course I have to mention the coppers! Great job!

Thank you for your post Sir.
I've yet to find a complete barrel tap, the handle is usually gone or the tapered portion that went into the barrel is often missing.
Best of luck to you,
Dave

Gr8 Saves Dave!

Thanks buddy!
Best of luck to you in Portland,
Dave

A very interesting variety of finds. Nice hunt and I love the landscape pictures too!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts Nick.
I feel it's important to show you what these sites look like today, as it's often hard to imagine where our ancestors lived and worked 150+ years ago.
Enjoy reading your posts also,
Dave

Awesome finds coppers and that tap is really cool looks like alot of ground to cover bet theres no pop tops lol. Great post and finds Dave. Thanks for sharing them. Tommy

There definitely was no modern junk on the first site where I found the tea spoons and the sash buckle Tommy.
This site was a challenge to get to though, as it's now an 'isolated island' in the middle of a corn field.
Take care buddy,
Dave

Dave, another excellent outing! The old maps sure do come in handy. I compare old maps to aerial photos dating from the 1930s to present day, to see what buildings are left and how the roads have been widened/re-routed. If nothing shows above ground, sometimes you can see where the vegetation is stressed - a good indication that a structure was once there.

I really like your motto, "Every artifact has a story, if we're willing to listen"... I completely agree.
This is exactly what happened at the first site I detected. The road was widened at some point and the history from Mrs Williams has been lost forever... all except for what I found.
Best of luck to you my friend,
Dave

Very Nice!!! Congrats!!!

Thanks Randy!

Nice pictures, always like the look of muddy fields. I must spent half my life staring at them...

I find field hunts therapeutic and mentally relaxing Cru.
I'm the only one out there, just me and my thoughts and the ghosts from past lives... finding dead people stuff.
Hope you and your Dad have a great fall season,
Dave

 

[Calabash Digger]

nice haul!

 

[Blak bart]

Nice work dave....congrats on your haul !!

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

nice haul!

Thank you Sir.

Nice work dave....congrats on your haul !!

Thanks Bart!
My favourite find would have to be the sash buckle, I'd like to think this piece belonged to Mrs Williams the land owner in the 1860s.
I have the original attachment hardware from the back, I'll glue these pieces back on to save for posterity.

Best of luck to you in Florida,
Dave