Can’t figure out what this is...

[JoeVal]

I’ve been detecting an old site in NE Ohio where I found a Canadian half cent token dated 1812, but have learned it was actually made by a merchant in 1832. Pretty neat find, even thought it was pretty well roached. It’s the only coin type object I’ve found on this site aside from old iron.

Aside from that, the only thing I’ve not been able to identify is this double hook piece of iron with a bolt on the end, like it may have been some sort of latch or hanger. Anyone ever seen anything like this?

 

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[A2coins]

Heres a terrible guess how about one of those things used to grab hay bales LOL I told ya That token you found sounds like an awesome find. ......Tommy

 

[JoeVal]

That’s actually something a couple of people on Facebook detecting pages thought of as well. But with a small 1/4” bolt and nut on the end, and being only 1/8” thick, pretty much takes it out of the running to handle 60#-80# bales of hay or straw.

Yes, the coin was pretty awesome. It predates my oldest coin found, which is an 1833 capped bust dime that was "holed."

The barely perceptible scales at left center were the clue that finally led to its identification.

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

I've found a number of these early c1832 Halliday Halfpenny's over the years here in Ontario Joe.
The quality of the metal that that Montreal grocer named Tiffin used was of low quality, consequently I often find these tokens in poor or very worn condition.

1812 (c1832) 'Thomas Halliday' - Halfpenny Token.

“Nowhere in British North America did the private copper tokens issued by merchants and others have a more fascinating evolutionary history than in Lower Canada - now Quebec. In the 1820s and 1830s, trade in Montreal, the colony's commercial centre, created a strong demand for coinage. As coins were often in short supply, privately produced tokens filled the void. Tokens were not legal tender and their circulation was against the law. However, this was little deterrent at a time when legal coins were scarce. The first private coppers were heavy pieces, about the same weight as the penny and halfpenny coins they supplemented. However, by the 1830s the tokens were barely half the weight of the official coins and, at times, were so numerous that people would no longer accept them. Various tricks were therefore resorted to in order to make their circulation possible. One interesting approach was to copy the designs of tokens that had previously been of heavy weight and had enjoyed wide circulation. About 1832 a Montreal grocer named Tiffin issued copper halfpenny tokens. They bore the date 1812 and were imitations of much heavier pieces produced twenty years earlier. The obverse carried a bust of King George III surrounded by a wreath of oak leaves and acorns and the figure of a seated woman representing Commerce was the design on the reverse. The success of Tiffin's venture seems to have encouraged the production, in 1837, of another series of tokens of the "bust and Commerce" design which were also dated 1812. In the latter case, however, the pieces were crudely engraved and were struck in brass.”

Here's a link to my post for one of these I found last Saturday... http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/today-s-finds/634489-weekend-hunts-halfpenny-s-pocket-watch-face.html

Congrats on your finds and good luck on your return to the site,
Dave

 

[JoeVal]

Thanks, Dave. Thanks for posting your coin, because it more clearly shows the scales I described.

Joe

 

[creskol]

What is the radius of the hook on the item you need ID for?

 

[JoeVal]

 

[mojjax]

Part of an ice skate ?

 

[GoldieLocks]

It looks like a Taylor made one of a kind tool of sorts?

 

[richtink]

it might be a way to hang tach for the horses