Trade Axe

Description:

This mid-19th century axe may have been traded with Native American trappers in exchange for beaver pelts. The axe has a single piece of curled iron on a wooden handle. Beaver fur trading was central to the North American economy from the 16th until to the mid-19th century. British traders exchanged one beaver pelt for one axe head. The pelt was sold in England for 16 shillings, while the trade axe cost a mere 2 shillings to buy, leading to a massive profit for the traders, and the associated Hudson’s Bay Company, who monopolized the beaver fur trade in North America.

Date Made: 1840 - 1860

See more items in: Work and Industry: Hand Tools, American Enterprise, Agriculture

Exhibition: American Enterprise

Exhibition Location: National Museum of American History

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Id Number: AG.77A11.6Accession Number: 1977.0665Catalog Number: 77A11.6

Object Name: trade axe

Physical Description: wood (overall material)metal (overall material)

Guid: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746ad-7312-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Record Id: nmah_1412421

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