Trade Axe
date: label: date made
content: 1840 - 1860
notes: label: Description
content: 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.
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Hand Tools
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content: American Enterprise
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content: Agriculture
label: Exhibition
content: American Enterprise
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: AG.77A11.6
label: accession number
content: 1977.0665
label: catalog number
content: 77A11.6
objectType: label: Object Name
content: trade axe
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)