HALIFAX — An amateur scuba diver who recovered a century-old beer bottle from the bottom of Halifax harbour says he's willing to have provincial museum officials look at the artifact.
Jon Crouse recently pulled the green, glass bottle from the silt under three metres of water and discovered that its cork was still intact and it was half full of a cloudy, sudsy liquid.
Crouse later spotted a logo on the side of the cork that says, A. Keith & Son Brewery, the previous name of the now famous Halifax-based Alexander Keith's brewing company.
Markings on the bottom of the well-preserved bottle indicate it was made in England in the late 1800s by Nutall & Co., which routinely exported its products for use in Canada.
Sean Weseloh McKeane, a coordinator within the Department of Communities, Culture and Heritage, said although the province has the power to seize the bottle, it does not intend to do that.
McKeane said officials are considering reaching out to Crouse to ask if curators at the Nova Scotia Museum could examine the bottle, and Crouse said he would be open to that.
"I definitely would like to meet up with them and see what they have to say about the bottle," said Crouse in a phone interview Friday. "The more information I can get, the better. I'm trying to paint a bigger picture."
Crouse said he's overwhelmed by the amount of national attention his tale of amateur archaeology has received.
"I didn't expect it when I posted the original picture on Facebook," said Crouse. "It's a whirlwind... It's been a bit of a ride, that's for sure."
Crouse is keeping the bottle inside his toilet tank, where he hopes the fresh flushes of cold water will draw sea salt from the cork, which will crumble if left to dry in the open air.
