HALIFAX – An evidence tag hangs from the clunky top half of a suit of armour. Next to it is a handwritten letter penned two centuries ago by British Gen. James Wolfe that sits in protective plastic.

They are part of an illicit and eclectic collection of antiques, rare books, historical documents and paintings that the RCMP allege were brazenly stolen from across Atlantic Canada over 20 years and stashed in a suburban Halifax home until last week.

On Friday, the Mounties held a show-and-tell featuring some of the nearly 1,300 items seized from the two-storey home in Fall River, believed to be from universities, libraries, museums, antique dealers and private collections and worth more than $500,000.

There’s a spear. A gas mask. A glass lantern. Early editions of Daniel Defoe’s 1719 classic “Robinson Crusoe.” A fishing net. A model canoe. Paintings depicting centuries-old scenes. A brass telescope.

“There are some items that I would say aren’t historically significant, but are of value to the people who owned them,” said Sgt. Colin MacLean.

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