Date or any idea on this nail?

[castletonking]

I know its a large square nail or spike,but really nothing else,maybe a date? anything would be helpfull.hint found in a area producing late 18th an early 19 century items,no late trash at all,pull tabs,modern coins or anything.a virgin site

 

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[TheCannonballGuy]

The type of nail you found is commonly called a square-nail, but its actual type is known as a cut-nail. That's because it was cut (by bladed machine) from a flat sheet of wrought-iron ...unlike Roman and medieval and early-Colonial nails, which were hand-forged. Unfortunately, there is no way to date a cut-nail with much certainty. That kind of nail is still being manufactured today, though they are now used just for "special purposes" rather than common everyday usage. They were still commonly used for construction in the early 20th-century. They fell out of favor for house-construction when machinery was developed which could cheaply manufacture cylindrical-bodied nails from steel, which is superior in hardness to the old wrought-iron nails. By the way, the jaggedness of the break in your nail shows it is made of wrought-iron.

Apparently, the widespread "switch" from square-bodied wrought-iron nails to steel cylindrical ones seems to have occurred in the early 20th-century. My house was built in 1926, and I'll testify that its walls, floors, and "trim" contains hundreds of square-nails (of various sizes). But even more of my 1926 house's nails are cylindrical steel ones. So, I would say that the statistical odds favor your nail having been manufactured sometime before the 1920s. Sorry, but I can't be any more specific than that.

 

[castletonking]

The type of nail you found is commonly called a square-nail, but its actual type is known as a cut-nail. That's because it was cut (by bladed machine) from a flat sheet of wrought-iron ...unlike Roman and medieval and early-Colonial nails, which were hand-forged. Unfortunately, there is no way to date a cut-nail with much certainty. That kind of nail is still being manufactured today, though they are now used just for "special purposes" rather than common everyday usage. They were still commonly used for construction in the early 20th-century. They fell out of favor for house-construction when machinery was developed which could cheaply manufacture cylindrical-bodied nails from steel, which is superior in hardness to the old wrought-iron nails. By the way, the jaggedness of the break in your nail shows it is made of wrought-iron.

Apparently, the widespread "switch" from square-bodied wrought-iron nails to steel cylindrical ones seems to have occurred in the early 20th-century. My house was built in 1926, and I'll testify that its walls, floors, and "trim" contains hundreds of square-nails (of various sizes). But even more of my 1926 house's nails are cylindrical steel ones. So, I would say that the statistical odds favor your nail having been manufactured sometime before the 1920s. Sorry, but I can't be any more specific than that.

thats good,the spot that it came from is a homesite from the late 18th to very early 19th century,no other nails or any kind of modern items found on the site or in the ground.this area is deep in the woods and truley virginal.in fact,the town has no records of any structure ever existing there despite 2 cellar holes and numerous stone fences.

 

[High Plains Digger]

I think that CBG may have nailed the subject. But I have a theory that these things are actually from space. Why? Because I find them in the damndest places, where you would hardly think a human has even trod, let along dragged along a box of nails to drop one every few steps. Unless he was trying to find his way home by marking the path. Is it true that the first explorers to the north pole and the south pole also found square nails there? And I think there is a government coverup of the numerous square nails found on the moon. Stay tuned. I have to adjust my tin foil hat. My headache is returning.

 

[castletonking]

I think that CBG may have nailed the subject. But I have a theory that these things are actually from space. Why? Because I find them in the damndest places, where you would hardly think a human has even trod, let along dragged along a box of nails to drop one every few steps. Unless he was trying to find his way home by marking the path. Is it true that the first explorers to the north pole and the south pole also found square nails there? And I think there is a government coverup of the numerous square nails found on the moon. Stay tuned. I have to adjust my tin foil hat. My headache is returning.

i'm guessing you're right,because unless a nail traveled back in time to a late colonial site with no later development,no idea how it got there.who knows maybe an addition in the early 19th century

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

I think there's a simple answer to High Plains Digger's dilemma (meaning, the seeming omnipresence of nails, not his headaches). Wherever humans go (at least on the Earth), they've tended to bring along wooden objects which were put together with nails. When such objects got broken, if the object wasn't highly valuable it was often discarded "on the spot," rather than being carried back to the trip's starting-point.

 

[castletonking]

I think there's a simple answer to High Plains Digger's dilemma (meaning, the seeming omnipresence of nails, not his headaches). Wherever humans go on (at least on the Earth), they've tended to bring along wooden objects which were put together with nails. When such objects got broken, if the object wasn't highly valuable it was often discarded "on the spot," rather than being carried back to the trip's starting-point.

hm thats true

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Here's an example. Relic-diggers will tell you that civil war soldiers' camps are very often full of nails. The soldiers were not doing construction-work. A great many supplies (such as food-rations and ammo) arrived at the camp in wooden boxes, which tended not to be returned for re-use. In particular, relic-diggers will tell you that a camp's trashpits are almost always loaded with nails. And of course, wooden boxes are handy for getting a campfire started. ("Natural" firewood that was DRY was not always handy.)

 

[castletonking]

Here's an example. Relic-diggers will tell you that civil war soldiers' camps are very often full of nails. The soldiers were not doing construction-work. A great many supplies (such as food-rations and ammo) arrived at the camp in wooden boxes, which tended not to be returned for re-use. In particular, relic-diggers will tell you that a camp's trashpits are almost always loaded with nails. And of course, wooden boxes are handy for getting a campfire started. ("Natural" firewood that was DRY was not always handy.)

what i wonder about is thats the only nail ive found in the area,if there were structures which i know there were it would hold there would be many nails

 

[taz42o]

The dates below are early and does not mean wire nails were common by that date but was the beginning of round wire nail production.

The beginning of wire nail manufacture in North America is often given as 1851 and is attributed to William Hassall or Thomas Morton or Adolph Browne. It has also been given as 1870 and attributed to the pillow and Hersey Manufacturing Company of Montreal and it is claimed by M. Baackes of Cleveland that he established “the first mill for the manufacture of wire nails on this side of the Atlantic” at Covington, Kentucky in 1875.

http://www.glasgowsteelnail.com/nailmaking.htm

http://www.wirenailmanufacturers.com/AssociationWireNailMachineryManufacturer.html

 

[creskol]

Here is an informative video that talks to the history of nails that you might find beneficial.