Nailed on the beach

[paul1410]

Hi All!

I found this nail on the beach in Ocean City, NJ. this past spring. It's a square cut nail and I believe made of copper. It measures 34mm in length. I assume it was used on a boat and was probably dredged up from a wreck when OC was replenishing their beaches this past spring.

I'm hoping to tap into the great wealth of knowledge that is TNet to get an idea how old it may be.

 

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[IndianaSmith]

Could it have possibly come from a beach house? Some use copper flashings & nails to resist corrosion, might look around & see if you see any.

Smitty

 

[Montana Jim]

I've "dug" a zillion nails... but one from the ocean? No tellin'' where that baby came from...

 

[ivan salis]

looks old to me -- brass or bronze nails were used in ships in the 1800's era because they did not rust like iron nails did --- they often were used to tack copper sheathing on the hulls --it was quite commonly done on english vessels coming to the warmer american waters to prevent the "wood" boring sea worms from eating into the hulls -- plus the copper was toxic to the slime that grew on the hulls (the drag slowed them down--so the ships wanted to cut down on it ) --anti fouling paints even today have a copper in it -- Ivan

 

[trikikiwi]

Hi - Kia ora everyone, I recall selling square copper nails, from a Hardware Store I worked in,
about 20 years ago.
Cheers, Mike

 

[Angelo]

Here's some on ebay from the 1800's

Tony

http://cgi.ebay.com/6-Antique-COPPE...70940897QQihZ013QQcategoryZ1213QQcmdZViewItem

 

[paul1410]

Hi everyone, thanks for all your replies.

Smitty- Copper flashing isn’t something I had considered but I don’t see it used much in that area.

Jim- “zillion” nails- man I have some catching up to do

Ivan- it looks old to me too, the copper sheathing is a good possibility, the length of the nail, I think, would indicate use on a thin material like sheathing or flashing.

Mike- that’s interesting, I didn’t think they made/used square cut nails any more (except for masonry work).

Tony- cool link, I never thought to look on ebay for nails.