Antique & Modern Nail age and history questions & answers.

This article series describes antique and modern cut nails focusing on hand wrought and cut nails used in wood frame construction or interior finishing or carpentry work.

 

FAQs on Finding the Age of Nails

These questions & answers about determining the age of nails and other building hardware were posted originally at the topic home page:

NAILS, AGE & HISTORY - home - be sure to review that article.

Also see the nail age determination questions and answers suggested

at NAIL AGE DETERMINATION KEY - use this key to guess at the age of your nail or spike

 

Reader question: What is this long spike with a slit in one end?

This was found approx.12” down while detectoring on our late 1700’s hill farm in Vermont. It is 21” long and around 1” square. There was so much built up corrosion on it when found it looked round. 2024-09-27 by Tom

Reply by moderator:

@Tom,

A very long spike like that was typically used in construction of barns or other post and being buildings.

The dimensions and uniformity of the shank with suggest that it was hand forged.

NAIL AGE DETERMINATION KEY

https://inspectapedia.com/interiors/Determine-age-of-old-nails.php

Offers some additional and in some cases a little more subtle clues that can help guess at the age of your spike.

Reader follow-up: riveted holding pin

Maybe HH in the diagram attached. As you mentioned in use of post and beam construction. I believe it was hand forged since it was found in the area of the blacksmith barn located on this hill farm.

https://www.cloverfieldspreservationfoundation.org/newsletters/2019/7/18/period-nails-and-scarf-joints
It does contain a slot.

Reply:

@Tom,

Yes that's a very good guess.

I didn't comment on it before because from just the image I was a bit uncertain, but it looked me as if the tip of the spike in your photo contained a slot that could have actually been an opening for the pin in the illustration of HH that that illustration's author called a "riveted pin holding summer beams together."

The slot is strong evidence supporting your, now our, guess.

For other readers, Tom is citing
Cloverfields as of July 2019: Period Nails Help Date Different Sections of the House and The Structural Frame is Repaired - July 25, 2019

The actual drawing of nail and spike types is from p. 264 in

Chappell, David A., “Hardware,” in Carson, Cary, and Carl R. Lounsbury, eds. The Chesapeake House: Architectural Investigation by Colonial Williamsburg. UNC P Books, 2013. 257-83.

Cloverfields is a historic home Constructed in the U.S. in Maryland by Philemon Hemsley between 1703 and 1705.

Here's a closer look at the slotted end of Tom's spike.

 

Reader question: Age and manufacture of this octagonal shanked nail

Thanks for all the info here. I found this nail in my pool in Flower Mound, TX. House built in 1993 and oldest in neighborhood is 1973 ish.

Lots of farmland too. Nail is 2" long and head is 9/16. No number imprint on head (thus not 1920 railroad nail). I can't see fiber direction either. Maybe 1830-1850 date? Thanks! 2024-05-08 by Adam

Reply by moderator: modern masonry nail: note the clinch marks under the head, the diamond pointed tip, round head, and flutes.

@Adam,

That's an interesting nail, but I think it's modern. I can't see all of the details, but I think the photo shows the following "modern" nail indicators:

1. Multiple parallel lines under the head where the nail was gripped in the nail machine to form the head

2. Nail shank is round

3. Nail tip is diamond pointed

I think the head is either round or round with a notch.

4. A nail like that one, with a fluted or grooved shaft is usually intended for use in masonry, and so that may explain ...

5. What looks like remnants of concrete or cement along the nail shank

Sorry for the comment box picture posting limitation, but you are absolutely welcome to post as many photos as you like - just one per comment, so you can use more comments to post more photos.

Daniel

Reader follow-up:

Thanks Daniel, The shank is octagonal, but you may have hit the nail on the head as we did have roof/chimney work done.

No notch in head though. Thanks!

Reply:

@Adam,

Excellent, thank you.

That might be a fairly old masonry nail, but all of its other features make it modern, it's basically a modified round shank that is referred to in the parlance as a wire nail meaning that the nails are cut from a length of machine fabricated wire.

Masonry nails are usually of a harder alloy as well as having flutes that give a resistance against bending as the nail is being driven into the hard masonry surface.

 

Reader question: square headed nail found while metal detecting

Found this square headed nail while metal detecting today but can’t find any types with the 90 degree angle at the end.

It seems to of been manufactured this was rather than having been bent. Any ideas please? 2023-10-14 by Tristan Cossey

Reply:

@Tristan Cossey,

Thank you so much for the great nail photo and interesting comment.

It's most likely that the angle bent at the end of that nail happened after its original manufacture.

Reader question: Sussex County, Delaware farm field reveals a long rusty spike

Can anyone give me some info on the picture below. I can't seem to find anything on this nail or spike. I found it in a Sussex County Delaware farm field. It is 8 sided and looks old. Looking for age and use.

Thanks for your help. JP 2023-09-24 J.P. McCormick

Reply:

@J.P. McCormick,

You will find our most complete advice on guessing age at

NAIL AGE DETERMINATION KEY
https://inspectapedia.com/interiors/Determine-age-of-old-nails.php

In essence, when estimating the age, properties, use, and history of a nail, spike, or screw, we look at

1. the item itself for clues about how it was made, of what materials, and in some cases iron fibre direction that can bracket age of manufacture

2. contextual clues: what we know from surrounding materials, location, history of the area, etc.

Reader question: South Texas Victorian home used porcelain headed nails

These nails were found in an old Victorian Style house in South Texas in the 1970's. They are covered with paint. However the nail seems to be round with angled points. The porcelain or glass head screws onto the top of the nail vial threads. I have not been able to find any like them to date or evaluate them. Any help you can offer is greatly appreciated. 2023-09-23 by Elaine M Burcham

Reply by moderator:

@Elaine M Burcham,

Thank you for this great photo of this porcelain headed nail.

In this document

THE CUT NAIL INDUSTRY 1776-1890: TECHNOLOGY, COST ACCOUNTING AND THE UPPER OHIO VALLEY [PDF]
inspectapedia.com/interiors/Cut-Nail-Industry-Loveday-Dissertation-OSU.pdf

we find the reference to the 1873 American patent for “Richards Patent Porcelain-Headed Picture Nails"

A copy of that patent’s design and specs (originally retrieved on 9/23/2023 from https://patents.google.com/patent/US169921A/en) is found here

RICHARDS PORCELAIN HEADED PICTURE NAILS PATENT [PDF]
inspectapedia.com/interiors/Richards-Porcelain-Headed-Picture-Nails-Patent.pdf

This shows the design of nail you have described with the porcelain head being attached to a threaded shank.

I also found many references and images to this type of nail when I googled “antique nails with porcelain head” although these may be more modern reproductions.

Without any additional information about their age, we can’t say if your nails date to the 1970s that you mention or from an earlier time.

 

Spike found in river bed

I found it while walking. It was laying in a river bed. 2023-09-22 by Armandt

Reply:

@Armandt,

You will find our most complete advice on guessing age at

NAIL AGE DETERMINATION KEY
https://inspectapedia.com/interiors/Determine-age-of-old-nails.php

When estimating the age, properties, use, and history of a metal fastener like a nail, spike, or screw, we look at

1. the item itself for clues about how it was made, of what materials, and in some cases iron fibre direction that can bracket age of manufacture

2. contextual clues: what we know from surrounding materials, location, history of the area, etc.

 

Reader question - Find the age of these old nails found near Amarillo Texas

I'm looking for information about some nails that where recovered from an old Quarry located near Amarillo in Potter County, Texas. The nails were used at what appeared to be a loading site and secured rough lumber that provided aggregate chutes for wagons and early trucks. Thank you, Jack On 2023-08-23 by Jack E. DeMuynck, Jr.

Reply by InspectApedia Publisher (mod) - nails found near Amarillo Texas Quarry

@Jack E. DeMuynck, Jr.,

Sure, glad to help. Here are some suggestions.

Those look like structural spikes, perhaps with hand-finished heads.

Take a close look at the upper shank markings: are those letters or clamp marks from a machine?

1. If we can assume that you have access to the nails in question, I suggest comparing the nail features, in detail, with the old nail features discussed above on this page.

2. Compare your nails with the nail features outlined also at

NAIL AGE DETERMINATION KEY, https://inspectapedia.com/interiors/Determine-age-of-old-nails.php

3. Review the detailed history of the Amarillo Texas quarry and thus you'll have an idea of the types of buildings or other structures - for which you've already posed an interesting guess: chutes for loading wagons and trucks.

The nail size is probably the first clue to its probable use as it's easy to separate smaller nails that secured boards from larger spikes that would have been used in structures.

it's the note of hand-wrought features that you might find particularly interesting.

Where is the quarry about which you inquire?

Are you referring to the Alibates Flint Quarries - whose history is ancient - as well?

Or have you researched activities that gave Quarry Street its name? Quarry Street runs between Yucca Ave. and Cliffside Road, those intersecting North Western St. off of I 335 northwest of Amarillo.

Reader follow-up - Clamp marks on my nails + research on location where old nails are found yields information

They are clamp marks. Can you give an estimate when they may have been made? Thank you, Jack

The quarry they came from I suspect was an early cement aggregate, perhaps lime extraction site. The town it may have supported Amarillo, Texas was established around the turn of the 19th century.

Thanks for the reply. I'll work at getting you a Google earth location. You've done good research.

...

Location as found on Google Earth: Latitude 35.2289732 Longitude -101.919184

Again thanks for your interesting work. Next time I'm in the area I plan to research deeds and newspapers circa 1900. Jack

Reply:

@Jack E. DeMuynck, Jr.,

That's interesting indeed and it's a nice example of doing a little bit of leg work to add context that's helpful when we're trying to understand the age and history of an antique nail or other fastener.

Added comments: the straight, not-tapered shank and those large indentations that you confirm are clamp marks all argue for a early hand-forged spike.

The procedure commonly included clamping the forged shank into a vise in order to permit hand hammering to form the shank head. You should see that the heads on spikes in this set are each a bit different.

To keep us posted on what else you find

 

Question - identification of an old rusty square-shanked spike From Cape Cod MA

Look what I found!

On 2023-08-12

Reply:

@From Cape Cod MA,

nice old rusty nail or spike - interesting that it's more rusted in mid-shank than at head or tip. Might tell something of its use and history. and certainly suggests hand forging.

 

Reader question - Square nail found on early colonial site, not iron

I found a square nail on early colonies site it is not ferrous I suppose it's made of copper by the color can you please estimate the age, thank you 2023-07-20 by Paulo PS

Reply by InspectApedia DF (mod) - nail found at early Colonial site

@Paulo PS,

Our best and most complete advice are in the steps given at

NAIL AGE DETERMINATION KEY
(live link in the Recommended Articles list on this page)

In essence, when estimating the age, properties, use, and history of a metal fastener like a nail, spike, or screw, we look at

1. the item itself for clues about how it was made, of what materials, and in some cases iron fibre direction that can bracket age of manufacture

2. contextual clues: what we know from surrounding materials, location, history of the area, etc.

 

Reader question - unusual UK Riverbank nail has thick tall square head

Hello Can you please take a look at the attached photo. I found it on a river bank in the UK . It is 5 inches long and feels like wood definitely not metal. It’s an impressive nail and I would like to know where it may have come from and how old it is. Thank you On 2023-07-08 by Tina F

Reply by InspectApedia Publisher (mod) - Nail from U.K. Riverbank

@Tina F,

That's certainly an unusual "nail" with that thick squared head and flat-sided tapered shank. It looks to me like bronze, not wood, but of course we've got just a photo to go-on.

The point is sharp and tapered to be driven - that would not be characteristic of wooden peg or treenail such as we describe in several links given above on this page where we discuss tree-nails or "treenails" and wooden pegs.

Try scratching on one side to see if you expose brighter metal.

 

Question - age of an old 15-inch nail

Anyone know any info please..about 15 inches long On 2023-06-22 by Matt M

Reply:

@Matt M,

You will find our most-complete advice on guessing age at

NAIL AGE DETERMINATION KEY
https://inspectapedia.com/interiors/Determine-age-of-old-nails.php

In essence, as you’ll read there, when estimating the age, properties, use, and history of a metal fastener like a nail, spike, or screw, we look at

1. the item itself for clues about how it was made, of what materials, and in some cases iron fibre direction that can bracket age of manufacture

2. contextual clues: what we know from surrounding materials, location, history of the area, etc.

 

Nail patent by inventor Edwin Page, US Patent No. 325859 for a stepped nail design

I recently acquired a nail patent by inventor Edwin Page, patent number 325859. It's for a stepped nail design as shown in the attached image. Does anyone know if these nails were every actually produced and used? On 2023-06-10 by David Fox

Reply: split resistant nail patent by Page

@David Fox,

Thank you for the question and the reference to the 1885 Page patent.

For other readers, you can see this patent disclosure also at

Page Edwin K., NAIL, [PDF] U.S. Patent No. 325,859., September 8, 1885.

Excerpt:

My invention relates to the wedge-shaped nail in common use by builders, ordinarily cut from a plate, and two of its sides parallel, with the other two sides slightly tapering; and it has for its object to produce a nail which may be driven indiscriminately with either its parallel or tapering sides at right angles with the grain of the wood without splitting;

and it consists in forming a series of cutting-teeth on the two opposite and tapering sides of the nail, sides parallel with the grain, the cutting-teeth will sever the grain and form a passage for the nail, preventing the splitting of the wood;

and my invention further consists in the formation of the nail with such cutting-teeth and Figs. 4 and 5 are views showing mode, it shows an elevation of the nail in common use. with parallel sides between the cutting-teeth, so that the back of the teeth may be support ed, and so the wood will press more closely against the sides of the nail after it has been driven.

Interestingly this patent was cited almost 100 years later in

Schroeder, Norman, Irving Ahlbeck III, Bradley Schroeder, and Steven Stanwick. "Fluted nail." U.S. Patent 4,781,508, issued November 1, 1988.

We have not found records of the production of the Page patented nail but I have seen some cut nails with barbs and staggered edges, two of Page's designs, and certainly the idea of modifying the nail shank to improve its withdrawal resistance was extended to many modern nails such as the ring-shank on drawn wire nails.

Let's keep alert for these Page nails showing up in antique structures.

 

Reader question - Date for old brass nail found on Whitstable beach

Hi, found this on the beach in Whitstable, would love to know a rough date. It’s material I believe is brass On 2023-05-27 by Penny

Reply: getting down to brass tacks age

@Penny,

Our most complete advice on guessing age is at

NAIL AGE DETERMINATION KEY

https://inspectapedia.com/interiors/Determine-age-of-old-nails.php

In essence, as you'll read there, when estimating the age, properties, use, and history of a metal fastener like a nail, spike, or screw, we look

1. at the item itself for clues about how it was made, of what materials, and in some cases iron fibre direction that can bracket age of manufacture

2. at contextual clues: what we know from surrounding materials, location, history of the area, etc.

Continuing: is that a round nail shank that we see in your photo? If so this is a relatively modern nail, not a hand forged one.

Question - Date for a UK Garage using round flat headed nails

I am trying to date a garage in the UK. There is an argument it is 1930s, however looking at the timber specialists think much later. Here is a picture of the roofing nails used for the clay tiles, could anyone shed some light on the potential date? 2023-05-15 by David Walsh

Reply: modern wire nails were first produced in the 1850s

@David Walsh,

Galvanized roofing nails were certainly around in the 1930s in the UK.

As you can read above in this article, modern wire nails such as yours were first produced in the 1850s. Beyond that, in order to more accurately date your building, you'll need to look at other contextual clues.

Many of these are listed above in the section titled: Supporting Information to Estimate the Age of a Nail

This article series, with many of the live links listed above in the Recommended Articles list, explores further the age of nails and hardware.

You may be interested in the History of Nails in the U.K. section found in the article titled:

NAIL & HARDWARE, AGE RESEARCH

Age of 6 7/8" long nails - look modern

Hi -- Got these at an estate sale. I was wondering if they are early machine cut nails. They sure feel great in the hand.

Here is a picture of the heads. These are 6-7/8" long. 2023-05-08 by Cameron T.

...

Reply:

@Cameron T.,

Yes, though some of them have earlier style heads added as a separate step.

"Machine" includes hand-operated machinery.

I may be mistaken but to me [DF] your closeup photo of nail heads looks like a different collection. Newer.

I think I see parallel ribs across the nail shank close to the underside of the nail-head. Those would be grip marks from "modern" nail making machinery that has been in use for the last 100 years.

Reader question - how old is my UK settle with timber nails?

Is it possible to estimate the age of our UK settle with timber nails? On 2023-04-07 by Anonymous

Reply: wooden pegs alone can't date a bit of furniture

@Anonymous,

While treenails and wooden pegs may be used in building construction and window and door construction or in the construction of furniture as well even in modern buildings, usually that's certainly before 1900.

In fact in my workshop in New York in the 1980s I built a reproduction of a Shaker one-drawer side table that used only wooden pegs in its construction - there is not one bit of metal in the assembly. So wooden pegs alone can't date a bit of furniture.

The range of use by geography and time is in my opinion so broad that we need to add contextual clues when guessing building or UK settle age rather than just looking at one component.

Those clues are given starting at

AGE of a BUILDING, HOW to DETERMINE - home

(live link below in Recommended Articles list)

Perhaps you can post further photos such as of other hardware, saw cuts or marks on lumber or timbers, type of framing connection, and other building features that we describe there.

Question - is this squarish head spiral nail modern or antique?

Is this modern or antique? The head is not perfectly round and squarish On 2023-03-31 by Steve

Reply: modern, machine-made, spiral nail

@Steve,

That's a modern, machine-made, spiral nail.

The spiral is intended to improve withdrawal resistance.

It looks as if much of the nail head has rusted away.

 

How old is this 8-inch rusty spike found at Brighton UK beach

Found whilst metal detecting on the beach in Brighton UK. It's 8" long. Any ideas please? On 2023-03-19 by Lesleyburdetttaylor

Reply:

@Lesleyburdetttaylor,

You will find our most complete advice on guessing age at

NAIL AGE DETERMINATION KEY
(live link below in Recommended Articles list)

where we discuss clues from the nail itself as well as the use of contextual clues.

 

Reader question - is this a nail or a spike from the Staten Island NY Conference House?

Is this a nail or spike . How old can it be found it on the beach front the conference house Staten Island NY On 2023-02-21 by Al Diaz

Reply:

@Al Diaz,

Please see our reply to reader Jenn D just below. There we give the link where we have our best and most complete advice on dating this type of hardware.

Note our discussion there about iron fiber direction, size, and other contextual clues.

This nail/spike found in a park looks more like a tack, with letters on its head

Hi, I came across this nail/spike in a park. You have any idea of its time period 2023-02-18 by Jenn D

Reply: use contextual clues to help determine age of hardware

@Jenn D,

Let's see a magnified sharp photo of the lettering on the round head of that tack. That might let us identify its manufacturer.

Our best and most complete advice are in the steps given at

NAIL AGE DETERMINATION KEY
(live link below in Recommended Articles list)

In essence, as you’ll read there, when estimating the age, properties, use, and history of a metal fastener like a nail, spike, or screw, we look at

1. the item itself for clues about how it was made, of what materials, and in some cases iron fiber direction that can bracket age of manufacture

2. contextual clues: what we know from surrounding materials, location, history of the area, etc.

 

Age of an old nail found in mossy peatland

Hi, can you help me identify these nails that I found on a moss/peatland.

Regards, davidhuddy@hotmail.com 2023-02-15 by David Huddy

Reply:

@David Huddy,

You will find our most complete advice on guessing age at

NAIL AGE DETERMINATION KEY
(live link below in Recommended Articles list)

Where we discuss paying attention to various contextual clues to help learn more about it.

Date this nail from a slate roofed Baltimore MD Farmhouse

This nail came out of a piece of slate on an old farmhouse roof in Northern Baltimore county, MD. it measures just over 2 3/4 inches. I am wondering about dating. Thank you. 2023-02-03 by Verena

Reply: nail from a piece of slate on an old farmhouse roof in Northern Baltimore County, MD

@Verena,

NAIL AGE DETERMINATION KEY - use this key to guess at the age of your nail or spike. [live link above] will be of some help

Consider that the nail taper is uniform, then look for burrs on its edges and compare those with the notes in the key I gave above.

 

What are the type & age of this 4 1/2" long rusty spike

Is this too corroded or could you make an educated guess as to the type/age of this spike? It's got a flat (spade) point and is about 4.5" in length.

On 2023-01-31 by Katie -

Reply: signs of hand forging on antique iron spike

@Anonymous,

The spike tip looks hand forged

Treasure Coast, Florida four sided tip round shanked nail/spike found in driftwood

Views of 10” nail. 3/4 round head. 4 sided pointed tip, round shank. Found in driftwood on Treasure coast.

Really wondering a specific age range. Not just modern nail.

On 2023-01-14 by Lenny -

Reply: spike found embedded in driftwood

@Lenny,

If I'm reading your photo correctly, that nail has a quite round shank and a diamond pointed tip. That'd make it a "modern" wire-drawn nail not an antique hand-forged one.

What's this long brass rod found on a SCUBA dive off Massachusettts?

Hoping to figure out when this ship spike would have been made. Recovered in a dive off Massachusetts.

On 2023-01-06 by Mark -

Reply: structural rod from dive off of Massachusetts

@Mark,

That's a beautiful find but I don't think I would consider it a nail or a spike it looks more like a structural rod.

 

Nail found in old stone wall in Massachusetts

Found in very old stone wall ? Any ideas? Located in Massachusetts

On 2021-11-01 by CanalKid -

Reply:

We can't see enough to offer much, Canal, but I think that's a round-shanked nail described in the nail key found in our page bottom recommended articles on nail identification - NAIL AGE DETERMINATION KEY - use this key to guess at the age of your nail or spike

 

Age of 3-inch long nail with round upper shank?

I am hoping to identify this nail. It is 3 inches long with a head dia of 9/16". The upper part of the shank is round, and the lower part is forged to a rectangle with a chisel point. There is a 'W' forged into the countersunk head.

What is its purpose, and how old is it please? - 2021-10-29 by Steve Campbell-Wright

Reply:

@Steve Campbell-Wright,

The round upper shank of your nail makes it a modern fastener.

Be sure to see the nail ID and age tips given at

NAIL AGE DETERMINATION KEY - use this key to guess at the age of your nail or spike

Could cut nails have appeared in Duncan Creek at gold rush sluice boxes?

My grandfather and his siblings and parents were part of the Klondike gold rush, 1898-1904. He wrote in a newspaper, decades later, about his father's mining group, “While on the prospecting trip the party went into the Duncan Creek area which later became the fabulously wealthy Keno Hill and Mayo country.

Here they found sluice boxes nailed with nails that had been cut rather than moulded.

This indicated prospectors had been in that area in the early ‘70’s and ‘80’s – long before the Klondike strike in 1896."

Do you have any idea if this statement has merit? And do you know what types of nails would have been used during the 1896-1899 timeframe in Yukon Territory, vs. earlier than that?
Thank you! - On 2021-10-19 by Jason M Gould -

Reply: early machine-cut nails made by 1790

@Jason M Gould,

Above courtesy of Phillips (1993) is an illustration of the 1814 Reed Cut Nail Machine patent, found in the patent infringement lawsuit papers in Oiome v. Amesbury Nail Factory (1819) at the regional office of the National Archives, Waltham MA.

It certainly has merit. Nails were cut from forged blanks, even by hand-operated machines at least from the early 1800s and possibly as early as 1790. (How, 2018 & How, 2009 ) (Phillips, 1993).

Cut nails were valuable, and in addition to being made by small hand operated machines would have been imported from England, from France, and perhaps also made further West in the U.S. or shipped to that coast.

That is to say it's more-likely that nails used to build gold mining apparatus, sluices, etc. would have been imported from more-remote larger cities where nail fabricators were already established.

Phillips notes that

By 1788, Adam Rogers, of Marshfield, had developed a machine that "cut nails from hoops or plates," and by 1792 his nephew, Samuel Rogers, was cutting nails "by hand in a small machine invented by him.

When cut from nail plate, the nails produced by the hand-operated machines would probably have had characteristics similar to those of nails manufactured a few years later, but with less refinement.

The earliest cut nails would have had shanks with two tapering and two parallel sides and burrs on diagonally opposite edges (having been cut from the same side of the nail plate), like their later cousins.

However, because of the crude, somewhat uncalibrated method of cutting, the shanks in cross-section would probably have appeared as skewed rectangles or parallelograms, rather than true rectangles (Fig. 2).

The nails would have had rounded ends (from the edge of the nail plate) and were probably initially hand-headed, sometimes with faceted rose or "T" heads found on wrought nails, other times the upper end simply bent over to produce a brad.

Eventually, crude heading machines may have been used.

Followup by Jason M Gould

@danjoefriedman, thank you!

When did the moulded (molded?) nails become popular then?

Reply: When did the moulded (molded?) nails become popular ?

@Jason M Gould,

I'm not sure what you mean by molded nails, but if you mean round wire nails, their history is included in the page above.

Age of shipwreck nails found in the Philippines

@inspectapedia.com.moderator,

Can you identify what metal been used on these nails. My brother found these on unknown wooden shipwreck buried in the sand along the shore in the Philippines. - On 2021-10-15 by Christian Manalo

Reply:

@Christian Manalo,

To get a general idea of the composition of those tacks or small nails

1. use a magnet - to see if they're iron or steel vs. perhaps brass or another non-magnetic metal

2. scrape the surface to see if you observe shiny brass or copper

From just the photo they look like galvanized iron

Age of iron with a nail or peg in Scotland near a harbour

I found this piece of iron with nail in. Is it possible to date/name this type of nail please. Found near harbour in Scotland/UK

- 2021-09-13 by Sue

Reply:

@Sue,

What I can see in the photo is a four-sided iron fastener, not necessarily a nail, and as you say it's embedded in a piece of iron strapping, it could have been a bolt. I can't offer a more-useful comment;

But at

NAIL AGE DETERMINATION KEY - use this key to guess at the age of your nail or spike

https://inspectapedia.com/interiors/Determine-age-of-old-nails.php

you will see that we provide a list of questions that you can try to answer that give what I call contextual information about your metal find that can help guess at its use and history.

Age of old nail found in garden, the Hague in the The Netherlands

Hi - I found the nail shown in the attached image in a friend's garden in The Hague in the The Netherlands. Any information about its history would be much appreciated.

Many thanks

- On 2021-08-30 by Andrew Wills -

Reply: bronze nail found in a garden in The Hague in the The Netherlands

Thank you for the photo.

Very nice; looks like brass or copper; am I right?

A bulbous headed tack / nail of matchstick size might have been used where its head was left exposed to view, such as a decorative nail in a door or other building feature; smaller gauge tacks with decorative heads also show up on upholstered furniture.

Any information about the history of the specific site in the Hague might give us more clues.

To go WAY back you might enjoy seeing

Butler, J.J., BRONZE AGE METAL and AMBER in the NETHERLANDS [PDF] University of Groningen Library, Netherlands, retrieved 2021/08/30 original source: https://ugp.rug.nl/Palaeohistoria/article/download/24902/22350

@Andrew Wills, here's an excerpt from a photo of a wooden door with metal decorations that might include bronze bulb-headed short nails.


In addition to all the information about old nails on this page, I encourage you to see the information and examples at the following articles:

Antique Nail Age & History FAQs Q&A on Nails as Indicators of ...
inspectapedia.com/interiors/Age-of-Nails-FAQs.php

and

Age and History of Antique Nails
https://inspectapedia.com/interiors/Determine-age-of-old-nails.php

Looking for an original box of raisin head nails

looking for an original box of raisin head nails don't need the nails just the box! - On 2021-07-29 by Leslie Weyhrich

Reply:

@Leslie Weyhrich,

Show us a photo of raisin head nails and tell us what you can about the product - that may help locate the box you want.

Age and use of these old hand made nails found on a beach

I found these recently on 2 separate beach walks. They look handmade but I'm not sure what I have here. Any ideas? 2021-07-09 by Beck

Reply:

@Beck,
Thank you for the interesting photos and for your question. We can’t see enough nor do we have any other contextual information to say more than there appear to be a couple iron fragments. With respect to age, there are some clues in the article above.

Also see:
AGE AND HISTORY OF ANTIQUE NAILS
https://inspectapedia.com/interiors/Determine-age-of-old-nails.php

Age of an old farmhouse determined by this nail?

Hi! Wondering if you all might be able to help me determine the age of an old farmhouse I’m currently working on. I have managed to pull one of the original nails out without damaging the nail too much.

Please take a look at the image and let me know if you have any idea. Thanks! On 2021-07-06 by Whitney Tomlin

Reply:

@Whitney Tomlin,
In addition to all the information about old nails on this page, take a look at the following page and its easy questions to help determine nail age:

Age and History of Antique Nails
https://inspectapedia.com/interiors/Determine-age-of-old-nails.php

You may also enjoy examples from other readers' 'finds' at:

Antique Nail Age & History FAQs
inspectapedia.com/interiors/Age-of-Nails-FAQs.php

 

Nails found on roof of 1901 home - what are these?

We are doing a roof to a house that got finished in 1905 the rumor is the house started being built in 1901 there has been only 2 people to own the place.

We found a few of these nails it looks like the same style nails in the picture that says they are vintage can someone help me to see what kinda nails these are? On 2021-07-02 by Anonymous

Reply:

@Anonymous,

Sure, in NAIL AGE DETERMINATION KEY - use this key to guess at the age of your nail or spike take a look at the description of cut nails

Grooved spike found on an old rural Nova Scotia property

I found this metal detecting on an old rural Nova Scotia property. Any idea how old it is? What are the grooves for? Measures 3/4" square and about 5 3/4" long. 2021-07-02 by Keith

Reply:

@Keith,

That is certainly a remarkable Spike. I don't know what it was for. Possibly Timber framing.

Sometimes people cut grooves in the spikes to improve their resistance to withdrawal but more-likely their regularity suggests that those are grip marks left by machinery used in nail or spike production.

Square plate inserted over nail head

Hello, I am French and I am looking for answers concerning this object in my possession.

Rivet, or nail, The rectangular plate is in bronze measures 10mm X 8mm thickness 3mm (similar to a spangle)
crossed by an iron point with a length of 23mm and diameter 3mm.

the tip is worked like a nail. this one crossing the bronze plate.

The edges of the insert are chamfered. 2020-12-07 by Yves

Reply: Square capped stud-nails: in France?

Yvres

Merci beaucoup pour le photo avec un ongle intéressant.

Je vais regarder autour de moi pour voir ce que je peux trouver d'autre, mais à première vue, il semble que cela puisse avoir été un goujon décoratif comme on en trouve parfois sur la surface de portes ou de coffres maintenant antiques.

It looks as if it may have been a decorative nail such as found in "studded" doors.

 

Want to make bronze cut nails

I would like to make bronze cut nails. What thickness bronze plate should I cut them from? 2020-11-10 by MarkE

Reply:

Mark

We need to start with a decision on what sized nails you need. The plate thickness determines the dimensions of the nail shank.

If you're not sure, just pick up a nail whose design you like. There is no one "right size" nail stock plate.

Consider that the nail length and width and taper vary, and the nail type and size range is huge, from tiny brads to structural fasteners.

Just as example data points,

a No. 8 common nail has a diameter of about 4.115 mm wire.

Daytona Beach nail rusted very thin

Found this nail in Daytona Beach, trying to find out how old this nail might be. 2020-11-02 by Vladimir

Reply:

Vladimir

Let's try the Nail age determination key at

https://inspectapedia.com/interiors/Determine-age-of-old-nails.php

Can square nails found in the attic help age the home?

Hi there! We bought an old house and we can't seem to find out when it was built. We found square nails in the attic and wondered if it would help us figure out about when the home was built. What do you think? 2020-10-09 by Amy

Reply:

Amy

Take a look at NAIL AGE DETERMINATION KEY at https://inspectapedia.com/interiors/Determine-age-of-old-nails.php

and look for some of those features on your nail, for example: in your photo I note that the nail taper is not uniform, but has a widening area under the head; up close you may be able to see burrs on one or more of the four edges, and you may be able to see that the head was machine stamped (making it modern);

Of course a nail alone isn't the age of a home, as nails come into a building at various times and uses, so where it's found and fastening what to what are important.

Also we have an entire series of articles on how to determine the age of a house, starting at AGE of a BUILDING, HOW to DETERMINE https://inspectapedia.com/Design/Age_of_Building.php

Please take a look and don't hesitate to ask follow-up questions.

Follow up:

Thank you for the resources! I guess I just thought this would help to figure out what time frames we were looking at for construction here. From what I can tell, the nail head and from the nail head to the shank is irregular, but the shank towards the very bottom is more uniform. Here's another picture of it and another one that we found up there as well.

Reply:

Yes that larger-headed nail looks hand-wrought. The two nails look of different age to me.

Remember to note just where and how the nail was used; for example if we see what appear to be original nails in original framing of a building we can figure they're probably as old as the structure while if we're seeing add-on structure or materials obviously we can't assume that.

Take a look at the other building age clues in this article series - when deciding the age of a building it is important to use all of the available evidence and to correlate it; saw kerfs or marks, hammer marks, timber surfaces, other building hardware, architectural style : there is plenty to consider.

Rebuilding an 1850s home in Wappingers Falls NY I was thrilled to find, on tearing up a damaged floor below a toilet, old newspapers that pretty much told me the date at which plumbing - at least the toilet - had been added to the home.

The plumber stuffed newspapers all around the toilet bend - maybe hoping that if his work leaked it would not be discovered until after he'd safely escaped.

Follow up:

I'll have to investigate further! Most of the house has been renovated extensively so the attic and anything we can figure out inside of it is our only hope! Thank you!

Reply:

Amy:

Often there are many additional house age one can find, even in a renovated home, by careful inspection; layout, architecture, site debris, and the several topics suggested in

the ARTICLE INDEX such as saw marks on original framing lumber that you may see in the attic, basement or crawl space.

Old boat nails from Yukon Territory, Canada

I live in the Yukon Territory, Canada (Klondike Gold Rush) an have found some pieces of an old boat.

Hand hewn keel / bow.
This Is what the nails look like. Vintage? 2020-08-25 by Clint Walker

Reply:

That looks pretty modern to me, Clint; cut nail with side ridges and center bulge is very similar to Tremont's current series.

Is it bronze?

Is this a wire fence fastener?

Hi really having difficulty identifying and ageing this item, i suspect its a wire fence fastener but i am not certain. 2020-08-19 by Connor Flynn

Reply:

Connor, that's a reasonable guess, given similar fasteners we've seen. This one looks a bit large

 

Found in Chicago back yard

I found this nail in the backyard of the building where my daughter lives in Chicago (Now divided into apartments). I wondered if it was a replication or some old. Can you help?
2020-08-19 by Ralph

Reply:

Ralph

Take a look at my comments about cut nails that taper uniformly from head to tip, in this article: NAIL AGE DETERMINATION KEY https://inspectapedia.com/interiors/Determine-age-of-old-nails.php

as I think that will be helpful

Age guess for an antique Queensland AU cut nail with tapered faceted head

Can anyone advise me about this nail? It’s approx 6 inches, square and was found near Maleny, Qld, Australia 2020-08-09 by Jonathan

Reply:

Age guess for an antique Queensland AU cut nail with tapered faceted head.

That looks like a hand forged uniform-taper cut nail. Take a look at the age estimate guide at NAIL AGE DETERMINATION KEY, Jonathan, and let me know what you find.

https://inspectapedia.com/interiors/Determine-age-of-old-nails.php

Follow up:

looks to me like it will be 1839 to present.

Fluted tip ironspike, machine made

Hello
My name is Chris, can you help me find out what this object is called and what it does? I have had no luck after many hours of research. Hope you can help thanks! 2020-07-19 by chrisb8154

Reply:

Chris, That's a fluted tip ironspike, machine made.

Fluted tip spikes or nails are often used to nail into concrete. They may be used to attach structural members or often, insulation. An example is produced by OMG Roofing Products.

See this FLUTED NAIL DESCRIPTION [PDF] from OMG

Round-ish 4-sided hand-wrought nail age, Suffolk England

I am trying to find out how old this nail may be and if it is machine or hand made.

It is about 80mm long and the head is about 11mm wide and although round, not a perfect circle. It does go to a point rather than a blunt tip. It's very rectangular all the way down. It does feel a bit more round directly under the head, but also looks like 4 distinct sides, so I'm not sure if the roundness is due to actually being round or due to corrosion.

I've clean it the best I could in the photos. I found this yesterday while digging a garden in my yard. Location is Suffolk England more specifically Mildenhall. Even more specifically... near an old mill that was recorded as being around since 1066.

Most info on the mill I could easily find including pictures was during the 1800s(Parker's mill)

Any help with an approximate date and if it's hand made or machine made would be awesome! Every thing I have been reading has just confused me more. 2020-07-06 by Sarah

Reply:

Sarah:

Re: age of hand-wrought round headed nail in the UK

[Click to enlarge any image]

That looks like a hand-wrought nail to me, though it won't be as old as 1066, more likely the early 1800's. I'm basing that guess on

- the round-ish but not uniformly-round tapered shank - if the shank is actually flat-sided then it's an early cut nail, probably with a hand-wrought head

- the off-center point or tip

- the rather thin and irregular rounded head on the nail

- what appear to be remains of hammer marks along the shank

Thanks for the photos and question, Sarah.

"Machine-made" bears some discussion and clarification; even in the 1700s people were using hand or foot-operated levers or "machines" to cut nails from heated iron blanks, then hand-forging the nail head by inserting the nail into an opening in an anvil or similar device.

That's an operation that was distinct from fully-mechanized steam, water, or later electric-powered nail cutting machines and of course all of those continued in production overlapping "modern" round wire-based nails that are more-easily distinguished.

In this article series we discuss iron fibre direction (across vs along the nail shank), and head design, and tapering of nail shank, and cut marks on nail edges as further age-clues.

 

Age of cut nail, Western Australia

Hi I found this whilst prospecting Western Australia. Square nail, rose head. Any idea of an age?

Thank you
Cheers
Annie 2020-07-04 by Anne

Reply:

Annie

I see a cut nail shank that seems to taper uniformly - clues

at NAIL AGE DETERMINATION KEY be helpful.

That rose head may indicate that the nail is old enough that the head was hand-forged after the blank was cut.

Cut nails in an 1810 English style barn

I have extracted these machine cut nails [photo above] from an historic English style barn dated on plaque to have been built in 1810.

I am trying to verify this date as I understand machine cut nails were a brand new idea in 1810. I have found no blacksmith nails in the structure although the timber framing is held together with tree nails - wooden pegs.

I would appreciate any help in aging these nails. Thanks much. 2020-07-03 by William Calvert

Reply:

William

Thanks for the photo and question: cut nails in an 1810 English style barn

- located where? In the UK? U.S.?

The nails have a uniformly-tapered shank and what looks like a machine-made head that is uniform around the nail shank - making them look fairly-modern to me. Is it possible that they were added later?

- Where were the nails - holding what to what? - any photos of the nails in-situ?

I think these are "modern" cut nails - post 1830 and possibly newer.

Take a close look for splits along the nail length giving the direction of grain of the iron,
and take a look at any remnants of burrs along the nail shanks showing the direction of cutting.

More clues are at NAIL AGE DETERMINATION KEY

Possible Connecticut Shipwreck nail

Based on other findings in the immediate area, we believe we have discovered a shipwreck on a local Connecticut beach. [Photo above]

We were hoping to receive some help based on the nails we have uncovered - some still stuck in the deteriorated wood we dug up.

There were numerous wrecks along this beach during the 1800’s - being able to identify and date the nails might help us determine which one!

Thank you for any input or information. 2020-06-10 by Ryan B

Reply:

Ryan

Well that's certainly a cut nail but it's tough to see details.

I note a tapering under the head but can't tell if that widening along the shank is how the nail was made (an older one) or if it's simply accumulated exfoliated iron.

Those details are in the article NAIL AGE DETERMINATION KEY

See if you can see any splits long the length of the shank - that gives a detail about the iron "fibre" direction that in turn can date the nail.

 

Nail / spike on a beach in Weymouth Bay, Dorset UK

Hi Dan,

As an expert in old nails could you advise what sort of nail I have found and is it from a ship?

I found this nail / spike on a beech in Weymouth Bay, Dorset UK. I think it must be from ship wreck, there are many wrecks recorded in the area. Does anyone know how old this one is? It feels like wrought iron or cast iron and is 100mm / 4 inches long, square shank and rounded at the end, see photos.

Any comment welcome

Best Regards

Paul 2020-12-13 by Paul Acheson

...

Reply:

This NAIL AGE IDENTIFICATION KEY

https://inspectapedia.com/interiors/Determine-age-of-old-nails.php

May be of help to you

 

Fluted shaft hardened concrete nails

...

2020-10-07 by Stephen

Reply:

Stephen

Those parallel grooves also referred to as a "fluted shaft nail" on the nail shank look like a modern hardened masonry nail.

These nails, typically hammer-driven into concrete, are also sold in a magnetized version used by surveyors, such as the ChrisNik Magnails shown below.

Puget Sound WA Nail Features

Found these two nails next to a old warn down pillars posts and a huge rock carving. No know docks where here in this area. Could this be a old shipping area or boat nail, Indian markers on the shore maybe. Would like ant help. This is in Puget Sound WA. 2020-08-24 by Shelly

Reply:

Shelly

Thank you for the interesting photos and question. I can't make out much detail but your nail on the right of your ruler is a cut-nail, giving a rather broad date range as you'll see in the home page at the recommended articles (end of this page) for this topic.

 

Found this while magnet fishing along the Kennet and Avon canal UK

Found this while magnet fishing along the kennet and Avon canal UK. Would be very interested to know more about it. 2020-10-22 by Louise Black

Reply:

NAIL AGE DETERMINATION KEY https://inspectapedia.com/interiors/Determine-age-of-old-nails.php

may be of some help, Louise

 

Modern machine tacks in a slope lap desk

This is a GREAT resource!

I found a slope lap desk at our Salvation Army and fell in love with it. Its felt writing surface was totally rotted, so I'm preparing to clean it off so that I can actually use the desk.

About a zillion nails were used to secure the felt at the hinges; getting them out was a chore because they were also glued in place, my guess is with resin. This made examining the nail holes extremely difficult.

Some of your pictures are very similar to these finishing nails, but I wanted to show them to you. If you have any input, I'll be grateful for it! 2020-10-11 by Sophia Kelly Shultz

Reply:

Those are nice photos of modern machine made tacks, Sophia. Can you also post an image of the lap desk?

Follow up:

The desk can't be closed right now because the glue is still drying. The outside is very plain; we think it is walnut. The inside is pine. There's a stamp on the back that reads something like "Wilburmilk" (no joy on Google). It's a rubber stamp. The glue fluoresces green, and when wiped down with a damp cloth smelled like resin.

 

Reply: age of tacks & hardware in Wilburmilk lap desk

Those are particularly nice brass hinges - making me guess the hardware and perhaps the folding lap desk are from the 1850s but those tacks are curious. Tacks were one of the earliest machine-made metal fasteners, as you'll see in the history given in this article series. Blanchard's machine dates from around 1806.

See if you can identify other instances of the hinges or of the lock mechanism.

Knowing the context is often a basic starting point for guessing the age of building components, furniture, hardware, lap desks.

Country
City
where found
age of buildings in the area
history of acquisition
etc.

Follow up:

My husband and I agree that the tacks are after-market, possibly used if the felt was replaced at some point.

This would account for the glue which held the tacks in place. My feeling is that the person who owned the desk was unhappy with their repair, and nailed the felt down so that it wouldn't distort when the desk was closed.

We are in the US, Pottsville, PA. I found it at the Salvation Army in Pottsville. I work as a volunteer: we do receive a fair number of antiques and I spotted it before it made it out of the back room. Our house and the house next door are dated 1864. Pottsville itself was incorporated as a borough in 1828, and there are buildings from that era still extant.

The town's location on the Schuylkill River and in close proximity to the Reading and Pennsylvania Railroads makes it quite possible that the desk was brought from elsewhere, perhaps from Philadelphia.

Reply:

I agree; though there is a very long history of machine-cut carpet and other small tacks, your tacks are probably carpet tacks, or possibly upholstery tacks that look rather modern.

Hand forged wedge from Lake Ontario?

Found in the water in a lake in Ontario, Canada - very heavy. Can chip off the crust. Haven’t finished....

One side has some tool marks running perpendicular. Weight 3-5 pounds. The head is irregular and the whole thing is on a slant.

Is this a nail? Or a wedge or spike? Having a hard time finding out what it is...

Hello! I found this in the water (about a foot under the sand). We chipped away at it a bit and the crust around it came away. It smells a bit like rotten eggs. I’m having trouble figuring out if it’s a nail or a spike or a wedge.

It’s very heavy (about 3-5 pounds.) Any help would be appreciated. 2020-08-23 by Allie

Reply:

This may be a wedge, hand forged, used in log splitting.

Very interesting; can you give dimensions?

Thank you.

Follow up:

Thanks! It’s 6 inches and two inches wide. The thickest part of the wedge in the first picture is 1 inch.

Picture of one side. It looks like it’s staring to corrode after we removed some of the crust.

 

Brass spike, cut perhaps with hand forged head

Found this in a piece of waterlogged wood down at Westmoreland State Park on the Potomac in VA. The piece of wood also had what looked to be a wooden peg in it, I tried but couldn't pull that out. I was able to remove this brass spike though.

From what I can tell online it seems to be from a sea-going ship from 150-200 years ago. Curious if anyone has any other information that might help date or shed light on where this might have come from. Thanks! 2020-08-13 by Nate

Reply:

Beautiful, looks like brass, spike, cut perhaps with hand forged head. Check the details such as burrs along the side of the spike - as per

NAIL AGE DETERMINATION KEY

 

Antique nails from Budapest, castle district

Found these in the old castle district in Budapest, which has been the site of countless battles ranging from early Roman times to the late 1800s.

What kind of nails have this strange shape, if they are nails at all?

I have been finding these in the Budapest caste district while metal detecting.

The castle has existed since early Roman times and has been the site of countless battles from that time all the way to the late 1800s. What I am wondering is what kind of nails are these, if they are nails at all?

I have never seen such nails that look like arrowheads, but have been told to ask here. 2020-08-06 by bela Lajos

 

Are these nails and bolts from a ship?

Hello, Can you please tell me how old this hardware is and If it would of been used to make a ship or not? I found them in water so they are weathered. I’d really appreciate it!

Thank You!
2019/10/12 by David

Reply: nails, bolts, rivets used in shipbuilding date back over 2,400 years

Hi David

You have an assortment of bent and straight iron hardware there; a cut nail or two, a nut and bolt assembly, and a large machine made bent spike.

The lines of the spike are least rusted and thus it's easiest to examine for hand-tooling marks (none found); I think this is mostly modern hardware, the spike perhaps from post and beam or dock construction.

NAIL AGE DETERMINATION KEY can help you make an informed guess about the the age of these fasteners.

Were these fasteners used to make a ship? Early wooden ships used large wooden spikes to secure mortise and tenon joints - "Treenails"; as water, especially salt water is corrosive, metal nails of later ships and boats were galvanized or bronze.

Unless we have more context I can't make a useful guess at that answer; a wide variety of fasteners, including spikes, smaller nails, rivets, and screws were all used in shipbuilding.
More modern nails used in wooden boats are copper or bronze, typically ring-shanked with wide heads. Cut nails produced as rosehead square shank spikes of lengths from 50 to 200 mm long are still produced.

Metal nails used in ships have an ancient history as cited in this example research

• Shalev, S., Y. Kahanov, and C. Doherty, NAILS FROM A 2,400 YEAR OLD SHIPWRECK: A STUDY OF COPPER IN A MARINE ARCHAEOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENT [PDF] JOM Journal of the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society 51, no. 2 (1999): 14-17.
  
  Abstract: The metal nails that fastened the wooden components of a 2,400 year old ship found along the coast of Kibbutz Ma'agan Mikhael, Israel, were made of unalloyed copper that was intensively hammered. A lead isotype analysis of one nail indicates with high probability that it was made of copper from Cyprus.
  
  The copper of the nails in the wood was replaced entirely by copper sulfide mineral, displaying the occurrence of deep anaerobic conditions in a breaker zone under a shallow cover of sand. the slow decay of the cellulose and hemicellulose in the wood is a possible explanation for the specific necessary environmental conditions.
• Tripati, Sila, M. Sujatha, R. Vijendra Rao, and K. Satyanarayana Rao. "Use of timber in shipbuilding industry: Identification and analysis of timber from shipwrecks off Goa coast, India." Current Science (2005): 1022-1027.

Below: modern bronze boat nails.

And the following illustration of modern Rosehead Square-Shank Spikes used in boatbuilding are from the Glasgow Steel Nail Co.

- Source: Glasgow Steel Nail Co. (Division of Acorn Mfg.), 457 School Street Mansfield Massachusetts 02048 USA Website: http://www.glasgowsteelnail.com, retrieved 20198/10/12 original source: http://www.glasgowsteelnail.com/Boats.htm

These spikes are sold in sizes from 50x4mm to 200 x 8mm and are used world-wide, typically for historic restoration work.

 

Hook top nail head: wire fencing nail from North Carolina

Dear sirs..
I found this spike in the parking lot where I work in the southwestern tip of N.C.

Any idea of age and what kind of a fastener it was ?

Hi .... I have another pic of the old spike I found which has I think the #1 stamped on it. 2019/09/15 by Barry

Reply: Antique wire fencing nails

I noted by email that may be a wire fencing nail.

In the U.S. there was an explosion of nail inventions in the last half of the 1800s including a range of nails used in fencing, some with special heads to hold wire against the wood post and some including a protrusion that made removal of the nail with a hammer easier should fencing repair or adjustment be needed.

This is the Brinkerhoff wire fence nail discussed in the article NAIL AGE DETERMINATION KEY (live link at end of this page)

We discuss these wire fencing nails at NAILS, AGE & HISTORY

 

Pensacola rusty nail found

Found this in pensacola florida can anyone give me any detail on maybe how old it is? 2019/09/12 by Wazoo Gotya

...

Reply:

From the head shape and rust patterns, Gotya, I'm guessing this is a modern cut nail - 20th century or late 19th century.

 

Rusted-off head of a large spike got a clean up

Hello,
I was hoping you could shed some light on something I found recently, image attached. I found this while out walking the dogs in sunny Wales. 2019-04-30 by CR

Reply:

Thanks for the interesting photo. I can't quite see enough nor do we know enough to have much of an opinion about the age of this particular Fastener. Please take a look at the nail age determination questions that we suggest at

NAIL AGE DETERMINATION KEY

And let me know what those tell us

Follow up:

I gave it a quick clean up, removed most of the rust.

So here is another photo. I’ve never seen something like this before and haven’t been able to find any similar examples online. I’m not even 100% sure it is a nail but that’s my best guess.

Reply:

Nice job and photo; your cleanup of the metal spike? shows a very square head and straight line sides suggesting this is a machine made nail or spike; next time include a ruler in the photo so we have an idea of its dimensions.

Follow up:

Ahh yeah dimensions would be useful. Another photo included. After some more clean up I’ve found some more details.

There is a clear seam on top of the head where the shaft was attached to the head like a collar. The metal also shows some interesting patterns not sure if this is from weathering or the type of metal/manufacturing. I would like to believe this is a nail but seems unlikely that this can really be classified as such.

 

Mod Reply: - Thanks CR this looks like the rusted-off head of a large spike - such as I'd expect to see in post and beam construction or at the seaside, dock construction.

Knowing what was around where you found the nail, old buildings, seaside, history occupancy, etc. would also be helpful.

I suspect from the rust patterns that the "grains" in the iron run parallel to the shaft direction, making this one of the more-modern alloys - perhaps after 1830. (I need more research on nail fabrication in Wales and the rest of the UK).

Nail fabrication in the UK dates from Roman times but machine made nails are of course modern.

In general in the UK cut nails or machine fabricated nails are not likely to be dated earlier than 1811 - the earliest report I have found was of Joseph Dyer, established cut nail fabrication in Birmingham ca 1811.

I've added some UK citations in the history of nail fabrication references in the article NAIL AGE DETERINATION KEY (live link at end of this page) (you may need to refresh your browser cache to see them).

Pay particular attention to the PDF file about the Ewbank Nail listed under Australia nail history as this nail was also used throughout Britain.

Therein see the square-point nail from 1893.

 

Machine made tack

I recently came into possession of an old picture frame. The frame has two old nails holding the hanging wire on. Can you please tell me when this nail was made and how it was made? The nail is 1/2 inches long. Thank you so much. 2019-04-1 by kathyfox1953

Reply:

Kathy

While this could be an early machine-made tack it's definitely modern - machine made, not hand forged. Notice the smooth flat head, absence of hammer marks, uniformly tapered edge, and that center ridge that may be from a cutting machine. Those details place the nail in the outline of dates on the page NAIL AGE DETERINATION KEY (live link at end of this page)

No earlier than 1848 - assuming your picture frame and nails were made in North America - and possibly as late as yesterday.

 

Round nail shaft diameter and symmetrical cut-point

Back in the early 1970s while exploring the coastal caves out near the entrance to the San Francisco Bay with friends when I was a kid, I spotted this spike wedged down in the rocks at low tide. Stupidly (kids are fearless-- no judgement)

I climbed down to get it. I've had it ever since and never really knew where it may have come from or when it was made.

It measures approx 13.5 inches with a 1 inch diameter shaft and a 2 inch diameter head. Any ideas? 2019-03-28 by stew

Reply:

Stew

The you perfectly round shaft and regular cut points suggest me but it's not a very antique spike but it is an interesting one. It's quite clear from the weld marks on the shaft that it was welded to some other structure and of course as you've doubtless noticed, the head has been smashed as well.

 

Irregular nail shaft diameter and rectangular edges vs round nail shaft

I found this nail in a load of gravel in Missouri. It looks to me like its a hand wrought nail, but I really have no idea. Any thoughts? 2019-03-18 by Tracy

Reply:

Tracy

The irregular nail shaft diameter and remains of somewhat rectangular edges make this look like an antique cut nail or possibly a hand wrought nail. But I'm not sure from your photo.

If the nail is essentially round in cross section it's a modern wire-drawn nail.

Machine made wire nail - round nail found in a Bayou

Found this in a bayou. Cleaned it off a bit. Is it a nail? What was it used for?
Thank you! 2018-12-08 by Cat

Reply:

I can't see the head in the photo but it looks as if you're handling around, machine-made Spike of considerable size.

If found in a bayou I would expect such a spike was probably used in the construction of a dock.

Follow up: nail with many ping marks on the sides

The head is gone. It has many ping Mark's on the sides. It looks hand made. My camera is not so great.
Thank you for your reply!

Reply: ding or hammer marks on old round nails may mean salvage & re-use

RE: Cat's round nail age:

if there were hammer marks on a round nail: such ding marks on a round nail could be from straightening a bent spike for re-use.

These were valuable back when - depending on the location, even in the 1930s and 1940s in some areas of the U.S. younger family members were put to work salvaging nails and spikes from old wood and straightening them to pass them on to their carpenter dad or uncle. (cf. P Galow, PA)

Your nail looks more as if many indentations are pitting from corrosion.

Chestnut beams help age building

How to tell age by nails. Chestnut beams. 2017-05-14 by Anonymous

Reply:

Regarding Chestnut beams, you haven't asked a question but I'm guessing you're asking the relationship between the presence of chestnut beings in buildings and building age.

If we exclude recycled use of old beams in newer buildings, in the United States the chestnut blight had taken a major toll on chestnut trees by 1940.

So it's safe to figure that by the nineteen-fifties those beams would have been rare in most buildings.

Beyond that, in my opinion more significant to look at the types of saw kerf marks or tool marks on beams as part of guessing their age.

We have some comments about the relationship between type of nails and building age

in NAILS, AGE & HISTORY and also in the comments below for this article.

Please take a look and let me know what you think. Because nail making machine reappeared in different parts of various countries and different times there's no single correct answer to the significance of a machine cut nail without considering the geographic location.

Thank you to our readers for their generous comments:

On 2020-06-12 by Bob Dees

Thank you very much for your time, effort and great research, and attention to detail !

On 2020-06-14 - by (mod) -

Bob

Thank you so much for the nice note; we work hard on this material so I'm really grateful when readers find it useful.

 

...

Continue reading at NAIL AGE DETERMINATION KEY or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

Or see AGE OF NAILS - FAQs-2 for more questions & answers about determining the age of nails.

Or see these

Recommended Articles

• AGE of a BUILDING, HOW to DETERMINE - home
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• NAILS, AGE & HISTORY - home
• HORSESHOE & HORSESHOE NAIL AGE
• NAIL & HARDWARE, AGE RESEARCH
• NAIL & HARDWARE CLEAN-UP
• NAIL AGE DETERMINATION KEY - use this key to guess at the age of your nail or spike
• NAIL ID & AGE: CUT NAILS
• NAIL ID & AGE: HAND FORGED NAILS
• NAILS in BARTER & TRADE
• NAIL SPLITS & CRACKS vs AGE
• NAIL TYPE, ANTIQUE, IDENTIFICATION KEY
• RAILROAD SPIKES
• RAILROAD SPIKE AGE - CONTEXTUAL CLUES
• SAW & AXE CUTS, TOOL MARKS, AGE
• WINDOW HARDWARE AGE

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