A belated comment. In my research with Parks Canada collections from eastern 
Canadian sites there would occasionally be a few copper nails. At least some 
of these were associated with boatbuilding, specifically clinker boat 
building. In this type of construction the planks are overlapped along their 
length and their edges held together with copper nails driven through the 
two thicknesses of wood and secured inside by bending or upsetting the end 
over a copper rove or diamond-shaped washer. The nails were forged from 
copper rod, generally having rose heads and flat points with untapered 
shanks. The shanks were regularly marked with a stamped broad arrow, 
identifying their association with the British military. The roves were 
lilely cut from plate or flat stock and the holes were punched so that they 
would have a ridge around them for additional strength.
From my understanding of the material, it is difficult to cast copper. The 
few cast nails which I encountered in the collections I was working with 
were either iron (very seldom) or brass. The brass nails were intended for 
special applications such as forge bellows.

Peter J. Priess

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2010 12:48 PM
Subject: copper nail ID help


> Thanks to everyone who has offer suggestions, I had thought that the  "US" 
> copper nails I recovered were used by the US Navy for ship  building. I 
> will now rethink my ideas.
>
> Thanks again for the input
>
> Rick
>
>  part of the
> OR check Date Nails.  See:
> http://facstaff.uindy.edu/~oaks/DateNailinfo.htm
>
> Keith
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
> Smoke
> Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2010 3:08 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: copper nail ID help
>
> Have you looked at the Copper "Hubbards" at the Nail Hunter?
> http://nailhunter.ehost.com/hubbards.htm
>
> They have other neat nails with both raised and impressed marks in them.
>
> Smoke
>
> On Mon, Jun 28, 2010 at 7:34 PM,  <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> > Hello
>> >
>> > I need some help with the identification of two copper cut nails. They
> both
>> > have a "US" head stamp. One nail is similar to a shoe brad while the
> other
>> > is about 1.5 inches long. Both show no sign of wear. They were found
> in the
>> > same test pit along with fragments of pearl ware and cream ware. The
> site
>> > was near a ship building area since the 18th century and part of a US
> Navy
>> > base in the mid 19th century. Any ideas would be a great help.
>> >
>> > thanks,
>> >
>> > Rick Morris
>> >
>