Charles, I have excavated several Civil War structures and conducted numerous systematic metal detector surveys, and have never seen a wire nail in good context. I have also puzzled over the same issue that you have concerning the 1850s introduction of wire nails. This is pure speculation, but it appears that the military was using its stockpile of cut nails before moving on to the new wire nail. John Cornelison NPS SEAC -----Original Message----- From: Heath, Charles [SMTP:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Thursday, April 30, 1998 8:41 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: nails and civil war sites Have any of you folks recovered wire nails in good context from Civil War era (1861-1865) military sites in the South. Most TPQ lists indicate that small wire nails were introduced around 1850, but were not "popular" until the last quarter of the 19th C. If anyone has recovered such nails from Civil War sites, were they Union or Confederate sites? Are there observable differences between archaeologically recovered and conserved wire nails from the mid-19th C. vs. those from the early-20th C.??? Thanks, Charles Heath