1800s shipwreck piece found on NC beach

[SkyPirate]

The last day of my vacation I decided to do some detecting on the beach in XXXXX NC. I found about 76 cents in quarters and a zinc penny, many Corona and other beer caps and a lot of beercans. I went way up near the VA line. I had my Tesoro set to all metal cause I did not want to pass anything up. I got a good strong signal and started to dig! At about 20 inches I saw a rusty piece of iron, I dug a little more and it looked like the top of an old rail road spike. I got my hand around it and tried pulling it out but it would not budge. I dug down a little more and saw wood. I found the edges and started working my way down the long side.
I thought for a minute that it may have been a telephone pole. After about 15 minutes of digging I had all sides clear and tried to lift it out of the hole. That piece of wood must weigh about 50 pounds. I could barely get it out. By the time I did get it out, there were a few interested spectators watching. One guy was pretty excited about my find, he said he used to be a volunteer at the Graveyard of the Atlantic museum in Hatteras. He told me that by the looks of the iron spikes in the wood that I had probably found a piece of a late 1800's - early 1900's shipwreck. I did not have a camera with me but I took some pictures when I got the piece home. The wagon is 39in.L x 23in.W

 

[pcolaboy]

Nice find.

I'm not sure if it's worth it to you or not, but the period and nature of the ship can be narrowed down by a lab to determine the species and probable origin of the timber, and give you an approximate age via carbon-14 dating.

 

[SkyPirate]

Nice find.

I'm not sure if it's worth it to you or not, but the period and nature of the ship can be narrowed down by a lab to determine the species and probable origin of the timber, and give you an approximate age via carbon-14 dating.

Thanks!

 

[4theMoney]

lots of that stuff around. I remember camping on portsmouth island as a boy scout and a shipwreck being uncovered on the beach. A partial keel, partial ribs and not a bit of iron or bronze, only wooden pegs.....