✅ SOLVED Barn Find - Barbed Wire or ?

[JonG]

We're going thru an old barn, erected around 1880, in Central VA before they tear it down. It's been used by the same family for everything from milking cows to working on cars. We found 5 of these inside. Any ideas? I thought maybe something to tie barbed wire to a post?

 

[TomPA]

Is it made of iron/steel, or of a different metal?

 

[kcm]

Is not fencing...but can't remember what it IS offhand.

Saw one of these just a few years ago and someone told me what it was. Now I can't even remember who it was I talked to.

 

[JonG]

It's made of steel.


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[cudamark]

Simple gate post latch?

 

[JonG]

Simple gate post latch?

I don't think so, it's thin like a piece of twisted wire. It looks like it was hand hammered/wrought by a blacksmith.


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[cudamark]

I've gone through many gates that only had a piece of baling wire holding it shut.

 

[Cantstopdigging]

Could this be a bail seal? Farmers would fill a bag of grain and use a seal like this around the top to seal, and then take to the market. Any farmers out there that can fact check me on this guess?

 

[JonG]

It only took 2 1/2 years to identify what it is, but it's now solved. It's called Kissi Money. After talking with the owners of the barn, which is now gone, they think these were probably brought back by their grandfather. They said he spent some time with a British Army unit in Sierra Leone during WW2, and showed me some pictures of him during that time. I gave them back, so they could be passed down to their family members.

 

[HuntinDog]

Wow
That's an awesome find and ID
Good for you on the return..

 

[ARC]

Bah... mark Unsolved... so we can solve it again differently.