Brass square nails?

[makahaman]

Been finding brass square nails in the water while diving, there used to be a wooden jetty extending into the water for boats. Do you think they were used for this purpose or something else? Just wondering because its weird to find these square nails made out of brass and other smaller brass nails? I don't think they are from a ship but just curious about these nails. I know they are old about 1800's, any ideas about the use of these nails would be interesting to hear. Thanks...

 

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[JrMack]

I think ya hit the nail on the head! Whoever built it knew to build it to last by using brass nails, it was most likely there for a long time.

 

[Beach Papa]

I have found over 20 hand made square brass nails about 1-1/2 to 2" long. They showed up in the dredge material from a beach renourishment project. The area of the dredging operation was about 2 miles off shore near the entrance to the harbor. I have also been finding bits and pieces of decaying copper flashing, mostly small but some 3 - 4 inches square. There are known ship wrecks in the waters leading to the entrance of the harbor. I believe both the nails and the flashing came from ship wrecks where the flashing material was nailed to the bottom of old ships to keep the barnacles from attaching. There are no known piers or waterfront wooden structures in this area. In your case of knowing of an old pier in the area, that source for the brass nails is certainly a possibility, but I would not rule out the possibility of a ship wreck either.

 

[meMiner]

Probably bronze and not brass. Used in salt underwater applications, including boats for a long time.

 

[CASPER-2]

they usually use iron/steel ones for piers
bronze ones for boats /ships