Found a Civil War Period horseshoe in front yard today.

[smokeythecat]

Was trying to find the last two missing silver dimes I planted in my test garden, yeah, I know, and wandered off a bit and found a fairly decent horseshoe. It started to rain so it's sitting outside for a bit. Sort of happy dance. CW in my front lawn. probably not military, I can't imagine why they'd be down here.

 

[vpnavy]

Dang - just can't seem to find a picture of your horseshoe!

 

[smokeythecat]

It's muddy, it's raining and I've been going for hours. Right now just looks like a mudball.

 

[vpnavy]

Quit crying like a little girl (or boy) smokeythecat! A real man (woman) would have taken a picture!

 

[smokeythecat]

Wrong again, pre Civil War 1770-1820 or so. I have the two pieces which literally snapped off. Ground is taking its toll on the metal.

 

[Peyton Manning]

now if you could only find a pre civil war horse

 

[smokeythecat]

Duh, this one IS Pre Civil War. The next door neighbor's place was built about 1780-1790. I supposed I should detect my 3 acres. So far this year $5 in clad, 2 mercs, 2 buffaloes, 15+ wheats, the horsehoe and a 14k gold ring. And a sinker I dropped off my boat.

 

[Calabash Digger]

congrats on the horseshoe.

 

[trapperart]

Congrats

 

[got2dig]

Quit crying like a little girl (or boy) smokeythecat! A real man (woman) would have taken a picture!

WOW!!!!

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Nice surprise on the horseshoe!

 

[smokeythecat]

I wonder what ELSE is in the front lawn??

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Unfortunately, I don't believe your horseshoe is quite as old as you may think. Examples like yours with no inward curvature at the ends likely date to after the Civil War. Colonial era horseshoes had a significant inward curvature, and even ones I've recovered in CW camps still exhibited a slight curvature. So I would imagine your would post-date that period.

 

[Mud Hut]

It's almost impossible to date a horse shoe.

 

[smokeythecat]

Ivor Noel Hume has a nice page on dating horseshoes. The widest ones are earliest. This style with the toe pieces but not the front piece, was Civil War or earlier. The ones with the added other piece is late 19th century, but it doesn't matter a lot.

 

[Joe hunter]

I've heard spark testing is one way to tell age.