Some type of hammer? How old is it?

[Lowryevans]

I found this iron relic, that looks like a small hammer with what appears to be a notch cut out of the handle part of it. I found it in an area that dates back to the Colonial Era. I've searched the Internet, and the only one I've found that looks like it is one that was dug from Jamestown VA., site of the 1st Engish Settlement in America. I guess my question is:
What type of tool is it, and how old is it?
If anyone can give me any help, I would appreciate it.

 

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[Lowryevans]

This is the pic of the one I found on the Internet that was found at Jamestown. It looks very similar to me

 

[HutSiteDigger]

This is the pic of the one I found on the Internet that was found at Jamestown. It looks very similar to me

Does it give more details on the page u found it on?

 

[VERDE]

Hey Lowryevans!! My grandfather was a shoemaker and used a hammer similar to this when nailing heels and soles to the shoe!! Just a thought, but certainly looks similar!! GOOD HUNTING!! VERDE!!

 

[Lowryevans]

I found the picture in the book "New Discoveries at Jamestown Site of the First Succesful English Settlement in America." By John Cotter and J. Paul Anderson and all it says about the picture is that they were objects found at a 17th-Century forge site in Jamestown..

 

[creskol]

That isn't a hammer. but rather the moveable jaw from an old adjustable wrench.

 

[yelnif]

Great ID creskol- I saw this last night and was going to reply but decided to wait until today I could post a picture of the "fixed jaw" from a monkey wrench, I have (3)- that's what we used to call them. Most nuts were square shaped, there fore the wrench had parallel jaws and the fact that it was adjustable made it as handy as a pocket on a shirt for the early explorer/ settler/farmer going west with his wagon/ cart to tighten up anything from seat nuts to axle nuts. The monkey wrench had the added benefit of also being a hammer- kind of an early 'multi-tool'.
I don't know how to post the Wikipedia link but if someone could do that for me I would appreciate it very much-
I always enjoy the finds on this site and the excellent ID's- and I like to read up on the known info of the find as well. Thanks...

HH yelnif

That isn't a hammer. but rather the moveable jaw from an old adjustable wrench.

 

[FeS2]

Next question: Was the object found at the Jamestown site also part of an old monkey wrench? How far back do those wrenches go?

 

[surf]

Here'ya go, yelnif:

Monkey wrench - Wikipedia

 

[49r Relics]

Nice ID on that one ;-)

 

[HutSiteDigger]

The one that was found in Jamestown (probably in a colonial dump site?) is half the size of yours.. You can tell from the photo of the nail which i think nail #3 is a Headless brad or T-head nail and the 2nd looks like a L-Head nail. Do you have the link of where that photo is?

 

[yelnif]

Thank you surf- some day I'll figure out how to post things. lol FeS2 according to the link that surf put up for me, the 'coach wrench' was patnd. 1841 and sold in the U.S. as a monkey wrench.

HH yelnif

Here'ya go, yelnif:

Monkey wrench - Wikipedia

View attachment 840457

 

[surf]

Thank you surf- some day I'll figure out how to post things.

Hey yelnif,

Copy the link that you wanna post & paste it in the spot you want, highlight the pasted url & hit that blue globe looking icon in the tool bar, paste the url in the little box that appears, hit the OK button, and you should be good. I hope. Happy linking...

Monkeywrench Creek - Oklahoma - Map and Area Photos

​

 

[Dogtirednj]

You guys never fail to astound me with your id's! This site and the knowledge you all have and share is amazing!

 

[taz42o]

The items found a Jamestown are not all from its early history.

"By the 1750s the land was owned and heavily cultivated, primarily by the Travis and Ambler families. A military post was located on the island during the American Revolution, and American and British prisoners were exchanged there. In 1861 the island was occupied by Confederate soldiers who built an earth fort near the church as part of the defense system to block the Union advance up the James River. Little further attention was paid to Jamestown until preservation was undertaken in the twentieth century."

There was activity there into at least the 1860s, witch still predates any U.S. patents for adjustable wrenches by 25 years.
But English patents go back to about 1842. So its possible to find an adjustable wrench at Jamestown.
But its not from the 1600s its from the mid 1800s or later.
Anyway here is a link to Jamestown artifacts That includes the pic of the wrench.

The Project Gutenberg eBook of New Discoveries at Jamestown by John L. Cotter and J. Paul Hudson

 

[ivan salis]

a farriers hammer is possible too

 

[creskol]

a farriers hammer is possible too

Once it has been removed from the wrench ... why ... any attribution can be assigned to it, but that doesn't change the fact that it originated as a component of an adjustable wrench.
I always enjoy the long stretch ID's, such as this one, that turn an ordinary common relic into something way more "sophisticated!"

 

[civil_war22]

Dang u creskol. I knew what it was right away

 

[olroy70]

left handed monkey wrench!!!!!!!!!

 

[ivan salis]

right hand monkey wrench --is 9 times more likely (remember 90% of the population is right handed * --right or left doesn't matter now does it ) and yes origiinally it was a "coach wrench or adjustable wrench" but once damaged * it wound have make a great "horse shoeing hammer ) aka --farriers hammer --the flat head , the handle tip appears to have been "shaped " to use as a "pry" bar--- if one looks at a "farriers hammer" --it looks just like one -- --folks in the old days did not just "throw stuff" away like today folks do --they often repurposed stuff into "other stuff"