Copper Rod Chunk

[schatzle]

I found this in the woods of Alexandria, VA, about 10 feet from where I found a very old horse shoe. Its a big hunk of copper rod about 1 inch thick and approx 8" long (very heavy). Each end has been cut crudely. You can also see pliers grip marks on the side of it. When I cleaned the dirt off what was left was a green tarnish, I scraped the tarnish to expose the gold metal underneath.
I'm not sure if its a modern grounding rod of some sorts or some sort of relic? Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks
Andrew

[Tom]

Looks more like brass to me? If it is brass the only thing that comes to mind is a punch or drift of some type.

[Tony Two-Cent]

The green color makes me think copper.

Electrical ground rod is the first thing that comes to mind, but it could be something else.

Welcome to the forum, by the way! :waving:

[Tom]

Brass is actually made from copper and zinc.
The color just does not look like pure copper in the picture.
Brass also turns green with age.

Opps almost forgot as well, welcome to the forum too!

[MangoAve]

Although I can't say what it actually is, I can say I don't believe it's a ground rod. Good guess tho. Those come in 1/2" and 5/8" diameters. This rod looks more like 1" or 1 1/4" diameter. Maybe it's just stock or ingot. I'd have to be home to see if my brass fittings are closer in green color to this image, than the copper pipes would be. It looks really dark green.

[Full Metal Digger]

Henweigh handle?

[Tom]

Henweigh handle?

Have many people bite on that one? :rofl:

[Tony Two-Cent]

Henweigh handle?


What's a handle? http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb174/dubbl-t/Smilies/tomato.gif

[Tom]

What's a handle? http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb174/dubbl-t/Smilies/tomato.gif

Touché :hystericallaugh:

[del]

i found some copper rod similar to that although it was only about half inch in diameter but was almost 4ft long. i cut it up for the scrap bucket.

[coinnut]

I'm leaning towards a stock rod of brass that would have been sold from a supply store. Although the patina is very similar to bronze. But soil content would account for the patina color, especially if there was a lot of fertilizer used. Rough guess on age? Best guessed by other finds there, but for me, I would rough guess it around late 1800's early 1900's.

[schatzle]

Thanks for all the responses. I've been searching the internet to find out what it is with no luck.
I cleaned it up a bit, and added a new pic.
The ends have definitely been snipped by a a blacksmith snipping tool.
Andrew37943

[MangoAve]

Well, as I suggested earlier and George suggested, plus you know the ends are snipped using a blacksmith tool, I'm quite certain it's stock/ingot. Cleaned up it looks more like copper, but maybe it's an alloy. The end of blacksmiths in the US was 1960. So you know for sure it's older than 1960. But to be more accurate, you would have to find a historical map of the area you found it, check to see if there was a blacksmith shop around the area. I know a survey gets done of all areas at once, as in maps here there have many towns surveyed in 1868, and then again 1934 for all the towns. If you see the shop there in 1868, but not 1934, then you can be more accurate with a guess of being 1900. That is, if you want to go thru the trouble to get closer approximation.

[giant056]

Cool :cool:

[Tony Two-Cent]

I agree that it definitely looks like copper now that you've cleaned it up some. I think I see some tool marks on it too.

Pretty cool and unusual find! :thumbsup02:

[schatzle]

They have a Blacksmith at Mount Vernon. Maybe I'll drop by the grounds and get their opinion.
thanks for all the feedback.

[brownbeardad]

perhaps part of still?