Dcraun Posted May 8, 2023 Share Posted May 8, 2023 I found this iron bar in a Confederate camp in Rockingham county Virginia when it first came out of the ground I could barely make out the x marks on it through the rust after soaking in electrolysis overnight this is what I found. Could this possibly be a CSA made iron ingot there are several Old Stone furnaces in the area that supplied iron to the South during the Civil war. But they produced pig iron not such a well refined bar to the best of my knowledge. What do you guys think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dcraun Posted May 8, 2023 Author Share Posted May 8, 2023 There's a thin piece on each end that looks like these could have been chained together in a strip and then broken off as needed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F350Platinum Posted May 8, 2023 Share Posted May 8, 2023 Entirely possible, cool find. 👍 When i think of the term "ingot", this shape comes to mind: If you search using the term, that is mostly what you see, an oblong trapezoidal shape, presumably for stacking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick N. MI Posted May 8, 2023 Share Posted May 8, 2023 It is an interesting find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GB_Amateur Posted May 8, 2023 Share Posted May 8, 2023 Any documentation that these were used during the CW and for what? That would definitely help authenticate it. Does seem kind of small if meant to be a chunk of iron intended to be repurposed. If it were lead that would be a different story. Quite interesting & tantalizing find so far, though. Some knowledgeable CW detectorists (e.g. @Chase Goldman) here yet to comment, and if that goes nowhere there are likely online forums full of collectors who might be able to help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Bach Posted May 8, 2023 Share Posted May 8, 2023 Very interesting relic and chunk of big iron.You were wise to dig that target that many may have ignored altogether and also wise that you did not chuck over to the base of the nearest tree and catogorise it as leaverite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chase Goldman Posted May 8, 2023 Share Posted May 8, 2023 10 hours ago, Dcraun said: I found this iron bar in a Confederate camp in Rockingham county Virginia when it first came out of the ground I could barely make out the x marks on it through the rust after soaking in electrolysis overnight this is what I found. Could this possibly be a CSA made iron ingot there are several Old Stone furnaces in the area that supplied iron to the South during the Civil war. But they produced pig iron not such a well refined bar to the best of my knowledge. What do you guys think? Not sure if it is bar stock or not. Like you said, iron was smelted to create cast pig iron as a bar stock for tools and other ferrous items. A search online shows these crude bars. It would be strange to make the effort to mark an ingot as shown only to melt and repurpose it for other uses. To me it seems to be purposeful design for some practical or aesthetic use. That being said, I'm not ruling out your theory that the markings are used as a guide to cut the bar stock or something to aid a blacksmith. Whatever the actual purpose, it's a unique find. Glad you preserved it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCR Posted May 9, 2023 Share Posted May 9, 2023 It could be a purpose made weight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valens Legacy Posted May 9, 2023 Share Posted May 9, 2023 That looks like the old iron bar that I have seen before in grandfathers garage. I bet it is close to 9 in long, 1 1/2 in wide and about 3/4 in thick. Should that be the case it is from the early 1800's and would be stock items that blacksmiths would make a lot of items from. The x's on it was the grade of the iron as x would be the highest grade. Grandfather told me this years ago and I was fascinated about what he told me about a lot of his relics that he had. Good luck on finding out more about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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