Recent Find US Hatchet

Pandapike

Cadet
Joined
Apr 12, 2021
So this one definitely has me perplexed. I am attempting to prove or disprove its authenticity. Here is what I know the US stamp seems late 1800’s S.S may refer to steam ship. The makers mark appears to be a broad arrow which was used by the British during the war of independence. I would love to get some more information before I sell it.
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Welcome from The Heart Of Dixie. This is not original. Someone put that in there years after it was made as the patina in the lettering does not match the rest of the blade.
 
I haven’t held this axe/hatchet, so my analysis is conditional.

The blade was made by a smith who bent a piece of flat stock mild steel around a mandrel to form the eye. Touch your thumb & forefinger together to get a pretty good idea of the shape. In the fingertips a strip of high carbon steel, much harder than the flat stock, was inserted to create the edge. The resulting sandwich was then forge welded together.

The harder metal could hold an edge & the mild steel was resilient to take the shock of the blows. The touch mark is an anvil on a three legged stand. ( Turn the photo above to orient the edge downward in its natural position.) A touch mark is stamped into a finished piece by an individual smith or as branding by a forge.

The technique I have described is still in use today. As a general guess, this example dates from the late 19th to early 20th Century.

The ‘S. S. US’ stamped onto the blade could mean a number of things. It could be the property of a steamship; a surplus US gov’t axe owned by Sam Smith or something else. Unless somebody has a reference, it will remain in identified.
 
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Just returned from brimfield flea mkt in sturbridge ma.-purchased a virtually identical axe except no ss mark--the us and touch mark are absolutely identical-I am not at all knowlegeable in this area but suppose it means it was produced in some quantity(?) would love to hear if someone knows its history-respectfully-shodan
 
Just returned from brimfield flea mkt in sturbridge ma.-purchased a virtually identical axe except no ss mark--the us and touch mark are absolutely identical-I am not at all knowlegeable in this area but suppose it means it was produced in some quantity(?) would love to hear if someone knows its history-respectfully-shodan
Brimfield is the Best...i started going in the late 1960s when fit in the field behind the barn
 
The axe type predates the Civil War by 100 years. The “rising sun” maker’s mark is original to the piece. The “S.S.” & “US” markings were added later. Not saying they are fake markings just that they were added at a later date and each may have been applied at different dates. The US mark could date to as early as the last quarter of the 18th century. The SS mark is definitely 19th century or later. Unfortunately from a collector standpoint, the SS mark actually hurts the value since it is on the same side as the US mark.
 
Just returned from brimfield flea mkt in sturbridge ma.-purchased a virtually identical axe except no ss mark--the us and touch mark are absolutely identical-I am not at all knowlegeable in this area but suppose it means it was produced in some quantity(?) would love to hear if someone knows its history-respectfully-shodan
Welcome to the forum! I would start a new thread in this forum including several photos and I'm sure you'll find out what you have. Make sure to page @johan_steele if anyone on here knows tools it's him.
 
Thanks to all for your helpful responses--my apologies for the bad pictures-my first try and hope to get better-axe profile seems identical-hope mr johan steele sees this and can respond-respectfully shodan

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That isn’t a US made hatchet of the ACW era. The style is earlier by quite a few years. It’s a style more common to Europe than North America.

The US looks quite suspicious to me. That deep of a marking is something I’ve not seen a lot of. That said it’s an interesting piece that I’m curious about.
 
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Thanks again to all-think I may have found an answer -see americansocirtyofarmscollectors.org/wp--article "united states surcharges continental ownership of arms and accoutrements by rex kessler-fig 14 belt ax with field armorers markings-"a belt ax with a large us which appears to be a blacksmith type us rather than an arsenal us-most likely placed by a field armorer between 1775-1875" The pictured ax appears identical to the two shown in this thread-us marking very worn but I think (hope)its about the same-found this today because the us markings had reminded me of branded ones in the wood of some rev war muskets (although this notion proved wrong but my search did lead me to kesslers article) I really appreciate all the great input from members-what a great resource!!!
 
Correction on the kessler article dates-should be US marks on ax by a field armorer 1775-1825 (not 1875)
 
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