found an old hickory at garage sale

[ragnor]

I found an old hickory at a garage sale for a dollar, it's blade is 9 3/4" long(14 1/4" total). The blade is stamped with "1843 1934" under "SHAPLEIGH'S HAMMER FORGED"(some hammer strikes are visible). I was wondering how old it was...if the second date stamped is the year it was forged. The handle is in perfect condition(no cracks) except for 3 "kill" notches.

 

[elkins45]

You might want to ask in Bernard Levine's sub-forum on this site. That's where the guys who know this kind of stuff often hang out.