US Surcharge Hatchet?

M ELEY · 9th January 2025, 09:23 PM

Hello Mark and great to hear from a fellow axe collector! This does indeed appear to be a colonial era axe head very similar to the one listed in Hartzler's guide under the pole/camp axe section as you noted. This type pattern with the U.S. marking seems to last until the early Federalist period from what I gather. The red paint makes many think of fire axes, but it was common practice during this period to paint axes with the primary color paints at the time (baby blue, barn red, yellow, white) to act as a rust preventative. You found a nice old one there! I assume the eye is lozenge-shaped or squared?

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9th January 2025, 09:23 PM	#2
M ELEY Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: NC, U.S.A. Posts: 2,141	Hello Mark and great to hear from a fellow axe collector! This does indeed appear to be a colonial era axe head very similar to the one listed in Hartzler's guide under the pole/camp axe section as you noted. This type pattern with the U.S. marking seems to last until the early Federalist period from what I gather. The red paint makes many think of fire axes, but it was common practice during this period to paint axes with the primary color paints at the time (baby blue, barn red, yellow, white) to act as a rust preventative. You found a nice old one there! I assume the eye is lozenge-shaped or squared?