id probably leave it as is ...

wonder who would have an archeologist on staff... Ag or extension office... thats where i would start ... probably extension.. and msu outfit... and they might be able to refer you to someone in state ...

ken

you know why Novi is called novi.. right???

how close are you to grand river rd?

ken

Contact the Highway department in your area. Highway Department???? Yes! I did not note where you are from, but most major construction projects including highways and road, must have an archeological assessment, Their staff archeologist or the company they use could help.

If you have a local college contact some one in either the chemistry department, archeology or history. departments. You might also contact the local history society, while they may not have the specific information the may be able to direct you.

To help you understand your find, look at the old maps in of the area. Are there some old roads that ran though the area? Was your old horse shoe found in the area of an old stream cross. Some times, Google Maps can help in these task. The church I grew up in has was torn down over 50 years ago. Looking at Google maps, you can still see the church in the color of the soil.

As for dating the horse shoe, that may be difficult as the design has not changed a lot. It you can clean it sufficiently, there may be a manufacturers name which could be dated.

on the other hand.. if you ask the gubment... they might dig up your whole yard ... yikes.. lol ...

ken

Argh, just lost my long reply.

Making dinner for the fam, will have to respond later.

Found this online, very exciting!

Thanks, all!

Ha ha, Richard, you are probably right, yet how can I possibly resist at least trying to clean and properly identify my treasure?

Ken, I think Novi is called Novi because it was the no. 6 (VI) stop on the railway. At least that’s what they said at the No. VI Chophouse. As for being close to Grand River, it depends on what the crossroad is! And contacting MSU is a great idea, I bet my kid can help me.

Krnuttle, some great ideas there, thank you! I live in what used to be a very rural area, no houses were built until the ’40s or ’50s, but there were several farms in the area. There was an old bridge that crossed the stream on my neighbor’s property, but that is long gone. We do have a historical society, that seems like a good place to start!!

I must confess, I make fun of my husband all the time for watching shows like Curse of Oak Island. But finding something old is really neat!! When I was a little girl, I was fascinated by Native American history and was always looking for arrowheads in the woods and in creek beds. One day I stumbled across one, and it was the best day of my eight year old life!! I tucked my treasure inside my little white jewelry box, right next to my Barbie watch. I didn’t learn till years later that my dad planted that arrowhead in a place I could easily find it. Gotta love dads. :-)

What about something like Rustoleum Rust remover. I don't think vinegar will make a dent in that.

I don't mess around with old cars, but I'm wondering if some that plays with old cars might have an idea. I'm thinking also maybe you could find someone to sand blast it or even try a power washer.

Cool find.

There is a British program available on Youtube.com called "Time Team" the working principal of the program is to archeologically explorer a site in three day. It is fascinating. Their exploration have found old castles, old towns from pre-Roman to 18th century.

Yes if you talk to the government they may want to dig up your property, I think it would be worth it to know you live in a colonial town, a pre Columbus Indian Town (Probably not they did not have horse shoes), an old tavern, or road house.

Just a thought on your horse shoe. You said you found in 15" below the surface, that is pretty deep. I wonder it it was lost when they were plowing the field and a horse sunk into the mud. While getting him out he lost his shoe. It is fun to speculate on these things.

Very fun find. It’s possible there isn't much left of it.

I think i’d leave as it is. i found a similar item, pair of crusted scissors.

Ken, I think Novi is called Novi because it was the no. 6 (VI) stop on the railway.

==>>>

it was STAGECOACH stop # 6 ... on grand river avenue to lansing ... every 8 miles ... you used to be able to see the related boarding house ... such as the new hudon inn ... it is also why cities like farmington.. novi.. new hudson.. at out there ... brighton.. etc ... just look at a map of grand river.. and follow the towns .. if you like looking this kind of stuff up ...

so it would follow.. that horses were everywhere ...

you can do the same out each of downtown detroits french spur roads ... MI ave west.. gariot NE ... woodward due north ... jefferson .. etc ...

the futher out you get.. like me in lenawee ... you can still see the old houses .. waystations if you will...

remind me where you are ... i know youre somewhere around all that ...

ken

http://www.newhudsoninn1831.com/history

https://www.mapquest.com/us/michigan/new-hudson-mi-283591673

I have soaked metal in vinegar in the past to remove surface rust but not sure it would work on this.

Back in the day, we used Oxalic Acid to remove rust from old beer cans.

I think electrolysis may be the only hope for it. You might want to contact some metal working companies to see if they know folks who would do such although there are DIY tutorials out there.

tj

Why not contact the Smithsonian? I'm sure they have had to deal with rusty artifacts. I found a slightly (nowhere near as bad as yours) horseshoe in the AZ desert some years ago and was able to remove the minute bit of rust with steel wool and some elbow grease. It is a treasured souvenir of a great trip for me.

Ha, Timeteam🙁

There’s still a big dent in one of my local parks where they failed to properly fill in their hole.

Regarding the rust, you may find there is nothing left if you remove the rust. Best get advice before trying home brew techniques.

Thanks, all, so many great ideas here, I appreciate your input so much!

The vinegar bath isn’t working very well, it’s still as crusty and nasty as ever. From what I can see through all the crustiness, the shape looks somewhat irregular, so I am hoping it was handmade rather than machine made, which would maybe put an earlier date on it.

I’m not close enough to Grand River at any location for this to be a horse stagecoach find, but that is very interesting information and I will enjoy looking through those links!

My property is in a flood plain, so the idea of a horse sinking its hoof into mud and losing a shoe that way seems entirely plausible to me. And yes, it is indeed fun to speculate on these things!

I definitely don’t want to ruin it and end up with nothing left after cleaning. Thanks again for all the great ideas, I’ll post an updated pic if I make any headway. :-)

I have one here too. I have been thinking about cleaning it for a couple years, but, havent done so. My dog (a beagle) dug it up out in his dog run and put it on the porch right in front of the door. No idea how deep it was in the ground, but, he dug holes out there that were pretty darn deep. Thankfully, he has outgrown the dig a huge hole stage. The one I have is crusty rusty like yours. I have it wrapped up and put in a zip lock bag.

Cat_ky, that’s interesting about the digging - one of my corgis is actually half beagle (looks like a full corg except for his ears), and he digs constantly. Constantly! I’ve always wondered if it was the beagle genes causing him to do that!

I’ll post back if I find something that works for the horse shoe. My husband is going to try to use a hammer and chisel to see if he can knock off some of the barnacle-looking chunks of rust. Of course, I will closely supervise his work to ensure he is being careful enough, lol….!

Update above! :-)

Thanks for the update.

tj

I bookmarked the post, so I dont forget about it.. I need to find the time, to clean mine too. Along with a key that goes to nothing and is fairly old, that he also dug up.

Coca cola will remove it. Or CLR (Calcium Lime Rust remover).