Coffin Nail Necklace on Brass Chain

Long ago, before the days of metal caskets and burial vaults, people were buried in simple wooden boxes, mostly made of pine.  These coffins were cheap and easy to make.  Thin boards about 3/4″ thick were nailed together in a standard pattern with a hinged lid and either rope or other rudimentary handles.  The nails used were hand forged, square shaped and mostly made of iron.  Coffin nails ranged in size between 1 1/4″ to 2″ in length.  Blacksmiths would pound them into shape and taper one end to form something close to a point before flattening out the other end to make it suitable for pounding.  Old records show that a good Blacksmith would have been able to produce over 200 nails in a single hour.  There were several jigs and devices constructed in the 1700’s and 1800’s which improved the output, but it wasn’t until the early 1900’s when machine-made wire nails became readily available.  But, I digress.  The history of nail-making is certainly intriguing, but not particularly interesting to those trying to learn about coffin nails and there use in witchcraft, magick, and spellcasting