Nail / Pin with ball head.

Hi
Does anyone recognise this? I found it in a friend’s garden in The Hague. Thank you.

 

https://www.parlourofwonders.com/product/forged-iron-ball-head-nails/

just for laughs...........

 

Thanks, Komo, looks like it. It's not got visible "age" on it, so you may have messed with your friend's spell casting!

 

i wonder if it didn't have some other purpose....

 

I've been searching through pics of nails vintage and antique and cannot find ball-head nails. If you are as curious as me you'll ask these people:
Antique Nails: History & Photo Examples of Old Nails Help Determine Age of a Structure, Old Cut Nails (inspectapedia.com)

 

Thanks T-Girl, will let you know what the expert experts have to say!

 

Welcome Buckminster, from another Dutchie.
I think your question has been answered by komo, but if you want more nail facts and fiction, stick around.

The nail looks greenish, so I wonder if it has copper content, like a brass nail would. Is it magnetic?

If you have no use for the nail, you can take it to the Spijkerkapel (Nailchapel) in Esdonk, Brabant, the Netherlands. Gypsies used to offer found nails to the Christ statue there, hoping it would save them from their endless wandering.
According to a Gypsy tradition, a fourth nail was forged for the crucifixion. But it was stolen by a Gypsy, and Gypsies have been fleeing from the angry nail ever since, which is why they have to travel from one country to another.
By giving lost nails to the Christ statue in Esdonk, they hope one of them turns out to be the fourth nail, and the donation will put an end to their ordeal.
Years ago I saw Gypsies giving nails to the statue, and hair braids left as a precious offering by Gypsy girls.
Of course, anyone offering a nail that was found somewhere, could help the Gypsies. After all, the fourth nail could have ended up in The Hague.

 

Fascinating story. Thanks for explaining that.

 

You're welcome, Fig. The chapel is quite close to us. I live in one of the 'Gypsy regions' of the Netherlands, so their presence is part of local culture.
Romani, the Gypsy language, is one of the five officially recognised minority languages of the Netherlands, just like Frisian, for instance.