These cufflinks are hand-milled from authentic date nails, which had a year stamped into their heads for record-keeping purposes. Date nails were tagging devices utilized by railroads to visually identify the age of a railroad tie. Common place in the late 19th century through the mid 20th century, date nails were driven into railroad ties, utility poles, bridge timbers, and other wooden structures for record keeping purposes. Today, date nails are highly sought after artifacts by Railroadiana collectors. The cufflinks measure 5/8" in diameter and 3/4" long. The shank is hand-lathed down to create a post-style cuff link. The date nails have varying degrees of wear. We match nails as closely as possible to create a pair. Years 1946-1961 are available. For example, a nail with "41" is from 1941. This collection is founded on the premise of giving a loved one their birth year to wear on their sleeve. Each pair comes in a cufflink box.
