VISIBLE BARBED WIRE FENCE UTILIZING WOOD BLOCKS

Occasionally a wire shows up that had been squirreled away and creates excitement among serious collectors. Fortunately this wire was made available in a collectors auction and I was the high bidder. It has been identified as an example of a Milton C. Shinn of Burlington, Iowa patent #238,447 dated March 1, 1881, with wood blocks added to make the wire more visible. The thin wood block on the right was all that remained of the original wood block. I added the wood on the left to fill the remaining opening. I made no attempt to disguise the added wood. This is the only known specimen of this wire with wood blocks. Might have been a special order.