PLOUGH

A Modern metal wear pad from the coulter for a seed drill, originally recorded as an unidentified object of probably Modern date.

It is a sub-rectangular block of a dense gray magnetic metal, perhaps steel. On end is rounded, and the other end is exceedingly worn, tapering in thickness due to wear on the upper face, and unevenly convex across the end. The other edges are bevelled, so the top face is smaller than the bottom, and the sides are carinated, with the carination closer to the bottom face. A circular perforation near the rounded end is filled with a spiral coil of what appears to be similar material. This projects slightly from the bottom face, by about 1mm. There are traces of a red pigment on the possible coiled rivet on the top face. The lower face is very flat and is a rich brown grey colour, slightly matte. The other face is a lustrous gray colour, very smooth, with wear on the corners. It is 34.4mm long, 19.1mm wide and 4.6mm thick. 28.9g.

This object was suggested by the finder to be haematite, but haematite is not naturally magnetic, and this object exhibits a strong magnetic response. The very uniform flatness of the reverse, and the red pigment suggest a modern date. When recorded originally, the function was unknown. It was suggested that this could be a magnet from inside a security tag like those used in shops, or part of a modern cow magnet, used internally to prevent hardware disease.

However, it has since been recognised as a wear pad from a seed coulter for a seed drill manufactured by Vaderstad. Compare https://www.agri-linc.com/seed-coulter-r-h-to-fit-vaderstad-oem-432117.html. With thanks to Twitter user "Suffolk Detectorist" (@SDetectorist) for the identification in November 2022.