I bought this piece unprovinanced from a friend a few years ago and so all I can tell you is what I have found out and what I can see.
It is in pretty good condition considering its age and is still fit to be mounted to a shaft if desired. The entire piece is made from wrought iron and is about 20" long overall. Just in front of the swelling on the spike is a corroded hollow that I think used to be a mark, but is now unclear. I have tried in the pictures to show a repair that has been made to the socket, where a MIG welder has been used to do a bit of filling, but it is done pretty well and is quite hard to spot.
It could be one of two things: Either an alspice with a short socket or a butt spike from a pole arm, but with a long spike, but which is a little hard to say.
I showed the piece to two well respected authorities last week who both agreed that it was mid to late 15thC and one went alspice and the other went butt spike. I was chatting to these guys last week over a beer and so the identification was informal and so I would rather reveal them to interested parties in a PM rather than publicly.
I am looking for $350 US
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