A double ended miner's pick of the type commonly used in the 18th and 19th centuries. It has a wooden handle and a solid iron head.
The pick was used to undercut the seam of coal, sometimes called 'holing under'. After this was done, hammers and wedges were used to hew the coal down from the coalface.
How a pick could be used depended on the thickness of the coal seam. If the seam was thin, and the miner could not stand, he would be found lying down working his way into the seam as he undercut the coal.
