An American Type I boarding axe? Or not!

[M ELEY]

This auction just ended and due to my reservations, I steered clear of it. On first glance, it appears to be a pattern I American boarding axe, an extremely rare find indeed! However, it's styling is a little more provincial in nature and no 'Tarbell' marking to indicate government contract. I have seen, however, so called private purchase types of the period that would have imitated the pattern (see Rankin's naval swords/weapons book for examples), so still a possibility?

My issues were with the poor construction and open ozidizing to the spike. Despite there being some patina, not to the degree I would expect for a ca. 1790-1800 period piece? Finally, the haft seems too 'light' for me and could easily have been fashioned from an old rake handle, shovel, etc.

So what do you think?