Another thing that occurs to me about your axe, Jim, apart from the clean lines is its lack of use. Many swords may have survived in fairly pristine condition having not seen much action and been well cared for, but this is a common tool that would have been used almost every day. It's owner/owners over a hundred years+ would have used it for kindling wood, dressing game, digging latrine holes, homestead jobs, even, no doubt, used it as a hammer despite the round poll.
I know it's hard to tell from photographs but compared to the other examples, this axe does not looked lived in at all.
I believe most axes in the period that you are suggesting were made with wrap around iron with an inserted steel bit - the method is illustrated in Neumann.
As C4RL suggests - it could be dated if it was made of iron but unfortunately, unless anyone knows different, it is very hard to tell the difference between iron and steel without lab testing. Grinding produces different colour sparks but obviously that has limitations!
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