Were iron nails so valuable that arsonists burned houses to recover them?

I read this “fact” in a book and tried to validate it. “Here’s a good illustration of how a myth gets started. Ken Schwarz, Colonial Williamsburg’s blacksmith since 1982 and the master blacksmith since 2003, says he hears this one every time they make handwrought nails at the Anderson Forge. It’s not true, yet there is a nugget of fact if you dig deep enough…” ~ learn more