Reunited 400 Years Later And A Heavy Weight, Cannonball Update

[Valens Legacy]

Great finds once again in the books for you, wish I could get back out there.

Been way to cold for me with t the wind and wet weather.

Good luck on your next hunt and stay safe out there.

[relicmeister]

Beautiful finds, F350. Cannon ball is both just a heavy piece of iron, and also so much more than a heavy hunk of iron. 

[F350Platinum]

1 hour ago, relicmeister said:

Beautiful finds, F350. Cannon ball is both just a heavy piece of iron, and also so much more than a heavy hunk of iron. 

Thanks!

I found all the stuff in that display box in February last year. It was nice to find the "rest of the story". I'm going to keep looking for the rest of the coin as well, but I fear it was cut into "change". At least I got the date and value marks, it has "VI" on the other side, indicating it's a sixpence. I could not believe I dug a coin that old. It's part of the logo of Jamestown. Sadly they're not worth much or especially rare, but in this context with the other items it's pretty much priceless. Ultimately it will end up where it should. At present it is my oldest found coin.

As for the cannonball, usually they're found where they shouldn't be found 😅, and worse. Should it be inert I'll have it restored. I believe it all comes down to weight, if it's an 18 pounder it is solid. I believe canister shot would weigh less.

[relicmeister]

On 1/20/2024 at 6:03 AM, F350Platinum said:

Thanks!

I found all the stuff in that display box in February last year. It was nice to find the "rest of the story". I'm going to keep looking for the rest of the coin as well, but I fear it was cut into "change". At least I got the date and value marks, it has "VI" on the other side, indicating it's a sixpence. I could not believe I dug a coin that old. It's part of the logo of Jamestown. Sadly they're not worth much or especially rare, but in this context with the other items it's pretty much priceless. Ultimately it will end up where it should. At present it is my oldest found coin.

As for the cannonball, usually they're found where they shouldn't be found 😅, and worse. Should it be inert I'll have it restored. I believe it all comes down to weight, if it's an 18 pounder it is solid. I believe canister shot would weigh less.

I work in an old iron mining town, and a lot of it went to supply Washington’s army. At one of the many old homesites in the area I found grapeshot and my only cannonball- a 4” , 7 pounder. In the area I also found the front and back of a powder flask and a sword pommel. 

[Compass]

Finding the rest of that belt buckle is awesome - what a difference it makes when added to the original piece. Well done... again!

[F350Platinum]

45 minutes ago, Compass said:

Finding the rest of that belt buckle is awesome - what a difference it makes when added to the original piece. Well done... again!

Thanks Compass,

I went back to that spot hoping that tilling might turn something else up, and also that I might find the rest of the coin 😅 I am glad my hunch turned out.

As for the cannonball, I went back there yesterday and carefully measured and weighed it, turns out it is a "12 pounder", 4.5 inches in diameter and actually 12 pounds. I still left it there, I'm waiting for the rain to clean it up a bit more, don't want to handle it too much just yet. 😬 Still looking for a fuse of some type, there are some protrusions that may be dirt, but brushing it with a steel brush wouldn't be such a good idea 🤔

The actual diameter of the ball opens up a tremendous amount of possibilities, from the Revolution to 1812 to the 1860s, so I have to be much more careful and do more research on canister balls.

[L David Keith]

  Artillery shot and shell tends to have exact diameters. Example: a diameter of 4.62" would be for a 12 pounder field piece or howitzer. Solid shot tends to weigh about 12 pounds. A diameter of 5.3" would be for the 18 pounder or Coehorn mortar used by the South after the war with Mexico. If you have an exact 5" diameter and a weight of 10 pounds, I'm not sure if it predates the civil war or a shot used with a sabot which could be larger than the shot diameter. Nice finds! 

[F350Platinum]

4 hours ago, L David Keith said:

  Artillery shot and shell tends to have exact diameters. Example: a diameter of 4.62" would be for a 12 pounder field piece or howitzer. Solid shot tends to weigh about 12 pounds. A diameter of 5.3" would be for the 18 pounder or Coehorn mortar used by the South after the war with Mexico. If you have an exact 5" diameter and a weight of 10 pounds, I'm not sure if it predates the civil war or a shot used with a sabot which could be larger than the shot diameter. Nice finds! 

Thanks for the info! As I posted just above, it's about 4.5", so 4.62 might be about right, I eyeballed it with a tape measure, and weighed it, it's 12 pounds. Used a cloth bag and a fishing scale.

If it were a round canister shot, wouldn't it be lighter than 12 pounds, even loaded?

I'm going to check on it soon, nobody goes to that field and I left it so it could get washed off more by the rain.

And welcome to the Forum! We need all the help we can get sometimes 🤔

[L David Keith]

Yes, Case shot would weigh less, usually between 9-10 pounds.  Sounds like you have a 12 pounder solid shot. Congrats!

 

[mn90403]

On 1/22/2024 at 7:41 AM, F350Platinum said:

As for the cannonball, I went back there yesterday and carefully measured and weighed it, turns out it is a "12 pounder", 4.5 inches in diameter and actually 12 pounds. I still left it there, I'm waiting for the rain to clean it up a bit more, don't want to handle it too much just yet. 😬 Still looking for a fuse of some type, there are some protrusions that may be dirt, but brushing it with a steel brush wouldn't be such a good idea 🤔

Very nice find and once cleaned up it will provide more clues.

When I grew up in North Florida someone had found a canon ball and we just kept it around.  Military people said it was solid but I don't know.  I was never aware of where it had come from as far as a lot near where we lived or if it had been stolen from a display in St. Augustine.  I think it was too pitted for that.  I think it is over 12 lbs and might be 16 and it is larger than yours which increases the possibility it could have gone boom over the years.

You may want to consider some of the chemical treatments for yours.  I used some of it for the good.  Here is a link to one that might save you some scraping and brushing and see more of what you've got.