Cannonball

[Peaches]

Found in southern MD weighs just over 13lbs and measures 14in around. Any ideas as to how old? British? Civil War?
Thanks!

 

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[parsonwalker]

Is it solid? No fuze or fill plug?

 

[beez0404]

I'll bet that big hunk of iron gave you a slamming hit! Very nice find.

 

[vpnavy]

OUTSTANDING FIND! Can't wait for someone to come in with an ID. If you don't want it - I will take it! Thanks for sharing...

 

[CoilyGirl]

The Cannonball Guy will know,maybe you should PM him? I hope it is whether you dug it or bought it.

 

[jamesbibb]

You need to weigh it on a super accurate scale like a postage scale and get a very close measurement using a seamstress tape or large calipers

I can't see the pics but your near the size of a 12lb ball but they need to be precise measurements

 

[HomeGuardDan]

Agree with everyone else...need precise measurements. The over 13lbs is concerning - either your scale is off or the ball is too heavy for a 12lb solid shot as they should weight 12lbs 5 ounces roughly.

 

[Peaches]

Its solid, no holes or fuze. Feels like cast iron like the old frying pans. I will try to hunt down a better scale we used a regular bathroom scale while holding it. The seamstress tape was measuring 14 inches and it was found on my family farm. I have found civil war relics before but there were no battles in this area. There were documented british raids in the vicinity.

 

[TrpnBils]

Is that cleaned up at all? I'm surprised at how little rust appears to be on it.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Peaches, my specialty area of relic-study is pre-1900s projectiles, as my posting-name indicates.

Doing the math... 14" circumference divided by Pi (3.1416) equals 4.45" diameter. So, your ball's diameter is correct for a Revolutionary War / 1812-War "12-Pounder caliber" cannonball. (Civil War ones in that caliber were slightly larger, about 4.52"-diameter.)

However, as other folks here have already mentioned, that caliber of 12-pounder caliber Solid-Shot cannonball weighed 11 pounds 14 ounces (RevWar) to a maximum of 12 pounds 4 ounces (Civil War). Typical household bathroom weighing-scales are notoriously inaccurate. You'll need to weigh your ball on a precision scale, such as a Postal Shipping scale. If it weighs more than the weight-data given above, it is not a cannonball.

Meanwhile, I will say that it "has the correct look" for a corroded cast-iron RevWar cannonball... and I hope for your sake that its precisely-measured weight turns out to be correct for that (tentative) ID.

 

[Peaches]

So I took it to the post office and the weight was only 10lbs 12.2 ounces.

 

[DigIron2]

I'll bet that big hunk of iron gave you a slamming hit! Very nice find.

A little tip for finding most shells and shot.In most cases you have to listen for a slight sound because of the depth that usually comes with them.Of course the closer you get to them the louder they scream out.I found one dropped parrot in a bottom years ago that was slamming,but all the rest where around a foot and a half ,to two feet deep before even reaching the shell.Being such a large iron target,even at such depths should register a sound in both modes,but in my experience's is was always a slight sound at first,I have heard of people diggin them 4 foot down.

 

[DigIron2]

So I took it to the post office and the weight was only 10lbs 12.2 ounces.

I am surprised they didn't take it as a terrorist threatI wonder if someone could take one on a airplane?By the way, killer find!

 

[TrpnBils]

Just out of curiosity, how exactly did that conversation with the postal employee go? "Hey, I know you're not supposed to bring guns or ammunition into a place like this, but I have a cannon ball in my car and would like to see if you can weigh it for me."

Either way, nice!

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Peaches wrote:
> So I took it to the post office and the weight was only 10lbs 12.2 ounces.

Well, that shows how badly your household bathroom weighing scale lied to you, saying the ball weighed 13 pounds. Ya cannot trust that type of weighing-scale. A "precision" scale, such as a Postal Shipping scale, is what's needed.

As I said in my previous reply, your iron ball's diameter is correct for being a "12-Pounder caliber" Revolutionary War or War-Of-1812 cannonball. Also, you found it in southern Maryland, which (unlike, let's say, Arizona) is one of the locations where cannonballs were used in those wars. I think your cannonball being a bit more than one pound lighter than it ought to be is explainable by the fact that many American Colonial-era cannonballs contained air-bubbles trapped inside the iron during poor-quality metalcasting. (At that time, the Americans weren't nearly as good as the British at doing high-quality metalcasting.) So, because your cast-iron ball is the correct size (4.45"-diameter), and it was found in a RevWar/War-Of-1812 area, in my professional opinion it is indeed a US-made 12-Pounder caliber Solid-Shot cannonball from that period of American history.

 

[treblehunter]

How did you find it? Nice find
TheCannonballGuy just gave you a letter of authenticity, now you can sell it to Rick in Las Vegas, might make it on Pawn Stars. Lol

 

[parsonwalker]

I am surprised they didn't take it as a terrorist threatI wonder if someone could take one on a airplane?By the way, killer find!

Last fall I took a guy on a short hunt with me. he was from Ohio and I really wanted him to find something CW related. He found a .69 cal round ball and a 3 ringer. They would NOT let him take them on the plane back to Ohio. Said they were "ammunition." I took them from him and mailed them to him.

 

[FreeBirdTim]

Just out of curiosity, how exactly did that conversation with the postal employee go? "Hey, I know you're not supposed to bring guns or ammunition into a place like this, but I have a cannon ball in my car and would like to see if you can weigh it for me."

Probably more like this: "Cannonball? Don't be silly. It's just an old shot put. Could you weigh it for me? Thanks!"

 

[Peaches]

Thanks cannonball guy! So surprisingly when I told the guy at the post office I had an odd request and handed him the cannonball he laughed and said it wasn't the first he had weighed. Apparently they are more common down here than I thought.