CW bullet?

[ramjet2187]

I dug three round pistol balls from an area that has produced a few CW relics for me in the past two months, but one of the balls has no white patina on it.? It is straight lead 'grey'.? Is it possible for a CW relic to rest in the soil and not turn?? It was dug at about the same depth as the other two I found today (both of which display the patina), and it has a defined seam around the center, with a rough cut sprue.? A friend called it field cast Confederate, but the lack of patina has me stumped.? I don't have calipers, so I can't give you a calber, and my digital camera takes terrible closeups, so what you see is what you get.?

The top is a US 1 cent for size.? The left ball is a .44 cal (calipered) RB dug on the same ridge a week ago.? The center ball is the grey one, and the right ball is another found today, appears to be the same size, but has the patina.? If you use your imagination, you can see the cast seam on the center ball.? Any ideas would be appreciated.?

Thanks, and great finds.

Roger

Roger

 

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[Nana40]

Hey Roger Roger!

I think it is possible...but I'm not sure why...someone said soil conditions maybe...

I know that I found a few in the same area...maybe 20X20 spot and some were white, some were a little white and some were gray.

Nana

 

[DigEmAll]

Almost everything that I have from the southern states has a thick layer of lead oxide on it. It may be possible for different soils to totally halt the process, but I haven't seen it. Even in the total absents of soil, it will still corrode. I have some lead sinkers from a '20's tackle box that was on a shelf in a dry basement that are totally white.

 

[AK in KY]

My guess is that the lead items that don't oxidize as much (turn white) is because they are alloyed with another metal that prevents the oxidation. HH

AK in KY