I need help. Is it a cannon ball.

[jmimiturner]

Found this iron ball at a garage sale la st night. I will try to weigh and measure accurately. 9 1/2" diameter - 3 pounds 15.6 pounds.

 

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[A2coins]

Is there a hole in it anywhere Welcome to tnet where did you find it

 

[jmimiturner]

No hole, found at a garage sale.

 

[A2coins]

Give it a little time lots of people who know on this site cannonball guy is an expert on these!!!!!!That's a strange garage sale find did they say it was a cannonball

 

[jmimiturner]

No, they had bought a ladies house who was a hoarder and it was only 50 cents. I will buy anything that cheap and just see.

 

[A2coins]

I also buy lots of stuff at yard sale tools are a steal most of the times also some old pictures with signatures Ive found some great stuff ya never know!!!Hope this is a cannonball!

 

[jmimiturner]

I do find some great stuff. It is the thrill of the hunt.

 

[villagenut]

Not too sure you measured correctly. 9.5 inches in diameter would be close to 100lbs if it were a solid shot.

 

[FreeBirdTim]

If you measured around the cannon ball, that would be it's circumference. If it has a circumference of 9 1/2", then it would have around a 3" diameter. That would make the weight close to being correct for that diameter cannon ball.

Cannon bore, shot, and shell diameters for smoothbore guns

 

[asrussell96]

It looks like a solid shot cannon ball

 

[jmimiturner]

Sorry I guess that is circumfrence.

 

[A2coins]

Bump

 

[smokeythecat]

What state? What's the history nearby? Lots of cannon balls are found within 20 miles of an old battlefield, they get thrown in ponds, dropped in roads and just plain carried off as souvenirs and later discarded or left in attics.

 

[UnderMiner]

Take a picture of it next to a tape measure, if it weighs about 3 pounds than it is likely a solid shot 3-pounder, but without accurate measure it's hard to say. 3-pounders were very common back in the Revolutionary War and War of 1812, not so common afterwards (they would not have been used in the Civil War in significant numbers, if at all). It clearly has very heavy pitting from being outside in wet and corrosive soils for a long time, consistent with a cannonball that has been buried for more than 200 years. I have found many metal balls in the field and in all those years only one turned out to be a real cannonball, all the rest were other things such as shot-put balls, gate weight balls, 'mill balls', cement mixer-cleaning balls, large ball bearings, etc. The best way to tell a cannonball from these other things is a cannon ball is very round, it will have a seem along the middle and a sprue mark on top. The seem and sprue will be very well filed down by the manufacturer and will not protrude in anyway. The ball will also have to be of a specific diameter and weight that matches a known size of cannon. If the size and weight doesn't match to a cannon than it cannot be a cannonball.

 

[sutphin]

NEEET FIND ..

 

[against the wind]

Well, for 50 cents, you definitely got a deal.
My story would be that George Washington personally approved this particular cannonball for assault on the British at Saratoga. Yep, he had it put aside for safe keeping but in the excitement of the victory, someone forgot to save it.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

 

[Tommy G]

Sure looks like a solid shot to me, but I'm no expert. For 50 cents, you can't go wrong!

 

[CRUSADER]

Just have to exclude it being a milling ball & you have a winner.