Possible 12pndr grape shot?

[anchoredinchrist]

I was working on my house and happened to look down and see a couple of iron balls on the ground by a tree in my back yard, I picked them up and found that there were more underneath. I dug for 5 minutes and pulled out 130 balls 2.04-2.06" in diameter. They are cast iron, and you can see a seam and sprues on some of them and others are too rusty to see any on. I weighed a couple of them and they weigh about 1.2 lbs. So far all the evidence I've seen points to 12pndr grape or 32pnder canister, but I'd like to know how I could verify or authenticate them. Also, why would there be a stash of them randomly? I am in the area of Versailles and Tipton Missouri, Versailles is the location of the "Martin hotel" which was used in the civil war for housing soldiers. Allegedly you could know who was ahead by whether it was union or confederate soldiers staying there.
Any help would be appreciated!

 

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[MidMoTreasure]

Welcome to TNet! I am about 15 minutes away from you to the East. I have found a few balls like that in the area, but never in that concentration. I will say that there were extensive mining operations in and around Fortuna, so they could very well be mill balls, especially in that number. If you ever come to or through California, I would be happy to take a look at them and compare with the ones I have found on local battlefields.

 

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[anchoredinchrist]

Sounds great!

Welcome to TNet! I am about 15 minutes away from you to the East. I have found a few balls like that in the area, but never in that concentration. I will say that there were extensive mining operations in and around Fortuna, so they could very well be mill balls, especially in that number. If you ever come to or through California, I would be happy to take a look at them and compare with the ones I have found on local battlefields.

 

[Hawks88]

Nice finds. Congrats. Yes Canonball Guy is the expert. He’ll know.

 

[anchoredinchrist]

What are "mill balls" like? And what were they used for mining?

Welcome to TNet! I am about 15 minutes away from you to the East. I have found a few balls like that in the area, but never in that concentration. I will say that there were extensive mining operations in and around Fortuna, so they could very well be mill balls, especially in that number. If you ever come to or through California, I would be happy to take a look at them and compare with the ones I have found on local battlefields.

 

[Icewing]

What are "mill balls" like? And what were they used for mining?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball_mill

 

[MidMoTreasure]

They come in all sizes. In fact, many "cannon balls" or "grapeshot" for sale on eBay are really mill balls.

 

[anchoredinchrist]

I guess if mine are mill balls, they would be unused ones, since they would be worn if they had been used. Also if they were used mill balls, they would not necessarily be uniform in size. I'm planning to dig some more around there, since I was busy working on the house and so didn't take time to dig around any.

 

[Dfxcobb]

mill ball

 

[anchoredinchrist]

What indicates that conclusion?

mill ball

 

[Davers]

I wish that I had your answer, maybe google exact specs for artillery used in the CW by both sides or Shot Tables .

TCBG Will Know . I Just hope he is feeling well.

 

[A2coins]

Very interesting finds have you found any other tjings that might give a better idea of what those might be

 

[A2coins]

Also welcome from Mi Tommy

 

[anchoredinchrist]

Here's one of the articles I have referenced:
http://www.pochefamily.org/books/solidshotessentialsmod.html
And the 1862 army manual here:
https://books.google.com/books?id=d...dnance manual diameter Chapter second&f=false

I wish that I had your answer, maybe google exact specs for artillery used in the CW by both sides or Shot Tables .

TCBG Will Know . I Just hope he is feeling well.

 

[anchoredinchrist]

I am planning to dig some more and pull my metal detector out, but work has been busy as well as my evenings. Whatever is there will still be there, so long as nobody comes into my land and digs first. (Don't try this! =D)

Very interesting finds have you found any other tjings that might give a better idea of what those might be

 

[anchoredinchrist]

An update... I did some further research and talked to a lot of local historians and military history experts. I also brought several of them in to the Missouri museum of military history and the consensus is that they are most likely grape/canister shot from the Civil War. Most likely from the confederate side, since they pretty much used whatever they could get ahold of. I found them 50 yards from the road which was a trail in the Civil War times.
Now to figure out what to do with them. I plan to donate some to the local museum, and keep some, but also want to sell some, but really don't know how is best to go about doing that.
Is there any legal issues with selling artifacts you found on your own property?

 

[Davers]

Good deal . Thanks for the update.

 

[A2coins]

That's awesome good I'd from experts. Amazing