Iron Cannon Found In Junkyard... What Is It Worth?

[edflower]

Hello, All:

I have a question regarding a cannon which I have seen being offered for sale in a local junkyard here in my neighborhood (in a Spanish colonial city on the Caribbean coast of Colombia). Sometime in the next few days I plan to return with a camera to photograph the cannon, which is made of iron, is about five feet long, and appears to be in relatively good shape, although the cascabel (seems to be more like a D-handle) is broken off. The bore is jammed with wood, and there is a trace of paint on the barrel, as if it had been used as a gate post or fence marker, etc.

The cannon is preserved with a coating of engine oil, and there appears to be little corrosion, since the design details like the concentric rings molded into the muzzle seem sharp. The profile of the cannon is so clean that my impression is that it did not spend much time underwater, if indeed it came from a shipwreck. Still, as it is I cannot see any foundry marks, proof marks, nor any other identifying information on the weapon; I expect that cleaning would reveal more.

The owner of the junkyard says that he bought it along with other scrap from the owner of a coastal hacienda nearby. He is trying to sell it, and is asking about USD $1000 for the cannon. It caught my eye, and I have been thinking about buying it, although I do not know what a fair price may be. Since this cannon is only made of iron, and it has the end of its cascabel broken off, it seems likely that it would not be of great interest to museums, I guess. Still, I am interested in hearing any thoughts about the practicality of buying a cannon, then restoring it and reselling it.

Assuming this cannon can be purchased legally, what are cannons worth? Would it be a worthwhile venture to buy it and clean/preserve it properly?

I will plan to take a camera on my next visit so I can take some photos.

Thanks for any insight,

ef

[cornelis 816]

A cannon without a history to it is just scrap iron . The owner knows this too . So what you shoud do is get the price for scrap metal and offer him a little more . Especially with part of it broken the value is next to nothing . Cornelius

[Chagy]

A cannon without a history to it is just scrap iron . The owner knows this too . So what you shoud do is get the price for scrap metal and offer him a little more . Especially with part of it broken the value is next to nothing . Cornelius

Good advise......

[itmaiden]

I wonder if that cannon may have originally been off the coast in front of that Hacienda ?

Hello, All:

I have a question regarding a cannon which I have seen being offered for sale in a local junkyard here in my neighborhood (in a Spanish colonial city on the Caribbean coast of Colombia).
ef

[fladiverdown]

That cannon may be worth only a few bucks as scrap but if you are able to drill down on it's origins it could be worth a lot more in adventure and treasure. Good luck.

[allen_idaho]

It is possible that it could also be a decorative reproduction.

[VOC]

Iron guns (cannon are only one type of gun) can be worth much more than their scrap value even if there is no history.

Here is some sites if you ever want to buy or sell guns
:
http://www.gunstar.co.uk/Cannons-for...tegory=Cannons

and

http://www.cannonsuperstore.com/

[FISHEYE]

Cannons make great yard ornaments.They can even be used in your next revolution.They can shoot anything.Recently i found a small bronze cannon at the scrap yard and bought it for $5.00.Its now my parrots cannon and sits on top of his cage.

[inletsurf]

Cannons make great yard ornaments.

My sentiments exactly. And I'd love to point one at my one neighbor's house whom I cannot stand.

[fibberjibber]

I would check to see if it was spiked. I would also want to know that the bore is clean and not messed up. I would think that even with the damage, so long as the piece is in good condition with the correct amount of patina, 300-500 US dollars would be a fair price with no provenance or identification. Its not off a wreck, so...
And at that price, no matter what it turns out to be, you will not do bad on it! Send up an offer, you may find that he put a crazy price on it to see if someone bites!
-Eric

[bronzecannons]

I wouldn't offer him more than $300 for that. Especially since it's iron, only 5 feel long and the cascabel is damaged. Then, like the others said, use it as a yard decoration.
TW

[olepossum]

a repop cannp barel for cw re enactments can cost way more than a thousand dollars a smooth bore castiron with steel sleeve for re encatment in painted and unfinished 1,000 dollars easy the barrel and touch hole are finished but all the foundry seams and knock off spots need to be taken care of buy it clean out the barrel and touch hole run a snake camera down the barrel to check for breech spiking run a 1 size bigger diamond tip drill bit down the touch hole and get it xrayed if good build concrette moring for it and mount it and fire it off on july 4th and new years eve and get cover for the touch hole and muzzle when not in use vwalla you have a connon

[edflower]

Thanks for the good insight, all, and I especially appreciate your practical insight, Cornelius. When I went back to the junkyard about a week ago, the cannon had been sold. The owner implied that he had sold it for about half his earlier asking price, which would suggest a sale price of less than $400. After chewing on the helpful input here, I'd come to the conclusion that treating/restoring it would be beyond my scope, although I am now starting in the process of trying to discover if the site where the cannon was found/dug can be identified, with the idea of seeking a "fatter trove" there. I'll provide an update if I have any news.

Thanks again for the great input!

ef