Louise XIV bronze cannons found

[Mredo]

Looking for some help authenticating them. They are about three feet long and supposedly just recently pulled from the water off the coast of Central America. The crest is that of Louise the XIX. Does anyone know of any French ships lost in the Western Caribbean South of Belize?

Mystery Solved! Unfortunately.... bummer

Back in 2008 a Czechoslovakian imigrant to Honduras decided to build a full scale replica of a Pirate ship to be sailed on the Island of Roatan Honduras. The economy went south and the ship has been somewhat abandoned. The cannons were from his Pirate ship. As many said great yard art. Does anyone know what good quality replicas are worth??

 

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[DownNDirty]

Another thing you would not normally do without good explanation is post an important valuable find, ask if they were real, then disappear for 24 hrs without reply. I would be replying after seconds if I were getting free advise from folks with the knowledge.

My thoughts exactly. That's usually a telltale sign that something's fishy.

 

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[WildWildBill]

Wow, how did you get those on your ship/boat? Hope you weren't in claimed waters. A man could get shot.

 

[Mredo]

Hi
We find crazy real stuff down here in Central America sometimes but this seems to good to be true. They possibly could have been hidden on land but seems unlikely. We don't typically come across fakes but

 

[unclemac]

did anyone ever read this post?...."only sold in pairs"....

About

 

[Mredo]

You seem remarkably certain. Please help. Exactly what gives it away in your mind? These are Not on E-bay or listed for sale. These are currently located in a small village South of Belize. It seems remarkable that someone would go to such lengths to "fake it" considering there is no one to buy them. I am not claiming they are real but? Another issue is while there were French in Central America at this time it would have been much more likely to be English or Spanish. I have looked at every Replica cannon I can find on line. I thought I might find one exactly the same but not yet.

 

[H-2 CHARLIE]

Following

 

[Smithbrown]

This just gets curiouser and curiouser. Mredo, you say you searched the internet and could not find anything similar, yet in a matter of hours AARC found three identical guns. I have now written two separate pieces about why I would treat your guns with caution and suspect them to be modern replicas. You must be the subject of a cruel practical joke, or sinister plot to deceive.

 

[DizzyRose]

I would say that these replicas. Not only due to having a some personal knowledge of such items, but also because the same thing has been done all over the world as well as here in England, for many years.
The con? The original 'owners', who bought them or even made them, "dump" them in a strategically chosen place where they WILL be found. The original 'finder'(s) are connected to the original 'owners'. The cannon, along with the 'proof' of when/where/who found them are then "illegally" sold to a buyer who's more interested in getting his hands on said artefact, than proving their provenience. All involved know it's illegal to do what (appears to be) done. The con-men take off into the sunset with up to 30-40 times what the cannon are actually worth. The buyer, whose suspicions get raised by one way or another, tries to authenticate the piece(s), and then starts to realise he's been duped. Only a few options are then available; either he tries to palm them off to another greedy fool - which runs the risk of repercussions as his identity is not going to be hard to trace - learns his lesson regarding putting greed before common savy, puts the cannon in his garden as rather expensive ornaments or gets incredible childish, throws a major tantrum and throws them into the sea!!! The option of going to the police to complain he was conned into illegally purchasing artefacts is unlikely to end positively for him, thus is rarely chosen.

However, having been sat here chewing this over, there is actually another possibility, although it is extremely rare and not always possible to prove. Having thought of it, makes it only fair to put it up, even though it contradicts my first assumption. So here it is;

If the ship was fairly old when it sank, the patina on the cannon would have been already present. If the ship went down during a massive storm - as apposed to any other possible reason - the items onboard could have been buried immediately, but only if the seabed was mostly sand. Once buried, the cannon (and similarly heavy items) could have been worked deeper by subsequent storms or tides. Then along comes another massive storm which regurgitates the cannon to lie on the seabed where they are then quickly found.
That's the only scenario whereby the cannon can be buried, uncovered and pulled out of the ocean without any of the usual crusting that accumulates over a very short space of time.
Or they were stolen and then dumped when found impossible to move on.

 

[Scrappy]

This post is becoming hilarious

 

[unclemac]

a few years ago i read a great post by an archy that was saying that local meso american craftsmen were getting so good at fakes that they were fooling archies...they were using the same clays, the same styles, the same techniques and even incorporating older materials that would through off carbon 14 dating, then selling them on EBAY....the posters point was NEVER buy ANY relic on EBAY.

 

[DizzyRose]

PS. As they would look nice in the garden, I would offer scrap price but the OP pays shipping.

I'll have one as well!!

 

[Doubter in MD]

A little more background would possibly help.

If I read your original post correctly you are either considering buying these cannon or are considering putting up money to finance additional recovery efforts.

Or did I completely misunderstand and you have the cannons in your possesion?

 

[Captain Jack Sparrow]

Looking for some help authenticating them. They are about three feet long and supposedly just recently pulled from the water off the coast of Central America. The crest is that of Louise the XIX. Does anyone know of any French ships lost in the Western Caribbean South of Belize? View attachment 1352360 View attachment 1352361

Mystery Solved! Unfortunately.... bummer

Back in 2008 a Czechoslovakian imigrant to Honduras decided to build a full scale replica of a Pirate ship to be sailed on the Island of Roatan Honduras. The economy went south and the ship has been somewhat abandoned. The cannons were from his Pirate ship. As many said great yard art. Does anyone know what good quality replicas are worth??

it looks like pirate canons to me.

 

[Mackaydon]

On the first post of this thread, the following question was asked:
"Does anyone know of any French ships lost in the Western Caribbean South of Belize?" The period of time you mentioned was Louis the 14th, who died in 1715. Within a year or two later, a gentleman by the name of John Law started to make history in France. He created (among other initiatives) "The Company of the West". This company was given the license to development Louisiana (and other areas along the Mississippi River). As part of that development process, he 'imported' pioneers, slaves and equipment on a fleet of vessels. As part of this trade circle, he also traveled to the French islands in the Eastern Caribbean while in route to the Louisiana ports. This path of travel included sailing westward to just north of Honduras then north past Belize (today) and the Yucatan coast of Mexico.
Several years ago, I had the opportunity to acquire two cannons (a breech loader and a muzzle-loader) that included designs from Law's company that I dated from about 1720 to 1725; the same period during which they were lost north of Honduras. So......to answer the OP's first question....yes, I am aware of French guns being lost in the area at the approximate time of your inquiry.

By the way, my guns were authenticated and auctioned off by a very reputable auction house.
Good luck with yours, whatever they may be.
Don......

 

[A2coins]

I would love to mount those in my front yard!!!!@!!