679 Cannonballs found

EDDE · Nov 17, 2006

that was my gut on that

bakergeol said:
Well olde Abe you sure have a lot of balls.

I debated if I should post this BUT......
If these were found in Virginia no question but these were found
in the west. Is it a possibility that these are ball mill balls which were
used for grinding ore? Perhaps a weight and size investigation and a
reply by folks who are more knowledgeable on grape shot would be in order?

Great find
George

Silverfox · Nov 17, 2006

Hi Guy,
Thanks for all the great comments.
Does anyone know how I could get these authenticated? There are no markings on them. I was doing some searches on the web to try and find some cannon balls that the Spanish would have used to compare them to, but I'm having no luck. Any help would be great. I will post the weight and measurements for the three different sizes that I have.
Abe

Update......
A couple of these were sent to an expert and I was told that these are 18th century Spanish cannon balls which were probably made for a cannon on a ship.

gregd573 · Nov 17, 2006

Now that is too good.......!!! and exactly 679 more than I have ever found. i believe I would have to go with the general consensus on this and say that they would make great Christmas gifts for your TN buddies......great find, can't wait until i have to go buy a little red wagon" to haul my finds home in. HH....Abe.........gregd573

civilman1 · Nov 17, 2006

Now you got me thinkin' on this one.....We'll wait!!

Blackjack77 · Nov 17, 2006

Great finds!!

I'm constantly amazed at the
Tnet finds.
Hope their authentic!!

good luck & HH

hollowpointred · Nov 17, 2006

you must be in relic heaven! this should be an article in W&ET. awesome post! congrats!

jeff of pa · Nov 17, 2006

Old Abe said:
At first it appeared to be just an old shed, but after looking at it better it looked like an old Spanish Ammo Stop or storage shed. It had three windows with iron rails across them and below the windows were rifle slits / openings.

My Uneducated Guess From this Comment tells Me Cannonballs.

You need to Find out from what Period.

Get us some Pictures.

JEFF

DigMO · Nov 17, 2006

WOW! What an awesome find.Congrats and I hope you will post some pics from where you found them.

River Rat · Nov 17, 2006

W

W, this is truly amazing. Congratulations!! My name is on the Christmas list too.

RR

spanishsilver · Nov 17, 2006

Awesome finds....

texan connection · Nov 17, 2006

Wow, I was gonna sat Holy smokes but i was beat to it Make sure there not "counterfite" LOL

junkdigger · Nov 17, 2006

After you get all the balls out of the ground you can try for relics to date the site and learn about the builders. Betcha find some good smaller stuff there!

ringfinder · Nov 17, 2006

Wow, Wow,Wow,
I was happy when I found my first 6 pounder this spring, man you guys sure out did me. What a find, can't wait to
read your story in Western & Eastern. I'd be posting those in the Best finds of the Year also. Congratulations again.

HH, Ringfinder

Tourezrick · Nov 17, 2006

Paul Bunyan is looking for his lost collection of steely marbles, and boy is he pissed! Great find!

Watch yer back!

Tourezrick

zaweiss · Nov 17, 2006

That could be the find of a lifetime!

Nana40 · Nov 17, 2006

~MERRY~ ~CHRISTMAS!~

Wow!

Awesome finds! Congrats!!!!!

Nana

TreasureTales · Nov 17, 2006

Wow! Whatever they prove to be, there sure are a lot of them!

Determining whether they are cannonballs or (mining) ball mill balls might hinge on the type of building at which they were found. Could you take a photo of the builidng and post it here? I don't want to rain on your parade, but I have to agree with the other poster. I'm thinking these were used in milling ore. Did you find these in Nevada or California?
Here's a link to an article about one ball mill in California. The story explains the process by which ore was crushed before going to the smelter. http://www.explorehistoricalif.com/mammoth_consolidated_mine.html

Rowdy Yates · Nov 17, 2006

Yep, I agree on the Ball Mill theory,

I don't want to be the bearer of bad news...... (and hopefully I'm wrong), but if I'm not mistaken, those look an awful lot like the iron balls from an old Ball Mill. Were these found in a mining area??

Ball mills were used quite a bit in the Mother Lode, and I've found quite a few of them balls over the last 20 years in exactly the same sizes as in your pics.

Rick

Deftone · Nov 17, 2006

Wow!! I have a ball that is flattened on 1 side. It was given to me by my uncle. He found it in the 80's at Ft. Supply. That's my future trip I just cant get any1 to go with me.are they all lead?