Could this be a lead casting bar?

[Renaebri]

Hi it's been a while! Its too hot to hunt lately so I got curious about this older find...


It says New York City, but looks like theres a Co. before that. Found in Florida, in a town settled by veterans but no battles were here, there was a sugar mill very close to where it was found.

I found something very similar online, but says something different.

 

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[Bigcypresshunter]

James McCullough was in business in NY [Lead and Shot Company] from 1856 to 1875. So there is a 20% chance the lead was "Civil War" lead. ;-)

Lead Ingot - Odyssey's Virtual Museum

The company is most renowned as a major supplier to the Ordnance Department of the Union Army during the American Civil War. Multiple orders of buckshot, elongated balls and round balls of lead were requested by Major Thornton and Captain Crispin of the Ordnance Department between 1861 and 1864. Demand declined after the Civil War and in 1875 McCullough’s Lead Company went bankrupt.

My guess these thin lead strips are pre-Civil War.

 

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[Renaebri]

Awesome examples villagenut and GaRebel! I was skeptical because of the vertical lines but I guess there were just a wide variety of them. I think mine would have been used as solder in that case, the town it was found in was formed in late 1800's, no civil war battles anywhere close, but the sugar mill was only like 25 ft from where it was found.. I'll still try and research if I can, internet's been crappy though. GaRebel it looks like yours would have said James M Cu(llou)gh too.

Really thrilled by all the images and ideas, thank you guys!

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

This thread? http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/today-s-finds/30507-trench-beach-produces-silver.html

No pic or mention of a lead ingot or similar...

Thanks for looking. That was where I found it and that was where I came up with the date but apparently I didnt post the lead scraps til a couple months later

 

[villagenut]

For what it's worth....the two that I dug were from sites of a short term CW USCT camp and a Third Seminole War camp. That may not be conclusive proof of anything here but it is context.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

I hope I didnt throw mine away. I thought it was some kind of lead ID bracelet. I just couldn't figure it out. It was not heavy like the plumbing bars.

 

[nagant]

maybe they were on whatever they shipped bullets in. Like a makers identification tag, cool keep sake for a soldier but useful too.

 

[Renaebri]

yeah nothing conclusive but it gives a better estimate of the age knowing where they were all found! I plan on going to the local museum tomorrow and bringing it along, i'll see if they know anything.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Here is another one from 2008 with some comments. http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/today-s-finds/88414-civil-war-lead-casting-bar-bullets.html

Jonathan....That is a very cool pice of history,you should be proud to have that in you posession.Don't see those everyday,as a matter of fact it's the first one I've seen on here......Great recovery....I Love It!!!!!!

 

[Renaebri]

Nice! I found another one that has a hole in it like village's https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/civil-war-issued-bar-lead-letters-1886341145

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Here is another picture HALF not HAYS https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/very-rare-civil-war-lead-bar-recovered-at I dont think its the same as it looks kinda thick. The thick bars are postCW for plumbing.

This one doesn't even have serifs. Not CW. https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/dug-charleston-sc-civil-war-lead-bar-160068649 half & half may mean 50% lead 50% tin solder.

But ours are different. Ours are thin, bendable with horizontal and vertical lines and seem to be found at pre CW sites in the South.

 

[villagenut]

That one sure is similar. Mine was found at a USCT camp from 1864.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Many people are claiming plumbing bars as CW and they are not. But the thin strips in question are different. They have these vertical lines (marked in red) as well as a border line. And the lettering has serifs. Its my guess this type is older.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

I dug mine out of my storage bin to add some more photos. Mine appears to have an "M" or "W" and you can see the vertical lines and same border as the others. Its hard to say with certainty but my M does not appear to have serifs so that should rule out Seminole War era for my piece and it might signify this type of lead was manufactured before and after the turn of the century. But I still say its not as heavy as the plumbing bars. At less than 1/8" thick it's more like a strap than a bar.

 

[Muddyhandz]

Thought I had more pieces somewhere in a container but this will have to do.
Found at mid-19th century sites just outside of Winnipeg......



No Civil War battles fought here at the "Chicago of the North" but this heavy fur trade territory needed lead endlessly!

*Forgot to mention the "Commercial" piece is heavy and almost a half an inch thick

 

[Muddyhandz]

After looking up "Raymond Lead Co. Chicago Ill." a bunch of wood decoys show up.
Here's a bunch of the same "ballast weights" used for early decoys....

http://www.decoymag.com/features/tidbits/PDFs/EarlyDecoyDays12-2004.pdf

The same company (Raymond lead) also made shot, solder, lead pipe, weights, etc.
Wouldn't doubt it that these were used to make fishing weights as well.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

After looking up "Raymond Lead Co. Chicago Ill." a bunch of wood decoys show up.
Here's a bunch of the same "ballast weights" used for early decoys....

http://www.decoymag.com/features/tidbits/PDFs/EarlyDecoyDays12-2004.pdf

The same company (Raymond lead) also made shot, solder, lead pipe, weights, etc.
Wouldn't doubt it that these were used to make fishing weights as well.

Wow these straps were actually duck decoy ballast weights! That blows the Civil War lead theory right out of the water. That explains the holes for attachment. Does that fit with the sites where they were found by other members?

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Here is more proof. These are old duck decoy weights. http://vintageduckdecoys.net/4_antique_working_decoy_carved_wood_raymond_printed_lead_weight.htm

 

[Retired Sarge]

Damn, awesome ID BCH, I thought this was going to be like the "E" cap thing and go on forever with no ID.

 

[highnam]

I would be happy knowing it was a antique decoy weight...could have value, antique carved decoy carvings can go for big money and the weights add a nice touch

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Damn, awesome ID BCH, I thought this was going to be like the "E" cap thing and go on forever with no ID.

Muddyhandz made the initial ID. I just posted the photos.