Found this cannon ball yesterday in VA

[Mercer87nc]

Anyone know the value of this? It's confederate with a boremann fuse

 

[fyrffytr1]

CannonBallGuy would be the one to ask. I don't know anything about them so I ask this out of ignorance but, are you sure that thing is safe?

 

[Gravitytester]

I may be mistaken but that is a time delay fuse, meaning there is powder inside of it. Now if I am not mistaken, then it could be come extremely dangerous. Once the powder dries, it is just as explosive as when it was new. If that is the case you should have someone that knows what they are doing inert it (remove the powder) for you. Until then store it away from your house. If you are not comfortable keeping it, then call local law enforcement or a military base close to you that has a EOD Unit and they will dispose of it for you.

 

[Tpmetal]

I hear if you just beat on them with a hammer and drill you will be fine all jokes aside, keep it in water outside your house somewhere safe until you can get it drilled by someone who knows what they are doing.

 

[Davers]

Anyone know the value of this? It's confederate with a boremann fuse

Nice Find.
As for worth.
$3000-5,000. If I dug it .

Market Price (Made Inert ) IMO , I'd Give no more than $250-$300 ( More if I new For Sure) where it was dug.
But
That's just "My Opinion".

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

It appears to have a yankee-made Bormann fuze in it, not CS-made. The first line next to the pie-slice shaped wedge stands for 1/2-second on the CS version, and for 3/4-second on the US version. The photos below show what I'm talking about. On the CS fuze there are two raised lines counterclockwise from the number 1. On the US fuze, there is only one raised line counterclockwise from the number 1.

"As dug" (rust-encrusted, and not deactivated), your US Bormann-fuzed 12-Pounder caliber shell is worth about $125, because nobody can tell for sure whether the condition of the iron under the rust-encrustation is above-average or average or poor. Also, it has not been Inerted (hasn't had its powder-charge removed).

I must emphasize, your EXCAVATED cannonball is NOT dangerous to handle, or even to drop on a concrete floor.
The proof: Excavated cannonballs have been dropped, been in car-wrecks, and nearly every one of them got hit hard with a shovel during the digging-up process. There has not been even a single report of a cannonball blowing up during the digging process, or from being dropped. The few that have exploded did so when somebody put the ball into a very hot fire or was drilling into it. If you can avoid doing either of those two "extremely provocative" things to a cannonball, the only way it'll hurt you is if you drop it on your foot. I speak as a US Goverment certified expert on this subject. I've taught classes on civil war artillery projectiles to police bomb squads and US Army EOD teams. The US National Park Service has used me to empty several civil war shells found by park rangers at the battlefield parks here in Virginia. Speaking of which... Mercer87nc, send me a Private Message if you want to get your civil war cannonball professionally "Inerted" (emptied).

 

[callicles]

I certainly don't claim to have the best eyes in the world, but I don't see a punch mark on the fuse, so I guess it is dropped? If it is, the digger may want to note that when he goes back. Where there's one, maybe there are others very nearby (like in the same hole or a couple feet away) as opposed to moderately scattered, as might be indicative when hunting a zone where unexploded spherical rounds eventually ended up after bouncing around for a good distance.

 

[Davers]

I certainly don't claim to have the best eyes in the world, but I don't see a punch mark on the fuse, so I guess it is dropped? If it is, the digger may want to note that when he goes back. Where there's one, maybe there are others very nearby (like in the same hole or a couple feet away) as opposed to moderately scattered, as might be indicative when hunting a zone where unexploded spherical rounds eventually ended up after bouncing around for a good distance.

Do you mean a "punch mark" like the hole in the fuse on TCBG lower picture.?

Good idea as well.

 

[Davers]

Boy my '$' guesstimate was off.

Shows what I know about Artillery.

Cleaned & defused will make it more valuable. but That goes w/o thinking.

 

[callicles]

Do you mean a "punch mark" like the hole in the fuse on TCBG lower picture.?

Good idea as well.

Yes, but as I said, my eyes aren't that great. To me the item does not look punched. TCBG's first pic looks punched between the 2 and 3. I just couldn't see one on Mercer87nc's shell, leading me to think it was dropped...

 

[Davers]

Yes, but as I said, my eyes aren't that great. To me the item does not look punched. TCBG's first pic looks punched between the 2 and 3. I just couldn't see one on Mercer87nc's shell, leading me to think it was dropped...

I think it was dropped as well, as I can see no punch mark either, you do still have 'Good Enough' Eyesight.