Gold and an 8 inch mortar!!

[SFHunter]

Hi All,

Went to one of my site yesterday and found my first big gold piece! It was about 1 inch down and it is a pendant of Jesus, 14KP with a 14K loop on it. Started looking around for a chain, but kept getting a deep big hit just under it. I had dug down about 18 inches when I hit what appeared to be a metal plate, then noticed it had a curve to it. Figured it was a pipe, cleared away some more dirt, and it had a curve in both directions. CannonBall!!! Spent the next 1/2 hour clearing more dirt away from it, then started gently feeling around to see if it had a fuse. Found the opening, and it was empty!!! Oh Yea, this baby was coming home with me!!!

Turns out it is a 8-inch mortar, weighing 44 pounds!!!!! Here is the link to the page on www.civilwarartillery.com http://www.civilwarartillery.com/hap/page36.htm

 

[utah hunter]

Incredible pendant, that is one of the coolest I have ever seen. I wonder why Jesus was guarding the cannonball Great post, keep em coming...Ryan

 

[Johnny Cache Hunter]

Great balls of fire!

That mortar must have come as quite a surprise.

The gold is sweet, looks to be in perfect shape.


Congratulations,
Johnny Cache Hunter

 

[ivan salis]

morta --- mea good thing the fuse was out -- quite a trophy you got there -- Ivan

 

[Rob66]

If I.... had to load them balls, I would wear a pendant like that too and a few others.I've seen a picture were those cannon balls were made into benches for kids to sit on.

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=triangle&id=5294448

 

[history hunter]

Great gold religious medal! I like the mortar also. WTG

 

[desertfox]

Congrats on both finds, WTG.
HH and keep 'em coming

Desertfox

 

[ravenguide]

nice finds, a good reminder to not be lazy about those deep signals!

 

[ScrewcapRoy]

Awesome finds especially the religious medal. Since the motor didn't explode maybe the person it was intended for burried their medal in the spot the motor hit. Just throwing out a comment lol. Anyway both keepers.
HH Roy

 

[Ant]

Nice gold and the cannon ball looks like a smug pot to me, the type they used for road markers back in the day.

 

[theloadroom]

Congrats SFHunter great day out!!!

Nice gold and the cannon ball looks like a smug pot to me, the type they used for road markers back in the day.

I've handled the old smudge pots 'toledo torch' and don't remember them weighing 44 pounds! LOL

 

[Green1]

holy smokes !!!!!!!!!!!! THAT is by far the nicest pendant i've ever seen !!!
still searching for one of my own to wear...... congrads to you BIG time

 

[SFHunter]

Thanks for all the replies!!

Ya, my head was swimming with what to do when i started to uncover the cannonball. I live in an area where we do have lots of unexploded ordinate and we have a hotline to call if we find them. I wanted to make sure if the cannon ball was fused or not before a made the call. When I felt that there was no fuse I felt a sigh of relief as I really have no intention of checking out early.

The place I was hunting, along with a website link to an example mortar (measurements and weight), confirms that this is a mortor (exploding cannonball), not a smudge pot.... Still, a very unexpected find for us on the west coast....

Happy Hunting!!

 

[MalteseFalcon]

Uhh...the term is "smudge" pot.


And congrats on the finds!

 

[Ridley]

Love the pendant!

The morter's cool too!


Way to go!


Ridley

 

[romeo-1]

Both are awesome finds!

 

[zlathim]

Cool Smudge Pot.

 

[piggman1]

Excellent finds, especially the pendent.

 

[Ant]

I was taking a guess by looking at the photo, it didn't look as thick as a cannonball/mortar round in the added link. I must have missed the 44lbs note. It's a dead ringer of a match with the one at the link.

Sure looks good for being found near Benicia.

Congrats and HH

 

[SFHunter]

No biggie Ant...


I have to admit that I was unaware that 14KP meant it is real solid gold. I thought it was plated... :P

Anyway, anyone know what LINE means on the pendant right above the 14KP? I am trying to do research on this pendant to find out who made it.