🔎 UNIDENTIFIED Lead cannonball?

[noxer800]

Found this lead item in Calif. along the Old Spanish Trail. It's round, slightly flattened on one side & about 2" in dia. From a site that could be Spanish, Mexican or American period. Has anyone seen or found something similar? Can anyone help me date it?

 

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[vhs07]

I'd check it for silver.

 

[ncsuwolf]

No idea if it’s a projectile or not, but based on the chip on the right side of the pic showing bright white, I’d assume it’s pure lead.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

When a cannonball is made of lead, it tends to consist of molten metal cast in a spherical mold. The corroded surface in of the metal in the photos does not have the appearance of cast lead. For example, lead does not develop cracks -- which we see in many places on this object's surface. Also, the object's shape is not anything close to a sphere. A cannonball MUST be a "True Sphere" because any significant lumps of bumps or out-of-roundness will cause the ball to "jam" in the cannon's bore during loading or firing. Also, this object does not look like a cast lead True-Sphere which has taken a few bumps from bouncing across the ground after firing. Sorry, I do not know what it is but I'm reasonably sure about what it's not -- a cannonball, a grapeshot ball, or other Artillery ball.

I should mention:
American Military cannonballs and e ball were always made of pure lead. This object appears to some sort of "pot-metal" type of cheap lead-alloy.

 

[noxer800]

When a cannonball is made of lead, it tends to consist of molten metal cast in a spherical mold. The corroded surface in of the metal in the photos does not have the appearance of cast lead. For example, lead does not develop cracks -- which we see in many places on this object's surface. Also, the object's shape is not anything close to a sphere. A cannonball MUST be a "True Sphere" because any significant lumps of bumps or out-of-roundness will cause the ball to "jam" in the cannon's bore during loading or firing. Also, this object does not look like a cast lead True-Sphere which has taken a few bumps from bouncing across the ground after firing. Sorry, I do not know what it is but I'm reasonably sure about what it's not -- a cannonball, a grapeshot ball, or other Artillery ball.

I should mention:
American Military cannonballs and e ball were always made of pure lead. This object appears to some sort of "pot-metal" type of cheap lead-alloy.

Thanks, CannonballGuy. What you say makes total sense, even if it reduces the excitement of my find. That's exactly the kind of feedback I was hoping to get. Just to clarify one thing. Have you previously seen Spanish or Mexican period (pre-1848) cannonballs and do your comments also apply to them? I ask this partly because the smaller lead musket balls that we find at Calif. Spanish and Mexican sites are not not perfectly spherical.

 

[noxer800]

No idea if it’s a projectile or not, but based on the chip on the right side of the pic showing bright white, I’d assume it’s pure lead.

Thanks ncsuwolf. Much appreciated.

 

[noxer800]

I'd check it for silver.

Thanks for the tip, vhs07.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Noxer800 asked:
> Have you previously seen Spanish or Mexican period (pre-1848) cannonballs and
> do your comments also apply to them? I ask this partly because the smaller lead
> musket balls that we find at Calif. Spanish and Mexican sites are not perfectly spherical.

The "smaller lead musketballs" are not actually musketballs.... they are Canister-ammo for cannons. Also, some are extra-large buckshot. It doesn't matter if Canister or Buckshot is out-of-round, because a buckshot-ball or canister-ammo ball does not "fill the bore." A musketball or cannonball DOES literally "fill the bore"... therefore being bumpy or out-of-round can cause it to jam in the bore during loading or firing.