Lead Die Carved From a Musket Ball?

[FreeBirdTim]

I found a lead die today that is definitely hand carved. It was 6 inches down and in a spot that has produced quite a few musket balls and flat buttons from the late 1700's. So it may be very old, but then again, maybe not!

The big question is what was it carved from? It's about the same size as a .69 musket ball, so it's too big to have been carved from that size ball. Possibly from a .75 ball? Did they make musket balls even larger than that size? Let me know what you think.

Here's a few pics of the die with a .69 musket ball next to it. It looks like the carver quit after he carved one hole for the number 6, since there's no number 6 on the die.

 

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[parsonwalker]

What a great piece! Congrats!

 

[DigIron2]

really neat find!I have always wanted to find one.Maybe not made from a bullet at all.Could have been carved from just a piece of lead?What ever the case I would like to have it in my collection

 

[simbad42]

really neat find!I have always wanted to find one.Maybe not made from a bullet at all.Could have been carved from just a piece of lead?What ever the case I would like to have it in my collection

I'm with you, it could have been made from some scrap lead that was left over from making the musket balls. mayhaps the person just wanted to play a game to kill some time. nice find.

 

[dirtlooter]

awesome game piece!

 

[Ahab8]

That us such a cool piece Tim

 

[Rick (Nova Scotia)]

Instead of carved it could have easily been hammered into shape. If it weighs the same as a ball, I'd say that is the answer.

 

[Vino]

Instead of carved it could have easily been hammered into shape. If it weighs the same as a ball, I'd say that is the answer.

Thats what I was going to suggest. ..
George

 

[FreeBirdTim]

How about hammered into a rough shape and then carved a little? That might explain the weight of the die. My .69 ball weighs about 1 ounce and the die weighs about 0.9 of an ounce. But I'm using a cheap scale that only weighs in tenths of an ounce, so those numbers could be off a bit.

 

[FreeBirdTim]

I'm with you, it could have been made from some scrap lead that was left over from making the musket balls. mayhaps the person just wanted to play a game to kill some time. nice find.

That could be the logical answer. It would take a lot of work to turn a musket ball into a die. It would be much easier to just cut off a piece from a lead ingot and make a die from it.