Mystery cannon ball

[Deb726]

Hi everyone, I found this forum and was hoping that someone could help me identify a cannon ball that I found in an Arizona wash some years ago. It is about 10 inches in diameter and about 4-4.5 lbs...about the size of those shot from a minion cannon and does have the prominent center seam. My question is, what was it doing in Arizona? I'm aware of a battle near where it was found, The Battle of Picacho Peak but as I understand it, no large artillery was used in that battle and this size cannon ball was from the British so I am more than perplexed. I am thinking I may have one from the era of Spanish occupation of Mexico. I would love feedback on this.

 

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[A2coins]

cannon ball guy hes the expert on these he needs weight measurements ect good luck looks cool Welcome to tnet Someone will help you !!!!! Good job!!!

 

[Wally Taylor]

Nice piece! Much better to find one lying in a gully as opposed to catching one with Your chest when it has been fired in Your difection!

 

[l.cutler]

As stated cannonball guy will probably know. Better re measure though, I am sure it is not 10 inches in diameter! An accurate weight and measurement will be crucial to identification.

 

[vpnavy]

1st - I noticed this was your very first post Deb726 - so, Welcome Aboard! You didn't list your state (or country) in your profile. So, you might consider jumping over to Sub-Forums: Select Your Area.... and selecting location information (i.e., clubs, hunts, finds, legends, maps, etc.) directly related to your state (or country).

2nd - I moved this request from Today's Finds! over to What Is It? for more exposure.

 

[BosnMate]

I think you probably have an iron ball from a "ball mill," which was used to crush ore to extract the gold. A cannon ball would not have the mold seam visible.

 

[baspinall]

I think you probably have an iron ball from a "ball mill," which was used to crush ore to extract the gold. A cannon ball would not have the mold seam visible.

That's what I was thinking. The seam doesn't look right to me.

 

[bradyboy]

mill ball
IMO
brady

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Unlike grapeshot balls and Canister-ammo balls, Solid-Shot cannonballs used in America from the mid-1700s through the Civil War weighed almost exactly a multiple of an pound-weight... meaning precisely 1 pound, 2 pounds, 3, 4, 6 pounds, etc. Not (for example) 3 & 3/4 pounds or 4 & 1/2 pounds. (However, larger ones like a 9-pounder or 12-pounder and larger did weigh a bit more than 9.0 or 12.0 pounds.) The fact that you report your ball's weight as being somewhere between 4 and 4 & 1/2 pounds indicates it is not an artillery ball.

Some genuine cannonballs do show a small-ish moldseam, but very rarely as large as the moldeam we see on your ball. I've seen a (very) few Colonial-era cannonballs with a seam as prominent as yours, and no civil war ones like yours.

As other knowledgable posters have already said, super-precise weighing (on a Postal Shipping scale) and super-precise measuring of diameter will tell us for certain whether it's an artillery ball or a civilian-usage ball, such as a Mining-&-Stonemilling industry mill-ball (rock-crusher ball). You can read the super-precise specifications for civil war (and earlier) cannonball, grapeshot, and canister-ammo balls at
www.civilwartillery.com/shottables.htm.

Here's a link to an "educational" article I co-wrote, about how to super-precisely measure the weight and diameter of actual cannonballs and the many lookalike imposters. The article includes detailed instructions, and photos.
SolidShotEssentialsMod

 

[Deb726]

So sorry, I mean it has a circumference of 10 inches. It weighs about 4.3 lbs. I don't have a precise way to weigh it, only using bathroom scales. I was looking at pictures of mill balls and it does resemble that. There is a depression at the top of the ball which I will clean more thoroughly and post pictures of. I have found a similar ball with the same measurements online and was wondering what your thoughts were.

Record ID: BERK-58E447
Object type: CANNON BALL
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
County: Oxfordshire
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation Find awaiting validation
A cast iron Post Medieval cannon ball with prominent middle seam. The ball has a diameter of 3.2 inches (81.3mm), a circumference of 10 inches (255mm) and weighs 4.5-4 lbs (1.5-1.82 Kg). The ball would have been used as ammunition for a 'Minion' or more probably a 'Saker' cannon, both of which were in common usage during the English Civil War. The Saker for example had a calibre of 3.25 inches with a barrel approximately 9.5 ft (2.9m) long. It had a range approaching 7400 ft (2.3 km) but was used to bounce shot along the ground to cause as much damage as possible. Circa 1650 AD.



I know there was heavy Spanish occupation in that area long ago and that the Sakar cannon was used then.

Thank you for all of the replies!