Relics & a 9 pounder, could it be?

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Relics & a 9 pounder, could it be?

I hit the old coal miners home ruins again in the park woods near my home. Two pretty cool finds.
ImageUploadedByTreasureNet.com1553453274.434249.webp
ImageUploadedByTreasureNet.com1553453287.267835.webp
The buckle is a customized Hickock buckle that is Silver Deposit (heavy Silver plating), but pretty cool design. The tag is the first from this site with the mine name. The Essen #2 mine was about a mile from this site.

Here is the rest of the handful from the last couple outings.
ImageUploadedByTreasureNet.com1553453448.100373.webp

This morning we hiked back to the old forgotten neighborhood in the South Pittsburgh woods with a number of foundations from the 1860’s map. The first time we went I found this 12” deep ball of rust and mud at the beginning of the hunt. Left it under a tree. Went back this morning, 2 months later and retrieved it.
ImageUploadedByTreasureNet.com1553453609.278584.webp
Had the intent of doing electrolysis on it, when chipping at a chunk of rust a 1/4” layer came off pretty easily.
ImageUploadedByTreasureNet.com1553453724.837544.webp
So went at it with a chisel for about 10 minutes (it did not explode...)
ImageUploadedByTreasureNet.com1553453793.364057.webp
Hit it with a wire brush then dunked and scrubbed.
ImageUploadedByTreasureNet.com1553453845.115277.webp
It’s exactly 4” diameter and 9 pounds, perfectly round and iron. (Magnet sticks like glue)

I don’t see any seams, mold marks or fuse hole. So the question is do I have a shot put, mill ball or cannonball?

Good luck out there!
 

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Nice batch of relics! Post the exact measurements, weight , and description of the ball in the Whatsit Forum and the TheCannonballGuy might chime in! Good luck!
 

Nice. I would rule out shot put unless it would have been for women which weighed 8.8 pounds. Men's would be 16.1 pounds. Could still be a mill ball, but lets hope for a cannonball. Good luck.
 

congrats on the collection of cool finds! :occasion14:
 

Nice!!! Congrats!!!
 

Nice. The French used 9 pounders during the Revolutionary War period and we used a lot of their cannons. The Civil War measurements do not work well on these early balls.
 

Nice batch of relics! Post the exact measurements, weight , and description of the ball in the Whatsit Forum and the TheCannonballGuy might chime in! Good luck!

Thx Creskol. I just posted to Whatsit, let’s see what he says.
 

Nice. I would rule out shot put unless it would have been for women which weighed 8.8 pounds. Men's would be 16.1 pounds. Could still be a mill ball, but lets hope for a cannonball. Good luck.

Thx! I’ve found some crazy war relics around Pittsburgh, War of 1812 plate was my oldest. If this ends up being a cannonball, I will be really stoked. But realistically a mill ball would make more sense than a Rev War caliber cannonball in the Burgh.
 

Nice. The French used 9 pounders during the Revolutionary War period and we used a lot of their cannons. The Civil War measurements do not work well on these early balls.

Thx Smokey. After your post I googled 9 pound rev war cannonball and it sure seems to be a match, but I know zero about cannonballs. I’m hoping the Cannonballguy will chime in to this post or the Whatsit post.
 

Some really cool looking items from the site, nice silver & ball, congrats on all
 

It looks like it has a flat spot in the
second cleaned up picture. If so that would make it a mill ball.
 

It looks like it has a flat spot in the
second cleaned up picture. If so that would make it a mill ball.

Here are a couple pics after applying Renn wax.ImageUploadedByTreasureNet.com1553477856.576565.webp
ImageUploadedByTreasureNet.com1553477866.704778.webp
No flat spots, but definitely areas where there is rust pitting. Even if totally a true sphere there is a good chance that it is a mill ball.
 

check the What is it forum!
 

Must be an optical illusion in that one pic. Congratulations, cannonball guy confirmed it as a colonial era cannonball :thumbsup:
 

20190313_072931.webpwow....looks just like the one I got a couple months ago. Mine was 10 pounds with encrustation and a ships spike stuck to it. I'll reweigh it when I get home next week. Mine showed a faint seam on it and is definitely a canon ball....I know that through context. Yours looks identical to mine, and looks like the same size. After cleaning I submerged mine in paraffin wax until it was done bubbling. Heres a shot of it fresh out of the crock pot20190312_193014.webp congrats I think you have a cannon ball.....maybe cannon ball guy will chime in and set us straight.
 

Oooh.....already confirmed. Congrats !! My bad I did not read all the way through the thread before posting. Too cool !!
 

View attachment 1695175wow....looks just like the one I got a couple months ago. Mine was 10 pounds with encrustation and a ships spike stuck to it. I'll reweigh it when I get home next week. Mine showed a faint seam on it and is definitely a canon ball....I know that through context. Yours looks identical to mine, and looks like the same size. After cleaning I submerged mine in paraffin wax until it was done bubbling. Heres a shot of it fresh out of the crock potView attachment 1695176 congrats I think you have a cannon ball.....maybe cannon ball guy will chime in and set us straight.

Thx! Your wax treatment looks great.
 

Great finds and that cannonball?! Amazing!
 

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