679 Cannonballs found

Have to agree on the ball mills. When I was younger and lived in Northern Manitoba, we had an iron ore mine there. We used to pick those up off the tracks. We used to find 1000's at a time. If I knew they would be worth anything would have collected them. Now this is only my 2 cents worth and by no means being negative towards you

Outstanding find, HH, (Happy Hauling), Art...

Awesome find mate  .  Just proves once again that TREASURE can come in all shapes and sizes.
Thanks for posting.

HH

If you ever want to sell one of these let me know! I'd be happy to take one off your hands!

Geeze!. . . those are cool. Ever consider setting up a "grapeshot" stand at a farmer's market with all those?

watercolor

Wow...!!!  that is very cool!!

Geez...you could start your own war!

Have to agree on the ball mills. When I was younger and lived in Northern Manitoba, we had an iron ore mine there. We used to pick those up off the tracks. We used to find 1000's at a time. If I knew they would be worth anything would have collected them. Now this is only my 2 cents worth and by no means being negative towards you

What was the final determination on these things?  Mill balls or cannon balls?  My guess is, what does it matter?  If they are the same size anybody or their brother can claim them as cannon balls and flood the market.  I have heard that the only cannon balls really worth something are verifiable ones found at battlesites or those that have the engraving in them identifying them as such.  Which in the long run really sux for you but if you could get an expert in the field to say that they are cannon balls...woohoo!

Still one of the most incredible finds I think... Any follow-up on this Abe?

Did you ever go back and get the rest?

Any news as to authenticity?

In one word...

Unbelievable.

That is a super find
Dman

GREAT FIND ABE!
Go ahead and sell them as cannonballs. That's what your gut is telling you that they are, so you won't be knowingly misrepresenting anything. Just my  $.02 and I want change
C.J.

I would wonder what ever became of this story also.

what happened to old abe???

Well THAT was a fun treasure findin' story!

There's been stranger things than those old mill balls fired through cannons, I'm sure!
hh

Great find!

Ole Abe has not been online since July 2007. 

old topic but still an outstanding thing to see   ty and congrats

maybe he ebay'd them all off as cannonballs and is a some carribean island he owns:)

I had a buddy with an old pintle gun on his jeep...  a 35mm film cannister fit perfect with a nice patch.
barrel was about 18"    fun old days.  I should build one...

Didn't realized they came in all sorts of different sizes.
Cool... 

Congrats!   

i had a 37mm "flare" launcher, the shells loaded perfect with 37mm film canisters, for practice rounds

Wow AWESOME!!!  Great find!

awesome finds...

Fantistic find.

[Nov 17, 2006]

He originally posted this on Nov 17, 2006 - It WAS on the banner at the time...  

Let me tell you my friend that this is an unbelievable find and I dont know if you know how LUCKY that you are!    I have had the pleasure of diggin cannonballs and seeing them dug and let me tell you, they are not something that you find everyday and are getting pretty scarce to find this day and age.  That being said, this is WAY more balls than I previous knew of being found in one spot...although those were Civil War cannon balls, I would DEFINITELY not turn down Spanish cannonballs.  The size and shape of these cannonballs do suggest them to be earlier than the Indian war era as 'bolt' type artillery was used by those times.  Congratulations and this is a BANNER if EVER I SAW ONE:

BANNER!!! BANNER!!!!  BANNER!!!!

I thought for sure since they were found in California it was figured out they were mill balls? Been awhile since I even seen this one..... Maybe my memory isn't as good as it once was!


 After rereading the whole dang thread, I can't see where it was ever substantiated. Maybe he did find out they were mill balls and never reported back after getting everybody hyped up? I dunno. I would think if they were authenticated as projectiles he'd sure be back to let everybody know.

 As easy as it would be to authenticate, I'm surprised!

Aw Jeffro...

Drop some powder down the bore, tamp in some wad and roll in a ball, touch 'er off and U got a JEN U WINE cannonball!  LoL

I wouldn't doubt they have stuffed everything under the sun in a cannon at one time or other.

I'll bet rocks made an impressive impact!

Sure is a fun thread.

HH
rmptr

How can you even sleep, Id be huntin till I fell over, get up an go again. If mill balls find the smelter-mine.

679 cannonballs/millballs read 23,000 times...

   Congrats! That is so interesting! Just seeing the shed would have made the trip a blast for me. I say you oughta drill all of the cannonballs and make "Clackers" out of them. (You remember! the 60's/70's toy that used to bash and bruise your forearm). We sure would like to see some pics of the shed, too.

wow! Look at all thats cannonballs! What an awesome find! You guys must of been really excited when you dug those up off the ground! 

Whats the update Abe? Any authentication? Millballs or what?   

I got back surgery done in late December, fused L3, L4 &L5 disc and to this day I'm still having problems putting on my shoes. My Doctor happened to be crazy into machine guns, rifles, heavy artillery and so on. So I gave him the three different sizes to have and place in his office, but instead he sent them out to a guy in Phoenix area and he came to the conclusion that these were SPANISH 18th century cannons. That's all that's been done with them so far. I'm hoping if I get to walking better to go back and take pictures and gather another load, but I would have to have help for sure because of the distance that one has to park.
Thanks for the replys!!!

Awsome man!  Sorry about your back.

I got back surgery done in late December, fused L3, L4 &L5 disc and to this day I'm still having problems putting on my shoes. My Doctor happened to be crazy into machine guns, rifles, heavy artillery and so on. So I gave him the three different sizes to have and place in his office, but instead he sent them out to a guy in Phoenix area and he came to the conclusion that these were SPANISH 18th century cannons. That's all that's been done with them so far. I'm hoping if I get to walking better to go back and take pictures and gather another load, but I would have to have help for sure because of the distance that one has to park.
Thanks for the replys!!!

Wow! Thanks for the update.  Sorry about back.

Sounds like "The Curse Of The Spanish Balls" has taken another victim.  Just kidding.  Awsome find.  And I hope your back is doing better.

If they left the ammo I'd bet the cannon is there too.
Dave

 :thumbsup:me and my son realy injoy thoes cannon balls good job       to bad there no canon

My uncle was a Marine he told us a story of when he and another Marine was left behind to guard an ammo depot and guess what they did most of the time they were there? They shot guns fired mortars tossed hand grenades you name it if it was in that building and they could use it they did. What you have unearthed was probably the same thing. Two dudes left behind nothing to do but blow stuff up.Great find 

Reminds me of a mate who was in the british army in the 50s or 60s. He was told to clear out a warehouse one day that hadnt been opened for years. Opened the doors and found floor to ceiling racks of old ships cannonballs. Took one look and shut the door. I guess everyone has been doing that for 200 years or so, I reckon they are still there in Plymouth.

You move one, you have to move em all, count em, get rid of em, reams of paperwork, nah just leave em there.

Don H---for a friggin new guy, you are awsome!!!!!

As someone once explained to me, cannon balls have to be exact:  exactly round, exactly smooth, exactly the right size, and therefore, exactly the right weight.  If you have seams, or pour points (where the sprue was and maybe ground off, leaving a flat spot) or it is not a calibrated size, you have mill balls.

Guessing that you may be in the southern NM area, and in an area where there was mining--MILL BALLS.  Remember, back then they were willing to truck (or wagon as the case may be) the ore many, many miles to the mill.  One mill served a lot of territory.  Mine area, mill balls.

And for those who say "cannon balls or mill balls, don't matter much" I would respond:  I have several smaller and one large mill balls I would trade straight across for a real cannon ball.

Don H---for a friggin new guy, you are awsome!!!!!

As someone once explained to me, cannon balls have to be exact:  exactly round, exactly smooth, exactly the right size, and therefore, exactly the right weight.  If you have seams, or pour points (where the sprue was and maybe ground off, leaving a flat spot) or it is not a calibrated size, you have mill balls.

This someone needs to check their facts. I don't have a single cannonball that does not show a seam and I would question cannonballs that don't.

That being said, I don't put a lot of stock in the balls in the original post being cannonballs.

Don H---for a friggin new guy, you are awsome!!!!!

As someone once explained to me, cannon balls have to be exact:  exactly round, exactly smooth, exactly the right size, and therefore, exactly the right weight.  If you have seams, or pour points (where the sprue was and maybe ground off, leaving a flat spot) or it is not a calibrated size, you have mill balls.

This someone needs to check their facts. I don't have a single cannonball that does not show a seam and I would question cannonballs that don't.

That being said, I don't put a lot of stock in the balls in the original post being cannonballs.

Yep...I just recently found a 4 and 8 pounder both with seams and the 4 pounder with a sprue. 

Ok, from everything I have been told, if the ball wasn't perfect, as in having seams, it would go in the gun right or too much of the "explosion" would escape past the ball.

Let's hear from the guys from Virgina about this--they know their stuff.  Then if I have to eat humble crow pie, then I will.
My only experience is that I purchased a cannon ball from a guy who said he found it on a gravel bar near the Hudson Bay Co. fort near Churchill, Canada.  It had a lovely broad band around it that I thought would make a nice tight fit in the barrel.  The "guy in the know" (who apparently has written several books) said no way for the above reasons and guaranteed mill ball.  And there is mining in Churchill.  That is the best I can share.

By the way, did any of y'all notice that we are here arguing over a post that started 4 1/2 years ago and he never came back to say what he had???  Still hope someone in the know will set us all straight.  I have looked at a lot of mill balls in antique shops that didn't fit the standard diameter or weight as set down in the army charts.  I am out of town and cannot reference those, but the standards are there.

By the way, did any of y'all notice that we are here arguing over a post that started 4 1/2 years ago and he never came back to say what he had???  Still hope someone in the know will set us all straight.  I have looked at a lot of mill balls in antique shops that didn't fit the standard diameter or weight as set down in the army charts.  I am out of town and cannot reference those, but the standards are there.

I for one do not need to be set straight...I've found cannonballs with seams and sprues...they are undoubtedly cannonballs.  If your expert tells you different then he is wrong...guaranteed.

Please notice the seam in the small 4 pounder.

yeah I am good too. I am not sure why we need someone from Virginia. I have dug enough cannonballs to know what they look like.

There is a seam on every single one of my 25 cannonballs. It is not as prominent on some as it is on others...but it's there on all of em'.

Pass the salt.  I may have to send you a photo of my Hudson Bay Co. ball and see what you think, if his info is that far off.  I am out of town, so keep an eye on this topic, if you would.  I would be really happy to know I didn't get scammed out of $60.

Just for curiosity, are these Rev. War shot you both have, and if so, French, English or home made?  The "source" was pretty much strict CW in his expertise, but that also may be inapplicable.

Pass the salt.  I may have to send you a photo of my Hudson Bay Co. ball and see what you think, if his info is that far off.  I am out of town, so keep an eye on this topic, if you would.  I would be really happy to know I didn't get scammed out of $60.

Just for curiosity, are these Rev. War shot you both have, and if so, French, English or home made?  The "source" was pretty much strict CW in his expertise, but that also may be inapplicable.

I will admit to have VERY limited knowledge of Civil War cannonballs, but I do believe the solid shot would have been manufactured in the same manner and should have a mold seam.

All of my cannonballs range from the French and Indian War to the War of 1812, so 1750-1815 or so. I have French and British.

Like Colonial Dude I know little of civil war cannonballs. 

Mine all date to the early 1700s.

So, any knowledge of HBC?  I suppose they are a little later than yours.  Mine is around 3 inches and has a equitorial band about 1 1/4 inches wide around it.  Didn't look like a mill ball to me.  Off the top of my old brain, I don't remember the name of the fort up in Churchill, but it was a big one, star shaped as I remember.  Want to say Ft. Prince of Wales, but I know that's not right as I believe it was a French title.

yeah I am good too. I am not sure why we need someone from Virginia. I have dug enough cannonballs to know what they look like.

There is a seam on every single one of my 25 cannonballs. It is not as prominent on some as it is on others...but it's there on all of em'.

All of mine are the same too...some more prominent than others and mine range from mid to late 1700's

To all of my knowlegable, and esteemed colleauges..  I would like to throw out another possibility as to what these are...  Right now, the group is pretty much split, 50/50 on cannonballs and milling balls..  I have to say, that I know what these are, and how they came to be...

First, I will confirm that they are old...  I will also confirm that they are Spanish... but they are not cannonballs nor are they mill balls...  While doing some research , I found that this is a horde of... wait for it...  BOCCE BALLS!!!  Yes.. these are the missing bocce balls from the 1st Annual International Coed, Clothing Optional, Bocce/Yard Dart Championships of 1491.. 

Not unlike hockey, the rules state that the home team (the Spanish) are required to keep a certain amount of bocce balls and yard darts on hand.  Unfortunately, the equipment manager, Francisco Allehandro Cesar de la Jesus misplaced the key to the bocce/yard dart equipment shed right before the championship match..  The other teams, who felt cheated out of their chance at glory, fame, girls , and all the free Spam that they could eat, left in a huff..  This caused an international incident , and was thus ordered by Queen Isabella of Spain to be stricken from the history books and to never be spoken of again, lest the guilty party be brought into the city square, and smacked about the head and chest area ...

I hope this bit of research has helped.. btw.. keep looking.. those arrowheads that we find in the plowed fields arent arrowheads at all.. You have stumbled into one of the team's lawn dart practice areas... 

GL & HH

To all of my knowlegable, and esteemed colleauges..  I would like to throw out another possibility as to what these are...  Right now, the group is pretty much split, 50/50 on cannonballs and milling balls..  I have to say, that I know what these are, and how they came to be...

First, I will confirm that they are old...  I will also confirm that they are Spanish... but they are not cannonballs nor are they mill balls...  While doing some research , I found that this is a horde of... wait for it...  BOCCE BALLS!!!  Yes.. these are the missing bocce balls from the 1st Annual International Coed, Clothing Optional, Bocce/Yard Dart Championships of 1491.. 

Not unlike hockey, the rules state that the home team (the Spanish) are required to keep a certain amount of bocce balls and yard darts on hand.  Unfortunately, the equipment manager, Francisco Allehandro Cesar de la Jesus misplaced the key to the bocce/yard dart equipment shed right before the championship match..  The other teams, who felt cheated out of their chance at glory, fame, girls , and all the free Spam that they could eat, left in a huff..  This caused an international incident , and was thus ordered by Queen Isabella of Spain to be stricken from the history books and to never be spoken of again, lest the guilty party be brought into the city square, and smacked about the head and chest area ...

I hope this bit of research has helped.. btw.. keep looking.. those arrowheads that we find in the plowed fields arent arrowheads at all.. You have stumbled into one of the team's lawn dart practice areas... 

GL & HH

Wow...you have way too much time on your hands...thanks for "contributing" to the debate...

I am  in agreement  with  the  idea  that  these are  not  cannonball  but  ball mill  crushing  balls .  I worked  for  the  SP Railroad  for  years  and  when I first  went to  work there  we  had these  coming  through  by the  carload.  You'll  note  that they are  iron  and  in  various sizes.   This is  how  I've always  seen them.  They  are  fed  into a big  tumbler  tank  with  the  usually  quartz  ore  and used to  crush  the  ore  to  a  fine  powder, which  is  then  processed across  copper  plates  coated  with mercury  to create  an  amalgam  with the gold.  This  amalgam  is  then  processed  in arsenic to separate  the  gold  from the  arsenic in a  metal  form. Walhooey

yep,Mill balls....................especially since I get the impression you found these in Calif???

If it wasnt so far down a canyon to get em,I would go retreive the probably thousand I know of at a mill.They are not uncommon at all in the Mother Lode,and when we were kids we all said they were cannon balls too.I would like to see what Cannonballguy says??

Just one of those would make a Metal Detectorist Career...  Awesome find!

No Way.  Those are the coolest finds yet. Besides the rest of the relics out there. Those cannon balls are awesome. Congrats. 

[This is a find of 679 Milling Balls from a mining and milling operation!]

This is a find of 679 Milling Balls from a mining and milling operation! 

PLEASE, Please, please...............These are NOT cannonballs! 

CC Hunter

[This is a find of 679 Milling Balls from a mining and milling operation!]

This is a find of 679 Milling Balls from a mining and milling operation! 

PLEASE, Please, please...............These are NOT cannonballs! 

CC Hunter

Why bury Milling Balls 8 feet underground next to what would appear to be a depot of some sort.  If they were milling balls, wouldn't they just be left laying around on the ground and not lumped altogether.  The OP said
they were authenticated, that is good enough for me.

[This is a find of 679 Milling Balls from a mining and milling operation!]

This is a find of 679 Milling Balls from a mining and milling operation! 

PLEASE, Please, please...............These are NOT cannonballs! 

CC Hunter

Why bury Milling Balls 8 feet underground next to what would appear to be a depot of some sort.  If they were milling balls, wouldn't they just be left laying around on the ground and not lumped altogether.  The OP said
they were authenticated, that is good enough for me.

Why bury cannon balls 8 feet underground?I happen to know the "area",he is talking about and there was never any War of any kind.Second,there would be no reason for the Spanish to ever be carrying 679 cannonballs,in that region,Third,I would love to see a 1700's wood structure still standing(wood structures from the late 19 the century are long gone)Sounds like a mining operation shed,and it isnt uncommon for shovels and such to be buried deep under tailings or dirt around these mines especially after the invent of the dozer

[Find of 679 Milling Balls!]

Why bury Milling Balls 8 feet underground next to what would appear to be a depot of some sort.  If they were milling balls, wouldn't they just be left laying around on the ground and not lumped altogether.  The OP said
they were authenticated, that is good enough for me.

The often perplexing issue with Treasure Stories is how quickly the original facts (assuming they are indeed such), become embellished with each retelling of the story!  

Within the first description in the original post, the finder describes digging as deep as three feet into the dirt floor, to excavate the iron balls, inside of a standing building made of stone with some wood details.  Now we see another reader recounting an evolution of the story into a description of these "cannonballs" being a stash buried 8' deep outside of a depot.......!  

Having personally traveled through the mountains of the West in many states, I have yet to encounter or even hear of ANY standing stone structures from the 18th century, much less any ruins that can be attributed to the period in these areas.  In the Southwest, the basic early building material was adobe.  Adobe can last for a couple centuries, IF the structure is regularly maintained with a good roof and a regular re-plastering of mud.  Even the walls of dry stacked or mud mortared stone buildings of the late 19th century rarely hold up unless well maintained with a good roof.  Add to that, California's shaky seismic fault history, which has tumbled many a wall over the years, and we once have again decrease probability for an intact yet abandoned 18th century stone structure. Furthermore, Spanish activity in the interior of California was almost nonexistent in the 18th century.  During the later half of the 18th century, there certainly is the history pertaining to the establishment of a string of Spanish Missions and a few scattered settlements along the California coastal areas, yet this did not include Yosemite area (Yosemite Beach?  ).  

From what information I've gathered, the Spanish cannonballs of the earlier period, as well as those of the Republic of Mexico (of which California was under rule of from 1821-1848), and these cannonballs which were of smaller caliber used in Northern Mexico as well as the West Coast regions, were predominately in fact made of brass or bronze.  Furthermore, there are literally thousands of mining and milling sites, and ruins of operations, in every single area of the West, from Baja California, clear to British Columbia, and all points in between!  Beginning in the 1840's, and stretching clear up to WWII, mining was big business all across these regions.  All the facts of the find, the context of the site, as well as corresponding features and the finds themselves, lead to this being attributable as a Find of 679 Milling Balls!    

Simply having someone's doctor or dentist verify authenticity, or furthermore a university professor (professor in what field of expertise?), is hardly proof of anything other than hearsay.    Fact is, I've personally dug and found (eyeballed once) a few authentic cannonballs myself from sites on the East Coast, that date from pre-Revolutionary War, on up through the Civil War.  Not to mention digging a good number of Spanish and Colonial artifacts.  

This is in no way an offense intended to any finely educated professors, yet for the most part experts in only one very narrow field of study, are not necessarily experts in military artifacts of Colonial America. Most likely, a professor of English or Political Science (or any other unrelated field for that matter), would hardly know an authentic Spanish cannonball even if it hit them.  

CC Hunter

[Know Your Balls]

Know Your Balls (A Cannonball Tutorial ): 

http://angloboerwarmuseum.com/Boer12v_fake_cannonballs.html

http://www.pochefamily.org/books/SolidShotEssentialsMod.html


<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZVbXe0ZFIt0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/ZVbXe0ZFIt0</a>

CC Hunter