Thoughts, Oppinions?

[DiggerDrew]

Can anyone tell me if at any time during this country's history, were there any larger cannon balls or shot made of lead? Ive been hunting an old colonial home site along the Delaware river just north of downdown Philly on the Jersey side. I know we have Fort Mifflin to the south, but can anyone tell me if any kind of shore line bombardments could have or would have been done up and down the rivers coastline? I recovered an item, made of lead, white patina, that has been hit by a plow a couple times. Its shy of 2 1/2 inches diameter. It looks as if a ball was sliced and this was the heel, or the end piece as it is dome shaped. It is solid with edges that look frayed. It is quite heavy and weighs probably close to a pound. Any thoughts?

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

No idea here, sorry.
John

[joevann]

To the best of my knowledge, no lead spherical projectiles of such a size were ever made.  From an engineering standpoint, any attempt to fire a projectile of that size and weight would end in the destruction of the tube and severe injury or death to the crew.  Lead having a relatively low melting temperature, I have found it in many interesting shapes around older construction sites and areas where a fire once occurred. I think all you have is a small pig of lead.

[scottfromgeorgia]

Or a fishing or net weight.

[joevann]

That is actually a very common lead pig (or ingot) of the 18th century.

[joevann]

This is likely the type of 'mold' used for this ingot.

[DiggerDrew]

The lead pig idea makes total sense! The native Americans were occupying this land as well. I hunt the fields for points and have just recently started running a detector through. Ive seen in ledgers where copper and lead pigs have been sold to them. This looks more like leftover melted lead. Its the only one of this shape ive come across, but i have found lots of other chunks in various sizes on this site. The house was built in the 1700's and is still in use today. Thanks for the help!

[joevann]

Occam's razor.  Glad to be of assistance.

[Pete George]

  Pardon me, please, but I have to disagree that it is a lead ingot/pig.

  I believe it is simpy the "leftover" lead from the bottom of a lead-melting crucible (pot).  I've "made" some of those myself, when casting bullets for my Repro civil war pistol.  Also, I've been a Plumber's Helper, and seen what happens to the leftover lead in the crucible after work is finished.  Particularly when there's only a small amount left, it tends to contain slag/impurities, and thus gets discarded.

  I should mention that I've also dug a couple of those lead crucible leftovers in the yards of 1800s-to-early-1900s houses in downtown Richmond, where lead was used to seal the joints in large cast-iron plumbing pipes.

Regards,
Pete

[redbob]

Lead is still used to seal cast iron pipe's connections.

[joevann]

That was my first thought.  How much slag on the flat surface?  The one pound weight brings ingot to mind and identical items have been identified in archeological digs as 18th century lead ingots for personal use.  I think we can all agree that it is a hunk of lead cast in a round-bottomed container.  Value? About $3.00 (lead is getting expensive!)

[emike123]

These items I found in my collection may be related to the lead piece. The three large lead pieces were found by me in the river at Selma over the years. The smaller piece was found by Robert McDaniel in Mississippi. it is the bottom of a pendulum sight. The two sights are both marked 12 Pdr and the eroded one is marked Selma where it was found and made. I don't know what the three lead pieces are but they are uniform in size. Steve Phillips

[emike123]

Opposite side of Steve's pendulum hause bottoms:

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

Now that is interesting Mike.  I wonder if a diameter, thickness and weight comparision can be made between yours and the originator of this post, it might prove a match.  Is a side view of yours the same as his?
John

[DiggerDrew]

Exact weight of my piece is 7.5 oz. Diameter is closer to 2.25 inches (took a better measurement). Thickness from flat surface to most convex point is 1/2 inch. The "flat" side is not perfectly flat, sort of wavy. Ant the edge around the flat side is pretty beat up. Possibly from a plow, or possibly from removing it from a melting ladel. On the convex side, there is a black spot, which would appear to me to have been something leftover and burned up still in the melting ladel. As it may not be considered a true ingot or pig, it does seem to me to hold the shape of leftovers removed from some srt of crucible or ladel. As far as lead that would have been used in cast iron pipe, it seems that i would maybe disagree with that theory only due tot the great distance it was found from the house on the site. None of the other large chunks of lead that ive found here on this site are in any kind of uniform shape or size such as this piece. And the smaller pieces remind me a great deal of campsite lead. I hope this info is able to add to the discussion.