Need help identifying history / pricing / preserving - large canon ball

[Huntre]

Hello folks,

I used to live in Colonial Heights,  just a few miles north of Petersburg, along what is now called Swift Creek.
When I was a teenager, probably aroundt 32 years or so ago,  they drained the creek (it’s between 2 dams) to service one of the dams.
This left a small stream in the middle that I could navigate in a canoe and I found all kinds of junk,  old bottles, cans, etc.   (I also found a live WW I era artillery shell the next day, but that’s a different story )
I also ran across a large canon ball.  It was lodged in the mud,  at the bottom of a large embankment.
My speculation at the time was that perhaps there was a canon placement at the top of the hill, overlooking the creek (it’s pretty large), and that possible Lee’s men dumped the ammo as they retreated.  This was and is all speculation.  I think it may have been a fed. navy dahlgren shell, but don't believe the fed. side had any canon located there, especially not navy guns.   There is a very old train trestle base on both sides of the creek,  less than 300 yards away from where I found the shell.

Anyway,  it was in great shape.  I guess the mud was a pretty air-tight environment because there was hardly any surface rust on it.   There is a threaded bore-hole for a fuse, but none was found with the shell and it’s hollow inside.
It’s about 9” across and weighs a lot,  I’m guessing about 80+ lbs, but I don’t have a good scale to weigh it on.

Also - given it's condition,  should I run it through an electrolysis solution to get the light surface rust off, then seal it?  or leave it in the current condition?   Is it ok to buff it with a wire brush, then seal it?

Could you take a look at the pictures,  let me know what you think it is and what the street value might be?    It’s been rolling around my basement for the past 30+ years and I think it should be appreciated by someone other than my wife who keeps stubbing her toes on it!  Lol

The pictures can be viewed here - https://citrix.sharefile.com/d-s7dabcc9a9874deda
    (not sure if I did the hyperlink right or not,  so copy this link if not - https://citrix.sharefile.com/d-s7dabcc9a9874deda )

Thanks!

[emike123]

Cool find!

That is a nice one and it doesn't look like it needs anything done to it.  I have a fuse for it on our commercial site and a tap to chase the threads.

Its Federal and was never fused so someone probably dumped it in the water.  That seems to be the #1 disposal method used after hostilities were over.

I am not the expert on the values of large bore cannon balls so I am guessing $450.  Plumber knows more about what they are worth.

A couple of us, including me, will be out your way in mid August and could probably take it off your hands at that time.

[Huntre]

Thanks Mike,  appreciate the feedback.   I used to be into collecting relics around here when I was a teen, but this was my only big find other than shell fragments and mini balls.
The threads on it look to be in good shape,  might not need to be tapped, depending on how much build-up there is.

Any idea what federal navy ordanance was doing so far inland?    It's possible there are more buried along the creekside, but no others were visible above the mud at the time.   They filled the creek back up a few days later, although I think they still drain it from time to time. 

Let me know when you are down this way, I still live in the area.

John

[emike123]

Pete probably knows if either side pulled any Dahlgren tubes into service for siege and garrison duty at Petersburg.  I wouldn't be surprised.

I am guessing the threads will have to be "chased" not re-threaded.  I have the correct tap for that when the time comes.

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

Sir:
  Your fuse cavity appears to be for the Naval Water Cap Fuse ontaining a paper wrapped time fuse.
Regards,
John

[emike123]

Huntre:

From your description, I snagged this view of Swift (interesting adjective for a dammed body of water) Creek, dam at far right, old train trestle near dam.  Kindly point out which house's driveway we should park in!   

[CarlS]

Certainly looks like a 9-inch Dahlgren ball which held a watercap fuse to me as well.  The threads do look good enough or close to it to accept a fuse.

One thing I noticed in your extremely good images is some marks that look like the ball was welded on at one time.  This is a good sign this ball was part of a monument in its past.  Cannon balls were occasionally welded into a pyramid and the fuse holes would be pointed down so they wouldn't fill with water.  But cast iron doesn't weld well and would either break loose over time due to elements or kids or some no good fellow.  As such, many monuments were taken down and replaced with something more permanent.   You see quite a few 8-inch cannon balls filled with concrete and this is where many of them came from.

I cut the views of what I think are weld marks from a few of your images.  Do they look like that to you?

[swest47]

I agree! There is some form of welding that has been done on the outside. I found a 8" ball and acquired a 9" ball many years ago and they were both smooth, smooth, smooth on the outside. The 8" had tong holes.

[emike123]

I wonder if it was converted for use as a weight in the water for something like a dock, pontoon bridge, etc.

[CarlS]

Regarding cleaning, I agree with Mike in his first post that it doesn't need anything done to it to preserve it.  That's assuming you keep it indoors.  If you want to remove surface oxidation, much of that looks like it would come off with a good wire brush and all of it could be removed with electrolysis.  Coating with polyurethane would be needed to prevent further surface oxidation but if kept indoors it probably won't get much worse than it is.  Coating also gives it a darker color and more eye appeal to many people.

Mike: While the weight is such that it would be good for that, my guess is that the welds weren't really substantial enough to use it as an anchor.   I would think they'd fill it with concrete and an attachement device for an anchor.  But that's just my guess.

[pipedreamer65]

I'd wipe it down a little with some steel wool, spray with satin poly, and add the nwc fuze as was mentioned above.  It would be sweet.

[Pete George]

  In the title of your post, you asked about pricing.  There's another 9-inch Navy ball currently for sale on Ebay.  Like yours, the threaded brass fuzehole-bushing is present and the main fuze is missing.  It is priced at $259, and with three days remaining in the 7-day auction, it has received no bids.  http://www.ebay.com/itm/Civil-War-Dahlgren-9-Shell-water-cap-fuse-adapter-cannon-ball-/110903759777?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19d26113a1

[Huntre]

Huntre:

From your description, I snagged this view of Swift (interesting adjective for a dammed body of water) Creek, dam at far right, old train trestle near dam.  Kindly point out which house's driveway we should park in!   

LOL,  well, you were a bit too far east.   Search for Ashby Ave. in Colonial Heights.  East side of the creek,  you should see 2 white dock's on the creek across from each other.   Now it's been amost 32 years,  but I know it was at the base of a large hillside, on the west side of Ashby ave,  somewhere near those dock's  (the one on the east side wasn't there back then).  Who knows, maybe the owners would let you detect some.  I never saw anyone with a detector over there in the 10 years I lived there.

If you are a hunter, search for the Col. Heights public library on Google Earth and look at the tract of land to the east that runs down to the Appomatox river.   I think the City own's the land,  but looks to still be wooded and overgrown.   There's also an island (Hall's Island) in the middle of the river right there that I would bet hasn't been over very well, since you need a boat to get to it.   

General Lee's HQ / Siege museum is just a mile or so away, great place to visit if you are in the area.  The 'Cucumber Tree' is something worth seeing there in it's own right.

I can tell you that as a young teen, I found numerous artifacts along the Appomatox river there in Colonial Heights

[CarlS]

Interesting.  The place you describe is near Wagstaff's Steak House where we ate with the Thomas Brothers and others after the Richmond Show in 2010.  Very good place to eat.

Here is a satellite image from Google of the area where you can see the two docs on the left side and Wagstaff's on the upper right:

[Pete George]

  Here's another one on Ebay, very smooth condition, asking $175, no bids on it thus far.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CIVIL-WAR-9-75lb-CANNONBALL-shell-bomb-/190697561161?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c6675dc49