Item Number: A01876

Item Title: CS Imported Whitworth Bolt From Modern Greece

Price: $825

Shipping: Not included

Provenance:

Type: Whitworth Bolt

Size: 2.75" Caliber

Sabot: None

Fuse: N/A

Book:
Dickey and George (1993 Edition) page 329
Melton and Pawl (Paperback Editon) page 83 A-14

Location Recovered: Modern Greece Shipwreck

Description:
This is a really neat relic with a nice provenance. The Modern Greece was a blockade runner that on its last voyage was bringing some Whitworth rifling machines, Whitworth guns and some artillery rounds into the Confederacy. It was run ashore below Fort Fisher in June 1862 to keep her from being sunk by the Union gunboats. Much of the big stuff was salvaged by the confederacy but lots was left behind such as the artillery, rifles, bullets and all sorts of miscellaneous items. In no time it was covered by sand and forgotten. In March 1962, almost 100 years after being beached, a hurricane uncovered it and local relic hunters started searching for relics. Soon the state of NC took over and salvaged it. But not before quite a few relics made it into the collecting community such as this Whitworth bolt.

For a neat video on the recovery, see:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOxF_4w08pw
At a little over 6 minutes you can see some Whitworth rounds like the one offered here.

As these came from salt water, most are not in very good condition. I've sold a few of them over the years and seen a number more. This is one of the best examples I've seen. While there is some loss, you can still clearly see the flats on the projectile that fit the rifling of the cannon. The iron is very stable. This is a chance to get a great piece of history with super provenance at a nice price. This is priced at least 1/3 less than a nice example with no provenance would go for these days.

Projectile is inert, cleaned and coated.