1816 Coronet LC and unidentified lead ball?

[ED-NH]

Saturday was warm and the ground was thawed in the woods. I decided to go out to a tiny cellar hole near my house that I've been working the past few years. I got inside and hit a solid but funny tone. I dug into the foundation wall, removed about 5 large stones and scanned my pile of dirt. There in the ground was a sweet 1816 coronet large cent in decent condition (for copper). I think being in the stone foundation preserved it. This is the third one that I found in this location. The first two were draped bust (very old but no date)

Could anyone tell me if this round ball with the nodule on the top could be an oldie, vintage?? I just don't know enough about them and have never found one here in NH. It is the size of a pea and was found today at that same spot along with a few other leads that were same size but obviously fired.

I also found three more flat buttons and possibly a colonial fork with part of a wood handle on it. I'll post them after I get them off the camera.

Thanks for the look
Ed-

 

[Brian(upstateNY)]

n/t

 

[Mike Bearden]

I have found several of those pea size lead balls over the years and even found some grouped and held together by flat lead bars as if the user would simply break one off as needed much like pulling a grape from a cluster.
Maybe somebody can shed some light on the subject and we'll both find out
H.H.
Mike

 

[ED-NH]

n/t

 

[bunn leonard]

no thats in great shape in va. your lucky to see any detail i think its all the cow crap.thas a nice coin wish all of mine looked like that.

 

[ED-NH]

Thanks Lenoard! Any of you relic hunters have any idea on the lead ball pictured there? I admire all your relic finds and am hoping I found my first old musket ball.

 

[bunn leonard]

By looking at the photo it being white I would probably would guess it being a pistol ball or 00 shot but its definitely what one would say is a relic, its old way to go, still cant get over the condition of that LC.

 

[Mike (Virginia Beach)]

Man, that's a NICE LC. Don't tell me it came out of the ground like that. It never would here. What did you do to clean it?

 

[ED-NH]

I had to dig into the stone part of the wall for the LC. Funny, I've detected over that spot before, or so I thought. Anyway, I removed about 6 large bowling ball sized stones and then put my hand down there and scooped out dirt. I was just getting my detector in my hand when I saw the LC standing up on edge in my dirt pile. It was pasted with dirt, I only wiped it a tiny bit in the woods for fear of destroying it. I could see stars and the head and that was it. I really think that it was trapped in the stones and sheltered from the electrolysis and other corroding factors in our soil.

I first washed it in cold water using a very soft tooth brush. Then
I put a small dish of hydrogen peroxide in the microwave and boiled it. Then I quickly took it out and dropped the LC in it. Then gave it a cold bath again. I did this three times and this is the result I got. I've read that this method as well as olive oil is the least likely to destroy the coin. Perhaps I should have just left it as is but I wanted that date. I'm not going to sell it so if I ruined some of the value I don't care. This is the first one I ever found that had a readable date. I'm really pleased about it.

BTW: So far at this tiny site I have found:

one large 1/2 dollar sized colonial ornate button in very nice condition (I'll post a pic)

four more flat buttons

one colonial brass/bronze shoe buckle in great shape

one tiny flat button the size of a green pea

two (yes two) draped bust LC no date (one of them was 4 feet from this nice LC, it was on the top of the foundation......

one 6" iron ware colonial fork with most of the handle in tact

lots of colonial nails

a few round lead shot balls about pea sized

I can't wait to continue to excavate this cellar hole. The owner is a long time friend and has been super to let me work this area. As I've said in the past, I don't find many good relics where I live so I am going to do the best I can with this site. My town was established in 1722 and three generals came from there so the history is all around me, just gotta find the spots...

Oh, I dig bottles too am still searching for the colonial dump site here

Sorry for the long post

 

[Mike (Virginia Beach)]

Wow, you're lucky to have a site like that. Sounds like a blast. There's no telling what you might find. Keep up posted with pictures. I've never had a cellar hole to hunt.

 

[Ocean7]

wow that's the best LC I've seen recovered! They don't look like that where I'm hunting. very nice find!

That pea shaped ball is not a musket ball - they are usually about the diameter of a nickle. But I've dug the same thing where I've found musket balls and coins dating back to 1700's. Probably from 1800's but that's just a guess. Judging from the patina - it certainly wasn't fired recently.
HH!

 

[Ray(MaconGA)]

n/t

 

[silvernail]

The hole through which molten lead is poured into the mold is called a SPRUE, as is the waste lead that remains in the entry hole after it cools. Some molds have a built-in sprue cutter to separate the sprue from the ball; otherwise it is just clipped off and there is always some remains of the sprue left on the ball, bullet or whatever is being cast. The rows of balls connected by a strip of lead that someone mentioned would probably be from a "gang" mold for casting several balls in one pour, with the top of the poured puddle cooling to form the connecting "strip." " Pea size" is sort of Approximate, but likely these are about .28-.36 caliber "buckshot", pistol balls, or small game ("squirrel rifle") balls.