Forget musket balls. I found half a mold..

[1859large]

I think it is a 70 cal mold, just one side. It is to large for a 50 cal ball which I have. It appears to be made of lead. The other side was no where to be found. I did find a 1780s shoe buckle square frame 2 5/8"across, copper, about 20 yards away. I think it is likely that this site has been occupied since the early 1700s. No coins where found nearby but at this point my arm gave out. I need to go back before the grass gets too high.

HH

1859

 

[7centsworth]

That is a nice find , congratulations.

 

[rob]

Go back and look for the other half. Also, I think it may be a .69 caliber (70 cal?). What was the Civil War activity like in your area. Someone was definitely making musket balls there. Great find!

Rob in Tennessee

 

[Digger]

Good stuff! Keep hunting that site. There are bound to be some old coins hiding amongst these finds. Thanks for posting. HH Randy

 

[1859large]

No civil war activity here I'm afraid. Eastern Canada. The french burned out nearby towns 3 times about 1700, nasty buggers. They attacked in winter and burned everything standing. The winter population was small (much of the activity was seasonal and most went back to England in the fall - fog birds) and some places where deserted and the french where fast and brutal from overland, most defences faced the sea. Only one group of settlers escaped capture on an island with their valuables but the rest where rounded up and shipped back to England. There are a few places where the prisoners where kept prior to removal but those are hard to get to. The inland tracks could have gone anywhere in the depths of winter, 300 years later it would be a challenging job to check out possible routes althought where they came from is a well known fortress placed on land granted them by an English king, silly bugger too. Give a land grant near your settlements to an enemy.

My best quess i thatt this belonged to some fisherman settler who owned a surplus brown bess, we have found several butt plates from the India Pattern Brown Bess ca. 1795-1830. Lots where made and a lot of surplus ended up on the east coast. These fishermen cast fishing weights from lead and lead splatter and pieces, sheet and chunk are about the most common item we find.

I have not seen a mold before this one. Most molds appear to have been made of soaked wood which could be easily made but not for musket balls which require precision.

1859

 

[hunter12]

The Brown bess was a 75 cal, If the mold is a 69 cal then it will probably be French. Early 1700 s to mid 1700 ssounds right. French and Indian Wars. congrats on a great find.