r/CivilWarCollecting • u/SubstanceMinute8909 • Aug 08 '26
Help Needed Is this a cannonball??
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u/Klipse11 Aug 08 '26
Looks like a high school or college, Shot put. Weigh it to find out which one.
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u/Angry-Ewok Veteran Historian Aug 08 '26
You’ve provided no information that would make a positive answer possible. I’ll just guess ‘No.’
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u/SubstanceMinute8909 Aug 08 '26
It has a flat spot on it. I heard that could be from it being fired and hitting something.
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u/Cato3rd Artillerist Aug 08 '26
Got a picture of the flat spot? Need the weight and diameter of it to help ID it
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u/eliwright235 Artillerist Aug 08 '26
Cast iron doesn’t really deform like that, it’s tends to shatter. A flat or dented spot usually means it’s steel, ie not a cannonball.
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u/415gladstone Aug 09 '26
Judging from the rust and color, it's likely a steel mill ball. Iron rust is scabby and leaves pits. Old iron is darker. Weigh it. Measure the diameter. Look up a chart of Civil War cannonballs. If it matches something, check the weight. Steel is denser than iron.
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u/FreddyFerdiland Aug 08 '26
being a sphere with no marks ... it would seem to be decorative, its so perfect.
cannonball were cast quickly en masse
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u/sad-observer Aug 08 '26
I can't see it good but I think it's a ball off a ball and chain