Page 295 - Treasure, World & U.S. Coin Auction 17

1519. American naval “12-pounder” grenade
shell from the Niagara River area of Canada,
War of 1812 period. 6 lb 1 oz, 4” in diameter. Hollow
ball with large hole in side for inserting powder, a type
of ball fired from Coehorn mortars for ship-to-ship
combat and also thrown as grenades, this one with
very smooth surfaces and a few areas of rust. With
photo-certificate. Estimate: $300-$450.

1520. Large iron cannonball (“24-pounder”)
from Vicksburg, Mississippi, U.S. Civil War-
era (1860s). 23 lb 7 oz, 6” in diameter. Solid and
intact, with minor pitting and rust but only surface
deep, impressively large and heavy. Estimate: $200-
$300.

1521. Wooden artillery quoin, mid- to late 1700s. 1022 grams, 31” long. Before Gribeau-
val’s reform of the French artillery system in 1765, which mandated the use of elevating screws
to raise the cannon breech, cannons were “aimed” by the use of a device such as the one in this
lot, which was basically a stair-stepped wedge on a pole. The pole on this piece appears to be a
replacement but the quoin itself is clearly old, worn and a bit worm-eaten. While quoins were
still used in France after the reforms, most likely this piece was shipped to America when France
started supplying the American rebels during the Revolutionary War. Estimate: $500-$750.

1522. Naval artillery gunner’s wooden linstock (for firing cannons), early 1800s,
probably American (War of 1812). 452 grams, 25-1/2” long. A wooden rod with rope wrapped
around brass screw at top and sharp steel point at bottom, the rope a period replacement for what
was known as a slow match (rope soaked in combustible material) for firing cannons and the
bottom point for driving into the ground or a wooden deck between uses, attractively patinated,
the cuff for the bottom point just a bit corroded. With photo-certificate. Estimate: $350-$500.

1523. Lot of 17 copper cannon fuses and 4 copper firing caps, mid-1800s. 81 grams
total. Small copper tubes with slit, tapered ends and broken-off tops, plus circular caps, these
specimens all found on a mid-1800s wreck in the English Channel but the same design as found
on battlefields of the US Civil War. Estimate: $100-$150.

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