Civil War Artillery Shell, ca. 1863
Appraised Value:
$1,500
IMAGE: 1 of 2
Appraisal Video: (2:33)
Appraised By:
Rafael Eledge
Arms & Militaria
Owner
Shiloh Civil War Relics
Appraisal Transcript:
GUEST: It looks like something that came from a cannon or a gun, but I got it at a yard sale for three dollars. It's used as a doorstop.
APPRAISER: What it is, is a Civil War cannon projectile.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: It's three inches across,
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: And it fires out of a three-inch rifle cannon.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: They call it an archer shell. And they call it a shell because at the top we have the fuse hole.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: And that's where the powder went inside, and it would have had a wooden plug that seated down inside the hole, and it had
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: a wick that came out of the top,
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: called a time fuse.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: And it would have burned like a wick until it was time for the cannon shell to explode.
GUEST: Like a firecracker.
APPRAISER: Exactly. Just like a firecracker.
GUEST: Yeah.
APPRAISER: If the fuse was still in it,
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: and it was airtight, the powder... would still be live. Recently, there have been a couple of accidents from trying to disarm the pieces manually
GUEST: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: that have caused serious injury.
GUEST: I thought gunpowder disintegrates over time.
APPRAISER: No. And see,
GUEST: No.
APPRAISER: that's a common misconception.
GUEST: Really?
APPRAISER: Because if it's airtight, it's still live. The shell itself is made of cast iron. The top part and the middle body is iron.
GUEST: Uh-huh, uh-huh.
APPRAISER: This... you know what material that is?
GUEST: Mm-mm.
APPRAISER: It's lead. This is what they call a lead sabot, or sabot. This was fired out of an ordinance rifle-- a rifle cannon. And lead is a softer material than the iron of the body of the shell.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: And so when you load the cannon, you have the powder behind the shell here at the bottom.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: And when the powder charge explodes, the force from the explosion spreads the lead out,
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: and as it goes down the cannon barrel... it spins, it goes on the lans and grooves of the barrel, causing it to go further and be more accurate.
GUEST: And does the fact that this is still on it mean it was... means it was never fired?
APPRAISER: Probably, because we can't see the lans and grooves. This one's in very nice shape. If you had to guess, what's your $3 doorstop worth?
GUEST: A friend of mine who belongs to the Stone Mountain Historical Society thought maybe $500.
APPRAISER: Well, he's close. One in this pretty shape, with the sabot, would bring about $1,500.
GUEST: Oh, okay.
APPRAISER: But is the door that it's holding a $1,500 door?
GUEST: No.
APPRAISER: We need to get it away from that door. (chuckling)
