How available are 19th century pieces of military artillery?

GoldenEyeNumismatics · May 11, 2009 1:26PM

I've always thought it would be extremely cool to own an old cannon. How available are 19th century US military cannons, and at what price range?

tightbudget · May 11, 2009 1:28PM

I dunno, but it sure would be cool to have one of those on the front yard.

tightbudget · May 11, 2009 1:29PM

Gatling Gun

Edited to add a cannon:
Cannon
Heritage search

HTubbs · May 11, 2009 1:32PM

<< Gatling Gun >>

Wow, I'd love to own that!

Swampboy · May 11, 2009 2:14PM

To keep this thread U.S. coin related here's a California gold rush artifact.
Took this pic at Fort Sutter Sacramento, CA.
Evidently Sutter got these cannon (and at least one other I saw there) from a warship being decommissioned in the Hawaiin Islands.

1840s.

jsf · May 11, 2009 3:09PM

try McBride's Gun Shop in Austin. I don't know if they still have the same owners though.

Some customers of theirs had cannon back in the 60's and 70's, fired Snappy Tom cans full of metal scraps, range was several hundred yards, would defoliate trees, easily.

jacksongto · May 11, 2009 5:00PM

Kind of a funny "cannon" related story....

While I was working as a search and rescue controller in Detroit I got a call one day that went like this....

caller: Hello, I'd like to see what I can do about getting a Coast Guard permit to fire a cannon?

me: Ooookkaaay, why are you calling the Coast Guard?

..well the police on Harsen's Island said we can't shoot it unless we get a permit from the Coast Guard

..a cannon?

yes!! (proudly) it is a real cannon that shoots 12 pound cannon balls about 1/2 mile, once a year a bunch of us get together and have a party and shoot the cannon, we shoot it across the St. Clair River (Hence the need for a "Coast Guard" permit)

and where do the cannon balls land?

On Walpole Island!!

Walpole Island? Canada?

Yes!!

Walpole Island? Canada? The INDIAN RESERVATION?

Yes!!

OK, let me see if I understand, you want to fire 12-pound cannon balls across an international boundry into a foreign country that also happens to be an Indian Reservation? A bunch of drunks? Do I have it right? And you would like the Coast Guard to issue you a permit to do this?

yes!! ummm, welll, when you put it that way, maybe, we ahhhhh......*click*

you can't make a story like this up

**Edit for a little graphic**

Elcontador · May 11, 2009 5:16PM

True cannon story - The crazy soldier-poet, Gabriele d'Annunzio, had the prow of the battleship, Puglia, at his villa. To wake him up in the morning, it would fire a cannon at 5 AM.

Near his death, he started sleeping in a coffin to "get used to it." Even Benito Mussolini thought the guy was a bit strange. Gardone, d'Annunzio's villa on Lake Garda, still stands, and is preserved as he left it when he died. A friend of my father's visited the place decades ago. I asked him about it and he started laughing.

D'Annunzio's poetry is well known in Italy and school kids still study it. An Italian I know says it sucks.

BTW, if you want some really weird military memorabilia, check out Italian military posters from the Fascist period. The most bizarre one I've seen had a soldier looking up at a giant Julius Caesar, both of who where holding the staff upon which rested the flag of one of his legions.

GrumpyEd · May 11, 2009 5:41PM

A US cannon would be neat, especialy if you can get one with some known history.

It's not a cannon but it's a great story if you like more modern military stuff.

A captured Russian tank was used by Germans then driven into a pond/lake. A kid saw the tracks leading in and always wanted to see if there was a tank. Check out the pics:

Awesome pics of the tank

garsmith · May 11, 2009 6:10PM

<< I dunno, but it sure would be cool to have one of those on the front yard. >>

great for home protection

droopyd · May 11, 2009 7:40PM

There was an old Civil War fort near where I grew up - the earthen embankments served as the left field wall for our softball field.

Whenever someone would hit a ball over the embankment and into what had been the interior of the fort we'd occasionally come away with some old bullets and metal fragments. Supposedly there was a fairly substantial cannon battery during the war but we never found anything identifiable as cannon parts.

Never found any coins there either.

Gemini · May 11, 2009 8:07PM

I'd like to see the cannon that fired this thing.

PerryHall · May 11, 2009 9:36PM

<< I'd like to see the cannon that fired this thing. >>

That looks more like a bomb than a artillery projectile.

PerryHall · May 11, 2009 9:40PM

Check on gunbroker.com which is like eBay for guns, rifles, shotguns, revolvers, military equipment, antique weapons, bayonets, etc.

MidLifeCrisis · May 11, 2009 9:51PM

<< Kind of a funny "cannon" related story....

you can't make a story like this up >>

Indeed!

jacksongto · May 11, 2009 10:31PM

<< 

<< Kind of a funny "cannon" related story....

you can't make a story like this up >>

Indeed!

>>

...I forgot to mention something else he said...

But don't worry, we don't shoot it when ships are going by

..ok, that's good

At least they were being careful enough not to run the risk of blowing a hole through a Lake Freighter

good stuff that call was

pocketpiececommems · May 11, 2009 10:41PM

More coin related to cannons. Wasn't there a cannon that was melted down and made into coins or tokens to commemorate it?

pheh · May 11, 2009 10:47PM

<< yes!! (proudly) it is a real cannon that shoots 12 pound cannon balls about 1/2 mile, once a year a bunch of us get together and have a party and shoot the cannon, we shoot it across the St. Clair River (Hence the need for a "Coast Guard" permit)

and where do the cannon balls land?

On Walpole Island!!

Walpole Island? Canada? >>

Hilarious

drwstr123 · May 11, 2009 10:48PM

This one's available at auction on May 23....

LINK

notwilight · May 11, 2009 10:49PM

In California there is a cooling off period that I think is proportional to the square of the caliber so perhaps you'll have to wait a while for a canon out here.

jacksongto · May 11, 2009 11:04PM

<< 

<< yes!! (proudly) it is a real cannon that shoots 12 pound cannon balls about 1/2 mile, once a year a bunch of us get together and have a party and shoot the cannon, we shoot it across the St. Clair River (Hence the need for a "Coast Guard" permit)

and where do the cannon balls land?

On Walpole Island!!

Walpole Island? Canada? >>

Hilarious

>>

It was hilarious, I imagined the headline....

"Opening shots fired in the Harsens Island Rebel - Walpole Indian Nation War!!!"

PerryHall · May 11, 2009 11:07PM

<< More coin related to cannons. Wasn't there a cannon that was melted down and made into coins or tokens to commemorate it? >>

Are you thinking of "gun money" made by King James II from melted cannons?

ambro51 · May 12, 2009 12:14AM

As an ex civil war reenactor/shooter there are indeed original firing cannons of the civil war readily available. Expect to pay from 8 to 15 thousand dollars. You will need a trailer to haul it with, a cassion to carry all the ammo, and lot of room to store the thing. Each shot is about $10 in power and if you shoot live...the ball (usually zinc).

A 12 pound napoleon will slam home an iron ball with enough force to go through a half dozen cars. They are serious stuff.

The ex mayof or lancaster Pa is the largest private owner of civil war artillery, he has several hundred pieces (most operationsl).

Steal a Cannon from a cemetery and get caught....serious prison time as many have discovered. Serial numbers or surviving guns are well recorded...every once ina while though one comes up out of a creek bed.

My left eardrum was perforated during the 125th annv. reenactment at gettysburg I was with battery D 5th us artillery shooting an original 1841 smoothbore.

Walmann · May 12, 2009 12:22AM

If you want a cannon get one that throws a decent size ball.
Meg Mons in Edinburgh Scotland, throws 330lbs with a two mile range.

lasvegasteddy · May 12, 2009 12:25AM

gotta love that gattlin-gun

Sparkle · May 12, 2009 3:39AM

And I thought bringing home rusty old saws and farm implements from flea markets was bad enough...

Military artillery? Are you serious??

ambro51 · May 12, 2009 3:59AM

In the NSSA (North south skirmish association) we had (have) artillery competitions, this is strictly accuracy with a single projectile, at a fixed range of 200 yards. There are two classes, rifled guns and smoothbore guns. Most of the rifled guns are able to put all their shots into one ragged five hole group. Another target is a silouette of an opposing artillery piece, which obviously was a common target during the war. Hits are counted when the ball strikes the wheels crosspiece or barrel.

One year, the ex lancaster mayor brougt an Eight inch mountain howitzer. Thats an eight inch bore, and a correspondingly large zinc ball. First round, actually landed on the ground in front of the target frames....then Charlie ramped up the load, and the next MUCH louder round took off one side of the target frame. We could feel the concussion from the shock wave coming back from the backstop, and hitting against the winnebago we were next to...about 1/4 mile off.

serious big fun they play with mortars too.....lobbing a series of balls to a group around a stake a measured 100 yards off.

Grown men will do such silly things, eh?

FullStepJeffs · May 12, 2009 4:08AM

<< serious big fun they play with mortars too..... >>

That depends on who's shooting them, and who they are aimed at.

There was a great motar clip out there of an insurgent happily dropping mortar rounds in a tube... and then a round misfired and took out the insurgent. Now, that was fun. Morale of the story... check your ammo... twice.

Steve

TrainNut · May 12, 2009 4:17AM

<< I dunno, but it sure would be cool to have one of those on the front yard. >>

ya it would be

MidLifeCrisis · May 12, 2009 5:00AM

<< 

<< More coin related to cannons. Wasn't there a cannon that was melted down and made into coins or tokens to commemorate it? >>

Are you thinking of "gun money" made by King James II from melted cannons? >>

Here is an example...

DieClash · December 21, 2010 10:18AM

Edited: wrong bloody post.

CaptHenway · December 21, 2010 11:17AM

<< Edited: wrong bloody post.

>>

That's OK. Being from the Detroit area I enjoyed the Walpole Island story, and must have missed it the first time around.
TD

How available are 19th century pieces of military artillery?

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