11/18/15 Report - Old Bullet Or Not - That Is The Question. Predicted Big Treasure Coast Surf Disappears.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

Picture submitted by Ken B.

Yesterday I posted pictures of what I thought might be an old bullet and asked for help with an ID.  I sent some information and pictures to Ken B., who sent me the following message in response.

I have forwarded the info to my friend Vernon, who said he'll give it look and get back to me.
After looking at some reference books I have here at the office , I proposed that it might be a "paper cartridge" conical round from around the Seminole War time frame, but with my limited expertise, that would qualify as a 'WAG" - a wild-assed guess!

  
The base and overall look makes this projectile look like a conical "Minnie Ball" type item, but I have never seen a Minnie ball with the crimping marks your bullet has.  Also, the crimping does not look evenly distributed like in modern ammunition, which led me to think of the old hand loaded paper cartridge transitional firearms between old style muzzleloaders and the full on brass cartridge....  I know some Spenser Rifles used paper cartridges.  I have attached a picture of one below...

Vernon, by the way, is a forensics expert.

Thanks much Ken.  I like your "WAG" terminology.  Your WAG is way more informed than mine, but I noticed the hash marked rim and wondered if that might mean it was from a paper cartridge.

Your comments helped.  I already learned a few things.  I'm eager to see what your friend has to say.  It is always good to network with bright people.  Thanks for your help Ken!

Here are some pictures I found after reading what Ken said. You can see different kinds of bullets in these paper cartridges.

Interesting! That old grungy bullet, whatever it turns out to be, has already led me to some new and interesting information.

It is important to be able to identify various things in the field.  They can be important signals.  If you can identify the approximate age or identity of items you dig up, that can be very helpful.

I remember various times when I didn't recognize the importance of things that I dug up and wish I would have known better.

You can use the following link to look at more pictures of old bullets and related items.

See pictures of more bullets and cartridges.

I'll try to keep you informed as I learn more about the bullet.

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Unfortunately I was right yesterday.  The predicted ten foot Treasure Coast surf has disappeared from the predictions already.  First they dropped it down from 10 to 7 feet, then they dropped it down some more.  Now it is only about six feet, which is not much different than what we already have.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net