Hunk of Lead

[chuckciao]

I found this hunk of lead buried about 6" deep on the shores of the Mississippi River in Illinois. Has anyone an idea of what this is or what it came from or was used for? It's about 4" Long, 2" Wide and 1/4" Thick.
Thanks

ACE 250

 

[mcdpoor]

Could be a fishing weight or fishing net weight, I live on the Mo. side of the river and you need alot of weight to keep things stationary because of the current. We used spark plugs when I was growing up on the river. If you have a bridge close by it might have come from it also espectially if it is a train bridge.... Side note many years ago the police in Cape Girardeau cut up and disposed of collected guns and threw them in the river.. Down the river they washed ashore and me and buddies picked some up.. I was just a kid but that might have started my need to find lost treasure..

 

[chuckciao]

Thanks mcdpoor,
I'm sure there was no bridge here but the fishing angle is interesting. Someone on another forum thought it might be a piece of an exploded shell from a Hodgkiss Gun but there were no Civil War battles here.

 

[cwilk]

Maybe a hunk of lead sheeting from the keel of a boat? My second guess would be a hunk of lead from a shipment of scrap lead. Just guesses.

Chris

 

[DJR]

I am with Chris on this one it may be part of the keel of an old boat. If you look into how they built boats in the late 1800's-early 1900's that is what they used for keels as well as other parts.

Don

 

[chuckciao]

Makes sense Chris, having been found on the Mississippi River makes it very likely that it came from a boat.