Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
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| Variety of Gun Flints Shown in an Old Post. See link below. |
I noticed that my old post on gun flints was getting a lot of views. I wanted to see what else was out there but couldn't find very much on how to identify gun flints. In fact, of the sources given by AI, my old post was one the two top sources. Given the apparent interest and scarcity of information, I'll repost some of that material.
...British are usually a dark grey. The top row in the first picture has some fine examples.
The white ones in the picture are Native American.
And the amber ones on the bottom row are French.
If you look at the picture below, the second flint is the British example and the typical shape.
The last one in that picture is French.
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| Old Gun Flint Shapes. |
I'm trying to relocate the original source for those two pictures and will post it when I find it.
I told the story before, but my first gun flint find was from a battle site in the Caribbean. I was metal detecting on a very steep hillside and detected an oddly shaped and twisted piece of rusty metal. I didn't immediately know what the item was and didn't pay much attention to it. I also found a piece of flint inches away. I finally realized that the one was the hammer of a flintlock and the other, the flint that went with it. I wish I would have recognized both immediately. I would have kept them, but more importantly, they were a sign of the other things that might be found in the area. And, indeed, period buttons, grapeshot and other things were found on the same steep hillside. I'm not sure now, but I think I might have also found a small piece of lead, which could have been the flint cap.
If my memory is correct, it was a typical British example, like most of the other nearby finds
Some people are only interested in the things that find or want to find, but there are nice surprises waiting for you, and it will help if you realize what it is when you see it. It is easy to discard something that is not recognized before you have a chance to learn about it. I recommend reading about all sorts of finds even if you don't expect to find anything like that. There are surprises and you don't want to miss the signs and clues that are presented to you as you work a site.
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Here is the link to one site I found that mentions a few facts on gun flints. It is a site on mountain men and life in the Rockies of the West.
Below is a link to an academic paper entitled, Identification of gunflints from shipwrecks that begins, "Although gunflints have been recognized as an artefact type for a good many years, little primary research has been carried out within this field, with most gunflint papers referring back to a handful of useful – although by now partially outdated publications."
So it sounds like my observation was correct. There aren't many studies on the subject.
Below is one figure from that paper, which gives more examples of British and French fun flints.
They give other examples as well, including some from other countries or nationalities, such as Danish.
Take a look. file-1045-469778-1760.pdf
I did find several other studies and papers on the general topic of gun flints, but none were very helpful for identifying the nationality or source of the flint. Maybe you can find a more comprehensive and useful treatment, but I have not. Some that I found on the general topic had some serious flaw. One required looking at an ad before viewing each and every page. I didn't last long on that and would not recommend it to anybody.
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If anyone knows the original source of my first two illustrations in this post, please let me know so I can provide the attribution.
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Below is an brief excerpt from an interesting article on the beginnings of the Bank of America.
After the devastating earthquake in April 1906, looters roamed the streets of San Francisco. Rescuing gold and silver from his small Bank of Italy, A.P. Giannini gained fame by setting up a makeshift bank on a North Beach wharf and making loans to local residents "on a handshake."
Amadeo Peter Giannini was born in San Jose, California in 1870. The son of Italian immigrants had an outsized personality and unlimited faith in the American dream.
Giannini began by selling fruits and vegetables from a horse-drawn wagon. But he was made for bigger things. At age 34, he launched a small bank in the Italian neighborhood of North Beach, San Francisco. At the time, big banks lent only to large businesses, handled deposits of the wealthy, and frowned on aggressive advertising...
Bank of America: The Humble Beginnings of a Large Bank | OCC
Check out the stock chart. It has done well over the past year.
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Disney confirmed they are ending their "Reimagine Tomorrow" program...
The House of Mouse announced that they are ending the program, along with a slew of other DEI initiatives in an email, first reported by Axios, sent to employees...
DISNEY CEO BOB IGER TELLS EMPLOYEES HE WANTS TO ‘QUIET’ DOWN CULTURE WARS, ‘RESPECT’ THE AUDIENCE
Here is that link.
Disney drops controversial ‘Reimagine Tomorrow’ program as company pares back DEI initiatives
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Nothing in the weather or surf predictions looks very exciting for beach metal detecting. The surf will remain around two to three feet for a week or so and the tides will be pretty moderate.
Good hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net