Fact Check: You Can’t Recycle Civil War Era Cannonballs

You never know what people will decide they think is trash or a recyclable but one thing is for sure, ammunition meant to be used in a war from 160 years ago isn't something that's meant to be thrown away. Recently someone thought it would be a good idea to throw a cannonball into the recyclable bin which ended up at the Kent County Department of Public Works.

Because this was considered to be live ammunition, the entire building had to be evacuated while Grand Rapids Police and Fire were called in to make sure everyone was safe. According to County Commissioner Phil Skaggs:

This afternoon, a Civil War-era cannonball was found on the recycling process line. The Grand Rapids police and fire departments were contacted and dispatched to the Recycle Center. Officers determined that the cannonball was live ordinance (gunpowder and likely percussion cap style detonator) and evacuated the premises. The Michigan State Police bomb squad was dispatched and the ordinance was safely removed.

Now what really confuses me is why someone would just throw something of such intrinsic value away into the recycle bin. Hasn't this person ever watched Pawn Stars? You walk in, tell the guy what you have, it goes to a cool cut scene, and he asks you what you want to do with it. From there you say you wanna sell it but he doesn't know how much it's worth. Luckily he's got a guy who's an expert in civil war ammunition. His expert comes in and tells you it's worth $800. You ask for $800 and get laughed at and told the best you can get for it is $150. Helloooooo.