CARVED is a term which has come to refer to bullets and lead artifacts which have been altered by soldiers for some reason. Sometimes these fall into the category which has come to be known as trench art in later periods. The bullet is carved into a chess piece, a sexual object, an animal, or some other recognizable object. 

    Some carved bullets may be considered just doodles, or messing around, whittling. Obviously the bullet has been carved and its original shape changed. However, the work either had no plan or the intent was never carried out. the bullet has just been carved.

     Lead is relatively soft for a metal, and one way of altering a bullet is to pound it on a flat surface. Some bullets have been flattened very carefully to retain their outline and still show many features of the original. One type of pounded bullet seems to be strictly utilitarian and have no artistic pretensions. The crudest pounded bullets have simply been flattened to make game counters and poker chips.

     Since lead is somewhat readily carved many utilitarian objects have been made to replace lost items. Pieces of lead seem to have been made into pencils, buttons, toys called buzzers, etc. Fishing sinkers, whistles and other objects have been found.

     The nipple, sometimes called a cone in writing of the period, held the percussion cap. If damaged by being hit, the nipple could be deformed and might cause misfires or difficulty in accepting a percussion cap.  A carved or formed NIPPLE PROTECTOR is one of the common utilitarian objects made from a bullet.

     Obviously, the more recognizable a representation is, the more collectible a carved bullet may be. A face would be worth much more than a generalized shape.

     Some carved bullets reveal characteristics of the of the bullet design or highlight features. For example, Union bullets may contain designs or lettering in the bullet base which denote arsenal of origin or mode of manufacture. A bullet which has the base carved away may reveal these features more readily. Enfield bullets have numerous numbers and lettering which seem to be maker's designations.

   Even crudely pounded or carved bullets are worthy of consideration. If you have never put a blade to a bullet, you have no idea how difficult the process is. Such bullets have appeal because they were touched and manipulated by a soldier at the time. A fully realized carving would have taken hours. These are very personal time capsules of a historical period.