Meteorite or not ?

jezza85

Newbie
Sep 18, 2019
4
2
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
So its my 2nd time metal detecting and i was in an olive garden with no buildings around. I found 3 separate pieces with the detector all in the same field and nothing else around. They are all magnetic and somehow I feel as though they were 1 piece. They are black and brownish in some places and you can see kind of silver dots around them.

Pictures attached
 

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jezza85

Newbie
Sep 18, 2019
4
2
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
The tests I did so far are these. Magnetic test, and all 3 are magnetic with the smaller ones being stronger. Streak test and Density test find attached. And my brother who works in a lab will be testing for Nickel and Iron tomorrow also. IMG-20190918-WA0013.jpeg 20190918_165429.jpg 20190918_170708.jpg 20190918_170708.jpg
 

galenrog

Bronze Member
Feb 19, 2006
2,016
2,203
The items shown have no visible characteristics of meteorites. Attraction to a magnet is meaningless by itself, as many rocks have sufficient iron to do so. I find that streak tests and specific gravity tests to also hold little meaning. Again due to many rocks showing similar results. Nickel tests, while evidentiary, are not proof. My part of the Pacific Northwest has many areas where much of the country rock and river cobble will test positive for nickel.

If you believe you may still have a meteorite, please have it evaluated by a qualified professional. Be advised, I know of no organization, be they a university, museum, or private party, that provides a definitive evaluation for free.

When I did lapidary, I would cut slices from rocks people brought me, thinking they were meteorites. After proper polishing and etching with dilute nitric acid, of the many hundreds of rocks I sliced for others, less than a handful displayed the telltale widmanstatten pattern typical of nearly all iron/nickel containing meteorites. I charged $5-$20, depending on size.

Time for more coffee.
 

Tpmetal

Silver Member
Jan 4, 2017
4,435
7,556
Western ny
Detector(s) used
equinox 800, Whites mx sport, Garrot carrot, bounty hunter time ranger
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
The items shown have no visible characteristics of meteorites. Attraction to a magnet is meaningless by itself, as many rocks have sufficient iron to do so. I find that streak tests and specific gravity tests to also hold little meaning. Again due to many rocks showing similar results. Nickel tests, while evidentiary, are not proof. My part of the Pacific Northwest has many areas where much of the country rock and river cobble will test positive for nickel.

If you believe you may still have a meteorite, please have it evaluated by a qualified professional. Be advised, I know of no organization, be they a university, museum, or private party, that provides a definitive evaluation for free.

When I did lapidary, I would cut slices from rocks people brought me, thinking they were meteorites. After proper polishing and etching with dilute nitric acid, of the many hundreds of rocks I sliced for others, less than a handful displayed the telltale widmanstatten pattern typical of nearly all iron/nickel containing meteorites. I charged $5-$20, depending on size.

Time for more coffee.

dang thats a generous price! as for someone who understands how long it actually takes to properly polish something...raise your prices!
 

galenrog

Bronze Member
Feb 19, 2006
2,016
2,203
All I needed to do was slice off a piece that would give me a few square inches of flat. Less than 10 minutes start to finish. Very little wear on saw, grinders, and polishers. Nitric was very cheap back then, too.
 

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