Is this gold? Found today Panning.

[brw0525]

Hi all,

Found this today panning. It is flat and maluable / bendable. Slight redish color in spots. Is this gold?

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[MrSchulz]

From what I know, Gold is extremely hard so it shouldn't be bendable? Have the other experts find that out.

[bblaha]

If you hit it with a hammer it won't break itll just flatten out. And take a magnet to it, it shouldn't be magnetic. Cool find

[genlee]

Well gold is not very hard it is the opposite and is very malleable. Gold is very heavy I am not sure on the specific gravity of gold but it should not take to much research to find out. So it looks like gold to me.

[brw0525]

Thanks for the replies everyone! Well I took a magnet to the pieces and they are not attracted to the magnet. Looking through a magnifying glass they are not smooth, more of pitting and or ridge lines. The spots that are red can be scraped and show almost copper color mixed in with the gold color. These pieces are really flat with some weight behind them. I found these by digging behind a rock down about a foot. It will bend if I apply pressure.

[Lookin]

In might be gold! Gold is soft, NOT HARD as another poster mentioned. The blockiness of the biggest piece makes it look more like pyrite, but if it is soft (bends), then it is not pyrite. Pyrite is brittle and shatters easily. My suggestion is to take a straight pin and "nail" it into a piece. If it indents it or goes into it, there is a very good chance that you have gold! The copperish and rust colors could just be the other minerals mixed in with it - most "wild" gold is not pure, but has some other metals in the mix. If you know someone with a gold test kit, have them do some scratch tests. If it is gold, KEEP DIGGIN!!!

[wild eyed willey]

I'm certainly not an expert, but I can tell you that your find is very much bigger than the stuff I am finding... Good deal, I hope you find more of the same..
I have noticed that in my panning, I find a lot of lead shot in my pan, so I am pretty sure I'm at least looking in places that heavys collect.

Your find certainly looks to be metal of some sort.

[tesorobandit]

I'm certainly not an expert, but I can tell you that your find is very much bigger than the stuff I am finding... Good deal, I hope you find more of the same..
I have noticed that in my panning, I find a lot of lead shot in my pan, so I am pretty sure I'm at least looking in places that heavys collect.

Your find certainly looks to be metal of some sort.

it might be 14k gold

[brw0525]

wild eyed, call it beginners luck! This is my second time panning. First time found nothing. The strange part about the river I am on it is next to an old mill/ dam. The dam is broken up, but next to my digging hole there seem to be some old brick and what seems to be almost chunks of twisted rock / metal that looks like lava rock but is heavy and feels like metal. I found these prices on the river behindva large rock that I dug behind and down about a foot. There is a larger price about the size of a quarter that I knowvis still there because I saw it sink tonthe bottom of the hole after I moved a large rock. It was getting dark so I had to pack up. Hopefullly it's still there when I go back!

[JT1080]

It looks like pyrite to me. As suggested, hit it with a hammer or poke it with a needle/thumbtack. If it cracks or shatters, it's not gold. The samples look too symmetrical, as if it was chipped off. Coarse gold, which has not been water worn, has a lot of texture to it. And gold that has been water worn is smooth and odly shaped. Unfortunately, neither of you pics shows those characteristics. Of course I could be wrong, I am judging from a photo, I just wouldnt get you hopes up on it being gold is all.

[brw0525]

jT1080, I took a hammer to it and it did not break. I can grab the larger piece and bend it and it will stay bent. I have found pyrite and mica before and have seen it crumble, flake and crack. These pieces are deft some type of metal. They are flat which is strange. I can scratch it with a pair of tweezers and it is the same color in the scratch. There are some copper colors mixed in with it. You are right it does not look water worn though, perhaps the shovel is scraping something up?

[testing123]

Hard to tell from the pics. You sure they're not just pieces of scrap metal like an old tin can or other sheet metal?

[brw0525]

Testing123, not sure, that's why I posted it in the forum. I found this 1 foot down below rocks, dug down to a solid layer of rock. I panned about 6 pans and found no trash except a piece of glass and a small piece of old pottery?

[Iskuli]

very cool. good luck

[Jason in Enid]

It sounds as if it is most likely gold, and nice sized too.

[FoundInNC]

copper or brass sheet? I have never had to question if it was gold that I had in my pan. It is BRILLIANT and you will not have to wonder.

[jhumbert40]

That is gold from what I see...I keep panning there... Good luck and hope you find plenty more...

[hamiddetecting]

Very cool!

[wild eyed willey]

It may be that your shovel scraped some material off of a crashed UFO, keep digging, But if you get the desire to super charge your water heater, and your hair begins to fall out ,I would leave and never go back. ( confused, read the book, the Tommy knockers).

I hope you find the big piece... let us know

[MUD(S.W.A.T)]

Take it to a pawn shop or jewelry store, they can acid test it for you to be sure.....
Keep @ it and HH !!