FOUND! CACHE OF 5 SILVER INGOTS!!

[bronzecannons]

Gentlemen,

Today I found a cache of 5 Silver Ingots weighing a total of 5.5 lbs! It was less than a foot deep.

INGOT DETAILS​

​

1. 0.85 lbs. 1.750 inches diameter​

2. 1.25 lbs. 1.850 inches diameter​

3. 1 lb. 1.755 inches diameter​

4. 0.90 lbs. 1.70 inches diameter​

5. 1.30 lbs. 1.92 inches diameter​

​

Total Combined Weight of 5.5 lbs.​

Has anyone ever seen Silver ingots like this? I wanted to confirm if they are Silver but due to the COVID-19 all the pawn shops seem to be closed. All I know is that they are very heavy size. Non-metalic (magnet doesn't stick). Possibly even PLATINUM?? LOL.. wishful thinking.

Can anyone help me identify this rusty can they were buried in?

Thanks in advance.
TW

 

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[ecmjamsit]

Looks like silver to me. I wonder if somebody smelted some silver electrical contacts. I live near Pueblo, Colorado and it is an old precious smelter town from the mining heydays of Colorado. I have found gold, zinc, silver,etc. metal detecting and those balls look silver. Like I have posted previously, I would have an XRF analysis done by a reputable precious metals dealer.

 

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[Argentium]

We can all speculate until "the cows come home" until the metal is examined with scientific analysis, speculation is all it is .

 

[GoDeep]

We can all speculate until "the cows come home" until the metal is examined with scientific analysis, speculation is all it is .

Actually, I didn't speculate, I used science. There are only two metals with that atomic weight, are non magnetic and silverish in color: Silver and lead

My post from earlier:

Weight of silver can vary, depending on the density of the casting, but roughly .379 pounds per Cubic Inch.

So take the diameter of your balls, figure the volume in CI and multiply by .379 and whola!

So your 1.850 diameter ball has a CI volume of 3.32 x .379 = 1.258 pounds and you measured it at 1.25 so it appears to be silver. Though lead comes in at .41 per CI, so it is close and given that the spheres are of unknown porosity and perhaps not perfectly round and the scale being used is an old mechanical scale it could be lead as well. I'd put them on a digital scale for a more accurate reading and then measure the diameter with a caliper all around to see how uniform the diameter is.

As was discussed earlier, it is possible they are an alloy of more exotic metals, such as a Tungsten Alloy, but they couldn't be lesser mixes, such as Zinc and aluminum or nickel mixes, these balls are way to heavy to be more common, lighter metals such as those.

 

[sprailroad]

Have not heard that one before, "Bleach" Well.....you did say it was on Google, and I think it was Abraham Lincoln that said, If it's on the inter-net, then it must be true. You go first.

 

[Lost Signal]

Obviously, this is not the way to ID a metal, but my back is hurt and I'm stuck on the sofa, so I overlaid a barber dime, that I just found (this is it right out of the ground) and a musket ball. I think the ingots are going to turn out to be silver. Looking forward to the answer.

 

[Fossils]

Like others have suggested, you should try to obtain an acid test kit, which can very easily verify whether or not the balls are truly silver. Any sort of volume to mass calculations are going to liable to inaccuracies due to differences in casting.

 

[tomclark]

cannonball fishing sinkers LOL

 

[Ol' Kentuck]

Just saw this... so I am late to the party.

IF those were silver they would be black as night. *** IMO

With that said... I would be VERY careful handling them until you know exactly what you are holding.

There are other metals which would resist corrosion / tarnish... one of which would be white gold of course.

Silver is ruled out simple by the lack of tarnish... but something of more value is now in the sights.

Just hoping what you have found is not an element that was put there to "dispose" of due to dangers.

Thank you AARC, you are correct in urging caution. Gentlemen, the reason I suggested caution in handling these, and the use of a Geiger counter in my previous posts, is because they very much resemble the Plutonium Pits used to arm Warheads. Those pits are usually around 5cm in radius and weigh app. 11.48oz per cubic inch, which is in line with the items in question. Plutonium is also chemically reactive so the Pits are commonly plated with a thin layer of Silver or Nickel.

They are known to cause accelerated decay, or Radiation Corrosion, to any container they are stored in. Plutonium being highly susceptible to any moisture or humidity, burying in the ground may increase corrosion up to 200 times (depending on the soil). Judging the state of that can after only being in the ground app. 40 years, well, you get the picture.

I'm hoping it's silver and a big pay day for the OP, but we all have to use common sense when we dig up something strange that can't be immediately identified. Not everything people go to great lengths to bury in the ground is valuable. Sometimes they are trying to dispose of/store something harmful. Paranoid? Maybe, but in todays world you can't be too careful.

Honestly, I would even hesitate to use an acid test until after I checked for any background radiation first.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pit_(nuclear_weapon)

 

[Fossils]

I doubt that the balls are plutonium due to the metal's tendency to oxidize very quickly. That being said, caution is of the utmost importance. It's better to proceed slowly and be safe rather than take unnecessary risks.

 

[releventchair]

cannonball fishing sinkers LOL

If not , they were likely cast in a cannonball sinker mold.
The seams and sprues show real well.

Will be interesting to find out what they are.
No sign of an eye or wire cast with them for fishing use.

Of course ,they could feed a cannon too...A 2 inch bore Falconet or something.

Wheel weights are of varied compositions besides lead. Easy and cheap to melt and mold with.
Not saying that's what the O.P. has , but that surface conditions can vary with the composition ,or even purity of the elements melted. Fluxing , skimming ect.

 

[gunsil]

All cannon ball sinker molds I have seen were made from aluminum. You cannot cast silver in an aluminum mold, the molten silver will melt the aluminum mold.

 

[releventchair]

All cannon ball sinker molds I have seen were made from aluminum. You cannot cast silver in an aluminum mold, the molten silver will melt the aluminum mold.

Steel 1.5 for sale out of California.

 

[Coinstar magnet]

I'm no expert but thought lead weights at first..but saw they weighed 5.5 pounds....that's pretty dense...what a cool find!

 

[fyrffytr1]

Everyone keeps saying that if they were silver they would be tarnished. Well, if they are lead wouldn't they also be discolored?

 

[Fossils]

It's perfectly possible for silver to stay untarnished. There's no general rule for how much tarnish should be on a silver coin, as varying soil and climate conditions can make a huge difference. I've pulled out Barber Quarters that were bright and shiny like they were just minted. If anything, the lack of tarnish should indicate that the balls could be silver. Silver is one of the least reactive metals out there, so it will hold up a lot better in comparison to lead, nickel, or zinc.

 

[gunsil]

Steel 1.5 for sale out of California.
View attachment 1834540

1&1/2 ounces or 1&1/2" diameter is not a cannon ball sinker size. You will not be able to cast silver in that mold either. Silver is sand cast or cuttlefish bone cast at times but usually investment cast which is a type of plaster. The steel mold here would cool the silver too fast preventing a full pour. You could not possibly pre-heat a steel hand held mold to a high enough temperature to have the silver flow for a complete pour and still be able to hold onto the mold. Silver is usually heated to about 2,000 degrees to pour for casting.

 

[releventchair]

1&1/2 ounces or 1&1/2" diameter is not a cannon ball sinker size. You will not be able to cast silver in that mold either. Silver is sand cast or cuttlefish bone cast at times but usually investment cast which is a type of plaster. The steel mold here would cool the silver too fast preventing a full pour. You could not possibly pre-heat a steel hand held mold to a high enough temperature to have the silver flow for a complete pour and still be able to hold onto the mold. Silver is usually heated to about 2,000 degrees to pour for casting.

I thought the picture was a one and a half pound mold. I could be wrong though.

So you thinking the o.p.'s castings are of lead or low melt temp metal(s)? They certainly look like they were cast in a two piece hinged or through bolted mold more than any sand/acid/resin bound mold.

I've no experience pouring large volume silver , but if a mold had to remain heated after pre heating during a pour , I certainly wouldn't be trying to hold on to it by hand.

 

[dc.gronlund]

I just came across a video that show these same sized ingots in zinc to solder/swedge cables. Not saying that's what they are, but they look very similar and I think they used silver solder way back...

 

[King Ghidorah]

i was gonna say maybe some kind of solder composition

 

[Rookster]

That is amazing.