found a time capsule

[Jeff95531]

I'm 58 so I was around 8 when my Dad got this gift of gold in a split shot plastic container from his fishing buddy Tim in Warren Idaho. Tim was a die hard old school prospector whom I haven't seen since...well 30 years ago when he woke me with a kick to the shoulder and pointed a Colt 45 in my face demanding to know WTF I was doing on his claim?! Fortunately there was nothing wrong with his memory and he holstered it. I posted that story somewhere here before...

Anyway, I looked for and found a time capsule of sorts in my storage unit. This is the first item. Before I left FL to retire, I took it into a jewelry store to see how much they would give me but they said it was too "dirty" and weren't interested. So guess what? I know how to pan now and I have a Miller Table too so frick them! There was even enough to teach Karen how to pan and she did good till she started seeing it get out of the pocket. (all kinds of sizes and not easy). I did test with a magnet and only about 5% was magnetic sand so I left it in. When it hit water for the first time after 50 years? It repelled it even with jet dry and eventualy there were tiny floating tar balls of black sand and when you poked them they burst open and were filled with fine gold. Cool!

Hope you enjoy.

50 year old Warren Idaho Gold Finally Recovered!













Going Treasure Hunting tomorrow!

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

A History of Mining on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska - Grab it through Amazon!

[delnorter]

Hey Jeff, that's great you got out and found the spot you were looking for. I'm familiar with that area and have camped close by quite a few times. There's some neat camping spots along the main creek. I was going to run up there and see how you were doing yesterday but had to do some work around the maintenance station with the front end loader. Boy I'd like to put that thing to work for us.

Ya, more rain is on the way. I got picked for a 12 hour shift along Hwy 199 on Sunday. I'll be the only one on duty unless it gets out of hand. Usually a lot of rock slides with the first rains and freezing nights.

That's neat you used the Ca. CD to locate possible area to hunt. I've misplace mine. I'ts here somewhere. Ha ha.

Mike

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Upgraded Night Vision Monocular Digital Infrared Monocular Telescope for 100% Darkness with 8X Zoom - Grab it through Amazon!

[Jeff95531]

It was like tracing a short in a wire or a leak in a roof...the last place where you could possibly look is it!

I've uploaded my disc to my lap top so use my CD anytime.

 

[Jeff95531]

Here's another piece of the time capsule. A salmon egg jar once full of water that contains what looks to be flour gold, white sand and red garnets. From the same area and time period. Next time the Miller Table is up and running, I'll run it and the gold and get some pictures up.

 

[Jeff95531]

Here's the last item out of the collection. The ring is mostly a mystery except for the little that I do know. My dad either had it made or made it himself using the stone that he most likely had collected as he was a rock hound. The pickers around the gem? I have no idea how he got them. I took the ring into the same jeweler in FL and they explained they would have to "damage" the ring to determine if they were gold, I told them OK. What I got back was the ring, one picker, a guarantee it was gold but no K value and some missing ones which I didn't catch till now. I guess they swiped them for the "free" appraisal to tell me that it would be too much work to remove them. If I only knew then what I know now.

Anyways, I want to remove the pickers and add them to the kitty. No debates on keeping it please. My dad liked Karen the most out of all my wives and I'm certain he would like to contribute to the cause.

Any ideas on an easy release from the ring to my vial? I have a brand new Xacto set I haven't broke in yet.







The center stone is unknown to me but I'd donate it to a worthy cause.

 

[russau]

If that was mine and my father made it or (?) I couldn't ever get rid of it. the momento from your father is priceless!

 

[Jeff95531]

Yeah well Dad didn't raise me that way. He was a Mensa and was very left brain dominate. He was a tough sun of a gun but was pretty much wrapped around Karen's finger and I know it would tickle him to "hang around" with her 24/7.

Nuff said...now how best to remove them?

 

[goldenIrishman]

What is the body of the ring made out of Jeff? The gold had to be attached to it somehow and I have a feeling that most likely it was soldered. That would stick the two materials together without having to worry about melting either the nuggets or the body of the ring. Xacto makes a "razor chisel" blade that might be narrow enough to gently cut the nuggets off. Just take your time and use a light pressure for the cutting so they don't go shooting off and end up in the carpet. I don't think Karen would like you pulling up and burning the carpet and panning the ashes to get the gold back.

 

[Jeff95531]

I believe the band is sterling silver. It had black tarnish inside the band which I removed using toothpaste. I was looking for any engraving and there is none. I was thinking the pickers were soldered on too. If so, a soldering gun tip might heat it up enough to release the pickers from the band. I'd rather get them intact than saw and leave some behind.

I found this also. Need 2K degrees to melt but less to remove?

Try using a propane torch to melt gold. As noted before, you must be extremely careful about safety concerns if you are going to use a torch. However, a torch will melt gold within a few minutes.[12]
The gold should be placed into a crucible. Then, put the crucible on a fireproof surface, and direct a torch toward the gold within the crucible. If you add the chemical borax to the gold first, you can melt it at lower temperatures, which might be needed if you’re using a torch.
Be careful to bring the torch down slowly if you have fine powdered gold in the crucible because you could easily blow it around. Heating the crucible too fast also could crack it. You want to heat it thoroughly and slowly. An oxy-acetylene torch will melt the gold faster than propane.[13]
With a torch, hold the flame well above the gold powder and slowly work in a circular motion. Once the powder begins to heat up and turn red, you can begin to work the torch in slowly until your powder is reduced to a nugget.

 

[goldenIrishman]

Well I made a mistake ( yes... it's true!) and sold off my oxy-acetylene rig before I moved out to Georgia. I didn't want to haul it cross country and didn't really have room for it. At least it went to a good friend that had had his rig stolen a couple of weeks before. I've been thinking of picking up a small oxy-mapp gas to replace it. I've also been eyeing a flux wire welder for heavier projects like the mining trailer mods. Since I'm no longer welding heavy plate steel I figure that should work just fine for my projects.

 

[nh.nugget]

Boy Jeff that stone would make a nice pendant for your wife.

 

[Jeff95531]

Yeah cept neither one of us wear jewelry. It's a pretty stone tho...you can see the picker reflect in it.