..and my oldest coin so far, nothing special. 1944 wheat penny.
I've put in about 16/17 hours of detecting so far in order to find what I think is my first silver item. How can I test this ring to know for sure? Hit on my Compadre dial really hard a shade past Zinc.
If silver it should have some kind of hallmark inside the ring. But a cheap way to test it is with tin foil. Spit on the shiny side, rub on the side of the ring for awhile, if you smell eggs (Sulphur), its silver.
The silver ones I've found have registered higher than a regular quarter. It should be one of the highest numbers possible, so I'd air test a quarter and see which number is higher.
Congrats on your possible first silver. The tin foil test works well, even if you rub the ring with your thumb if its silver it will leave a dark streak-which will smell like sulphur/egg.
If its legit it'll have the 925 stamp inside the band since its fairly new. I drop items lightly on the tile floor (often by accident lol) and silver has a very high pitch to the sound. Non magnetic I hope? If its not stamped its generally copper with a silver plating.
Congratulations on your oldest coin, so far. There's nothing wrong with a Wheat Cent and you are on the path to older ones now! Hope the ring turns out to be silver.
Congratulations on your oldest coin, so far. There's nothing wrong with a Wheat Cent and you are on the path to older ones now! Hope the ring turns out to be silver.