What do you guys think?

[Mintberrycrunch]

I found this metal detecting thought it was junk. After a closer look I think it's silver of low purity. Definitely hand made and crude. I posted this in the what is it forum too I hope that's ok. I'd like to hear what the people that are into Native American items think. I could be way off but someone else mentioned it could be and it was kinda what I was thinking. Thanks

 

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[BagLady]

I used to have a pair of silver feather earrings.
I think it's modern, and maybe a mold to make earrings/necklace pieces.
Could be someone was trying their hand at silver smithing.

 

[catherine1]

Take a strong natural magnet to it (not one off the fridge)........if attracted even slightly.....not silver.

 

[Mintberrycrunch]

I just want to update these pictures over here. The first one is the rough edge after I scraped it for testing. Both sides and a close up. If you look at antique feather earrings online nothing even comes close to looking as old and crude as this thing. When did native Americans start working with silver 1850s ? Oh yeah as far as acid testing I get a reaction some red however less than the 925 silver items I test. I have an old thimble that's marked 88.5 or something like that but its at the very bottom I can't quite read it. Tested side by side the 8?.5 thimble is slightly more reactive than the feather.

 

[joshuaream]

Sometimes it's easy to say what something isn't, and this case it's not ancient North American or trade era silver used by North American.

You can google Fur Trade Silver and see examples of what that material typically looks like (usually French, but occasionally English & Danish or even Russia on the West Coast.)

Prehistoric North American groups did occasionally use silver, there aren't a lot of pictures on google, but you can search for Mound Builder Copper and see copper versions (including Archaic copper from before the mound builder time.) The silver they managed to use in ancient times looks like the copper. (Mostly beads, earspools, and thin hammered plates.)

 

[Mintberrycrunch]

Thanks for taking a look and the comments you guys are always cool over here even when I have a random question. I think it' must be pewter and modern. On the plus side I learned a lot about the fur trade and now I know pewter is mostly tin with a few % copper or the older leaded silver. It's crazy how much I've learned from this hobby thanks again. Hopefully next time I make a post here it will be showing off my first point. I found a new creek I already hit and it January 2017 could be the year

 

[crj1968]

I found a new creek I already hit and it January 2017 could be the year

Looking forward to seeing what you find. I am AMAZED at how much stuff people are finding on a daily basis on this site....
Imagine how much stuff is being found by people that aren't posting on here. It's mind boggling...

I like the little feather no matter what it is...

 

[NCPeaches]

Thanks for taking a look and the comments you guys are always cool over here even when I have a random question. I think it' must be pewter and modern. On the plus side I learned a lot about the fur trade and now I know pewter is mostly tin with a few % copper or the older leaded silver. It's crazy how much I've learned from this hobby thanks again. Hopefully next time I make a post here it will be showing off my first point. I found a new creek I already hit and it January 2017 could be the year

I like the pewter feather and it could be old too but not as old as the native american artifacts you will probably find in the new creek. I've found transitional Paleo all the way up to the 1970's stuff in my creek so no telling what you will find, it's all cool. Good luck and HH! Can't wait to see what you find.