1lb 13oz Silversmith Silver Bar! (I think hehe)

[itzyoboyandrew]

Found this bar at an 1830s house, had been there before (but with a crappy metal detector...) Used my bounty hunter lone star pro today... (still not the best of metal detectors, but it works for my liking.) Found 2 more Ball mason jar lids (found 3 last time...) When i got a "Coin" signal.. Started digging.. and digging... 1ft down later, on the sides of the hole i hit this object, thought it was a can based on the tiny bit i saw. Pulled it out (well pried it out.) And i have this weight i thought, immediately thought lead because it was SO heavy for its size.. So i got home and decided to test it... (Mom said it didnt look like lead.. shes regretting saying that now because of my persistence! "

It passed a bleach tarnish test, acid test (my acid test is weird) and i tried melting it.. I took a lead weight and this thing, put the solder on the lead weight for 45seconds... it melted some off (not alot but it was noticeable..) did 45seconds on the bar, nothing. My dad said try to melt a shaved down part which i did... 45 seconds later... no melting...

I also think this was made by an actual sivlersmith. Why? Well it has a various amount of hammered dents on most sides.. Of varying sizes of hammers (or whatever tool was used.) Like someone was trrying to carve it? or shape it? Even if its not silver, still cool IMO..

\

Note: If you have any tests for me to try, ill do them.. im intrigued..

 

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[ramjet2187]

Awesome find, whatever it is. Hopefully it turns out to be silver!

 

[plymouthian12]

Possibly zinc

 

[itzyoboyandrew]

Possibly zinc

Would zinc melt under a soldering iron? Im not sure

 

[WHADIFIND]

have you tried the ice method?

 

[itzyoboyandrew]

have you tried the ice method?

Yes

 

[Nitric]

Cool find! And exciting whatever it is!!

 

[WHADIFIND]

Yes

Have you tried the powder on the arm trick?

 

[itzyoboyandrew]

Have you tried the powder on the arm trick?

No? What is that? Explain. Wait actually ill just google it lol

 

[Nitric]

Smell it! Sounds insane! But tarnished silver has a distinct smell! It's not always fool proof. but is a quick way to rule stuff out sometimes. Ohh, Wait bad advice incase it's something bad to sniff!

 

[WHADIFIND]

No? What is that? Explain. Wait actually ill just google it lol

You can find it on the "tube".

 

[itzyoboyandrew]

You can find it on the "tube".

Well i took my silver dime.. made a grey mark... took my actual zinc bar.. made no mark (even when i shaved it down).. tried my (now confirmed silver) bar and shaved it and tried... made the same grey mark... I found a silver bar..

 

[itzyoboyandrew]

Smell it! Sounds insane! But tarnished silver has a distinct smell! It's not always fool proof. but is a quick way to rule stuff out sometimes. Ohh, Wait bad advice incase it's something bad to sniff!

Ye like lead lol!

 

[WHADIFIND]

Well i took my silver dime.. made a grey mark... took my actual zinc bar.. made no mark (even when i shaved it down).. tried my (now confirmed silver) bar and shaved it and tried... made the same grey mark... I found a silver bar..

Close nuff for gov't work! Congrats!

Don't worry about testing anymore, I'm sure the ones you try to sell it to will do some more. LOL

 

[itzyoboyandrew]

Close nuff for gov't work! Congrats!

Don't worry about testing anymore, I'm sure the ones you try to sell it to will do some more. LOL

How much would almost 21lb vintage silver bar be even worth.. is this my find of a lifetime?

 

[ConceptualizedNetherlandr]

Find a mm scale and give us real good numbers for the top square, bottom square and height, that should get you close to SG.

 

[WHADIFIND]

How much would almost 21lb vintage silver bar be even worth.. is this my find of a lifetime?

Can't know about a find of a "lifetime" until the end. But, I suspect you could retire on it. If you cashed it and put it into an account paying compound interest for oh, say, 100 years.

It certainly would be considered a find of a lifetime, for me!

 

[itzyoboyandrew]

60mm x 50mm bottom width
40mm x 40mm top wdith
35mm height

 

[ConceptualizedNetherlandr]

I ask for squares and you throw me a rectangle LOL , but it maths out to 10.9 grams /cc. Compare to silver 10.49 and lead 11.36. How good are your measurements?

 

[itzyoboyandrew]

I ask for squares and you throw me a rectangle LOL , but it maths out to 10.9 grams /cc. Compare to silver 10.49 and lead 11.36. How good are your measurements?

Id say exact... but thats not counting gouges.. (which there is some) variations in depth/height...\

Or quite possibly... Silver with some lead mixature?