Can VID number help identify metal content of ring?

[lamarkeiko]

I have a couple very similar ladies rings I've found along a river. They were both found in the wet sand about 6" down near rivers edge. One ring with a small clear stone was totally black, and when cleaned up was clearly marked with 925 on the inside to identify it as sterling silver. It weighs 21.5 grains and gave a VID number of 19-20 on my Equinox 800 at Park 2. The second ring weighs 25.7 grains, has a small red stone and had no markings inside. The color of the metal is very similar to the silver ring, but did not need to be cleaned up. The metal was still bright. It gives a VID number of 10-11. I would think that some type of precious metal would be identified, so with that VID number, is there an educated guess of what the metal may be.
Lamar

 

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[nuggetdog]

Nice finds, the First ring rang up silver, high tone as it should. Second ring has a mid tone which would signify possible gold or white gold which can be similar in color to silver. Is there a 14K or something similar inscribed on the inside of the second ring?

 

[digger27]

Second ring is too low to be stainless, could be white gold but you need to test it.
Also could be something called nickel silver or sometimes German silver...usually marked as such but sometimes not.
A misnomer, marked that way to sell them but no actual silver in them.
An alloy with nickel so it fits that VDI but I have found a few and they don't usually come up clean as you described.
Hoping for gold, let us know.

 

[smokeythecat]

I don't think it's wise to bet on a VID to identify a metal. It's better to get one of those $15 testing kits. There are so many metals out there used in jewelry today, a piece of jewelry could ring up a lot of places.

 

[lamarkeiko]

Thanks for the replies. Where is the best place to look for a testing kit?
Lamar

 

[smokeythecat]

Ebay or Amazon or some coin dealer.

 

[cudamark]

From what I can see in your photo, the second ring looks plated to me.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

TID numbers are based on conductivity of the target, different metals with the same conductivity and relative size will come up close to same TID numbers.

 

[MackDog]

Looking at the ring looks plated. If it was gold it would be stain free. The second ring looks as if the plating is coming off.