Did I find a Platinum Nugget?!

[NeoTokyo]

Thread closed due to age.
This was platinum, and I sold it.




Heya everyone;


Question: Platinum or Silver or Other?


I found a small silver nugget today that I think may be Platinum.

I think it is right around 1/2 gram +/- and when I drop it in water it falls just as fast as gold.

I know lead does not polish well so I polished it with a cloth and Mothers Mag polish and it shined up perfectly.
I found a beautiful lead nugget two days before and tried to polish a side of it, it did not take the polish.


The only other thing that I can think of is that it might be silver.


If it is a Platinum Nugget, how do you figure a value on it?
Is it worth so many times more than the scrap value like some other gold nuggets?

Thanks Everyone.

-Eric-


These pictures are from my EVO 3D and are not the best photos, the nugget is dark silver, very shiny and bright on the edges, not gold like one of the photos shows.

 

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[NeoTokyo]

Here is a better picture that shows what it REALLY looks like.

It looks just like the first three nuggets on the top left.

 

[blynch35]

nice find, i dont have a clue what it is.

 

[NeoTokyo]

Thanks, I knew it was something "Good" when I fanned the overburden away and it stuck right where it was.

I will have to get a better picture of it tomorrow in the daylight with my Canon 7D, I dont have a Macro but my 24-105mm L ought to do a good enough job to crop the pic.

 

[NeoTokyo]

Ok so I am sitting here shaking the new nugget in my 1oz vial of nuggets (.5g to 2g) and it goes right to the bottom first every time.

That can only mean it is more dense than the gold.

Platinum Density: 21.4
Gold Density: 19.3


What do you guys think?

 

[blynch35]

makes sence to me..

 

[Jack Hamilton]

Looks like mercury covered gold.

 

[Goldwasher]

put some heat to it......if its platinum it wont be affected at all....if its lead it is going to melt right away..i have a feeling its lead...polish tests are not a sure thing, neither is the way it acts when dropped or viewed in a vial etc. heat it up (careful of fumes etc.....) and if its lead you will know in seconds...if it doesnt melt right away, take it to a jewler and see if they will test it for you.

 

[Fullpan]

Fire it up like pville says. My guess is platinum.

 

[NeoTokyo]

I dont have anything to heat it up with so I cant check like that and I really doubt there is mercury on it because I polished the whole thing.

I have several different types of lead from bullets to free lead found in the creek to a lead nugget to alloy sinkers and none of them polished like this did.

Also in a vial of free lead I found in the creek this falls much quicker than the lead, platinum is about double the density of lead.

 

[russau]

take it to a local jewlery store and ask them to see what it is. but it does look like plt. to me from your pictures.

 

[NeoTokyo]

Tomorrow for sure.

Crazy enough I saw a Cash 4 Gold Kiosk in the mall today and they said they pay 80-85% spot for clinkers and nuggets, he had a testing kit there.
I would have never thought that they would pay that much.

 

[Ashman]

I ordered one of these cause i got tired of wondering lol...like 13 bucks and that includes shipping

Amazon.com: Gold Test Acid 10K 14K 18K Platinum & Testing Stone Kit: Home & Kitchen

We have a local guy down on the main street along with all the other we buy gold shops and after i spent a few minutes talking to him he offered 92% pay out for gold. Any nugget/picker that is a couple grams or better he quoted me a min. of 98% and higher. Also no paper work to fill out either...Point is if you hit some local shops and talk to them most of those guys are pretty easy to deal with and once they realize your not some thug out there robbing folks they will typically pay a little more and easier to work with.

 

[MrLee]

What was the verdict on this Neo?

 

[Bell]

Yah, wazzup?

 

[NeoTokyo]

It was platinum.
Sold it already too!
Its the only thing out of my collection that I have sold so far.

 

[Bell]

So what was the weight, value?

 

[mellowyellow]

It was platinum.
Sold it already too!
Its the only thing out of my collection that I have sold so far.

Congrats brotha.... Keep up the good work and keep on gettin..

 

[NeoTokyo]

I got $175 for it from a guy on Craigslist, he brought his own scale and it was just over 1 gram like 1.3 or something, dont remember exactly but it was small so seemed right.
Not bad imo.

 

[Aurabbit79er]

He may get twice that.
You had a natural nugget.
A classic and rare Specimen.
An auction could see who wants it the most.
To bad it wasn't shaped like a face or a cross.
I only find micro flour platinum in my pan.
Good job though.
Think there is more in the place you found i?