FOUND! CACHE OF 5 SILVER INGOTS!!

[bronzecannons]

Gentlemen,

Today I found a cache of 5 Silver Ingots weighing a total of 5.5 lbs! It was less than a foot deep.

INGOT DETAILS​

​

1. 0.85 lbs. 1.750 inches diameter​

2. 1.25 lbs. 1.850 inches diameter​

3. 1 lb. 1.755 inches diameter​

4. 0.90 lbs. 1.70 inches diameter​

5. 1.30 lbs. 1.92 inches diameter​

​

Total Combined Weight of 5.5 lbs.​

Has anyone ever seen Silver ingots like this? I wanted to confirm if they are Silver but due to the COVID-19 all the pawn shops seem to be closed. All I know is that they are very heavy size. Non-metalic (magnet doesn't stick). Possibly even PLATINUM?? LOL.. wishful thinking.

Can anyone help me identify this rusty can they were buried in?

Thanks in advance.
TW

 

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[SWINGER1969]

What ever they turn out to be its still a pretty cool find Congrats

 

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[Mudflap]

Might we be looking at a babbett alloy?

 

[GoDeep]

I just came across a video that show these same sized ingots in zinc to solder/swedge cables. Not saying that's what they are, but they look very similar and I think they used silver solder way back...
View attachment 1834878View attachment 1834879View attachment 1834880View attachment 1834881

Those almost look identical in their castings. If his size and weights are anywhere close to correct, that can't be Zinc, far too heavy for Zinc, but like you said, perhaps there are instances where they used silver solder.

 

[dc.gronlund]

Those almost look identical in their castings. If his size and weights are anywhere close to correct, that can't be Zinc, far too heavy for Zinc, but like you said, perhaps there are instances where they used silver solder.

It was such a random video too. Just popped up on an electrical engineering themed list.

 

[chub]

Wheres the OP?

Chub

 

[Horst]

what a cool find.....maybe they had a couple of giant werewolves they wanted to shoot with some large silver balls....Man I like your find!!!!

 

[GoDeep]

OP, any update on what these mystery objects be composed of?

 

[Thoadin]

This is very cool. Old timers buried their silver, so maybe the person that did this smelted some of their silver and buried it for later only to never return for it.

 

[weregolf]

A very nice Silver treasure
..lets go celebrate

 

[bronzecannons]

Update: The pawn shop took one sample over to a nearby refinery. The refinery guy immediately told him that those Silver balls were used for Silver PLATING. They are 100% Silver. Sold two to the local pawnshop (he only ended up paying us 80% of the Silver value because of course he has to get his cut). Anyway, just thought I'd let you guys know what happened in the end.
TW

 

[CoinFetcher]

Update: The pawn shop took one sample over to a nearby refinery. The refinery guy immediately told him that those Silver balls were used for Silver PLATING. They are 100% Silver. Sold two to the local pawnshop (he only ended up paying us 80% of the Silver value because of course he has to get his cut). Anyway, just thought I'd let you guys know what happened in the end.
TW

So they ended up being real....

Don’t settle for 80%!!

 

[ARC]

Thanks for the update... congrats.

 

[Red-Coat]

Update: The pawn shop took one sample over to a nearby refinery. The refinery guy immediately told him that those Silver balls were used for Silver PLATING. They are 100% Silver. Sold two to the local pawnshop (he only ended up paying us 80% of the Silver value because of course he has to get his cut). Anyway, just thought I'd let you guys know what happened in the end.
TW

Good for you!

What an unusual find.

 

[JackalopeZL1]

No. Not lead or zinc. It is much too hard to be those metals.
TW

Raw silver is fairly soft like lead..

 

[Ol' Kentuck]

Update: The pawn shop took one sample over to a nearby refinery. The refinery guy immediately told him that those Silver balls were used for Silver PLATING. They are 100% Silver. Sold two to the local pawnshop (he only ended up paying us 80% of the Silver value because of course he has to get his cut). Anyway, just thought I'd let you guys know what happened in the end.
TW

Excellent! Congratulations, TW. And if your next novel ends up with a storyline pertaining to nuclear warheads smuggled into the country via tennis balls....I'll expect my name as one of the characters.

Seriously, job well done. I vote Banner for the Most Unusual Find any day of the week.

 

[A2coins]

Thanks that's a score for sure wowza

 

[A2coins]

Banner find also

 

[gunsil]

This is very cool. Old timers buried their silver, so maybe the person that did this smelted some of their silver and buried it for later only to never return for it.

Smelting is the process of getting metal from ore, in other words subjecting rocks to high heat to get the metal out. Taking metal and melting it to cast into bars, jewelry, etc is just melting, not smelting. One does not smelt metal that is already in metal form.

 

[bologna321]

Great update thanks for posting

 

[GoDeep]

You have silver balls based on your weight and measurements.

Weight of silver can vary, depending on the density of the casting, but roughly .379 pounds per Cubic Inch.

So take the diameter of your balls, figure the volume in CI and multiply by .379 and whola!

So your 1.850 diameter ball has a CI volume of 3.32 x .379 = 1.258 pounds and you measured it at 1.25 so it appears to be silver. Though lead comes in at .41 per CI, so it is close and given that the spheres are of unknown porosity and perhaps not perfectly round and the scale being used is an old mechanical scale it could be lead as well. I'd put them on a digital scale for a more accurate reading and then measure the diameter with a caliper all around to see how uniform the diameter is.

It is good to trust in math and science!!!

Banner vote in!