FOUND! CACHE OF 5 SILVER INGOTS!!

bronzecannons

Full Member
Sep 1, 2005
202
87
Oceanside, CA
Primary Interest:
Shipwrecks
Gentlemen,

Today I found a cache of 5 Silver Ingots weighing a total of 5.5 lbs! It was less than a foot deep. 20200514_143824.jpg

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
 

Attachments

  • 20200514_142546x1000.jpg
    20200514_142546x1000.jpg
    296 KB · Views: 219
  • 20200514_142629x1000.jpg
    20200514_142629x1000.jpg
    151.1 KB · Views: 190
  • 20200514_152545x1000.jpg
    20200514_152545x1000.jpg
    128.7 KB · Views: 167
  • 20200514_153149x1000.jpg
    20200514_153149x1000.jpg
    113.6 KB · Views: 233
Upvote 40

GoDeep

Bronze Member
Nov 12, 2016
2,120
4,515
Detector(s) used
Whites, Garrett, Minelab
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
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 1834878 View attachment 1834879 View attachment 1834880 View 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

Jr. Member
Jan 24, 2018
62
214
portsmouth, va
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
Minelab Manticore
Minelabe Excalibur II
Minelab Equinox 800
Garrett AT Max
Garrett "Carrot"
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
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

Bronze Member
Apr 23, 2017
1,503
2,242
Detector(s) used
Fisher F75, Minelab Soveriegn XS 2
Nokta pinpointer
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Wheres the OP?

Chub
 

Horst

Sr. Member
Apr 13, 2017
319
1,206
Germany
Detector(s) used
Minelab Equinox 800 + SDC2300
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
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!!!!:icon_thumright:
 

GoDeep

Bronze Member
Nov 12, 2016
2,120
4,515
Detector(s) used
Whites, Garrett, Minelab
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
OP, any update on what these mystery objects be composed of?
 

Thoadin

Greenie
Sep 1, 2018
19
20
Mississippi
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Pro
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
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

Hero Member
Jun 14, 2016
842
564
Mexico
Detector(s) used
Gemini III, Tesoro Lobo Supertraq, Fisher F2, Deepers 6, OKM rover C
Primary Interest:
Cache Hunting
A very nice Silver treasure :occasion14:
..lets go celebrate
 

OP
OP
bronzecannons

bronzecannons

Full Member
Sep 1, 2005
202
87
Oceanside, CA
Primary Interest:
Shipwrecks
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

Bronze Member
Apr 29, 2012
2,496
3,301
Left coast
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
Love to treasure hunt
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
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

Gold Member
Aug 19, 2014
37,156
130,916
Tarpon Springs
Detector(s) used
JW 8X-ML X2-VP 585
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Thanks for the update... congrats.
 

Red-Coat

Gold Member
Dec 23, 2019
5,206
16,318
Surrey, UK
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
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.
 

Ol' Kentuck

Hero Member
Jun 12, 2018
767
1,310
Primary Interest:
Other
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. :laughing7:

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

A2coins

Gold Member
Dec 20, 2015
33,807
42,606
Ann Arbor
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
3
Detector(s) used
Equinox 800
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Thanks that's a score for sure wowza
 

gunsil

Silver Member
Dec 27, 2012
3,864
6,207
lower hudson valley, N.Y.
Detector(s) used
safari, ATPro, infinium, old Garrett BFO, Excal, Nox 800
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
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

Bronze Member
Aug 26, 2017
1,153
2,816
SW MO
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT PRO, Garrett Ultra GTA 500, Equinox 600
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Great update thanks for posting
 

GoDeep

Bronze Member
Nov 12, 2016
2,120
4,515
Detector(s) used
Whites, Garrett, Minelab
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
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!
 

Last edited:

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Top