Is this silver?

[1liquigirl]

I found this in the backyard of my 1879 Victorian home, back in August (a few pics below). I thought it was lead because it seemed heavier than a rock would be of the same size, so it sat on my entertainment center for months. Tonight I vacuumed it and a piece of it chipped off onto the floor and another piece is now missing and probably somewhere in the vacuum bag, for a total of at least three pieces. I ran my Garrett 250 ace over it again tonight and it beeps on all modes from relic, jewelry, coins, and all metal in the 1 cent and 10 cent areas, which above is the high area of gold or bronze and low area of silver. When it was one piece, it somewhat had the shape of a cross to it. The longest section being the one that is broke off closest to the ruler. The broken off sections are extremely shiny and metalic, like a piece of aluminum foil, one of them I placed on top of the largest piece for the pictures. Stupid of me to run it through the vacuum before thinking it could be something valuable. Could this be silver? Can anyone help me with ideas on how to tell without taking it to a jeweler?

 

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[stoney56]

Galena maybe.

 

[hollowpointred]

i was thinking the same thing but i must admit, i dont know much about prospecting. i always thought silver ore was a dark color but i may be wrong.someone should be along soon who knows for sure.

 

[dneyedli@res1.mts.net]

Hard to tell without handling it, but it looks like lead sauder which is very shiny when you break a piece off. When you rub silver until it starts to get shinier, the smell on your fingers smells kinda like rotten eggs. Cut into it and see if it is soft. Lead is softer than silver.
Whatever it is, I hope it's worth lots!
Dave.

 

[1liquigirl]

Muddyhandz, There was a smell to it when I first brought it in and washed it, and it smelled less as time went on, but there is still alittle bit of smell. The broken piece looks shiny and chunked off like coal is, only silver metalic. I tried to chip off at the jagged edges on the broken part with a toothpick, no give. Not very soft then. Is the rotten egg smell for silver? I thought it was lead because it was stinking when I cleaned it. Now I think differently. I put it under mild electrolysis just now. I'm still picking black petroleum like stuff out of the cracks and small holes in it. There was alot of that on it when I first dug it up.

Stoney, what is Galena?

I need more help with this guys. Any more info you can give me from reading my posts?

 

[stoney56]

Stoney, what is Galena?

1liquigirl, here's a link to galena and it's properties.

http://www.mindat.org/min-1641.html

 

[Matejko]

Hi !!

The pictures are small, but I can see there a "round shapes".
It might be a few coins sticked together, mixed (silver & cooper) -that's why it look like this.
In Poland we find sometimes such things.

They come from very old times, when people carry their money in pouches.
Pouch is gone, but money still remains in very bad condition.

Pozdrawiam Matejko

 

[bakergeol]

Galena is a lead mineral(lead sulfide) which is the principle ore of lead(silver commonly occurs with it). It is readily recognized by cubic crystals. Although I have found galena in Ohio(Indian mound) galena is not naturally found in Pa. From your descriptions it does not appear to be natural.
You mentioned "holes" which is suggestive of a metal which undergone heat(furnace, slag, fire etc) Silver coins in house fires may or may not retain some round forms in the metal globs. Most likely it is molted lead.

To identify unidentified metals there is a liquid jewelers use to ID metal. The composition of this liquid has been been made public by several TN members in the past. I have forgotten the post.

Perhaps the original posters could chime in here and re list the composition of the test fluid.

George

 

[1liquigirl]

Bakergeol, I have seen slag, the holes are much bigger than the ones on this. The breakoff points are cubic shaped but I don't look at it as crystals. There is an area on this that looks like gold, so it may have recovered from fire, but the coin idea, is not likely. Too heavy to be coins, and the properties at the break off points do not resemble a few coins at all. Someone get back to me about the test fluid.

 

[EDDE]

pyrite aka fools gold maybe but its not gold in color so

 

[bk]

Is there a chance that it could be silver that was in a glass jar and was in a fire?
The smell that you describe sounds like it may be silver sulphide. Dip it in Tarnex (or liquid silver cleaner) and see if the smell (rotten eggs) gets stronger.

 

[hollowpointred]

i have a book that says you can use nitric acid to test for silver.here are some of the particulars; nitric acid test kits can be obtained from jewelry supply houses.before handling any acids be sure to follow the following safety rules

-do not inhale the fumes
-keep the bottle tightly capped when not in use
-nitric acid has long been the chief chemical for testing precious metals. it is volatile and should be handled with extreme care and caution.as the name denotes, it is acid
-acid will seriously burn your skin
-a drop in the eye will make you blind WEAR A FACE SHIELD AND GOGGLES!
-always wear long sleeves and heavy gloves while using nitric acid
-do not use rubber gloves
- do not use rubber gloves because this acid can and will burn through them very rapidly. heavy canvas or heavy leather gloves are best.
-do not attempt to store a large quantity of nitric acid in your home.it presents an extreme hazard to persons in case of a fire or other accident
-use in a well ventilated area
-do not use near fire or flames
-do not smoke while using it.-always use a glass dipper rod attached to the bottle cap
-do not use brushes as they can cause tiny droplets to fly about
-read and re-read all safety instructions

that being said here is what the book says about using nitric acid to test silver.


a notch is filed in an inconspicuous place,if possible.the notch is filed because of the possibility of plating ....(not in your case!).... the notch only need to be 1/32 of an inch deep. a drop of nitric acid is then placed in the file mark.if the item is made of high grade silver such as sterling,the acids will merely turn a grayish color.in other words,it will tone down the metal a bit,but will not change its basic color.
should there be a high proportion of copper alloying, a green color will appear. whenever green is obtained, you are dealing with either a low grade silver or an article made chiefly of copper with the addition of enough nickel or other metal to give the appearance of silver. this is usually accomplished by using 75% copper and 25% nickel.
be sure to remove the acid as soon as the test is complete. if this is not done, it can cause pitting and permanent discoloration.
i believe this information is primarily intended for the testing of silver jewelry, so it may or may not work in this instance. there is another acid test you can do using dichromate acid but the acid is hard to obtain and the test is more complicated.it is supposed to be hazardous and it is not recommended, so i will omit that information. i hope some of this information is helpfull...........one other thing, a jeweler can perform this test for you for a price.

 

[1liquigirl]

Thanks Hollowpointred, it seems like you know your stuff. I will try the Tarnex first, and test for rotten egg smell, then try what you suggested. Will the Tarnex effect the testing? As for the jeweler in this town, I don't know if I can trust him after I took my Great Grandmother's engagement ring that I had inherited in to get the diamond reset and they told me it was a fake!

 

[bk]

If it is silver, the Tarnex will remove the black stuff. Just don't leave it in too long.

 

[hollowpointred]

Thanks Hollowpointred, it seems like you know your stuff. I will try the Tarnex first, and test for rotten egg smell, then try what you suggested. Will the Tarnex effect the testing? As for the jeweler in this town, I don't know if I can trust him after I took my Great Grandmother's engagement ring that I had inherited in to get the diamond reset and they told me it was a fake!

i dont know that much stuff,i just got it out of the book!! i have no idea if the tarnex will affect the nitric acid test or not. if i had to guess i would think not because if the acid is that corrosive it should easily go through the tarnex, but that is just a guess. i sure do hope it is silver! perhaps you could find a geologist to assist you, maybe at the local university? just a thought. good luck with it!

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

[bakergeol .

Perhaps the original posters could chime in here and re list the composition of the test fluid.
George
~~~~~
A) as ordered george hehe'

1 oz of Potassum Bichromate
6 os.pure nitric acid
2 oz water

clean a spot, apply the above mixture , note color in one minute - colume 2, then wipe it of with water and check color of spot left - colums 3..






metal color in one minute color of mark left

pure silver brigt blood red grayish white
,925 silver dark red dark brown
,800 silver chocolate dark brown
.500 silver green dark brown
lead nu tbrown leaden

 

[SomeGuy]

A note here:

When diluting concentrated acid, add the acid to the water, DO NOT add water to the acid.

The reaction between the acid and the water evolves heat; the water can absorb the heat, but the acid can't. If you drop water into the acid, the heat will cause the acid to spatter.

 

[1liquigirl]

Thanks for all the help, I'll let you know what it is as soon as I get what I need to check this.

 

[hollowpointred]

good luck! just be carefull.

 

[DJ_Quinn]

Some of this sounds strangely enough like alchemy...
I have found mineral rocks that set off my detector right behinbd my house. There is a working silver mine not far from there, so I am going to try the nitric acid test myself.