ok found a lil nugget, is it gold?

Goes4ever · Mar 15, 2008

with finding the buffalo nickel yesterday I almost forgot about this little guy, what is it? It rang up under the gold/foil area on my Ace 250
I tried to take pictures of it from all sides, penny is for size comparison. If I did not have a pinpointer I would have NEVER located this, that is for sure!!!
It is hard, and it definately is not foil, and it is gold in color.

Ok what is it, anyway possible it IS gold? I doubt it but I had to ask. I am impressed the Ace 250 found this with it being so SMALL!

SC_hunter · Apr 7, 2008

Most Pawn Shops has a test kit. Try taking it to one of those places. Should be a pawn shop in your town.

Red_desert · Apr 7, 2008

Have a college close by, where there might be a geology professor?

Goes4ever · Apr 8, 2008

nope I live in a hick town, no colleges close

soar697877 · Apr 8, 2008

I have an idea to end this quickly:

SEND IT TO ME AND I WILL HAVE IT TESTED FOR YOU, AND I WILL POST RESULTS, AND SEND IT RIGHT BACK TO YOU ;-)

Pepper2004 · Apr 8, 2008

OK, I admit I know nothing much about gold nuggets other than I'm hoping to find one. :wink:

Someone mentioned that it might be a melted gold tooth. I was thinking to myself....if it is...then it was a mighty big tooth. :dontknow:

Maybe it is a little gold mixed in with some mercury (isn't that what they use to use to fill teeth with before they found out it was bad for you?). That would explain the size. (a gold tooth along with a couple of mercury filled teeth) :sign13:

I was watching a gold show and it said if it cracks or breaks it is not gold. Do you rock hounds think it would be OK to squeeze it hard with a pair of pliers to see if it breaks or chips?

Can't believe you haven't had this tested. I'd be setting roads on fire until I found a jewelry store with a test kit.

I hope it is gold. Good luck.

Pepper

Bigcypresshunter · Apr 8, 2008

Goes4ever said:
I just called the jewelry store in my town and they do NOT have a gold test kit, can u believe that??

When u call, ask if they buy gold. If they buy, they have test kit.

Eu_citzen · Apr 8, 2008

Goes4ever said:
not in my area

Dang even I have an amateur geologist and rock hound in my town of max 15 people! (lol myself) ::)

Pepper: You want to minimize damage so I'd not do it a knife or even you finger nail should "bend" it.
Also 24 cts gold teeth would not be practical neither 24 cts rings most rings and such are an alloy of different metals.

Red_desert · Apr 8, 2008

Goes4ever said:
ok it will NOT scratch a penny, and I tried the glass of water trick, first I tried the glass empty dropped it, then filled with water and dropped it again, both times it falls FAST.

we know it is NOT pyrite, several people have tried and my garrett will not detect pyrite.

it was not found near a building. It was found in the ground in a park.

"ok it will NOT scratch a penny"

According to the book I'm holding here Rocks And Minerals:
Penny
hardness: 3

Iron Pyrite
hardness: 6
specific gravity: 5
streak: greenish-black

If that was Iron Pyrite, I would hate to bite down on it...hardness 6.

Park...that reminds me, I've seen jewelry nuggets that size hanging from a necklace. Does it have any kind of groove or any signs of having been mounted? Even if hung by wire going around in some kind of a groove. It used to be really the craze to use gold nuggets as jewelry.

Bigcypresshunter · Apr 8, 2008

Kellyco has test kit for gold and silver $29.95 plus shipping...No More Guessing. One drop of the test solution will tell you if you've found "plated", "gold filled", solid gold, or silver. Kit contains 2 oz. of test solution.
http://www.kellycodetectors.com/Detectorcategories/goldrecovery2.htm

Eu_citzen · Apr 9, 2008

About brass hardness:
http://homepage.usask.ca/~mjr347//prog/geoe118/geoe118.mohs.html

Red_D: Brittleness and hardness is not the same thing. ::)

Though I'd not like to bite pyrite either.

Red_desert · Apr 9, 2008

It has brass and penny the same hardness.

Check out this discussion on whether gold can be scratched with a fingernail...it seems gold items 90% or more gold, could be scratched by fingernail. Just follow the thread down to where the hardness experts comment.

http://www.physicsforums.com/archive/index.php/t-92922.html

X-Terra70_TreasureHunter · Apr 9, 2008

A jewlery store has a chemical test they can run on it and so do pawn shops

EggyOG · Apr 9, 2008

Red_desert said:
It has brass and penny the same hardness.

Check out this discussion on whether gold can be scratched with a fingernail...it seems gold items 90% or more gold, could be scratched by fingernail. Just follow the thread down to where the hardness experts comment.

http://www.physicsforums.com/archive/index.php/t-92922.html

That's brass and a copper penny, pennies aren't copper anymore and the hardness is around 2.5.

DanB · Apr 10, 2008

Looks to me like somebody was playing around with a blow torch and melted a brass shell casing.....case solved.. drop it in nitric acid see what happens.........ha ha ..if its gold it will be there, if not then you will know what it is NOT.

db

JW · Apr 10, 2008

Looks like a gold nugget that has spent some time in the street, thus the 'angular' marks everyone is mentioning...

Most metal detectors DO NOT typically pick up pyrite, we have a golf ball sized chunk at the office and if it is real pyrite it is invisible to my Explorer (which isn't the most sensitive machine, but)...

At first it didn't look right and I figured it was brass, the latest photos make it look a lot like a real nugget... :thumbsup:

To melt it or Gold you'd have to heat it to at least 1950F, you need a good air fuel mixture to get the real heat out of the gas, a MAPP gas torch or Oxy-Acetylene torch will do it... Possibly a butane torch, but you need a torch and not just a flame like on a stove top...

Nice stuff!!!!

JW

Bigcypresshunter · Apr 10, 2008

DanB said:
Looks to me like somebody was playing around with a blow torch and melted a brass shell casing.....case solved.. drop it in nitric acid see what happens.........ha ha ..if its gold it will be there, if not then you will know what it is NOT.

db

If she had Nitric Acid she would only need one drop. Brass will turn green with one drop, i believe. I use a mixture of Nitric and Potassium Dichromate for testing.