Silver Nugget?

[MichiganMan]

Look what I found yesterday. I do not want to say where I found it [here in Michigan] until I know more about it. It makes the highest pitch sound and pegs the sensitivity meter [past 10] on my cheap VLF KellyCo. detector. I put ice on it and it started melting immediately [1 to 2 seconds]. The next question is... Is this a "natural" nugget or a man-made object nuggetized by melting, and the ravages of time and mother nature? The matte effect is where I tried to smash it between two rocks to see if it was just a rock or painted rock. As you can tell I am a rookie at silver identification. It weighs 5 grams.

 

[pa-dirt_nc-sand]

I find blobs of aluminum that look a lot like your nugget quite often. Found a couple today at lunch at an old farm homesite, rings up nice and high. Old camp fires, beer can thrown in equals nuggets of aluminum in the ground.

 

[CoinFetcher]

It's a blob of melted metal from a fire. Probably a can.

 

[ecmjamsit]

Silver acid tester kit ? ebay sells them for under $10

 

[sgtled3533]

Ditto. I find these a lot too. Aluminum or lead blobs. Very commonly mistaken for a "nugget" of silver

 

[trapperart]

I don't think it's heavy enough to be silver, but congrats on your find. A silver quarter weighs over 6 grams and it looks like you have more mass there than a quarter.

 

[AlienLifeForm]

"Bud light nugget"

 

[Kurios1]

I am in the melted aluminum blob camp on this one. One of the worst freakin' targets EVER! Rings like a MORGAN DOLLAR and all you get is a piece of melted crap. Aluminum is the work of SATAN!

 

[CRUSADER]

Normally, I would be in the Ali shout. But this one has a small chance. Might be worth testing.

 

[TRanegar36]

I found a lot of these while living in SW Michigan on the shores of Lake Michigan. A friend of mine from work who walked the beach (no detector) for indian beads found a few Palladium rocks. They look very similar to what you have pictured. I have a plastic tupperware container full of these and when I showed them to him he thought I was sitting on a landmine. I think they're melted aluminum and haven't seen anyone, but still have them.

 

[pepperj]

The flat side in photo 1+2 makes it lean towards the melted alum. blob. Simple test rub it with your thumb and then smell the mark left on the skin. Sulphur then it's looking like silver.

 

[A2coins]

I agree melted Aluminum Ya never know though so if you have a doubt and it melted ice right away have it checked. The VDI readout on your garrett should be worlds apart aluminum vs silver. I hope your on to something great!!!!!!!

 

[MadTom]

If you have a stone counter top drop it onto it from about a foot. Silver, nice crisp tingling sound. Aluminum, not so much

 

[Mzjavert]

I am in the melted aluminum blob camp on this one. One of the worst freakin' targets EVER! Rings like a MORGAN DOLLAR and all you get is a piece of melted crap. Aluminum is the work of SATAN!

Historical it wasn't that long ago when aluminum was more valuable than gold. If that were true today, every metal detectorist would be rich beyond their wildest dreams.

 

[MichiganMan]

I am in the melted aluminum blob camp on this one. One of the worst freakin' targets EVER! Rings like a MORGAN DOLLAR and all you get is a piece of melted crap. Aluminum is the work of SATAN!

You are correct: "... the work of satan" The first thought that came into my head was "It's a decoy" because your mind is set on one thing... and then The Big Letdown. It's aluminum. I found it in the water about 20 feet out, a foot and a half deep. I thought for SURE it was silver. Aluminum campfire-melt never even entered my mind... although it should have because I know better.
Also, it "feels" like aluminum because it's not as dense as silver "feels". A quarter weighs 6 grams and this blob weighed 5. If it was silver it would have surely weighed more. I even compared it to raw silver pictures from Alaska and it is close, really close. I will save it and test it later on to be sure because a decoy possesses [almost] all the qualities of the real thing... so much so that it fools you.
Also, I checked the Michigan Mineral [by County] map and there was no silver in this county or the ones around it, but there was gold, goethite, quartz and anhydrite. The closest silver was in the Upper Peninsula.

Thanks everybody for your help.