Silver nugget?

[Renaebri]

I found this, which rings up as a pretty consistent 80 signal on my AT pro. It was found in an area that used to be colored quarters part of town, not a mine or anything like that, so I dont really think its silver but my interest is definitely peaked. Its heavy for its weight too... how can I determine what it is?

 

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[Goldstar1]

The first test I would do is see if it is magnetic , test it with a magnet and if it is it is most likely native iron which is what it looks like to me from the pictures. If it is not magnetic the it could be any of quite a few different materials. Is it heavy?

 

[Renaebri]

Non ferrous, not magnetic. It's kinda heavy for its size, I weighed it in grams (20 grams) and its 2 1/2 centimeters either way if that helps. Maybe I'd need a test kit...

Maybe a meteorite?

 

[Goldstar1]

That does sound heavy , maybe start with a streak test ?

 

[A2coins]

Cool find take it to a geologist

 

[A2coins]

Welcome also

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Looks like a blob of melted aluminum, you'd be surprised how much weight these have when a lot of it is melted together.
I find a lot of it at 20thc home sites.

Dave

 

[flyadive]

Get yourself some Selson Blue, google it for testing silver.

 

[cudamark]

Looks like a hunk of lead to me. Is is soft to scratch?

 

[Red James Cash]

Hold a propane torch up to it.if it melts it's lead.

 

[Renaebri]

Hold a propane torch up to it.if it melts it's lead.

I dont think its lead, it can break but it's not soft or flexible. Aluminum sounds more likely I think but I did order a silver test kit. Could use one anyway. Thanks for all the suggestions I'll get back with the results soon!

 

[Red James Cash]

If it's heavy for it's size then it can't be aluminum

 

[Renaebri]

Well, it didn't seem to react to the silver test acid. I tested a silver fork that I found and was able to see it turn red but this did nothing, so I dont think its silver.

 

[huntsman53]

Looks like a very old piece of slag to me. Maybe there was some smelting going on there long ago. Not sure what the metal could be, so you might want to take it to a University's Geology Department and see if they can help.