Strange metal possibly silver.

[17GoCubsGo44]

Hey y'all! Got another great find with the metal detector. It was inside and wrapped in a half rotted potato sack buried in a flatland opening of the foliage near a creek. It hit with high tones and kept saying silver. Now to some info about it:
It's almost like aluminum but it's really heavy!
A magnet does not stick to it
It doesn't bend (accept for the small end)
I hat a torch on it for 15 min, it got red, but never dripped, melted, our even changed
It looks almost like someone tried to make homemade ingots or some kind of bar was placed on it.

I have pics of the front and back and close ups.

Any help would be appreciated!

 

[Backwoodsbob]

With just propane and oxygen is all you need. Tip on torch is important. Natural gas is best for clean burn.

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[DannyB.]

Melting point for gold is 5,376°F, but propane has a MAXIMUM temp (meaning, under PERFECT conditions) of only 3,595°F. ...So how is it you use propane to melt gold? Even when mixing pure oxygen, propane has a temp of 4,579°F.


Wanna try that again Bob?

Are you sure that is the gold melting point? I think not..

 

[Backwoodsbob]

Gold melting point 1948 ,4579° is boiling point

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[Backwoodsbob]

4892° not 4579

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[DannyB.]

Gold melting point 1948 ,4579° is boiling point

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That's what I was thinking.. I'm not sure there is any metal still solid at 5000 degrees. That's pretty warm. Haha

Except tungsten I suppose.

 

[Backwoodsbob]

Silver is around 1800. So plenty of heat to go around there

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[Backwoodsbob]

Melting point for gold is 5,376°F, but propane has a MAXIMUM temp (meaning, under PERFECT conditions) of only 3,595°F. ...So how is it you use propane to melt gold? Even when mixing pure oxygen, propane has a temp of 4,579°F.


Wanna try that again Bob?

You want to try again

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[kcm]

Good grief!

Welp, ya' got me. Guess I was being dyslexic again! ...Ya' know, that's what's so right about me - every time I think I've got something right, I'm wrong again! The worst part is, I SHOULD KNOW BETTER!!

 

[kcm]

Gee, is it getting warm in here or am I reading the thermometer wrong??




...Gonna have to do some investigating and see where I made that OH, so fatal mistake!

 

[kcm]

Physical properties
Phase solid
Melting point 1337.33 K ​(1064.18 °C, ​1947.52 °F)
Boiling point 3243 K ​(2970 °C, ​5378 °F)


...Read the wrong line! Now another funny part - didn't even realize I was reading from wikipedia! AAARRRGGGGGG!!

Well, almost 1am here - guess it's past this baby's bedtime!

...Can you forgive me Bob?

 

[Backwoodsbob]

Good grief!

Welp, ya' got me. Guess I was being dyslexic again! ...Ya' know, that's what's so right about me - every time I think I've got something right, I'm wrong again! The worst part is, I SHOULD KNOW BETTER!! View attachment 1411271

Don't worry, we all do it. I'm very dyslexic. It come to me easily from being both left and right handed. No big deal. Like I said we are human.. had to proof read it twice.lol.

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[kcm]

Yeah, but I can't remember the last time I screwed up THAT big!! ...Then again, I can't remember yesterday!




My apologies to everyone, but especially to Bob.

 

[DannyB.]

Ok.. I'm going to say stainless melted blob.

 

[tamrock]

Could be pot metal ? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pot_metal My first experience with pot metal was these molds from a toy call Incredible Edibles. You made gum drop bugs you could eat with it. It came with a hot plate to heat the molds and you cooked the goo in the bug mold to make it rubbery. The hot plate was to slow imo and I came up with a better idea that would speed up the process. Mom was busy hanging clothes out on the line outside and that gave me the opportunity to use the gas stove in the kitchen. Well with the mold on the stove I fired it up and within moment my bug mold turned instantly in to molten metal and ran down inside the kitchen stove. After that I had some explaining to do. Playing with the stove was a no no, but I did discover the low melting point that pot metal has.

 

[BosnMate]

Could be pot metal ? The hot plate was to slow imo and I came up with a better idea that would speed up the process. Mom was busy hanging clothes out on the line outside and that gave me the opportunity to use the gas stove in the kitchen.

Sounds like you are the same sort of cook I am. If you can't cook it on high, why the heck bother cooking it. I wonder if the spoon I was using on the fry bread was pot metal, rather than babbitt. Talk about surprised, I stuck it in the oil and instantly it was a round shiny blob in the bottom of the kettle, and I had a bit of handle in my hand. The handle didn't get hot, it didn't appear to get soft, it was just gone. I figured if there was lead in it, I probably should throw the oil away, but we ate the bread, and I don't think it affected my memory, but then I don't remember, never did remember worth a hoot, so nothing changed.

 

[tamrock]

Sounds like you are the same sort of cook I am. If you can't cook it on high, why the heck bother cooking it. I wonder if the spoon I was using on the fry bread was pot metal, rather than babbitt. Talk about surprised, I stuck it in the oil and instantly it was a round shiny blob in the bottom of the kettle, and I had a bit of handle in my hand. The handle didn't get hot, it didn't appear to get soft, it was just gone. I figured if there was lead in it, I probably should throw the oil away, but we ate the bread, and I don't think it affected my memory, but then I don't remember, never did remember worth a hoot, so nothing changed.

So many items were casted from pot metal from the 30s to the 70s. Many auto parts were made from it, until they found plastic mold injecting to be more cost effective.

 

[verbious]

Any update on this mystery metal?

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[seekerGH]

what about a simple specific gravity on the item? That usually narrows it down quite a bit.

Hand held XRF are pretty common at pawn shops these days, especially the ones that buy gold. Great place to see what it is exactly.

 

[Backwoodsbob]

Try the acid test. That will let you know quickly.

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[bloovey]

It looks like aluminum but why is it so heavy. It might be silver. Maybe its a meteorite.