Tarnished Gold?

[fredinbelize]

I found this ring two days ago in the low wet sand at low tide.
It was tarnished a redish color. When I started to clean it I saw a shine so I thought it might be silver.
The more I cleaned it the golder it became. If it is gold it is less than 10k so I am guessing that whatever it is mixed with caused the tarnish.
There are no markings on it.
Any thoughts?
Thanks

 

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[DrJoePrime]

Hi Fred...It sure looks good enough to be gold.

I just read (British Deus forum) an interesting "field" test you can try: Rub your fingers and smell...if it has copper it will emit an odor.

I, personally, have not tried it but definitely will to check out some of my "maybe'" finds.

 

[fredinbelize]

Thanks Joe.
My first test (after the magnet) is to put some women's makeup on my wrist then rub the ring on it. If it's gold it will leave a black line. Have you heard of that one?

 

[bigscoop]

The shank and setting appear to be sterling, brush it with a little Tarnex and it should clean right up, just try to avoid getting any on the stone setting. It only takes a second for the Tarnex to work so brush it on and then rinse it off in clean freshwater. Appears to be a Harley ring, probably onyx and turquoise. The Eagle itself my be gold filled but can't really tell from the picks if it is a metal or not. If it is gold filled simply put a bit of Tarnex on the edge of a rag and carefully wipe it clean and then rinse in freshwater. An acid test will tell you if it is sterling or just nickel silver, but it appears to be sterling from the pictures. That very slight gold tone is common in both sterling and nickel silver. By the way, some Harley rings are pretty collectible, especially the vintage stuff.

 

[DewGuru]

I've found a number of gold rings over the year which were badly tarnished. It's typical for 10k and below. Boil some water, pour in a few tbsp of iodized salt, take a piece of aluminum foil, put it water, put more salt on foil, drop ring on foil, put in 2 tbsp of baking soda, foam will start and do its thing, transferring tarnish to the foil. Let boil 2 - 3 mins, wipe clean.

 

[leprechaun]

It looks like a good one to me fred, I acid test anything I find thats not marked, the test kit was 1695 on e bay well worth the money, I've seen them for as much as 50 dollars.HH.

 

[goldringseaker]

Very cool looking ring

 

[GTzer]

Alloy metals in gold will tarnish. Porous castings and sand action on gold can give saltwater easier access to those alloys. Nice thing about gold is that it will clean up pretty easy.