UPDATE ***Spoon or no spoon***

[J Hawk]

So I got my ATP in about a week ago, an upgrade from an old bounty hunter. I was in my back yard trying her out when I get a 99 hit, so thinking silver i decided to dig. Not too far down out pops what looks like a spoon.

So yesterday i did some research on Tnet and decided to try to clean this thing with vinegar. After a 4 hour soak, I took a toothbrush to it. I thought it may be a spoon, but the metal is solid and I don't think it could be used as a spoon.

I went to pawn shop b/c this thing reads like silver on my machine. I though it may be lead, but the guy at the pawn shop told me he is almost positive it is silver. I posted in the "What is it" forum, and someone said maybe an antique cabinet handle, but still not sure.

It's almost 5 ounces.

Does anyone have any idea what this is? Also, I don't want to get my hopes up, but I would like to determine if it is silver or not.

Also, there are shards of glass attached to the metal.

 

[Diggin-N-Dumps]

It kinda looks like Lead, but its hard to thru pictures, does it "thud" when you drop it on concrete?

 

[Argentium]

For next to nothing you can have it "acid" tested for silver at a jewelers shop .

 

[CoinandRelicMan]

Looks like its been in a fire to me. Still could be good item possibly, just ordered one of those portable acid test kits a few days ago myself to solve such problems on my own.

 

[treasurehunter313]

I have an AT pro as well and when you get a hit as high as 99 it's usually not silver. I find similar pieces like that that hits very high. It's usually melted aluminum. If it's silver it'd be heavy for it's weight and if it's aluminum it'd be relatively light weight. The AT pro is a good machine, but you need to put at least 80 hours on it to learn it. It's amazing what you find out about it. Every month or so I'll learn a new technique and I will go back to a spot I think I dug everything but find more great things. It's hard to explain, but it's a great machine once you truly learn it. I went out 5 days a week since June and I feel like I really have a good grasp on how to use it. Anyways I bet that is melted aluminum. Keep us updated. HH

 

[J Hawk]

Aluminum is one thing I can ID. I've dug up so many aluminum cans and tabs and other aluminum scraps to know it's not that.

It is heavy, and everyone who has picked it up says it has to weigh more than 5 oz. Even before he put it on his scale he said he scale wasn't big enough, but then he went in the back and came out and told me it was 5 oz. Maybe the pawn shop scale was a little light in case i wanted to sell, or he could have had it on the wrong settings.

It has the same properties as my Buffalo silver dollars when i do the "ting" test. I have a rare earth magnet and testing kit at home. I didn't want to use the testing kit b/c i didn't want to damage it anymore than it already is, but I may have to give it a try.

It's so heavy, i'm suspicious it may be lead. I'll have to weigh it myself to get an accurate reading. Would lead give me a 99?

 

[CoinandRelicMan]

Probably could, given the convoluted surface of the item and amount of metal..

 

[ivan salis]

might it be a form of a pistel? used to mix up medical items in a bowl by crushing them together ?

 

[Greylock]

Melted aluminum

 

[Carolina Tom]

If you use electrolysis... it will clean it up a good bit... if it is silver.

GL&HH.

 

[Fourman110]

Kind of looks like one of those extra large fishing lures. Any attachment points for hooks or line?

 

[beez0404]

Wet your "spoon" and wrap it in a piece of aluminum foil for about 5 minutes. As you open it get your nose down there close and smell. If it smells like rotten eggs it's silver. If not I wouldn't venture a guess.

 

[CoilyGirl]

I know I have used baking soda and vinegar on silver trays in a sink lined with tin foil for quick cleaning tarnish.I wonder if it would work on this object?

 

[plugcutter84]

I've dug some very similar looking pieces at an old house site. There was actually soooooo much of it scattered around that it was impossible to hunt, just great hits with every swing of the coil. My conclusion was that it was in fact melted aluminum. If it has some broken glass in it then I would almost guarantee it was in a trash burn pile. Still fun to research though. Good luck, HH!

 

[MuckyBottles]

Looks either like melted aluminum or lead slag

 

[Ia.FurTrade]

Melted babbitt or potmetal.................

 

[gunsil]

Geez Louise!! I guess he didn't like my either melted aluminum or lead blob on his last post about this. Maybe now that others are chiming in with similar replies he'll get the picture. We find this stuff all the time. Silver tarnishes black, it is not gonna turn out to be silver, no real reason to test it, but he should do so just to become a believer.