LowPoint Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 This is the first time that I have run across one of these out there, so a bit more research may be needed. This is definitely a nugget and not just a lead slug. It has peacock gold within the lower crags with a blueish-purple ting on it's nodule-knarley surface, just like a natural gold nugget. It weighs in at 5.04 grams. It doesn't have the brilliance that silver is supposed to have, but is more of a battleship-grey color that is only semi-brilliant. Anyone able to shed a bit more light on this??. Gary 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homefire Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 (edited) Looks like Gold to me. Edited July 30, 2017 by homefire Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homefire Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 Electrum High Silver content Gold. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomH Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 (edited) Gary: Im going with silver. Its tarnished. I dont think Platinum will tarnish like that. If you scrape it it will probably be shiny. Was out with a bud last year and he found a slug that we thought was lead at first but it was too hard. Turned out to be silver Tom H. Edited July 31, 2017 by TomH 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LowPoint Posted July 31, 2017 Author Share Posted July 31, 2017 Hello homefire, I pulled up the link regarding Electrum,. .very interesting THANKS, but according to the reading Electrum is more yellowish than this nugget. Hello TomH, Thanks for responding, I think you may be right, as I did just scraped a very small spot, and it is bright and shiny. Not being familiar with silver, Is silver soft like lead when scraped?? I can also see very-fine-specs of gold spattered in different spots. Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Au Seeker Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 Lead has a hardness of 1.5, silver around 2.5 to 4, about the same as copper and a bit harder than gold in most cases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homefire Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 (edited) 36 minutes ago, GDM/PV said: Hello homefire, I pulled up the link regarding Electrum,. .very interesting THANKS, but according to the reading Electrum is more yellowish than this nugget. Hello TomH, Thanks for responding, I think you may be right, as I did just scraped a very small spot, and it is bright and shiny. Not being familiar with silver, Is silver soft like lead when scraped?? I can also see very-fine-specs of gold spattered in different spots. Gary That would depend on Gold Content. Have you done a Streak Test ? Edited July 31, 2017 by homefire Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LowPoint Posted July 31, 2017 Author Share Posted July 31, 2017 10 minutes ago, homefire said: That would depend on Gold Content. Have you done a Streak Test ? NO, not as yet. I have to see if I can find my stone and tester. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homefire Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 Inside of the toilet tank lid works dandy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LowPoint Posted July 31, 2017 Author Share Posted July 31, 2017 I just used my gold test kit to test for 10,14,18, and 24K gold. I used the 10K acid only on the streak and the acid completely dissolved the streak,... So no gold, or it has less than 10K.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homefire Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 (edited) Have any Selsun Blue Shampo ? Makes a good test for silver. Turns silver Cobalt Blue Color. When silver turns blue it's sulphiding. If you place sulphided Silver on a peace of Aluminum foil in a baking soda bath it converts the BLUE back to silver. Selsun shampoo (selenium sulphide) - NetDoctor www.netdoctor.co.uk/medicines/skin-and-hair/.../selsun-shampoo-selenium-sulphide/ Feb 1, 2012 - Selsun shampoo contains the active ingredient selenium sulphide. ... Selsun shampoo may discolour gold, silver or other metallic jewellery, it is therefore important to remove all jewellery before using the ... Selsun blue. Edited July 31, 2017 by homefire Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomH Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 2 hours ago, GDM/PV said: Hello homefire, I pulled up the link regarding Electrum,. .very interesting THANKS, but according to the reading Electrum is more yellowish than this nugget. Hello TomH, Thanks for responding, I think you may be right, as I did just scraped a very small spot, and it is bright and shiny. Not being familiar with silver, Is silver soft like lead when scraped?? I can also see very-fine-specs of gold spattered in different spots. Gary Silver will be a lot harder than lead. Pretty sure you got yourself a nice natural silver nugget there Being natural, there is probably some other metals mixed in with it. Really nice nug Tom H. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swampstomper Al Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 Gary -- quick tip for you, everyone actually: If you install a 5600 Kelvin or what is commonly referred to as "equivalent daylight" light bulb in the lamp you use for taking photos, it'll get rid of the yellow cast associated with soft white and cool white bulbs.. This becomes particularly useful when others are trying to ID something for someone.. The item you have here just happens to be a perfect example of why doing so is a good thing for everyone all around.. Same price; no physical temp differences -- simply makes for a better photo-taking and viewing experience is all.. Swamp 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisski Posted August 1, 2017 Share Posted August 1, 2017 If that came from AZ, probably not platinum. The AZ bureau of mines warns that any attempt at placer platinum in AZ is likely a scam. Although platinum is mined in AZ, it only comes from a byproduct of copper mining, and only in trace, non-commercial amounts. There's been a couple of pictures in the paper of platinum nuggets from the Wickenburg area, but I consider those suspect. Also, the flat bottom makes me think it's not natural, and the product of some smelting. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homefire Posted August 1, 2017 Share Posted August 1, 2017 14 minutes ago, chrisski said: If that came from AZ, probably not platinum. The AZ bureau of mines warns that any attempt at placer platinum in AZ is likely a scam. Although platinum is mined in AZ, it only comes from a byproduct of copper mining, and only in trace, non-commercial amounts. There's been a couple of pictures in the paper of platinum nuggets from the Wickenburg area, but I consider those suspect. Also, the flat bottom makes me think it's not natural, and the product of some smelting. Seen that too. Looks like it was hot and dropped. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nugget Shooter Posted August 1, 2017 Share Posted August 1, 2017 http://repository.azgs.az.gov/uri_gin/azgs/dlio/1606 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomH Posted August 1, 2017 Share Posted August 1, 2017 Heres a silver nug that Arctic Dave found one time when we were out. Sure looked like a rock! Put some nitric on it and it reacted. Tom H. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nugget108 Posted August 1, 2017 Share Posted August 1, 2017 I also think it is a pour of some sort. The flat side has the same, I guess you would call them molten lines? Where it was a pool of molten metal then cooled. I can't really tell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clay Posted August 1, 2017 Share Posted August 1, 2017 Looks like a bearing over pour to me. They are pretty common. Probably Babbitt metal. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LowPoint Posted August 1, 2017 Author Share Posted August 1, 2017 Well, I got some Selsun shampoo and did the test on the nugget. I let it soak for about 30-minutes, and it didn't affect it one bit. So, neither silver, nor platinum,... just a curiously- formed chunk of lead. Guess I should have figured it was lead when I saw that flat side. Oh well, now I know that Selsun shampoo is a good test for silver (if and when I ever find any)??? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Au Seeker Posted August 1, 2017 Share Posted August 1, 2017 57 minutes ago, GDM/PV said: Well, I got some Selsun shampoo and did the test on the nugget. I let it soak for about 30-minutes, and it didn't affect it one bit. So, neither silver, nor platinum,... just a curiously- formed chunk of lead. Guess I should have figured it was lead when I saw that flat side. Oh well, now I know that Selsun shampoo is a good test for silver (if and when I ever find any)??? I'm also thinking it maybe babbit from a bearing pour, in the old days all bearings were poured in place instead of just replaced a bearing shell as we do now-a-days. That Selsun Blue shampoo is also good for other things as well....it's great for washing your hair if you have dandruff or even if you don't have dandruff!!! 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tortuga Posted August 7, 2017 Share Posted August 7, 2017 I'd have to think Selsun would be pretty mild and might have a hard time testing natural, unrefined silver that's not a coin or something. There's silver test kits you can get off Amazon for about $5 that come with acid that might be more accurate/sensitive. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tortuga Posted August 7, 2017 Share Posted August 7, 2017 Oh yeah I wanted to mention that parts of it almost have the appearance of an iron meteorite (the flat part) but did you test if it's magnetic or not? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LowPoint Posted August 15, 2017 Author Share Posted August 15, 2017 Well, I decided to do a little acid test on this nugget today. I placed an obvious lead slug and my questionable silver nugget in a beaker of pure Nitric acid. I let them set soaking for about 20-minutes, and there was no action going on from either of them. So I then commenced to heat the beaker, nitric acid and the two on a little electric stove that I have. As soon as the nitric started getting hot the silver nugget started bubbling (there was no affect on the lead). The longer I heated the nitric acid the more the silver nugget bubbled with brown-colored bubbles (All the while the acid had no affect at all on the lead slug). Initially, the silver nugget turned to a sort-of battleship gray color all over, then that color turned to a chalky-white color; continuing to bubble all the while. After about 4-5 minutes I turned the burner off and let everything cool. What was left in the bottom of the beaker was a very-fine-chalky-white residue, which was also on the nugget until I sprayed the nugget off with a water hose. What was left is still a nugget, but it is now 1.23 grams "less" in weight compared to what I started with ( it was 5.04 grams); And it is much more shiner, brassy ,..."more Silvery" and metallic. It is not the least bit magnetic though. Any Thoughts regarding these results?????????? Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomH Posted August 15, 2017 Share Posted August 15, 2017 Think you just made silver nitrate Did it look like this when you heated it up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.