1lb 13oz Silversmith Silver Bar! (I think hehe)

[itzyoboyandrew]

Found this bar at an 1830s house, had been there before (but with a crappy metal detector...) Used my bounty hunter lone star pro today... (still not the best of metal detectors, but it works for my liking.) Found 2 more Ball mason jar lids (found 3 last time...) When i got a "Coin" signal.. Started digging.. and digging... 1ft down later, on the sides of the hole i hit this object, thought it was a can based on the tiny bit i saw. Pulled it out (well pried it out.) And i have this weight i thought, immediately thought lead because it was SO heavy for its size.. So i got home and decided to test it... (Mom said it didnt look like lead.. shes regretting saying that now because of my persistence! "

It passed a bleach tarnish test, acid test (my acid test is weird) and i tried melting it.. I took a lead weight and this thing, put the solder on the lead weight for 45seconds... it melted some off (not alot but it was noticeable..) did 45seconds on the bar, nothing. My dad said try to melt a shaved down part which i did... 45 seconds later... no melting...

I also think this was made by an actual sivlersmith. Why? Well it has a various amount of hammered dents on most sides.. Of varying sizes of hammers (or whatever tool was used.) Like someone was trrying to carve it? or shape it? Even if its not silver, still cool IMO..

\

Note: If you have any tests for me to try, ill do them.. im intrigued..

 

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[Msbeepbeep]

Well congrats on finding a sizeable bar of what ever it is!
Your bar, your post, if You call it silver it is till it's proven other wise. :thumbup:

 

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[itzyoboyandrew]

I can take a picture of the melted lead weight if you want.. it melted part of it... And yes ill do the displacement test, even then, that wont tell the purity of it if its of a less quality.. But whatever im tired of people saying crap about it... If im wrong oh well...

 

[ARC]

My guess is lead, but I could be wrong. The melting point of solder is 370 degrees, so that's not hard to melt. But the melting points of lead (621 degrees), zinc (787 degrees) and silver (1,763 degrees) are much higher.

Did you try melting a piece with a soldering gun or a propane torch? A soldering gun probably won't melt lead, zinc or silver, since it only heats up to 600 degrees or so. But a propane torch should melt any of those metals, since it's around 3600 degrees.

No it wont melt silver... but an soldering iron... heck a regular iron would melt lead.

DO NOT DO ANY MELTING INSIDE ! ! !

Lead gives off a vapor when burned... not to mention you have no clue YET what it is...
You do not want to "melt" burn anything indoors.
Lead stays in ya.

 

[ARC]

In fact... just to be on the safe side ...
You should wash hands after handling it IMO.

Don't eat your sandwich off of it in other words.

 

[itzyoboyandrew]

Density of 10.69

 

[WHADIFIND]

Density of 10.69

Good! Now I have the absolute, positively, gaaarrrooonteed test! Go out to the same place and find the other half of it that's marked silver!! LOL

Like I said before, don't fret it! The guy you try to sell it to will test it for you. Just take a lawyer with you! LOL

Maybe it's a stash the Lone Ranger used for his bullets!

 

[G.I.B.]

Show it to a woman.

If she gives you a confused look- it's lead.

If she smiles and snuggles up to you- it's silver.

 

[ARC]

Show it to a woman.

If she gives you a confused look- it's lead.

If she smiles and snuggles up to you- it's silver.

NO ! don't show it to a woman !

Somehow your bar will end up as jewelry instead of cash !

 

[xr7ator]

She needs to see the staff, not the bar. })

 

[dirtscratcher]

I just tested a 2008 Honda Accord and it rang up as a quarter!

Thanks for the laugh. Have not laughed that hard in a lomg time.

 

[Backwoodsbob]

Hey Andrew, those marks are on there for a reason. Look like you gotten closer to it.

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

 

[ErGarber]

Here is a video on how to determine the specific gravity of silver. This test should determine whether your chunk of metal is silver or something else. Let us know how it goes.

this is the greatest thing I have learned today. Thank you.

 

[itzyoboyandrew]

I see i silenced the haters hehe

 

[WHADIFIND]

I see i silenced the haters hehe

Ah yes! But MAN! What a ride! One of the most educational threads in a while! Whatcha think of that powder trick now? LOL

 

[itzyoboyandrew]

Ah yes! But MAN! What a ride! One of the most educational threads in a while! Whatcha think of that powder trick now? LOL

Mom was so amazed that something not touching the scale can effect the weight of the scale lol (from the density test video)

 

[FreeBirdTim]

I see i silenced the haters hehe

No one's hating on you. You could have tested it with nitric acid and THEN come here to show us your find. Would have saved a lot of time and hassle.

I hope it's silver, but I would still test it with nitric acid and then take it to a dealer to have him test it as well.

 

[itzyoboyandrew]

No one's hating on you. You could have tested it with nitric acid and THEN come here to show us your find. Would have saved a lot of time and hassle.

I hope it's silver, but I would still test it with nitric acid and then take it to a dealer to have him test it as well.

You dont trust my results? ive done every....single...test... and its passed all of them... What more do you need?

 

[WHADIFIND]

Mom was so amazed that something not touching the scale can effect the weight of the scale lol (from the density test video)

I know how she feels. Science is a wonderful thing! Good job!

 

[Perses]

You dont trust my results? ive done every....single...test... and its passed all of them... What more do you need?

Sometimes if you look for something really hard you will find it, whether its there or not, especially with treasure hunting. Many people here post pictures of rocks claiming they are native indian tools, when they clearly are not. But because they look long and hard, they find reasons to convince themselves that infact what they are looking at is a worked stone. Do yourself a favor, google a jewelry store that buys silver and gold, grab your mom when she has a free minute and go get it tested there, if its silver, the guy will tell you that it is, and will offer to buy it from you, you dont have to sell it if you dont want to. If its not silver, but he still offers to buy it from you, dont sell it to him, might be a crook.

What you will most likely hear is that its a brick of lead, with a rusty hook still in-bedded in it from when it was used as weight for one reason or the other, maybe a counterweight to a door or something, who knows. Let us know when you do that and what the guy said. Trust me, everyone here is rooting for it to be silver, if it is you will be on the top with a banner, if not, hopefully you will have learned your lesson.

Happy Digs.

 

[doninbrewster]

Piece would work great if you just stick it in a diving belt. I'd say I'm 99.999999999999999999999999999 sure it's lead.