Did I find a Platinum Nugget?!

[NeoTokyo]

Thread closed due to age.
This was platinum, and I sold it.




Heya everyone;


Question: Platinum or Silver or Other?


I found a small silver nugget today that I think may be Platinum.

I think it is right around 1/2 gram +/- and when I drop it in water it falls just as fast as gold.

I know lead does not polish well so I polished it with a cloth and Mothers Mag polish and it shined up perfectly.
I found a beautiful lead nugget two days before and tried to polish a side of it, it did not take the polish.


The only other thing that I can think of is that it might be silver.


If it is a Platinum Nugget, how do you figure a value on it?
Is it worth so many times more than the scrap value like some other gold nuggets?

Thanks Everyone.

-Eric-


These pictures are from my EVO 3D and are not the best photos, the nugget is dark silver, very shiny and bright on the edges, not gold like one of the photos shows.

 

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[NeoTokyo]

Thanks.
I didnt want to deal with ebay or anything so I was happy with what I got.

If there is more there I have not seen it, well we do find little micro flour like you but thats really it, it was crazy good luck that I found that one.

 

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[LosAngelesGuy]

Thanks.
I didnt want to deal with ebay or anything so I was happy with what I got.

If there is more there I have not seen it, well we do find little micro flour like you but thats really it, it was crazy good luck that I found that one.

If you don't mind my asking, what state/area were you looking in, and did you ever go back again to try your luck?

 

[NeoTokyo]

Northern California, Shasta County, no more since.
Another prospector that I talked to that had worked that same area said that he found one though.

 

[Bonaro]

Either platinum or HG covered gold
Plat is hard and will not melt without oxy/acetylene
Gold is soft, pinch it with pliars and if it bends and squashes, its gold
Plat is more or less the same value as gold

 

[CApicker]

I'm guessing Platinum. I get a lot of it on the American rivers in Cali. if it has a chrome apperance it is likely Platinum depending on the region. I think you would know if it is lead? lead is rarely shiny; just saying. post any findings if you will and good luck!

 

[enamel7]

Either platinum or HG covered gold
Plat is hard and will not melt without oxy/acetylene
Gold is soft, pinch it with pliars and if it bends and squashes, its gold
Plat is more or less the same value as gold

Reading is fundamental!

 

[Bonaro]

Reading is fundamental!

Are you trying to make some kind of point?

 

[enamel7]

Yes. The post was answered 2 years ago. If you read the whole thing you would know that. It was platinum and he sold it.

 

[NeoTokyo]

Yup, thanks for the comments though.

I am going to edit the first post to keep this one from popping up anymore.

 

[LP13]

Yes it may have been answered and discovered, but since the post is active now, others may read it, so a few pointers on it all might be helpful for anyone who might come across the thread now.

Lead would have a whitish coating on it, lead oxide, like when you find buckshot in your pan.

Silver would likely be black (I found a silver nugget in Mexico once and it was all black like your mom's silver got and you had to polish it once in a while)

It is relatively common to find gold coated with mercury. A simple test is to take a knife to it and score it and see what color it is in the scratch. Platinum is very hard while gold is very soft. Gold coated with mercury would look yellow in the scratch. Platinum is found in only a few areas of the continental USA. Great lakes area (miners there in the 1600's would pan nuggets of platinum out along the Hudson and toss them back in the river because they believed it was unripened gold, and it was too hard for them to work with back then, so it was useless to them) There are some areas in Montana platinum is found, the northwest and some places in northwest Arizona and southeast Nevada, as I recall. If someone isn't in these areas, then a silver nugget that isn't tarnished will likely turn out to be mercury coated gold (best bet)


BTW NeoTokyo, how was it determined to be platinum?

 

[enamel7]

Aaaarrrrg!

 

[Bonaro]

Aaaarrrrg!

Whats the matter, Enamel? Does it frustrate you when others try to share info?

 

[H&F909ORO]

I'm guessing Platinum. I get a lot of it on the American rivers in Cali. if it has a chrome apperance it is likely Platinum depending on the region. I think you would know if it is lead? lead is rarely shiny; just saying. post any findings if you will and good luck!

I never thought platinum was in the American. I would have never guessed, what part of American have you found platinum?

 

[Goldwasher]

I agree with enamel if you don't read the full thread then ask a question that has already been answered your kinda missing the point of the term " Thread" in this context.

 

[enamel7]

Whats the matter, Enamel? Does it frustrate you when others try to share info?

It frustrates me when people respond without reading the entire thread. Sharing info is fine. If folks took the time to read the entire thread they would see it's not necessary to supply irrelevant "info".
HH
enamel7

 

[NeoTokyo]

LP13 I took it to a local jeweler.
Most Jewelers can test things like this with Acid and heat tests.

 

[bill-costa rica]

It frustrates me when people respond without reading the entire thread. Sharing info is fine. If folks took the time to read the entire thread they would see it's not necessary to supply irrelevant "info".
HH
enamel7

gee man , you have your panties in a wad over nothing..... relax don;t need you to stroke out over nothing

bill/cr

 

[enamel7]

Stop trolling, burn down a bridge. Everyone always worried about my panties. Come up with something original. Just saying people should quit being so lazy. Same people who read the first and last chapters in school then did the book report.

 

[mxer47]

Your letting people live in your head rent free. Chill it'll all be ok. I have found the thread to be informative and entertaining due to the added drama. I have actually found some finer stuff locked in some decomposing rock. I've wondered how to test it and now I know thanks fellas.

 

[LP13]

I never thought platinum was in the American. I would have never guessed, what part of American have you found platinum?

Here is a link to a USGS .pdf file listing locations of relatively reliable platinum finds (for those curious):


http://pubs.usgs.gov/mf/1994/2270/report.pdf

What I found interesting was that I have a claim that shows a little bit of platinum and when I mapped out some of the locations in the document around the claim within 100 miles, my claim was in line with a north-south line that fairly closely intersects 4 other locations in this document.