✅ SOLVED Found this doing yard work. I believe it is natural platinum. But?????

I

IAMKNOW1

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Feb 16, 2013
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I was doing some yard work about a year ago and found what looked like a fossil to me and having always loved different rocks & minerals I brought it in the house. Doing some more yard work I began to notice there was A LOT of rocks in this yard. I can dig down 3 feet or so and have river rocks start filling my hole back up with little to no dirt. I started looking at some of these and I could see gold & pyrite, silver, gray to dark gray to metals in a lot of them. Now I am landscaping and breaking rocks. I picked up the old fossil & noticed gold & silver color in it so I decided to break it open and this is what I found. The nugget weighs 97.7 gr's & I tried your torch test. 20 minutes later & the tip of the nugget wasnt even red yet. I let it cool down & it looked like it had never seen a torch. I have a couple magnets that will really pinch your fingers & it just barely stuck to it. The complete piece weighs 1.74lbs. I washed it off after breaking it out of it's casing and glued it back together for the pictures. 0211030255a.jpg0216030026.jpg0216030025.jpg0211030242a.jpgI have never seen anything like it in 50 years and was hoping someone on here could just verify what I think I have found. Thank you very much in advance, I can't wait to read your answers. T.
 

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Unfortunately, I don't believe the volume test will be an exact indicator either since Platinum doesn't come pure naturally. My high power magnet barely sticks to it, so I think there is some small amounts of iron in it. I believe I read something about the volume test & it said it shouldn't be less then 14 (something) and as high as 21 (something) sorry, I can't remember the formula. I also read several times that the purest natural platinum is approximately 80%. Some more research tells me that my house is sitting on a old dried up riverbed. I wish I could show you all the coolest rocks I have ever seen my 50 years on this planet. More then half I'd say contain gold & silver colors. A lot of the gold appears to be literally dripping off the rocks!!! Really neat stuff!!
 

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Keep in mind ya'll, I had to break this fossil looking rock open to find this. This isn't any type of prank or game. It was sealed by Mother Nature and this thing obviously "grew" inside this rock which is peppered with thousands & thousands of little grayish silverish bb's. At first glance, the nugget looked like gold and I took the claw end of my hammer and tapped it while it was still mostly inside & if you look close enough at one of the pics, you can see where I left those marks. It's been in air for a week now and no tarnish and it is heavier then aluminum I believe. Looks like I will be spending the $45. Can anyone guess the value if it is Platinum???Prices on ebay are mind boggling, 1200/gr or some where in that neighborhood.? Unbelievable!!
 

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IAMKNOW1 said:
Unfortunately, I don't believe the volume test will be an exact indicator either since Platinum doesn't come pure naturally. My high power magnet barely sticks to it, so I think there is some small amounts of iron in it. I believe I read something about the volume test & it said it shouldn't be less then 14 (something) and as high as 21 (something) sorry, I can't remember the formula. I also read several times that the purest natural platinum is approximately 80%. Some more research tells me that my house is sitting on a old dried up riverbed. I wish I could show you all the coolest rocks I have ever seen my 50 years on this planet. More then half I'd say contain gold & silver colors. A lot of the gold appears to be literally dripping off the rocks!!! Really neat stuff!!
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Mister if you got gold dripping off those rocks I suggest you set up a sluice box and mine your yard!! As far as your mystery metal I hope you find out what it is and keep us posted? The volume test is pretty definitive and that site you can put in any type values OZ's Ml's Ltr's what ever you want, so you can do this with your regular measuring cup and not have to spend any money and you'll have a better idea tonight? If the test is close then go have it chemically tested or other testing.
 

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I dont really know Im just saying my first thought is a mold. I dont really know.

As far as a propane torch, it wont melt much. It only proves its not solder. I was an A/C repairman and a plumber and I doubt that a propane torch would even melt copper.

Whatever it is, its a very interesting find. The rock/mold itself may have value. I havent read all the posts but instead of damaging an interesting artifact any further with hammer and propane torch, why dont you just take it to a pawn shop for testing?
 

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I dont remember my propane torch melting copper but I checked online and found this so I guess its possible under certain conditions. How to Melt Copper Wire | eHow.com

Either way I think its best not to damage anything any further. Let us know if the pawn shop or jeweler offered to buy it. Good luck.
 

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Take it to a local university physics lab or geologists, am sure they could do a few tests without damaging it, and nail it down for you. Plus they love a mystery also and love figuring out what an unknown material may be. Is it possibly some slag byproducts? I have seen rocks looking like those around the metal object and they were the result of some old processes and just a waste byproduct.
 

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My first impression was a mould and the tip sticking out was the pouring point. That said i am not there so could be anything. The item could I suppose have been encapsulated in sediment and has grown very hard over the years but i dont think it would have "grown" in its encrustment.

before i spent $45 doing an essay I would, as has been suggested do the water table test.
 

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I live in seattle and have a PT test acid.

Very simple. Take to a coinshop, jeweler,pawn, ect.

Most will test for free, or it might cost you telling them this story.
 

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I looked again and it still looks like one half of a silica sand mold. It also has a sprue. Maybe someone was experimenting. Sand casting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If you find any more it would be best not to bust them with a hammer because they may have value.

How did it get cut perfectly in half?
 

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Reed Lukens said:
Just from the color it looks like brass. Plus the weight for the 3" doesn't add up to gold or platinum.
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I tend to agree with Reed. Looking at the pic next to your hand, it looks like it's roughly 1 1/2" in diameter, and maybe 3" long. That's about 5.3 cubic inches in volume. A hunk of pure platinum that size would weigh roughly 1700+ grams. Even accounting for it not being pure, it is very light for platinum.
Jim
 

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Ok Let me ask you a question. You started this thread with the headline stating that you believe that it is platinum. Why do you think it is platinum?? what characteristics of the metal made you think it was platanium? Have you seen raw platanium before in your hand?

Just trying to get an idea where you are coming from.
 

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Well based on the weight stated if it's platinum the prices are..... pure $28,120.00 / .900 $25,308 / .850 $23,902.00
In looking at the second pic of the rock / mold it realy looks like investment material with the white interior color? HH
BK
 

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