Gold found on holiday?

[olinda]

Hi all. New to the site and hoping someone can help me.

I came across this when on holiday in Portugal and walking on a newly excavated road close to the beach. Road was made up of small rocks and clay. I noticed this and thought it might be worth holding on to?

Any advice would be appreciated guys thanks in advance

 

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[vpnavy]

Hi all. New to the site...I came across this when on holiday in Portugal and walking on a newly excavated road close to the beach...Any advice...

1st - Welcome Aboard! You didn't list your state (or country) in your profile. So, you might consider jumping over to Sub-Forum: Select Your Area.... and selecting location information (i.e., clubs, hunts, finds, legends, maps, etc.) directly related to your state (or country)...

2nd - I moved ya from NEW MEMBER INTRODUCTIONS over to WHAT IS IT? for more exposure.

NOTE: Forum NEW MEMBER INSTRODUCTIONS Description: New to TreasureNet? Introduce yourself to our community here! Welcome aboard and Happy Hunting!

 

[ticndig]

looks like lead or pot metal to me .

 

[Almy]

Good eye - I think you have a treasure hunter's heart! Most of us keep our eyes open even when not being assisted by a detector. We're just interested. Some things we find are really difficult to ID and I'd put yours in that category, but many times someone on the site will recognize it and that may happen with this piece. It looks like iron (or steel). Is that correct?

 

[olinda]

looks like lead or pot metal to me .

Thanks ! I would have thought the same but it has a gold colour to it when I sanded down one side and isn’t magnetic?

 

[olinda]

Good eye - I think you have a treasure hunter's heart! Most of us keep our eyes open even when not being assisted by a detector. We're just interested. Some things we find are really difficult to ID and I'd put yours in that category, but many times someone on the site will recognize it and that may happen with this piece. It looks like iron (or steel). Is that correct?

Thanks ! It’s definitely given me the bug! I haven’t had it checked yet so I am not sure but it is a gold colour? will post a pic shortly to show

 

[pepperj]

Welcome to the forum

It has an interesting shape, and it could be a part of something for sure.

Need to clean it up some more to see the actual item.
As far as it being gold-nope.
I might have a colouring that resembles gold but it's not.
Gold even buried for thousands of years looks like gold, it doesn't corrode as other metals do.

For cleaning up try soap and water with a brush.
Then a possible soaking in Hydrogen Peroxide would take off the organic material.

 

[olinda]

Welcome to the forum

It has an interesting shape, and it could be a part of something for sure.

Need to clean it up some more to see the actual item.
As far as it being gold-nope.
I might have a colouring that resembles gold but it's not.
Gold even buried for thousands of years looks like gold, it doesn't corrode as other metals do.

For cleaning up try soap and water with a brush.
Then a possible soaking in Hydrogen Peroxide would take off the organic material.

Thank you! Really appreciate the help I have lightly sanded one side just to expose whatever is underneath. Will pick up some hydrogen peroxide and give that a go ! Let me know what you think it may be?

 

[pepperj]

Thank you! Really appreciate the help I have lightly sanded one side just to expose whatever is underneath. Will pick up some hydrogen peroxide and give that a go ! Let me know what you think it may be?

No need to sand it any longer.
Just do a soaking in HP, as it won't hurt the metal.
It should create lots of small bubbles when it's actively working.

From the sanding it has the appearance of a brass/bronze alloy.

 

[olinda]

No need to sand it any longer.
Just do a soaking in HP, as it won't hurt the metal.
It should create lots of small bubbles when it's actively working.

From the sanding it has the appearance of a brass/bronze alloy.

Brilliant thank you! Will post the updated results when I get it done

 

[pepperj]

Brilliant thank you! Will post the updated results when I get it done

Using HP will take many hrs even a day or more.
It depends on the thickness of the organics on the item.
When it stops working you can even change the HP to continue the cleaning.

Often it helps to take it out every hour or so and give it a brushing with an old toothbrush to take any loose material off.

 

[Bucket Lister]

From the sanding it has the appearance of a brass/bronze alloy.

+1. That's what I was thinking even before the sanding.

As far as it being gold-nope.
I might have a colouring that resembles gold but it's not.
Gold even buried for thousands of years looks like gold, it doesn't corrode as other metals do.

+1. olinda, as an example to illustrate this, a while back I found a bridle rosette that was made of some cheap metal, but gold plated on the front. The front is definitely gold--no corrosion (just bad lighting 😳) and it came out of the ground that way--but the back... Everything but the gold plating is pretty much corroded away...

 

[Gare]

Olinda welcome to a very fine forum