Gold nugget from a old home site!!!!

Phil73

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Apr 24, 2018
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Washington state
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oh wow really great find there
 

Aren’t nuggets more like 22k?
 

I'm No gold expert. I can't anwser that. I was told 10k is common.
 

Most raw gold is not high on the k scale. Awesome find. I bet that sounded good under the coil.
 

Dang! I can't even find a decent nugget like that when prospecting. Good find! Probably closer to 22 or 23K.
 

Wow Thats a sweet one, old homesite find ? Thats awesome !
yep probably at least 18K or as mentioned 22K + range , 10k would usually be way off for natural nuggets ...
 

Was it found anywhere near a heavy gold bearing area ?
 

Unless it is mixed with a lot of silver, most gold nuggets here on the east coast are 20-22K. If it's truly 10k then there are only two possibilities, there is a lot of silver in it or it is a melt the people who lived there did. Why, who knows?

Either way it's an awesome find and I've been told those acid test kits go bad very fast so you might be getting a false reading. I had that happen to me.

My best guess is that it's natural due to the shape.
 

I never heard of gold coming out of the ground with such a low purity. If that is a natural nugget, I would have it tested by a reputable jeweler.
Congratulations on your finds.
 

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Could be the remains of someones cremation? It's a some what common find at the ocean, mostly dental gold from someones ash's but most dental gold is a higher K.

I would have it tested by a professional...Nice save no matter, any gold is good!
 

A freaking gold nugget detecting! that is a hell of a find in my books. Voting banner!
 

Awesome find. I agree that it is probably a higher grade of gold.
 

NICE, Sounds like the story of its origin may lead to more value than the gold itself.. You may have a treasure cove..
 

Unless it is mixed with a lot of silver, most gold nuggets here on the east coast are 20-22K. If it's truly 10k then there are only two possibilities, there is a lot of silver in it or it is a melt the people who lived there did. Why, who knows?

Either way it's an awesome find and I've been told those acid test kits go bad very fast so you might be getting a false reading. I had that happen to me.

My best guess is that it's natural due to the shape.

First, It is a nice looking nugget. Second, I do agree with Smokey. Now, a little story with this post. About a month ago, I needed to get my "fix" in swinging a coil for a couple of hours, and went to the same park I have been to a million times before, of which the Rouge River runs along it. Just for a change I detected along where the embankment had been cut out. There had been the expected trash etc., and after a while decided to wrap it up, just one more signal then leave. OK, pull tab, (but it could be a nickel) so dug it anyway, finally found it with the pinpointer, small glob of melted aluminum, about to toss it into my trash bucket, but out of habit? rubbed it with the thumb of my glove and seen a "gold" color. Took off the glove and cleaned off the dirt, and it "looked" like a nugget, but was to heavy to be aluminum, and my first thought was, "who would spray paint a melted glob of lead?", so....did not put it in my coin pouch, but in my left pocket instead. Forgot all about it. Two days later about to throw the pants into the washer, checked the pockets, "What is this? Oh right, that thing" cleaned it off, and sure looked like a nugget, but of course no way it could be, does not happen like that. I set it on the desk in "my fort", because I just liked "Thinking" it was real. A couple of days later, my curiosity got the better of me. I do have an electronic gold tester from GemOro, so I set it up and went through the calibration process, double checked against a 14k gold ring, the 14k calibration disc, back and forth, and now the "nugget", fully expecting the "NA" (non-applicable). The lights went up to 18k, no way, each time, 18k. Shut down the machine. Turned it back on, went through the process again, 18k, 18k, 18k. OK then, I'm alittle worked up here. Next stop, the Armadillo Mining Shop here in town. A young lady there "Sam", has forgotten more about gold, rules, reg's etc then most people have learned, she is the "Go to" person. Well she looked it over again and again, drop test, weight test, everything about it was right, except the color, it had a "very slight brass like color?" to it, that threw her off a little. Never seen her like that before. (Sorry Samantha). OK then, me, knowing very little about gold nuggets, looked on line about them. Their are some "man made" nuggets out there in two forms. One of course are FAKE, on line on E-Bay etc, made of lead or copper that have been coated, sold to the un- suspecting, and there are some made from "scrap" jewelry. OK, makes sense, COULD explain the not (Yellow, yellow) color, the copper content of some gold rings?, but how did it end up there? I'd never know, no matter, 18k, I'm happy. What I DID learn on line, is that different parts of the country, may have a different purity, I found a low of say 16k in British Columbia, to about 22k in Northern California etc. Nothing for 10k. I believe Smokey is right in that your testing solution Phil, MAY be bad, in doing a "scratch" test. Take it to a jewelry shop, you may be in for a "pleasant" surprise. 18k or more? I do hope so. For the end of my "nugget" story. The nugget itself is 2.5 grams, small fingernail? Went into the mining shop a week later, and "Sam" informed me that YES, it was a "natural" nugget, because, another one just like it had been found about twenty miles down stream from me. Good enough for me fella's. 18k, I'm a happy guy. Now, I do not have the means or know how to post a picture, wish I did, but I don't. I can only add that I have no reason to B.S. anybody on T-Net, nor would I. It's just a little story I had to share in regards to Phil's post. His nugget could have been melted from old jewelry way back when, or, again it may be the testing solution itself giving a 10k reading. Either way, great find there Phil. Almost forgot, I still cannot pass up a pull-tab.
 

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Thanks for all the comments. This vacant beach home site has been supplying me with goodies. My last couple of posts are from the same site. Late 1800's to 1940's. 50 dollar slug, WWI Army disc, etc. I'll go to a jewelry store to have it tested soon. I'm in the PNW and a gold planner around here told me 10k was the norm. Either way great advice and will get it tested by a healer soon and update post.
 

It is possible for a natural gold nugget to be as low as 10k, and as high as 23.5k. Even nuggets from the same reef can differ. We have mines in Arizona, that produce high copper, high silver, content nuggets, and differ in Karat between 15k and 22k.

Congrats on your Gold! :occasion14:
 

Gold jeweler tested in 3 places. All 3 test 10k and failed at 14k. I asked is a 10k nugget common and got the deer in the headlights look back. I have to figure this out.
 

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