Is this silver?

[1liquigirl]

I found this in the backyard of my 1879 Victorian home, back in August (a few pics below). I thought it was lead because it seemed heavier than a rock would be of the same size, so it sat on my entertainment center for months. Tonight I vacuumed it and a piece of it chipped off onto the floor and another piece is now missing and probably somewhere in the vacuum bag, for a total of at least three pieces. I ran my Garrett 250 ace over it again tonight and it beeps on all modes from relic, jewelry, coins, and all metal in the 1 cent and 10 cent areas, which above is the high area of gold or bronze and low area of silver. When it was one piece, it somewhat had the shape of a cross to it. The longest section being the one that is broke off closest to the ruler. The broken off sections are extremely shiny and metalic, like a piece of aluminum foil, one of them I placed on top of the largest piece for the pictures. Stupid of me to run it through the vacuum before thinking it could be something valuable. Could this be silver? Can anyone help me with ideas on how to tell without taking it to a jeweler?

 

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[hollowpointred]

ok.....heres what the book says about specific gravity testing;

GOLD AND SILVER TESTING FOR SPECIFIC GRAVITY

specific gravity is the ratio at which a material displaces water in relation to its bulk
this is an extremely delicate test.if it is not performed to exact standards,it will not give you good results.however,its accuracy when properly done is far superior to that of almost all other methods of testing.
testing by specific gravity is much safer than by testing minerals and metals with acid.
if you plan on doing much testing by this method,you should consider buying a specific gravity testing scale from one of the mineral and mining supply dealers.these scales range in price from $25 and up. the address of mineral and mining supply dealers can be found in the advertisements in your favorite rouckhound or treasure magazine.
if you do not plan on doing lots of testing for specific gravity,a home made unit will be close to that of a professional model if properly assembled and used.
we all know that lead sinks,while a cork floats in water. this tells us nothing beyond the fact that some items are heavier than others. this could just as easily been done by weighing each piece on an ordinary scale.
specific gravity goes much deeper than the mere differance between sink and float.it gives the weight of an object in relation to its exact size.as water fully encompasses an object when completely submerged, it therefore measures far better than rulers and calipers.
as every object of the same material gives the same specific gravity reading, regardless of its size,the specific gravity readings easily distinguish between gold,silver or alloys of these metals, as well as helping to identify precious gems such as diamonds, rubies, jade etc.
a specific gravity scale may be made from an ordinary pan scale calibrated in grams.
if it is calibrated higher than grams it will not work
in other words, you can not use an ordinary postal scale or anything like it. these pan scales calibrated in grams, can be obtained for less than $30 from the same mineral and mining supply dealers mentioned earlier.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

remove the pan from the scale, and tie a length of string,(thin nylon like fishing string is good), from the pan holder, at the extreme edge, as the scale faces you.the string should not be long enough to touch the desk, or whatever the scale is sitting on.a water glass about 3/4ths filled with water is then positioned beneath the string.(it may be necissary to rest the glass upon a lower platform in order to obtain the proper height).it will need to be positioned so that the item to be tested, when tied to the string or nylon line, and dropped into the water, is fully submerged but does not touch the bottom or sides of the glass if it rests on the bottom of the glass or touches the sides, no matter how slight, the test will be spoiled.
as the object dangles in the glass of water, a reading is taken of the weight indicated on the gram scale indicator.
this is called:weight in water. this does not determine the specific gravity, but is the chief step in arriving at it. to get the specific gravity, the object must be weighed on the scale in the ordinary manner. be certain that the object is dry. this is called "air weight"
after you obtain the weight in water and the air weight, you subtract the weight in water from the weight in air.(the weight in air will always be the greater weight). you then divide the weight in air by the loss of weight in water,and you will have the objects specific gravity.

example weight in water 55.5 grams
weight in air 60.0 grams

subtract water weight from air weight 4.5 grams

divide loss of weight into air weight
4.5 divided into 60.0 equals 13.33

13.33 is the specific gravity.

the item in the example would be 14 karat gold.
depending on the accuracy of your scales, you will probably only be able to get very close approxamations rather than precise readings.

in the forgoing example we got a specific gravuty of 13.33 and called it 14k gold. this is the closest you may be able to get. however 14k gold is 13.55

specific gravity of metals:
tin......7.31
stainless steel ........7.80
iron.........7.81
brass.......8.52
german silver.......8.74
bronze.........8.82
copper........8.93
.925 silver........10.31
.999 pure silver......10.50
10k gold.........10.31
12k gold.........12.65
14k gold........13.55
18k gold............15.47
22k gold.........17.72
24k gold........19.32
platinum..........21.45

if you desire additional specific gravities, they can be found in your local library.


WHEW!!!!! i hope that makes sense to you! good luck

 

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[1liquigirl]

Thanks hollowpointred, I think I'm just going to purchase one of the scales then. There's a precious stones and gems shop about two blocks from here, so I'll stop in there and see if there's anything they can do to help me purchase one, or use one there if they have one on hand. If they do, then I can get help from them to make sure I've done it as accurately as possible. I don't know if they're open tomorrow, since it's pretty much the weekend, but I'll see. If not, well you all will hear the results on Monday at some time. All your responses have been very helpful. Thank you all.

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

=pgleba ]


If you have a junk porcelain dish, wrap it in cloth and break it. You will have a clean white porcelain edge on the break.
********
A) Or a piece of old tile, the backside will work. You want the white rough side.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Till Eulenspiegle

 

[hollowpointred]

id do the same for you handsome! ........besides it could be pete again! lol

 

[1liquigirl]

Ok all, went to a different jeweler today, who didn't charge me to do 2 tests. Here are the results:
The nitric acid test: turned a greyish color. The jeweler then told me we might have silver.
The burn test: He then took the same piece that he soaked in the acid and burned it with a blow torch.
It did not bead up as the piece of silver wire did, but could a different reaction occur since the nitric acid had not been washed off before burning it? My piece turned a bluish color. What metals do that?
The jeweler told me tin and a few other metals do that. Jeffro, you might be the correct guesser.

 

[Jeffro]

WooHoo!

I've found several pieces that resembled yours, and your description seemed to match what I found too...

I can't for life of me remember what the stuff is called.... something like sewter? or something. Its what they used before they came out with lead solder. Or as an alternative for different applications where you can't use lead.

 

[abacopirate]

A very siple thing to do is drop in from a couple of inches high on to a hard surface. Like a kitchen counter top or table. Clink, some type of silver alloy. Clunk, some type of lead alloy.

 

[1liquigirl]

Thanks Abaco, it's a clunker!!!