✅ SOLVED Middle East Hunt - What Metal?

[fakeer]

I've found a few objects of this particular composition and can't figure out what metal (or alloy) this is. They don't have any particular odor/taste and they seem relatively impervious to oxidation or general degradation.

Any ideas?

 

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[tamrock]

Take it to a buyer of precious metals to have it tested. To me it looks like melted gold jewelry. Remelted 14k yellow gold will lose it's color to a more pale yellow when it's melted down with a flame torch.

 

[pepperj]

First photo looks like a rusted piece of iron, then the other photos look like it's been cleaned. So did you clean it polish/tumble sand blast the object. Brass?

 

[fakeer]

Yup- kinda hodgepodged it. First soaked it in vinegar overnight then took some steel wool to it. Then used a pocket knife to scrape off some of the more stubborn crud. After that, continued with the steel wool and also intermittently rubbed some baking soda powder on it.

 

[fakeer]

That'd be sweet Tamrock, but if it were gold, I understand it would have basically come out of the ground sparkling, no?

 

[Carolina Tom]

Looks like lower karat gold... but that crust shouldn’t be like that IMHO.

A gold test kit would be helpful at this point.

 

[tamrock]

That'd be sweet Tamrock, but if it were gold, I understand it would have basically come out of the ground sparkling, no?

IDK? It appears that crud wasn't really a result of any kind of oxidation and more like something coating it from what you described. I recall reading a story long ago in one of those treasures hunting magazines of a find of a small gold bar found in a old mining camp that was coated in tar. It was thought that was done to conceal what it really was.

 

[fakeer]

IDK? It appears that crud wasn't really a result of any kind of oxidation and more like something coating it from what you described. I recall reading a story long ago in one of those treasures hunting magazines of a find of a small gold bar found in a old mining camp that was coated in tar. It was thought that was done to conceal what it really was.

You make an interesting point. Here's a twist, though. I also found this snake head nearby. The color is very similar, but it registers in the "silver" spectrum on my detector whereas the little bar does register in the "gold" spectrum.

I guess I can take them to a local jewellery store for testing. What if these objects are artifacts, though? You think there's a chance some joe shmoe at a jewellery shop could mess them up via testing?