Need Some GOLD Testing Advice on this Coin Shaped Object??

[SoCalBeachScanner]

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Recently I acquired a Gold, Silver, & Platinum Test Kit. I was going through some of my recent finds that were questionable on the material. Below is a coin shaped slug with nothing written on it that was found in beach sand next to clad that were corroded pretty bad, but this gold colored thing is perfectly smooth with sharp square edges, and is not corroded at all. In the picture it looks greenish, but it is a light grayish color. I know it's not Copper and I was thinking it was Brass, But not sure.

Dimensions: .977 Diameter, .065 Thick, 6.5 Grams

Pictures: ----------------- Front----------------------------------Back--------------------------------------------Edge


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Does the 14k Gold Acid Dissolve Brass and the 10k Gold Acid does Not??

Or, can this coin shaped object be 10k Gold?

In the Tests Below there is 14k Gold Acid on the LEFT and 10k Gold Acid on the RIGHT, and the other photo is after I polished half of it.

Any Advice is Welcome - Thanks


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[Diggin-N-Dumps]

oh man...thats got some thickness on it...Looks like you have something good there

 

[war-digs-it]

Try this when testing unknown items. Hold the item between your index finger and thumb, using the edge of the slate as a guide, run the lines while moving to one side as to make a good defined mark. Without adjusting the item in your fingers, spin the slate around and make another rub getting deeper into the area that you just ground off, this is to remove any plated material. Test your second mark letting the acid work for 30 seconds or so.

 

[taz42o]

I can tell you its not heavy enough to be gold.

 

[SoCalBeachScanner]

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I can tell you its not heavy enough to be gold.

Hi taz420,

Yeah, I do believe your right that it is not gold. And I just did another test using a known brass ferrule (below) and it tested the exact same as the slug. The 10k Acid does not affect it, but the 14k Acid does. So my guess now is the slug is made of brass.

Then, I put a drop of that 10k Acid on several types of metals including; aluminum, copper, stainless, lead, and it appears not to affect anything but carbon steel.

I have two rings that are stamped 14k and they test okay with the 14k Acid, but not the 18k Acid. So that test passed

Now my questions is how can you trust anything that may be stamped 10k if everything but carbon steel / iron will test okay with 10k Acid? So 10k Acid is no better test then a magnet.

 

[taz42o]

Yes 10k acid is not much use.
Without using electronic testers , the cheap and easy way is specific gravity.
You will need digital scales.
You take two weight measurements and divide them.



Hauser & Miller - Specific Gravity & Melting Point

 

[SoCalBeachScanner]

Yes 10k acid is not much use.
Without using electronic testers , the cheap and easy way is specific gravity.
You will need digital scales.
You take two weight measurements and divide them.

Thanks taz420 ... Now I Like That!! I really never needed to know about precious metal testing until I started to metal detect. Now that I'm finding all kinds of jewerly and stuff, it is a must. I already sold four pieces of jewerly on eBay, so I hope they were 14k & 18k as they were marked.
I'm going to look into electronic testers also.

Thanks again for the information