Not sure what to think......nugget???

Must811

Jr. Member
Feb 20, 2006
69
50
Boca Raton, Florida
Detector(s) used
CTX 3030, Equinox 800, Excal II
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
I went out with my Excal over the last weekend to my favorite lake/sandbar. I got a helluva signal on my Excal and I was sure it was a ring, but I pulled out a hunk of "something" and was disappointed. I put it in my pocket and really did not pay much attention to it...until I got home. This thing weighs about half a pound (or more). I thought it was probably slag from a welding or cutting torch, but it is not. It looks like gold. I got my AT Pro out and ran over it.....no ferrous signal at all, a solid 72 on the meter. Not sure what I have here at all, but it is fun to imagine! I am open to ideas as to what you guys think I pulled out of the lake.......

By the way, I found this at a sandbar where I am continually pulling out arrowheads and even spearheads in my scoup. Not sure there is any relationship at all.......

Another sidebar.....this was the last signal I ever got out of my Excal. It is completely unresponsive to any metal now! Packing it up and sending it back to Minelab so I can get back in there!
 

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Terry Soloman said:
Must811 said:
Spent a lot of time today cleaning this thing....here's what it looks like so far. It definitely seems to be gold to me, but I am an optimist. There is a copper hue to a good bit of it after all the cleaning and hydrolysis, but it buffs off to a bright gold color. Still in process of cleaning, just an update....

It is VERY hard to tell from your picture, but if it is gold, it has not moved very far. I am curious as to why you didn't just stop by a jewler and let them do a scratch test?

I was wondering the exact same thing......would only take a minute and would answer a lot of questions. JMHO.....Gold Nuggets
 

Some parts look like gold, other parts look copper...
 

Even if it is copper, collectors pay a good ammount of money for nice looking copper nuggets. Try not to file it any more..

Any news on this thing?
 

No news yet guys....I got called out to the west coast on business and haven't been back home to take it anywhere yet. Am anxious to say the least about gettin home and taking it to get looked at!
 

Took it to a jeweler today and had an acid test done on it.......not gold. They have no idea of what it is, other than a fantastic looking paperweight! It is really intriguing though......
 

Which part did he test? looks like 2 different metals.
 

I've seen many pieces that look exactly identical to that. Usually inside of, or around cell tower sites. Some sort of brazing globs that fall to the ground when they braze the newer style solid alloy ground wires to all the metal framework, ground rods and huts in the sites.
 

Since you found it in NC and not MN, its probably not a copper nugget.

It could be a melted combination of metals: an alloy. Like brass, bronze, and many others.

The sharp edges of it look like it quickly solidified from a very hot melted state.

OK, here's my suggestion.

If silver/copper, striking it with a hammer should flatten it somewhat. Just like striking a planchet produces a coin image. That would suggest malleability: important for gold, copper or silver.

I'm glad to see you've already created a window into the object. Not a meteorite. Not iron. Can't really tell the correct color because of what looks like glare in the photo.

Sodder is still a possibility, but should have sufficient tin content to flatten at least a little.

Try the hammer test. Be sure to wear eye protection, as one of those small angular pieces might fly off.
 

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