Someones payday ?

[Digginitdaily]

So it rained last night and I figured I'd try to find some silver coins today . I searched under a no longer there clothes line and pulled up this square piece of silver. I can make out the date of 1775 on the side but have no idea what it could be . I'm guessing it was someone's paycheck they lost ... I bet there wife was pissed !

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Treasure of Victoria Peak - Grab it through Amazon!

[KodyB]

So it rained last night and I figured I'd try to find some silver coins today . I searched under a no longer there clothes line and pulled up this square piece of silver. I can make out the date of 1775 on the side but have no idea what it could be . I'm guessing it was someone's paycheck they lost ... I bet there wife was pissed !

That’s awesome!
Could you post more pics of the silver & some close ups?

 

[Digginitdaily]

That’s awesome!
Could you post more pics of the silver & some close ups?

I'll try

 

[Blackfoot58]

So it rained last night and I figured I'd try to find some silver coins today . I searched under a no longer there clothes line and pulled up this square piece of silver. I can make out the date of 1775 on the side but have no idea what it could be . I'm guessing it was someone's paycheck they lost ... I bet there wife was pissed !

What does an angry wife look like? Oh, I remember! 😆

 

[cudamark]

How do you know it's silver?

 

[Digginitdaily]

How do you know it's silver?

It's definitely not aluminum and it's not rusty. I could tell when it rang the bell on my machine.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Pictures are blurry. Only way to be sure it is silver is to acid test it.

 

[ticndig]

could it be lead ? looks like lead

 

[Digginitdaily]

Pictures are blurry. Only way to be sure it is silver is to acid test it.

Unfortunately acid test will not work on brittania silver. The acid test only works on sterling and known silver contents. The silver content in any silver piece from the 1700s ranges anywhere from 92.5 to 100

 

[Emil W]

Unfortunately acid test will not work on brittania silver. The acid test only works on sterling and known silver contents. The silver content in any silver piece from the 1700s ranges anywhere from 92.5 to 100

This is not true. I test silver almost every week and have for decades. Standard acid tests will tell you if it's silver although it won't tell you the content percentage.

Since I assume you don't have an acid test kit based on your comment, take it to a local jeweler and he'll test it for free if you tell him you're interested in scrapping it. If he confirms it's silver you can tell him you changed you mind about scrapping.

Everyone on these forums would benefit from buying a acid test kit. They're readily available, and cheep, on Amazon.

 

[Clay Diggins]

It looks like a solder chip to me. I doubt it contains any silver. Probably mostly composed of lead and tin.

 

[CRUSADER]

could it be lead ? looks like lead

Looks like it has a high Lead content to me as well.

 

[Digginitdaily]

Looks like it has a high Lead content to me as well.

I just tested it with a lead testing kit from Walmart. Still waiting on results

 

[Digginitdaily]

This is not true. I test silver almost every week and have for decades. Standard acid tests will tell you if it's silver although it won't tell you the content percentage.

Since I assume you don't have an acid test kit based on your comment, take it to a local jeweler and he'll test it for free if you tell him you're interested in scrapping it. If he confirms it's silver you can tell him you changed you mind about scrapping.

Everyone on these forums would benefit from buying a acid test kit. They're readily available, and cheep, on Amazon.

Brittanic silver from the 1700s is not the same as sterling. The silver content was varied. You can test all the silver you want, but the chances of you testing a piece of Brittanic silver compared to modern silver are very slim considering the fact that most of the items are highly priced antiques. Aluminum wasn't invented til the l800s so the choice of metals to use were slim. Pure silver is very malleable meaning you can fold it like paper. They kept it that way so the could melt it down and remake new items.

 

[ticndig]

and what about lead ?

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

If I remember correctly sterling silver is 92.5% pure silver and Britannic is 95 or 96% pure silver so should still be able to acid test it, if it was an antique or collectible bullion I could see not wanting to acid test it but it is neither.

 

[Emil W]

Brittanic silver from the 1700s is not the same as sterling. The silver content was varied. You can test all the silver you want, but the chances of you testing a piece of Brittanic silver compared to modern silver are very slim considering the fact that most of the items are highly priced antiques. Aluminum wasn't invented til the l800s so the choice of metals to use were slim. Pure silver is very malleable meaning you can fold it like paper. They kept it that way so the could melt it down and remake new items.

Again, this is incorrect.

There are two basic acid tests for silver. You can use an acid specifically for silver, which will give you different shades of reddish-brown depending on the purity of the silver.

The second test is to use the acid normally used to test 18K gold. This acid will turn it light blue to bluish-white depending on the purity of the silver. If it has no silver content the mark will go away completely.

This YouTube video shows how 800 and 925 silver are tested with acid, but you can find many others:



As I've said, I've been testing precious metals for decades, professionally. I regularly test antique and modern pieces for a local auction. I learned the process from a jeweler decades ago.

Discus this with your local jeweler, he will verify all I've said.

 

[Emil W]

If I remember correctly sterling silver is 92.5% pure silver and Britannic is 95 or 96% pure silver so should still be able to acid test it, if it was an antique or collectible bullion I could see not wanting to acid test it but it is neither.

For anyone not wanting to mark their suspected piece of silver by rubbing it on a test stone, you can test using specific gravity, but you're measurements must be extremely precise if you want to be able to tell the difference between 900, 925, and 999 silver. But if it's in the range of about 10.3 to 10.49 it's likely silver.

The specific gravity of 999 is 10.49
For 925 it's 10.36
For 900 silver it's 10.31

I don't know the number for 800 silver but it would be lower than 10.31.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

For anyone not wanting to mark their suspected piece of silver by rubbing it on a test stone, you can test using specific gravity, but you're measurements must be extremely precise if you want to be able to tell the difference between 900, 925, and 999 silver. But if it's in the range of about 10.3 to 10.49 it's likely silver.

The specific gravity of 999 is 10.49
For 925 it's 10.36
For 900 silver it's 10.31

I don't know the number for 800 silver but it would be lower than 10.31.

I just acid test it myself.

 

[Kona Koma]

So it rained last night and I figured I'd try to find some silver coins today . I searched under a no longer there clothes line and pulled up this square piece of silver. I can make out the date of 1775 on the side but have no idea what it could be . I'm guessing it was someone's paycheck they lost ... I bet there wife was pissed !

Nice