Wisconsin Nugget

Bumpstick

Bumpstick

Hero Member
Jun 1, 2008
602
229
Lake Country WI.
Detector(s) used
MineLab/ Excalibur&Exterra705/ Gold Bug
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting

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Was a little time rushed in my reply.

There is also a gold/copper electrum where copper takes the place of the silver. That will take on a more red coppery appearance. Any electrum is an alloy. Halfbreeds are distinct metals within the same nugget.

I'm sluicing beach sand NNE to NE of your find. I'm also finding some flour copper with the flour gold. I'm surprized that the copper is bright metal and not green/black when I see it on the miller table. That might be a copper electrum. So we probably have material from the same deposit.

Might want to try the Manistique area in the UP. New place to try next summer! If I'm right, there should be copper and gold on the beach there, and they might be larger chunks.
 

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Typically gold is more globular and smooth in form. The surface of that nugget strikes me as having more of an iron ore or pyrite appearance to it. Might want to take a steel nail and scratch a tiny area on the nugget. If it crumbles and breaks up its pyrite. If it's soft and just drags through it (like lead) it's gold.
 

californiagold said:
There is many newspaper articles from 1800s in california of people cleaning their chickens and finding little nuggets in their gizzard or craw. Especially those living in gold country.
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This brings back memories. My parents lived in Nevada City, CA (Dad worked for a local mine) in the late 30's. They moved back to N.M.when WWII broke out and all gold mines were ordered closed by the government. I was born in N.M. and when I was a young boy watching my Mom prepare chicken, she told me she was told by friends in Nevada City to always check the gizzard stones for gold. She still checked them even after they moved from gold country.
 

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Bumpstick said:
Found this 3/4 oz. Nugget last week end with my Gold Bug.
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Lovely looking nugget!

Unfortunately, I've got some bad news for you; it is only a bit over 2/3 oz, not 3/4 oz. There are 31.1 grams to a troy oz, not 28.35 g. I have to tell my cadets that frequently.

21.45/31.10 = 0.6897 oz. Of course, you could just call it your 21 and 1/2 gram nugget. :)

However, that does not take away from it or the amazing fact you found it in Wisconsin! (Are you sure it isn't cheese?)
 

GreyGhost said:
Typically gold is more globular and smooth in form. The surface of that nugget strikes me as having more of an iron ore or pyrite appearance to it. Might want to take a steel nail and scratch a tiny area on the nugget. If it crumbles and breaks up its pyrite. If it's soft and just drags through it (like lead) it's gold.
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Pyrite that size would not weigh 21 grams...it's definitely mostly gold. great find!!! Don't damage that beaut with a nail...worst thing you could do lol!
 

SchoolOfHardRocks said:
Pyrite that size would not weigh 21 grams...it's definitely mostly gold. great find!!! Don't damage that beaut with a nail...worst thing you could do lol!
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True about the weight.
All the gold I have tho doesn't have that "sparkly" finish on it. Which is why I asked if the owner treated it with acid or something. I've seen lots of pyrite with that flaky, sparky finish in it tho.
All my gold comes from Arizona tho, not Wisconsin. I'm not familiar with the appearance of Wisconsin gold and its purity. It sure looks a little more silvery than my gold and I can see a copper spot on it too. Prop just an unusual mix of gold, copper, silver and whatever else is found in the region.
 

This gold nugget with a bit of copper inclusion was found in an area known for its copper, silver, and gold occurrences and mining history. Regardless of its origins, it does pass the 18K gold test and certainly target IDs well above iron pyrites, so it seems to me that other considerations fall by the wayside. Its surface appearance is nothing new under the sun. We often see similar appearing silver nuggets with some pitting evident, whether naturally occurring through environmental effects or dissolved from rock via acid treatment.

WTG Bumpstick on a great recovery, geez we just never know what might happen when we run a metal detector in prospecting country, that’s what keeps this hobby so interesting and so much fun. But at the end of the day, you are the one whose efforts made it happen. Congratulations to you, hopefully there will be more gold recoveries in your near future. :icon_thumright:

Jim.
 

My scale when I switched to OZ it came up .76oz. Interesting since the DigiWeigh is marketed as a Digital Jewelry Scale.
I will have to reweigh my other nugget.
That is some good looking hard rock you have going there Takoda good to here from you again.
I just drove to Detroit and back on business. I was dying to detour to a river with some supposed nuggets being found.
Weather went south, it started raining and blowing cold. I was pulling a trailer and it started getting dark early.
Hope to investigate further next trip. I will leave much earlier.
 

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My scale measures troy and the other kind which I cannot spell. Check and see if yours does the same.
 

arizau said:
My scale measures troy and the other kind which I cannot spell. Check and see if yours does the same.
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Not only can we not spell it, it is a mouthful to get out; "aw vah du paw" is about as close as I can get -- and that is with my wife's coaching (she was a French major in college). :)

You are correct, Arizau, most scales do that and troy oz, too.

Again, amazing find. My biggest gold nugget is only about 1/3 that size (7 grams). As was suggested above, you need to get back and do some more searching in that location when the weather is better.
 

Well done Bumpstick! I'm on the wrong side of the river and in the driftless region to boot! Not that I know anything about geology or precious metal hunting. That is much prettier than any men's gold wedding band...............
 

First time I heard of a nugget being cleaned with tooth paste. Someone here must have a better way to clean your next find.
 

That must have been quite a shock to find one of that size where it was so totally unexpected!

Congratulations on your find.

All the best,

Lanny
 

GoldpannerDave said:
Lovely looking nugget!

Unfortunately, I've got some bad news for you; it is only a bit over 2/3 oz, not 3/4 oz. There are 31.1 grams to a troy oz, not 28.35 g. I have to tell my cadets that frequently.

21.45/31.10 = 0.6897 oz. Of course, you could just call it your 21 and 1/2 gram nugget. :)

However, that does not take away from it or the amazing fact you found it in Wisconsin! (Are you sure it isn't cheese?)
Click to expand...

0.6897 X 16 = 11.035

It's an 11/16 toz. Nugget. Awesome find!
 

Man that'd be such a shock .lol Congrats bud, beautiful.
 

I intend to make a Lucky Charm out of it with a nice gold chain to wear.
Now if I can get that chain back that I traded away.
A friend has a nice $10 Gold coin he found and wears it is way cool.
 

Man that was a way cool find , from the pictures you took looks good to me . I would be happy with any kind of nugget like that !!!!!
 

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