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Unusual Metal Object


bmentink

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Hi,

I found the attached metal object with my MXT today. I am having trouble identifying the metal. It is not lead, it is hard, it is roughly 1 inch by 1/2 inch in size and weighs 18grams,

it does not feel light enough for Aluminium, any help identifying would be great ... (hopefully thinking Platinum ..)

Is there any test I can do?

Cheers,

Bernie

metal_object.jpg

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Looks like you've been in a burn pile and it's melted aluminum.  Just my two cents worth.  It would help if you noted what other objects you found with it or where you were hunting.  GaryC/Oregon Coast

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3 minutes ago, GaryC/Oregon Coast said:

Looks like you've been in a burn pile and it's melted aluminum.  Just my two cents worth.  It would help if you noted what other objects you found with it or where you were hunting.  GaryC/Oregon Coast

Hi Gary,

It was found in a sand-dune near the beach(NZ), under a glass the black object's don't look like burn debris, more like sea encrustation ..

Cheers

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18 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

What’s the target id number?

It’s probably aluminum or some mix of melted metals. Easy test. Platinum is impossible to melt with normal means. Hit it with a propane torch until it glows. If it melts, it’s not platinum.

Target ID is +81 ... I will try the propane test .. thanks

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Not to familiar with meteorite fragments but Maybe ???? I've heard they have some weird metallurgy. High nickel content ???

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On 2/23/2020 at 7:23 PM, bmentink said:

it is roughly 1 inch by 1/2 inch in size and weighs 18grams

 

19 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

81 is way too high for platinum. That's more up in the silver range, and it not impossible you have a melted blob of silver. Interesting.

I recall these rules-of-thumb:  a USA quarter is 1 inch in diameter.  A half dollar is 1 1/4 inches in diameter, and silver dollar is 1 1/2 inches in diameter. 

A USA half dollar weighs 12.5 g so this is about the weight of a quarter and half combined.

If you melted those two coins I think you would come up with something larger than 1 inch X 1/2 inch.  If the quoted dimensions and weights are accurate, it seems the specimen in question is more dense than silver....  So it seems you have a piece of metal that is both a high conductor and has a high density.  Hmmm.  I don't know what metal would fit those conditions.

I think this specimen deserves a specific gravity test.  Done correctly that is much better than trying to compare a measured weight with approximate length&width&thickness dimensions.

Addendum:  The person who created the linked webpage downplays the importance of the attachment piece -- in his illustration/example he uses a paper clip.  Particularly for a small item such as yours, I recommend something much finer.  Sewing thread (especially the monofilament, plastic kind) would be way better than a paper clip.  A very fine wire would be good, too.  In addition, in your case you really need a scale which reads to at least down to 0.01 g.  If your scale only reads to 0.1 g the loss of digits will result in large uncertainties in the calculations.  So many metals (pure and alloys) have their specific gravities in the 8 to 11 range, often making it difficult to distinguish even with an accurate measurement of s.g.  If you scale isn't sufficiently precise you can get uncertainties of many 10's of percent (e.g. a sample with actual s.g. of 8 could read 12, or vice versa) that the measurement is effectively meaningless.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Possible to be pewter but depends the age. Old pewter had lots of lead in it so it would be much duller gray where lead free pewter (Britannia 8 ) is bright. It could be tin from maybe an old fire. Tin was used in roof's and flashing. Any old house fires could leave blobs of tin like that but you should be able to find a lot more scattered around.

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