Jump to content

Did I Just Join The Gold Club?


Recommended Posts


Looks like it could be, do you have a digital scale ? Knowing how much it weighs would help with identification. Cool find and good hunting there Mr. 😁👍   

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, Hardtimehermit said:

Looks like it could be, do you have a digital scale ? Knowing how much it weighs would help with identification. Cool find and good hunting there Mr. 😁👍   

Yes I do. Out in the field right now, tide came in fast. Gotta get me some stuff to do scratch tests, and figure out how to do specific gravity I suppose.

Water here is brackish, I'd be surprised if any metal came out undamaged.  Not a lot of rocks but a ton of oyster shells at low tide.

Would gold get eaten away by these conditions? The river bottom is mostly sand and blue marl. Not many rocks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well I hope so. That is really an interesting find that I would test with an acid kit. Any local jeweler could probably give you a courtesy check. Good luck and, if it is, I'd get back to that spot asap.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I hope that is gold...  awesome find!.   But I am most impressed with your ride!  That is detecting in style!!!  ~Tim

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Go down the the hardware store and get some Muriatic acid and soak it for a day or two.  Sure looks like a gold coin with river crud caked on.....Muriatic acid should clean it right up!  Cool find!!!

PS...looking at how pitted the "coin"(?) is makes me think it's been through or very near a fire? Gold usually doesn't get all pitted like that sitting in the ground or water.....????

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The size is right for a USA gold $1, and of course there are coins from other countries so if gold, it doesn't have to be of domestic origin.  Chase recently found one -- I don't remember what the digital TID was on his.

(Now for the bad news, or at least words of caution:)  Salt water shouldn't lead to that kind of damage.  Gold coins recovered from 300-400 year old shipwrecks in the Atlantic don't look like this (that I'm aware of).  You mention brackish water so I assume that means a much higher salt content than mid-ocean.  Maybe that affects things.  USA gold coins are around 90% purity (a bit under 22 kt) but foreign coins, I don't know but wouldn't expect them to necessarily be that pure.  I think water detectorists see worse corrosion on the lower purity jewelry.

My WAG is brass or bronze button.  (There does appear to be a central feature on one side, but pictures and human brains can deceive.)  A specific gravity determination should distinguish between most mid-density metal alloys (values of 7-10) and gold alloys (12?-19) but it will take a high precision scale (grams to at least 2 decimal places and preferably 3) to do this for such a small piece.

Hey, I'm as hopeful as the others that this is gold.  More tests/data needed.

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

31 minutes ago, GB_Amateur said:

Salt water shouldn't lead to that kind of damage.

That's what I was thinking. From my boating days, Brackish water = bad. We lost zincs up in most of these waters in two years or less if the boat stayed in. I totally agree that this may not be gold, but at 14/15, and as sparkly as it is, I wonder if farm runoff may have something to do with it? Bronze buttons found in land come up with major bronze disease, I've never found any brass that looked this good out of water or land. Kinda bums me a bit to think of what would happen to copper and silver in the water here if this is gold 🤔 I'll try to get it assayed or figure out some kind of home test.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It looks like a gold coin to me, But the pitting is strange. I have heard of sand casted coins in the early 18th century, But they were forgery's of british coppers. That does not look like a copper in any way shape or form. You might have something very rare on your hands if it comes back as gold. I'm pretty sure gold would be the only metal to hold up to the brackish water. I sure hope this makes you a member of the club. Please let us know how it turns out.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...