Natures Gold Picasso's

[Glenn in CO]

Gerry in Idaho suggested that I post some Colorado Picasso's that I and my wife have found. We have been very fortunate to detect any area for many years that has produced crystalline wire and gold specimens. The other added plus it's a scenic area to enjoy while detecting. We started prospecting in the mid-1980's in this area and started using metal detectors in 1990. Each and every year from 1990 we have found gold, but the last few years it is getting tougher to find.

Most of the gold that we find needs to be prepped (cleaned) to reveal it's beauty. This first specimen pictured shows how it looked before I cleaned it and then the final result which and take countless hours using different methods. I will post other specimens later on, so here goes:

Look close and you will see diamond shape crystals embedded on the leaf forms on the specimen:

 Do you have a Picasso you would like to share?

 

 

[beatup]

a real beauty

[Glenn in CO]

JW,

That is very nice specimen. Big or small specimens like that have a lot of character. If you found that panning maybe you were close to the source. Thanks! for sharing.

[beatup]

Sweet piece JW.

[DigsAlot]

How are cleaning these? I also have some crystal gold but it is ugly right now.

[Walker]

WOW! Thanks for posting that. I am a Colorado boy myself.

[Gerry in Idaho]

Holy Grails Glenn, Those pieces of art are most certainly wall hangers.  CO is one of the stated that I need to go and find a couple, so I check off my list "Been there Dug That" along with WY and the Dakotas.  I don't have many wire gold pieces as you know they are quite fragile and easily break or smash.  Here is one of my bigger ones.  Thanks for sharing some beautiful gold. 

[Glenn in CO]

14 hours ago, DigsAlot said:

How are cleaning these? I also have some crystal gold but it is ugly right now.

 If your specimen has quartz I would try Whink that has a small concentration of hydrofluoric acid for somewhat more aggressive cleaning of the gold, removing iron oxides and dissolving some of the quartz. If you use these two methods it will take time to see any satisfactory results, so be patience.  If you have some hydrofluoric acid in a higher concentration (48% strength or more) you will have faster results and would need to monitor closely so you don't destroy the specimen. But be extremely careful when using any type of hydrofluoric acid in any form, the acid is deadly and I mean deadly, you better know what you are doing! Finally soak the specimen in baking soda if you use any of the cleaning methods above. There are other methods that can be used to also give a wow look, but I would need to studying the specimen first hand on what would be the best course of action to take. The specimens that we find has shale as the host rock and I can use other types of acids to clean them.

[Glenn in CO]

11 hours ago, Gerry in Idaho said:

Holy Grails Glenn, Those pieces of art are most certainly wall hangers.  CO is one of the stated that I need to go and find a couple, so I check off my list "Been there Dug That" along with WY and the Dakotas.  I don't have many wire gold pieces as you know they are quite fragile and easily break or smash.  Here is one of my bigger ones.  Thanks for sharing some beautiful gold. 

Very nice specimen Gerry, did you find as is or did you clean it? Thanks! for sharing.

[Glenn in CO]

I and my wife have found different types of crystalline wire gold specimens and here are a couple unique ones:

Notice the diamond shape crystal with gold wire coming out each end.