Luck is earned on a platter....

Amazing! Good for the little guy,couldn’t think of a better person to find such a huge chunk of sterling

oblivion321 said:

....And in the middle of my yard, ringing up like a giant piece of rusty steel. He deserves it. I am proud of him for taking the chance and reaping the rewards. Hard work and determination for the win.

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Good on you for instilling those values in him young. Great find for the little pirate. Love it!

My machine would get an overload signal from that, good for him.

Please tell him congrats for me. That is an amazing silver find. Still looking for my first silver...

A HUGE Thank You to everyone who has responded, or even looked at this post. Not only was his find an awesome dig, but something he will always have and remember. The excitement i saw on his face was a treasure. There are too many life lessons here to mention, but a couple I have tried to live by are... 1. When you're a kid everything is a treasure yet to be found. 2. When you get older, the kids remind you that you have to keep up with the kids at finding treasure. I found mine. We sat and read all the comments here and he feels like a real treasure hunter. Should I start another thread on cleaning this? We're not sure where to start.

oblivion321 said:

Should I start another thread on cleaning this? We're not sure where to start.

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I'm not sure if this method works with silver plated things, but for .925, .999, or other silver, I would recommend using the method below. I've heard a lot of people talk about how well it works, and the times I've used it, it has worked well for me, too.

Step 1.
Start boiling 2-3 cups water

Step 2.
Line a pan with aluminum foil & add in enough baking soda to cover a small area, about an inch bigger on all sides than what you will be cleaning.

Step 3.
Put your silver into the middle of your baking soda.

Step 4.
Add more baking soda, enough to cover your silver so it can't be seen.

Step 5.
Pour in the water after it comes to a boil. (If the baking soda on top of your silver washes off, you can put some more back on top of it.)

Step 6.
Wait 5 minutes. Then, using latex/rubber gloves, gently scrub the silver with the baking soda for 3-5 minutes. About every minute, dip back into the mixture of boiling water & baking soda to rinse it.

Step 7.
When you are satisfied with how it turned out, take off your gloves and wash silver under cold water for a couple minutes. (Taking gloves off helps to not let more baking soda get on when you wash it. Washing it takes off the baking soda so it doesn't leave a stain, & the cold water cools it off.

Tip: Use tongs to take your silver out of the mixture, as silver quickly gets very hot.

We will try Wolf-Dogs method and will post some pics of the outcome. Not sure what kind metal the outside embellishments are made of. Feels heavy like lead, but seems harder. Pewter maybe? We can't wait to see how this turns out. So far I have not found this exact piece online. Only a larger version with feet. Half of the fun is in finding the origin. Thanks again everyone. We'll post back.