Skippy SH13
Forum Supporter
Last night, I just "had" to get out and get some R&R in... work has been brutal lately.
I went to a local school yard that consistently refills every few months (it's got an after-school YMCA building next to the yard), and gets used for all kinds of sports practices. I've found many silver rings and probably $40 in change from this field.
Last night, I pulled a "ring of power" (my 3rd one for the year).. Those always are heart stoppers, because they come out looking gold, briefly... Then a bunch of kid jewelry, and then a big storm rolled in. I was on the edge of it, and was just getting spit on by the rain, so I decided to stay, as I was in a piggy-bank area of the field, pulling lots of quarters.
Sure glad I did! I hit a solid 52 signal, and figured it was a nickel or pop tab (found plenty of those, already), and imagine my surprise when the gold chain popped out!
Gold just "looks different" than plated stuff, and this had that nice buttery look. I got a little afraid, when I saw what I thought was "corrosion" in a joint (but my eyes are getting lousy, now that I've cleared 40 by a wide margin), and I just couldn't tell... Turned out it was just caked dirt. Cleaned up at home, and the gold tested nice and solid at the 10K acid, faintly at 14K, and instantly disappeared at the 18k.
Given the weight and the number of links, it comes out to just over 3 grams per link, which is right about perfect for the size and 10K.
10K at 23 grams is just about $400. Woot! Gold #6 for the year, but if I count each individual 3 gram link.... Just kidding. Gold #6.
Here's the vid:
Link for those who cannot see: https://youtu.be/bArftCA5EqY
Skippy!
EDIT: EPIC FAIL... I went back out to the field to see if I could find the rest of it. I did. It was spread out across about 50 feet in a roughly straight line. each link I found was VERY exciting... until I got to the clasp portion. Lobster clasp had a nice little tag on it, and I looked for a halmark and gold stamp... Nothing, but a name and Trademark symbol. ???
When I looked it up, I found "Monet" jewelry is HIGH end costume jewelry that is literally TRIPLE PLATED. Triple. $(*&#(Q*#$. That explains why I filed down and still got streaking that didn't disappear in the acid. I was catching the edge of the plating still.
TRIPLE PLATED. Grrrr. The weirdest thing is that the metal is actually gold toned all the way through, too. But... Other than the triple plating, definitely NOT gold.
Ah well, it was fun while it lasted.
I went to a local school yard that consistently refills every few months (it's got an after-school YMCA building next to the yard), and gets used for all kinds of sports practices. I've found many silver rings and probably $40 in change from this field.
Last night, I pulled a "ring of power" (my 3rd one for the year).. Those always are heart stoppers, because they come out looking gold, briefly... Then a bunch of kid jewelry, and then a big storm rolled in. I was on the edge of it, and was just getting spit on by the rain, so I decided to stay, as I was in a piggy-bank area of the field, pulling lots of quarters.
Sure glad I did! I hit a solid 52 signal, and figured it was a nickel or pop tab (found plenty of those, already), and imagine my surprise when the gold chain popped out!
Gold just "looks different" than plated stuff, and this had that nice buttery look. I got a little afraid, when I saw what I thought was "corrosion" in a joint (but my eyes are getting lousy, now that I've cleared 40 by a wide margin), and I just couldn't tell... Turned out it was just caked dirt. Cleaned up at home, and the gold tested nice and solid at the 10K acid, faintly at 14K, and instantly disappeared at the 18k.
Given the weight and the number of links, it comes out to just over 3 grams per link, which is right about perfect for the size and 10K.
10K at 23 grams is just about $400. Woot! Gold #6 for the year, but if I count each individual 3 gram link.... Just kidding. Gold #6.
Here's the vid:
Link for those who cannot see: https://youtu.be/bArftCA5EqY
Skippy!
EDIT: EPIC FAIL... I went back out to the field to see if I could find the rest of it. I did. It was spread out across about 50 feet in a roughly straight line. each link I found was VERY exciting... until I got to the clasp portion. Lobster clasp had a nice little tag on it, and I looked for a halmark and gold stamp... Nothing, but a name and Trademark symbol. ???
When I looked it up, I found "Monet" jewelry is HIGH end costume jewelry that is literally TRIPLE PLATED. Triple. $(*&#(Q*#$. That explains why I filed down and still got streaking that didn't disappear in the acid. I was catching the edge of the plating still.
TRIPLE PLATED. Grrrr. The weirdest thing is that the metal is actually gold toned all the way through, too. But... Other than the triple plating, definitely NOT gold.
Ah well, it was fun while it lasted.
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