Tungsten and Gold are very close in density 19.3 g/cm3 (gold) vs 19.25 g/L (tungsten). I'd say darn near impossible to determine just by how it felt in the hand.
Yea I've found one of those as well. Inhales profusely when you realize what it really is.
I supersize with you Brother! I remember my first Tungsten ring find! In the dark and cold, Heavy, banging around in the scoop in utter darkness right behind the catamarans on Fat Girl Beach! ! .."OH Damn!" I thought, "This is a massive golden good one!" A Monster!
Clanking around in the scoop like a Klondike nugget! Like somebody threw an engine block into the dumpster! Ringing the bell like Quasimodo!
But as daylight ensued, and as I fondled the thing, I gotta good look at the laser engraved script, and I'm like what? Tungsten? WTH? I got drill bits at home made out of Tungsten! WiTH would somebody make jewelry out of Tungsten? And why would anybody buy it? Like sell it for a dollar?...
I felt as let down as Ralphie on "The Christmas Story" 'Be sure to drink your Ovaltine? SOB!...but it was nice heavy Mans ring..so we threw it out there at our Garage sale that Spring...
I came home and told the Wife, "Look what I found today, This damned thing aint worth a nickle!" I got drill bits worth more than that damned ring! But she told me that people nowadays do not give a damn about PM's, and she put it out there on the Garage Sale jewelry table and priced it at $80 and let some guy talk her down to $60! Cash!
So what I'm saying is, even bastard metal rings have a street value...its all in the eye of the beholder...clankity clankity clank! By god a big Tungsten banging around in the scoop!..'
This is what I now tell myself...in the dark cold desolate so as to not get too overjoyed and wee-weed up about a massive gold heavy clanging around signal in the scoop...Theres only so much disappointment a guy can take in one lifetime..Married people, Parents, and all detectorists know what I'm saying....