Looks like a rock, but it's metal. I'm stumped.

[Joker23]

I was at an elementary school, between the track and the baseball fields. I hit a 56/57 that seemed pretty strong. I pulled a plug that was about 4" or so, and saw a rock. I pulled the rock out and tossed it to the side. I put my pinpointer in the hole and there was no signal. I thought about it and moved the pinpointer towards the rock and it started going off several inches from it. I ran the metal detector over it again and it was 56/57/58. It was completely black and looked like charcoal. I went ahead and put it in my pouch and kept going. I wish I had taken pictures of it when I first found it, but it didn't occur to me.

I got home and put it in a plastic cup with distilled water and used a toothbrush on it. The water turned completely black. I didn't have much distilled water left, so I used tap water and kept working on it until the water stopped turning black.

I'm stumped as to what it could be. I took some pictures next to rulers and on a scale (276 grams/9.7 ounces). I also took some zoomed in pictures.







In real life, it looks like a rock. In the pictures, it looks more metallic.

 

[Ghostown]

Meteorite maybe?

 

[Joker23]

Meteorite maybe?

That's what my wife thought.

I forgot to say, magnet does not stick to it. (edit - magnet does stick - see my later post below)

That would be cool if it is.

Edit to add - I wish I hadn't cleaned it now. I looked up meteorite values and (if that's what it is) they are worth more with the black crust on them. Oops.

 

[Jose159]

Cool find..I have found one very similar that I still can't ID but I am told that meteorites are almost always magnetic.

 

[Joker23]

In an abundance of caution, I checked it with my geiger counter. Negative.

 

[Jose159]

In an abundance of caution, I checked it with my geiger counter. Negative.

Good thinking as I never thought of that. This is the one I found that looks like yours

 

[JCR]

I’m pretty sure a meteorite would be heavy for it’s size. I have dug melted Aluminum blobs that look similar. If you make a small file mark on it, you will know.

 

[Joker23]

I just retried a magnet, and it does stick.

I had held the magnet between my thumb and finger before and touched it to the 'object' and I didn't feel a pull or resistance like I do with other items.

I hung a magnet from a string, and it did move towards it when close. I touched the magnet to it and let go and it did stay on it.

 

[BobOso]

Magnetite

 

[Fishincontrol]

Iron ore?

 

[Cherry Picker]

I believe this one is a meteorite I found years ago. A fragment of the palasite meteor that hit near present-day Greensburg, Kansas. They have the main piece on display. Mine is about the size of a golf ball, very heavy, and drives my detector nuts.

Greensburg is only about 50 miles away.

 

[SwinginDigginPA]

I hate these hot rocks!

 

[C-COD]

Have you tried smacking it with a hammer a few times and see if it crumbles .there might be something good inside that is setting the detector off.

 

[Jose159]

I’m pretty sure a meteorite would be heavy for its size. I have dug melted Aluminum blobs that look similar. If you make a small file mark on it, you

Magnetite

or hematite which is only slightly magneritic

 

[Joker23]

I read that a test is to rub it on unglazed ceramic tile to see if it leaves a streak. A black/gray streak suggests magnetite, while a red/brown streak indicates hematite.

I am getting black streaks. There is still a lit of black around the outside, though. I guess I'll assume it's magnetite for now.

I'd like to get my hands on a known sample of magnetite to see if it rings up the same on my detector.

 

[Joker23]

I just took it to a section of my backyard where there were no signals and tried all three frequencies in park mode (didn't try 8 in beach mode):

15 - 52, 54, 52, 54, 52, 54, etc.
10 - 55, 57, 55, 57, 55, 57, etc.
5 - 58, 60, 58, 60, 58, 60, etc.

Most VDI charts I can find are specific to certain coins. I'm trying to find something that will help identify type of metal with these numbers.

 

[sube]

Looks like slag could of been brought in as fill for the school . sube

 

[Joker23]

Looks like slag could of been brought in as fill for the school . sube

I've been looking through historic aerials. The place I found it was a farm field before the school was built and it has remained largely unchanged since the late 60s/early 70s. I haven't found any other rocks in that area, but I haven't been digging anything that shows deeper than 8 inches or so. I'm wondering if at one point the field was plowed or something and whatever it is got brought closer to the surface. Going back as far as I can in the old photos the only thing that stood out was that the location I found it was right at the edge of two different fields/crops.



Thinking more about it, though, it is heavier than other rocks of the same size, so surely it would have sunk over time. It can't have been in that spot for too long. I've found pull tabs at that same depth.

Speaking of pull tabs - my wife suggested I go back to the same spot and see if I can find any more rocks in the area. I was interested in anything mid to high 50s. I hit a good, consistent mid 50s on a target, got excited, and dug up a pull tab.

 

[stetam]

It’s slag as sube said. I see plenty of it.

 

[Joker23]

Thanks to everyone who took the time to reply.

I'm going to go with slag.

I ran by a local rock shop because Google said they were a place in my area that could identify rocks. The gentleman behind the counter says he really doesn't do that, but would take a look since I was there.

He believes it's slag, like sube and stetam said.

Maybe I'll hit it with a hammer later and see what the inside looks like.