I see GOLD!

[BillF]

Went over to the hard pounded site of the coming new freeway today with the Vaquero and the 5.75 DD. Went to a lot that had half a dozen homes from about 1901-1905 at one time. I was really hoping to find a couple of missed Indians or a piece of silver. Was only finding zinc Lincolns...again. Then I got a nice toned signal. 4 inches down I popped out this ring. I could see gold where my digger had scratched it, when I knocked the dirt out of the center, it was gold there also. I didnt have much hope that it was good because it was black on the outside.
When I got home I told my wife I found a ring. As she stood there with both hands out asking for it, I told her I didnt believe it was real and left the kitchen to deposit my days handful of zincs to tin can. I heard my wife say,"its 14 karat". I told her I thought she was pulling my leg, or some words to that affect. When I came back in the kitchen she said " you can see 14K without the loop." Well I'll be dipped.

The pic shows the 14K stamp. What gold you can see is after we started to clean it in a ring cleaning solution. Except for the gold inside the ring, thats the way it came out of the ground. I dont understand why its so black,I thought gold didnt tarnish, but there is no denying, it says 14K right there.
Now, how do I get this away from my wife?

 

[kozyman]

Gold comes out of the ground in many colors. I have found rings with no marks and they turned out to be gold. Great find!! Congrats.

 

[DigDugNY]

Great find Bill! Nice to see the Vaquero finding gold. Was it a strong signal?

 

[BillF]

Very strong,Bobby. Nice tone, too. Looks to be very old, not sure why the flat top. I don't see any designs under the black stuff.

 

[DigDugNY]

Definitely looks old to me. Maybe if you get it cleaned up a little more you will find a design you can look up or something. Glad to hear it was a strong signal. Your persistence is paying off!

 

[GunnarMN]

this is the thing about tesoroes they hit HARD on gold

 

[SpiritRelic]

To bad you can not see a hallmark?these marks can tell you the age and maker.Sometimes called makers marks.I bet there is a hallmark on it on the inside, they are so small you have to have a loop,or good mag glass.Great old ring!

 

[tabman]

BillF that's fantastic find! Finding gold is what it's all about.

tabman

 

[mudpuppy]

Thats tough! You may have to distract her with some other sparkly thing, then its just a matter of timing! Nice find there, Bill!
Mud

 

[KVM2]

Bill, gold can have a black layer on it..Not sure of the exact sequence, but it is a sulfur, iron, gold bond..Iron sulfide black? .So, if you pan in Central Ohio, and get "black sand" that has weight to it,see if a little acid makes it yellow.. Sorry I can't be more specific, last chemistry course way over fifty years ago.

 

[BillF]

Bill, gold can have a black layer on it..Not sure of the exact sequence, but it is a sulfur, iron, gold bond..Iron sulfide black? .So, if you pan in Central Ohio, and get "black sand" that has weight to it,see if a little acid makes it yellow.. Sorry I can't be more specific, last chemistry course way over fifty years ago.

Going to take it to a jewelry store, see if they have a way to polish this up. This stuff is very hard. I can scrape it off with a blade, but dont want to damage it. Hoping to find something under the black to tell how old it is, but not holding my breath. Thanks for the info.

 

[DigDugNY]

Where did you have the DISC set?

 

[KVM2]

If you knew a plumber, you could ask him to wipe some some of that weak hydrochloric acid, they use to clean copper pipes with, on it.. Should work.. Semi nasty crap, not as bad as battery acid, which, in this case might not work....If it is as hard as you say, then it is a chemical coating..I guess it can be buffed off?

 

[BillF]

Yea, I'm hoping it can be buffed. This thing has me puzzled, I cant imagine that only the inside of the ring is gold. Why would they stamp it 14K? Looking through the loop, it almost looks layered. We'll know soon enough.

Bobby, it was set just above iron and below nickel.

 

[SpiritRelic]

Would this have helped have a reaction?,being 14kt.Or it could have been in a fire?Or the ground could have burned?

 

[BillF]

Would this have helped have a reaction?,being 14kt.Or it could have been in a fire?Or the ground could have burned?

I am clueless here. I keep getting this feeling like the only part that is 14K is the inside part of the ring, but I cannot understand why someone would do that with costume jewelry. Or maybe thats what they did a long time ago. I also wonder if this was covered with some kind of stone. I was totally stoked to find this, going to be completely bummed if it turns out to be something other than real. I'm sure its old. Looking at it closely you can see that someone possibly cut it to resize and re-soldered it with silver instead of gold.