Gold or Not ?

[minty fresh]

Hi guys, found this necklace on the beach yesterday along with that sorry looking two shillings, i thought it was just costume as it was in such poor condition, it had hard encrustation and obviously had been in the wet sand for a considerable length of time and just looked bad, however once i got it cleaned up at home im almost sure that its gold although i have found no stamp, the cog like ring on the end may be gold plate or just tat but the chain is in V good condition considering the state it was in when i dug it, what do you guys think ?

thanks for looking.

Kevin.

[dave9]

Bit hard to tell for me,let's hope it is gold not plated or brass.

[Goldhunter]

It looks plated to me but would like to see a real close up. Hope it's gold though.

[Davidhod]

It does look plated to me too, but maybe plated on silver. I hope I'm wrong.

[ARGONAUTE]

If it were plated, it was only a few micrometers thick, so I really doubt this has any value.
Gold always comes up clean, unless it's a low percentage alloy (eg. 9k) and that has come debased.
Another situation is highly anoxic conditions like the Thames river mud banks, sometimes even high purity gold comes up with what looks like a black sulphide coating. roadstedtoe had a nice specimen that was of this state.
Nonetheless you have found perhaps a promising spot

[minty fresh]

Hi guys, Sorry about the poor quality pics, they where taken with my mobile, i have had a look at it with my loupe and can see no sign of silver showing through on areas of ware, thats not to say that its not plated silver but looking at it in natural lighting there is no sign of silver, the clasp is still jammed with salt and sand, it really needs a good soaking in a jewellery cleaner or maybe fairy liquid.

thanks for the feed back

Kevin.

[minty fresh]

If it were plated, it was only a few micrometers thick, so I really doubt this has any value.
Gold always comes up clean, unless it's a low percentage alloy (eg. 9k) and that has come debased.
Another situation is highly anoxic conditions like the Thames river mud banks, sometimes even high purity gold comes up with what looks like a black sulphide coating. roadstedtoe had a nice specimen that was of this state.
Nonetheless you have found perhaps a promising spot

Hi Argonaute, i appreciate what you are saying, the 2 large encrusted areas that you can see in the 1st pic had to be crushed with pliers in order to free the chain which would suggest that this chain had been in the sea for a very long time and any costume jewellery would most likely have rusted/corroded away, it may well be gold plated silver but i can see no evidence of this, ill have it checked next time im out shopping and let you all know the outcome.

once again thanks for the input

Kevin.

alas guys you where all right, i took a scrape from the clasp and there is a base metal that may or may not be silver as some of the chain has black tarnish, i think i was living in hope.

anyway thanks for putting up with my lack of experience

[moparado]

It does look like costume jewelry to me too. If so, SO WHAT! Still a nice 1st jewelry find.
Only way to tell for sure if its silver is to test it or have it appraised by a jeweler.

Necklaces depending on link size or how it laid in the hole can be a challenge for the eTRAC to detect.

[ARGONAUTE]

Most necklaces just slip through excal and CTX, because each link acts separately. The GPX does however pick them up.
Apart from the chain, is the ring halmarked or did you say it was not hallmarked ?

[minty fresh]

Most necklaces just slip through excal and CTX, because each link acts separately. The GPX does however pick them up.
Apart from the chain, is the ring halmarked or did you say it was not hallmarked ?

No mate it is all junk, i fooled myself into thinking i had a find, fools gold i just couldnt believe that something so encrusted and still in one piece with no rust could be junk, i think i got go so engulfed in trying to clean it up properly that i missed the point of trying to identify what it was, a lesson learned as they say

i think the etrac picked it up because it was clumped together with the cog thing attached but tbh if i get a solid signal ill dig it i think thats why i dig so much crap

anyway guys all your input was and always will be gratefully excepted

Kevin

[Gozoman]

You should get yourself a gold/silver test kit. I've had one for years and it will give you an immediate answer.

[Gold Finger]

No mate it is all junk, i fooled myself into thinking i had a find, fools gold i just couldnt believe that something so encrusted and still in one piece with no rust could be junk, i think i got go so engulfed in trying to clean it up properly that i missed the point of trying to identify what it was, a lesson learned as they say

i think the etrac picked it up because it was clumped together with the cog thing attached but tbh if i get a solid signal ill dig it i think thats why i dig so much crap

anyway guys all your input was and always will be gratefully excepted

Kevin

Minty, most of my detecting is done on beaches and the chains that I have found, in any metal, are nearly always clumped up. Shame about your particular find, but that's detecting for you. Better luck next time.

[minty fresh]

Minty, most of my detecting is done on beaches and the chains that I have found, in any metal, are nearly always clumped up. Shame about your particular find, but that's detecting for you. Better luck next time.

cheers mate, im sure ill get lucky sometime but beach hunting is a great way to spend a day and im happy if all i do is remove some sharp and jagged nasties that kids could get hurt with, so its all good