I've been finding some jewelry lately, beach and dirt, and the display numbers aren't matching the jewelry stampings. I don't have a test kit so I can't be sure if I'm finding fake or not. Anyone else come across this? Example , I got a 20 signal in a construction site. Thinking coin, I was surprised to dig a wedding band. Got it home, cleaned some crud and noticed some gold coloring inside the band and a 10k stamp.
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Equinox 600 and jewelry question
- Thread starter ewtaylor
- Start date
Jason in Enid
Active member
TID has no true correlation to karat stamp. The purity, alloyed metals, size, mass, shape and any damage all affect TID. First, digging a ring from the dirt and it wasnt shiny is about 99% guarantee its fake. Seawater can corrode low karat gold but I've found old, plated rings that still looked great when dug from the soil.
REVIER
Well-known member
I agree.
There are no correlations on TID numbers and most jewelry...too many variables.
There are some average ranges, however, not that they are in stone.
Small gold can come in at foil numbers easily, I have found rings from where those round, foil freshness seals come in on up through most foil areas.
Bigger gold usually comes in higher as the size gets larger from nickel through tabs for the most part.
That is why most tell others to find gold you have to dig tabs, or nickels...but that is just on average and not really true because gold can come in anywhere from iron on up.
Larger rings like huge men's 10k class rings will come in the same area as zinc cents will, gold can come in higher than that too.
High karat stuff can soar, a friend found a teeny tiny 24k Ring that came in at a dime, large pure stuff like big gold coins even higher.
White gold can come in all over, if it is alloyed with silver to make that white metal color high, if mixed with nickel, low.
Chains...all will come in lower than rings most of the time and that includes silver.
Broken and open rings...also very low.
Silver rings and other jewelry besides chains from quarters to dimes and even lower depending on the size.
Everything can be affected by depth, soil and masking.
That 20 you got on that wedding ring is worrisome.
Unless it was massive like a big class ring at 10 or more grams it shouldn't have come in that high.
You also mentioned cleaning crud off of it and noticing some gold color inside the band where you found that 10k mark but not everywhere.
All gold I have found in the dirt cleaned off real easy, for most people it usually does.
The higher the purity the easier the dirt comes off but even 10k should shake off most dirt and crust pretty easily.
You know what kind of rings are marked 10k and are hard to clean and come in at higher numbers...fake ones.
I have found a few of those in my time too, every one marked but nowhere near real gold.
Find enough gold and you get a feel for what is real and what isn't...that includes silver too.
I would check out that gold ring closer if I were you, invest in some 10-14-18 and 22k gold testing acid sometime and that 18k acid can be used to test silver, also.
Or find a friendly jeweler or pawn shop that will test things for you.
There are no correlations on TID numbers and most jewelry...too many variables.
There are some average ranges, however, not that they are in stone.
Small gold can come in at foil numbers easily, I have found rings from where those round, foil freshness seals come in on up through most foil areas.
Bigger gold usually comes in higher as the size gets larger from nickel through tabs for the most part.
That is why most tell others to find gold you have to dig tabs, or nickels...but that is just on average and not really true because gold can come in anywhere from iron on up.
Larger rings like huge men's 10k class rings will come in the same area as zinc cents will, gold can come in higher than that too.
High karat stuff can soar, a friend found a teeny tiny 24k Ring that came in at a dime, large pure stuff like big gold coins even higher.
White gold can come in all over, if it is alloyed with silver to make that white metal color high, if mixed with nickel, low.
Chains...all will come in lower than rings most of the time and that includes silver.
Broken and open rings...also very low.
Silver rings and other jewelry besides chains from quarters to dimes and even lower depending on the size.
Everything can be affected by depth, soil and masking.
That 20 you got on that wedding ring is worrisome.
Unless it was massive like a big class ring at 10 or more grams it shouldn't have come in that high.
You also mentioned cleaning crud off of it and noticing some gold color inside the band where you found that 10k mark but not everywhere.
All gold I have found in the dirt cleaned off real easy, for most people it usually does.
The higher the purity the easier the dirt comes off but even 10k should shake off most dirt and crust pretty easily.
You know what kind of rings are marked 10k and are hard to clean and come in at higher numbers...fake ones.
I have found a few of those in my time too, every one marked but nowhere near real gold.
Find enough gold and you get a feel for what is real and what isn't...that includes silver too.
I would check out that gold ring closer if I were you, invest in some 10-14-18 and 22k gold testing acid sometime and that 18k acid can be used to test silver, also.
Or find a friendly jeweler or pawn shop that will test things for you.
dewcon4414
Well-known member
Now.....run that ring FLAT, on end vertical and horizontal and see what ya get.
bootyhoundpa
Well-known member
I dont have an equinox yet but i have found gold with other machines anywhere from zero on up to dime range...
E
ewtaylor
Guest
Thanks for the responses. I'll just have to get a test kit and check some of these weird jewelry pieces. Got a silver signal yesterday in an old yard, under a tree. Thinking silver dime, I dug a corroded ring. Got home, cleaned it, and noticed 18K. More cleaning revealed 18K GF, bummer. I'm assuming the ring is still probably silver, but who knows.
REVIER
Well-known member
ewtaylor said:
Don't assume silver just because you get silver numbers, lots of targets and metals come in at similar numbers to silver.
Same with gold.
If it were me I would assume a copper base which would make much more sense.
In this hobby positivity and optimism is a great thing but logical thinking will save you from heartache.
u2robert
Well-known member
Most of the time you can tell gold as soon as you dig it 14k 18k and 24k will almost always be bright and shinny, gold coins and artifacts found on the Treasure coast here in Florida that has been in the ocean for 300+ years still shining like the day it slipped into the ocean. Always take hit home to check it out. You can get a complete gold and silver testing kit on ebay for like 15.00
Don't assume silver just because you get silver numbers, lots of targets and metals come in at similar numbers to silver.
Same with gold.
If it were me I would assume a copper base which would make much more sense.
In this hobby positivity and optimism is a great thing but logical thinking will save you from heartache.[/quote]
I don't assume silver by the numbers, all the silver I've found can be "heard".
Same with gold.
If it were me I would assume a copper base which would make much more sense.
In this hobby positivity and optimism is a great thing but logical thinking will save you from heartache.[/quote]
I don't assume silver by the numbers, all the silver I've found can be "heard".
Jason in Enid
Active member
ewtaylor said:
So by what criteria are you "assuming" the base metal is silver?
Jason in Enid
Active member
ewtaylor said:
By sound are you talking about the tone? Thats just the audible half of TID. Your metal detector has ZERO clue what metal is under the coil, its only reacting to electrical inductance which is influenced more by size and shape.
Jason in Enid said:
Sound, tone, whatever you want to call it. There is a subtle difference and I can tell right away it's silver. I found a silver ring on the beach with that tone/sound and 23 on the screen. 20 feet away I got a 19 signal with a normal sound /tone and scooped up a religious medal. It was marked 925 but looked like copper. Silver coins act the same way.
I owned a whites eagle spectrum back in the 90's and you could tell the difference back then too.
Jason in Enid
Active member
Soooo, where are the pics of this fake gold "silver" ring? post up and let us judge.
E
ewtaylor
Guest
Tried to get the stampings in the pic but my phone wouldn't focus good. The one is marked 18k GF but rang up as silver. The Madonna rang up a solid 19 and is marked 925. The other ring is marked 10K but rang up 21. The silver ring won't load, file too large.