Would you know this was a ring?????

[bob.oz]

Got out on the falling tide late afternoon....wishing i could find more good targets on such a perfect day,just look at that water!...Void of tourist the finds are mostly trash for me and the DF....56 cents,some hardware and as you can see, the most encrusted silver ring i ever found.Had a faint but solid tone...took a few scoops into the mostly shell and smelly muddy sand to retrieve,and even then i kept looking in the scoop...passing the coil around the hole..not seeing it in the scoop at all...started going through the shells with my hand and saw the only thing i thought might be a chunk of iron...once i held it up you could see the roundness and a little light through the middle so i knew i had a ring.Got a little crust off the stone and figured it to be onyx,gave it a couple taps when i got home with a lead sinker and crusty shell around the ring just disintegrated under the water spigot....more cleaning and polish and good as new...HH GL

 

[bootyhoundpa]

nice job cleaning it up....56 cents and silver-you could have done worse....pays for the gas anyway....

 

[BigDan]

What procedure did you use to clean up that ring. My encrusted rings remain beaters no matter what I do. Thanks

 

[John(Tx)]

Nice looking ring, must of been there waiting for you for years....HH

 

[bob.oz]

What procedure did you use to clean up that ring. My encrusted rings remain beaters no matter what I do. Thanks

I use a dremel and grey polishing compound from Harbor Freight... On that ring,the mass that it was covered with broke off around the ring like an egg shell....it still had a bit of a shine after the crust was off..I was thinking its not all silver...maybe stainless?,,, but it says FINA 925 inside...I also did the baking soda and hot water procedure....it did come out nice compared to others i have tried to clean up that were not as nearly crusted up!! Thanks...HH

 

[BigDan]

What is the Baking Soda and Hot Water Procedure......Is it more than just giving it a bath in the solution ?

 

[Crusty]

Nice recovery.....and cleaning job.

Dave

 

[bob.oz]

What is the Baking Soda and Hot Water Procedure......Is it more than just giving it a bath in the solution ?

This is usually done to clean silver items before polishing them,the aluminum draws the tarnish to it,the baking soda fizzes out alot of other junk..This is the last step i do before trying to polish it up.......

plastic cup lined with aluminum foil...place the silver ring,chain....in bottom..cover with baking soda...pour hot water into cup...slowly.....I first rub the baking soda into the item and then stir it with a Popsicle stick after adding the water...repeat

 

[Furious T]

Very nice ring, and cleaned up beautifully. We all have probably had trouble cleaning some of our silver items...your ring may have cleaned up easily because it was more encrusted than corroded...some of the corroded jewellery (and coins) I have found in salt water will never look like new again because the corrosion eats away at the metal. Good job on your ring though.

 

[bob.oz]

Those encrusted ones are the deep ones...might be better preserved in the mud and shell they come out of. In some cases after it dries out the shell just falls off ..like on clad quarters....That's why i wonder about the ring being silver..My other thought is their was a piece of iron in the middle of the ring that helped fill in the center..should of paid closer attention when breaking it up...these other silver items were much harder to get the shell/crust off and clean.

 

[Lakota]

Bob first and formost congrats on the nice silver ring, heck I would wear a good looking ring like that.

Secondly you did an awesome job good breathing new life into that old gem!

Lakota

 

[dewcon4414]

Great find and good job on the clean up. I use electrolisis on most of mine from a ham radio power supply. I had a ring really encrusted like that and you think they will never come clean but most will. Yep you get some pitting if they been in salt water very long. I dont throw anything away out there that is encrusted and beeps. I get a lot of copper .50 call casings or bullets.... but you never know.

Dew