Third hunt of the year: another 2 rings, first silver + 2.82

Skippy SH13 · Jan 17, 2020

My potassium levels were high enough today that I could walk (I know... that sounds weird, but that's life for me these days). And miracle of miracles, it was warm enough to hunt! Snow melted off, and it was a bit windy, but nothing a hood couldn't keep out.

Went out to a local park for an hour, which was a complete bust. Found only .66 cents. Didn't want to end the day on a bad note, so I googled the closest elementary school and went a-ring-hunting...

Landed 2, plus a bit more than $2. The nice ring is Sterling with Rhodium plating, and White Topaz. Not a cheap ring, but sadly, no diamonds.

Still, though, happy with it, and it'll make the treasure box look a bit nicer. Plus it was good to get on the board with precious metals.

There was a thread recently, in which I was asked how much trash I dig up for my rings. I noted that I typically found about the same amount of trash as good targets, and so I counted it all up this time.

27 trash targets, and 42 good ones (40 coins + 2 rings). A couple of the trash targets weren't pure trash, like the bullet, and the two nasty pendants. All in all, that's a typical hunt for me. I'm able to skip most of the trash these days, as I'm able to tell by the sounds. The one thing that I never seem to be able to call-out... while in the ground... is ZIPPERS. Those things are the bane of my existence in a School yard. They always sound so promising!! LOL

The ring picture of the 925 looks like it isn't silver. What you're seeing is the fact I've not yet polished it. Just rinsed it in the sink. Additionally Rhodium plating is on the silver, and it could have some wear. Aside from the stamp, it rang up at 84. It's definitely silver.

Cheers, and Happy Hunting.

Skippy

GroundSweeper · Jan 17, 2020

Nice ring Skippy!

Soil Surgeon · Jan 17, 2020

It's great to hear you were able to get out and hunt . Nice going on the ring and the coinage . What caliber is the live round ? I'm guessing 9 millimeters .

Skippy SH13 · Jan 17, 2020

Soil Surgeon said:
It's great to hear you were able to get out and hunt . Nice going on the ring and the coinage . What caliber is the live round ? I'm guessing 9 millimeters .

Didn't actually look. Seems about right... In the field, it seemed a bit smaller than a .45, but too big for a 7mm. So, yeah, you probably nailed it.

Now that I know my walking issues are potassium related, I've been able to get up and about more. Hoping tomorrow will be another find day! (pun intended).

Skippy

KOB · Jan 17, 2020

How do you tell its rhodium plated ? It's about $8,000 per ounce now. Kinda expensive to plate silver no ?

cellrdwellr · Jan 17, 2020

Nice hunting skippy! Rings are always a pleasant surprise, wish i found more if them :laughing:

congrats!

Ron 71 · Jan 17, 2020

Great looking ring, Congrats!

Skippy SH13 · Jan 17, 2020

KOB said:
How do you tell its rhodium plated ? It's about $8,000 per ounce now. Kinda expensive to plate silver no ?

Rhodium plating, like Gold plating, is very very very thin, and it's electronically applied. It's a pretty common way to protect silver. It's either applied after a 24K gold plating, or a nickle plating (more common). I had my silver ring that I made, rhodium plated. Any time I take my wife's ring into be serviced/polished, I noted my jeweler replates it... it makes it look perfect, and is always impressive. There's hardly any actual expense to it (less than $5) when you're plating, as it's so dang thin (as in plating thickness from 0.2 to 0.5 microns). BUT... it's really hard and durable.

As for how... I looked up the ring online, and found it by the hallmark. They used to sell them at K-Mart for about $50.

Rhodium plating doesn't tarnish, and it is almost as white as silver. Frankly, I love the look, and it adds a bit more class to the ring. Functionally, it looks no different than rhodium plated gold (which is what constitutes "white gold" in most cases).

I thought about getting a kit to do my own rings, but found the entry cost for the equipment was about $250, and a bottle of the Rhodium acid for plating was about $190 for a half-gram. That amount would plate 35-50 rings. When I looked at the cost for that it came out to about $4 a ring (not including equipment). Figured it was worth paying someone else... Jewelers can charge anywhere from $15-$80 for the service.

Cheers!
Skippy

KOB · Jan 17, 2020

Skippy SH13 said:
Rhodium plating, like Gold plating, is very very very thin, and it's electronically applied. It's a pretty common way to protect silver. It's either applied after a 24K gold plating, or a nickle plating (more common). I had my silver ring that I made, rhodium plated. Any time I take my wife's ring into be serviced/polished, I noted my jeweler replates it... it makes it look perfect, and is always impressive. There's hardly any actual expense to it (less than $5) when you're plating, as it's so dang thin (as in plating thickness from 0.2 to 0.5 microns). BUT... it's really hard and durable.

As for how... I looked up the ring online, and found it by the hallmark. They used to sell them at K-Mart for about $50.

Rhodium plating doesn't tarnish, and it is almost as white as silver. Frankly, I love the look, and it adds a bit more class to the ring. Functionally, it looks no different than rhodium plated gold (which is what constitutes "white gold" in most cases).

I thought about getting a kit to do my own rings, but found the entry cost for the equipment was about $250, and a bottle of the Rhodium acid for plating was about $190 for a half-gram. That amount would plate 35-50 rings. When I looked at the cost for that it came out to about $4 a ring (not including equipment). Figured it was worth paying someone else... Jewelers can charge anywhere from $15-$80 for the service.

Cheers!
Skippy

I knew about the plating on gold , but not on the silver. I knew it was some kind of plating as it would come off when trying to clean my rings. I got bags of old silver. It's a pain to clean it and make it look nice. Without spending an hour on a ring. I kinda like the weathered black patina , crust on some of these. But I know it can't be good for the jewelry. Thanks for the help !

Skippy SH13 · Jan 19, 2020

KOB said:
I knew about the plating on gold , but not on the silver. I knew it was some kind of plating as it would come off when trying to clean my rings. I got bags of old silver. It's a pain to clean it and make it look nice. Without spending an hour on a ring. I kinda like the weathered black patina , crust on some of these. But I know it can't be good for the jewelry. Thanks for the help !

Ahh... if it's coming off the silver, that's silver plating. I've seen TONS of rings that are silver plated silver. I don't know why it doesn't bond better, but it doesn't. It comes off in flakes, sometimes, when I'm polishing up a ring.

Silver plating silver is a quick and easy way to make a "perfect shine" on a ring.

Regarding cleaning up old silver, I've found a couple different methods that are super fast. One is to wrap a cloth around a drill bit, and toss some car wax on the cloth, and presto, instant polishing... I took it a bit further, and got a drill-mounted polishing wheel and some red and white rouge (both available at Harbor Freight). Takes less than 3 minutes to fully clean a ring. Even tiny details seem to get polished with the buffing wheel.

Here's a video I made, years ago, about how to do it with a cloth on a drill bit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzxcsDgAeOg

Cheers!

Skippy

Jamflicker · Jan 21, 2020

That's a nice looking ring, congrats!

georgeinsc · Jan 21, 2020

Rhodium plating is much harder than sterling silver and protects the ring from wear. Skippy Bananas are high in potassium. Was eating a number of them a day while losing excess weight and my potassium levels got too high. Md said I needed to cut back.

Third hunt of the year: another 2 rings, first silver + 2.82

Skippy SH13

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