Calling all Rock Hounds

mikeybonez28

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Feb 23, 2016
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Ok, so in the same hole that I found bottles from the 20's I found an odd rock that rang up as a Half Dollar. I think it was a 76/77 on my Bounty Hunter. I found it along with what I'm assuming is anthracite coal since this entire area was an anthracite epicenter. There were silver mines in the region but I don't know of any this close to me.

Only thing I know that'll ring up as a 50 cent piece is silver but I haven't been able to positively ID it. I don't have a Acid kit and I don't have easy access to nitric acid. I can get battery acid easily but that's it. I tried the vinegar trick but I didn't see how much much it has to be heated and I don't have any yellow mustard
 

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Ive gug a couple of pieces like that...That layering in the second pic means it could be iron ore...If you have a compass place it near and see if it affects the compass..If you have a grinder try grinding a little and if the dust is red then it may be Iron Ore
 
Ive gug a couple of pieces like that...That layering in the second pic means it could be iron ore...If you have a compass place it near and see if it affects the compass..If you have a grinder try grinding a little and if the dust is red then it may be Iron Ore

The association with coal has me thinking maybe slag - partly smelted iron ore.
 
I thought it might have been iron or magnetite but it doesn't attract a magnet nor does it display magnetism. I haven't tried a compass but I'll do that tomorrow. If it were iron, why would such a small piece ring up as silver? From what I've seen with this machine it takes a good size chunk of iron or steel to register as silver and even then it'll show 18-20 then jump to 75ish. This little guy just bings at 76-78 consistently.

I'll try the compass and if I can find an assayer locally maybe they can help as well. As I was writing this I tried my phone's compass and I got no response and I moved the stone all across the phone, both on top and under it. Zero change.

It leaves a black/grey streak on paper but it dies out quickly and when I attempted the vinegar trick, I heated it with a lighter and showed no signs of melting so that kind of eliminates lead
 
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