Selling gold specimens

[Heathenmojo]

I'm new to this entire process, and from what I've read, sizable nuggets and visible gold laden ore fetch a better price intact sold as specimens than they are worth gold contained within them, so best not to smash and smelt. So what are the best methods and venues to sell said specimens is my first question? Two, how do you even price the value of your specimen? Three, are these 3 specimen worthy in the photos I attached to this post? Four, if you feel these are indeed specimen worthy,, can anyone please give me an idea of what price is fair market? Left to Right. Sample A-is 34.5 grams, Sample B- is 104.5 gams and sample C- is roughly 7.8 pounds.

 

[nickvc]

A specimen is usually a piece of ore with visible gold within it , the more gold the higher the value , we have a few members who are rock hounds but our basic function is to help and advise on the recovery and refining of precious metals not on the value of rocks and ores about which we know very little.

 

[Yggdrasil]

I'm new to this entire process, and from what I've read, sizable nuggets and visible gold laden ore fetch a better price intact sold as specimens than they are worth gold contained within them, so best not to smash and smelt. So what are the best methods and venues to sell said specimens is my first question? Two, how do you even price the value of your specimen? Three, are these 3 specimen worthy in the photos I attached to this post? Four, if you feel these are indeed specimen worthy,, can anyone please give me an idea of what price is fair market? Left to Right. Sample A-is 34.5 grams, Sample B- is 104.5 gams and sample C- is roughly 7.8 pounds.View attachment 60048

Nick is on the spot here, there is nothing in your samples that stands out.
Before you can call something a specimen, it has to have something extra in it, as a crystal that is either big, beautiful or other outstanding qualities.
Like solid Gold in a rock where one can dissolve parts of the rock to expose the form and size of the nugget inside that rock.

 

[Heathenmojo]

A specimen is usually a piece of ore with visible gold within it , the more gold the higher the value , we have a few members who are rock hounds but our basic function is to help and advise on the recovery and refining of precious metals not on the value of rocks and ores about which we know very little.

Okay, thanks for bearing with me, when I say I'm a newb I do mean newb to all this, just kinda stumbled upon what I have and I ended up here in my quest to figure out how to proceed. I'm building a kiln now but have been experimenting and appears I made my own baked Telluride.

 

[Heathenmojo]

Nick is on the spot here, there is nothing in your samples that stands out.
Before you can call something a specimen, it has to have something extra in it, as a crystal that is either big, beautiful or other outstanding qualities.
Like solid Gold in a rock where one can dissolve parts of the rock to expose the form and size of the nugget inside that rock.

I always had the impression the difficult part was finding the gold, but nah, getting the gold to a pure bar that can be sold is the real task it seems. I do appreciate all the help I have found here so far. So the middle specimen is indeed just a rock with some gold banding in it, the large one has a lot of gold but is a lot of other stuff as well, like that gold colored yellowish mud type stuff holding all the quartz together, but I thought the smaller piece on the left was indeed whats termed a nugget. Though I digress confusion here as originally I thought nuggets were like you see in the movies or on cartoons, just shiny pure gold and I'm gathering from my research a nugget of such does not exist naturally? If you can help clarify for me why this piece is not whats deemed a nugget and what would be needed for it it to classify as such I'd be a happy and better educated camper. Thanks again

 

[Yggdrasil]

I always had the impression the difficult part was finding the gold, but nah, getting the gold to a pure bar that can be sold is the real task it seems. I do appreciate all the help I have found here so far. So the middle specimen is indeed just a rock with some gold banding in it, the large one has a lot of gold but is a lot of other stuff as well, like that gold colored yellowish mud type stuff holding all the quartz together, but I thought the smaller piece on the left was indeed whats termed a nugget. Though I digress confusion here as originally I thought nuggets were like you see in the movies or on cartoons, just shiny pure gold and I'm gathering from my research a nugget of such does not exist naturally? If you can help clarify for me why this piece is not whats deemed a nugget and what would be needed for it it to classify as such I'd be a happy and better educated camper. Thanks again View attachment 60063

Unless you have an assay saying you have Gold, it is just a rock.
And so far you have not showed us anything qualifying as specimen.

 

[goldshark]

This site is designed for refining precious metals. By helping people determine what their rocks are, we have now become a "what is this?" geology forum. I could help you determine what it is you have, but that would just encourage more askers to clutter up the threads. The best thing for you, is to pick up something called a book (kind of becoming obsolete), or use the web to gather knowledge on the subject at hand. The forum admin has already posted a what to do, if you think you have a potential piece of ore. So look up that thread, then follow the instructions. WARNING; it might involve you having to study, instead of being spoon fed.

 

[Darkthirty]

This site is designed for refining precious metals. By helping people determine what their rocks are, we have now become a "what is this?" geology forum. I could help you determine what it is you have, but that would just encourage more askers to clutter up the threads. The best thing for you, is to pick up something called a book (kind of becoming obsolete), or use the web to gather knowledge on the subject at hand. The forum admin has already posted a what to do, if you think you have a potential piece of ore. So look up that thread, then follow the instructions. WARNING; it might involve you having to study, instead of being spoon fed.

Seems to be a generational standard. "Look it up" induces the deer in the headlight phenomena ...

 

[cejohnsonsr1]

Nuggets do, in fact, exist. When you see one it’s unmistakable. Specimens will exhibit obvious pure gold still bound to the rock or quartz. What you have may or may not be ore. The only way to know for sure is to have it assayed. Without an assay, it’s just a rock. And the vast majority of history finding gold is, in fact, the hardest part.

 

[cornishrene8]

One simple test is to scratch suspected nugget with a knife. Gold will easily scratch,while pyrites and most other look a likes will powder up.

 

[Heathenmojo]

Unless you have an assay saying you have Gold, it is just a rock.
And so far you have not showed us anything qualifying as specimen.

I truly appreciate the brutal honesty, as that is how the world works. I'm not sure what my problem is acquiring assay. I contacted several places,. Midwest Refineries where grandpa Grumpy basically hung up on me as he had 4 other calls online, I had inquired about smelting as I was lead to believe they did such service, Grumpy informed me no rocks, only gold material, and before I could inquire about setting up an account for Assay service, Grumpy was on to some call far more important than my own. I also contacted the company listed on this site here located in NJ, Ledoux & Co, and their website had me fill out an online form, 2 weeks now no response, tried contacting a Greg Morrison via email, the address bounced. I've melted it, hit it with Nitric Acid and everything I can possibly do myself. Just finished my Frosty T burner today though my nozzle needs a little adjustment and I have a kiln build 70% complete. Lot to learn here! If none of this is gold, it sure looks and acts like gold, what is the deal with the yellow gold colored cement looking stuff between all the quartz?
View attachment El-quapo gift .mov

 

[Heathenmojo]

Nuggets do, in fact, exist. When you see one it’s unmistakable. Specimens will exhibit obvious pure gold still bound to the rock or quartz. What you have may or may not be ore. The only way to know for sure is to have it assayed. Without an assay, it’s just a rock. And the vast majority of history finding gold is, in fact, the hardest part.

I'm pretty certain I've found it, processing, extracting it and figuring out how to refine it into a bar thats a sellable commodity has been my problem, mostly because of my location, no one around here knows anything about, as it simply does not exist here, hahahaha!

 

[Heathenmojo]

Seems to be a generational standard. "Look it up" induces the deer in the headlight phenomena ...

Just out of curiosity, which generational group are you referencing? Also have you ever looked up the words, "ignorant" and perhaps say...."prejudice?" Touche!! Stay spicy kid

 

[Heathenmojo]

This site is designed for refining precious metals. By helping people determine what their rocks are, we have now become a "what is this?" geology forum. I could help you determine what it is you have, but that would just encourage more askers to clutter up the threads. The best thing for you, is to pick up something called a book (kind of becoming obsolete), or use the web to gather knowledge on the subject at hand. The forum admin has already posted a what to do, if you think you have a potential piece of ore. So look up that thread, then follow the instructions. WARNING; it might involve you having to study, instead of being spoon fed.

So remind me again, what is the purpose of this forum, I mean I came here in pursuit of knowledge, 'LOOKING IT UP" as you mention ya know, I mean if all I have to do is keep searching instead of you helping, then there's little need for you or this forum is what you are saying? can't believe you just tried to hit me with your purse!! Least the high heels have not come this way. I do read quite a lot, though after my mid 40's I usually require 1.25x readers these days. This geology interest is an all new passion for me and was a subject I mostly ignored the past half century, though thankfully I had read enough to recognize a strong indicator when I stumbled upon it, and from there, months later here I am hell bent on my quest for knowledge, I've read plenty, was a couple weeks just to learn the word Telluride and I'm still confused on all the sub groups, Calverite, Silverite etc and how one determines a positive identification when so many of these rocks are so very similar and multiple images looking completely opposite are shown in so many pages I've read. I know you mistook me for lazy, but Mr., sincerely I just wanted to give you experts and professionals a chance to do your thing, give you experts a chance to shine. Anyways, all ribbing aside it will take me forever to simply LOOK it UP as with this epithermal (yeah I read a lil) there are so many rocks I've never laid eyes upon and have no idea what to even look up so I was truly hoping someone knew a whole lot more than myself could narrow the guess work. Thanks again though and stay sassy! This is definitely not a forum for snowflakes!
View attachment epithermal.MOV

 

[Darkthirty]

Just out of curiosity, which generational group are you referencing? Also have you ever looked up the words, "ignorant" and perhaps say...."prejudice?" Touche!! Stay spicy kid

Ad hominem responses are weak. I was making an observation from experience of interacting with 5 generations To prove you're unbiased, cuddle a skunk or badger and see how that works out.

 

[Darkthirty]

I'm pretty certain I've found it, processing, extracting it and figuring out how to refine it into a bar thats a sellable commodity has been my problem, mostly because of my location, no one around here knows anything about, as it simply does not exist here, hahahaha!

Crush it, classify, crush some more, pan it, and post a pic of what you find.

 

[cejohnsonsr1]

From what I can see, what you have there is a rock that shows no evidence of gold. If you want to see what real gold ore looks like, check out Jason at mbmm on YouTube.

 

[Heathenmojo]

Ad hominem responses are weak. I was making an observation from experience of interacting with 5 generations To prove you're unbiased, cuddle a skunk or badger and see how that works out.

I have found skunk urine applied liberally to the doorsteps of that special someones home, or even better, poured liberally along the bottom of your favorite person's front car windshield, you know where the car draws air in for the cabin, yeah, pour in there to show your affection, let em know how strong, "STRONG' the affection of their most loved secret admirer truly is. No badgers around here in any recent times, but I'll go hug a Fisher Cat for ya.

 

[Yggdrasil]

I have found skunk urine applied liberally to the doorsteps of that special someones home, or even better, poured liberally along the bottom of your favorite person's front car windshield, you know where the car draws air in for the cabin, yeah, pour in there to show your affection, let em know how strong, "STRONG' the affection of their most loved secret admirer truly is. No badgers around here in any recent times, but I'll go hug a Fisher Cat for ya.

Stop this NOW!

 

[cejohnsonsr1]

I’m curious as to where you found this rock. I’m not asking for your address or a specific location. Just a general idea. Like maybe what State and general area.