Gallery of what not to refine!

Most of us here in the pursuit of precious metals occasionally run across items that should never be refined. Items of craftsmanship, artistic, sentimental, or even historical value.

Though you may not run across one of these:

[IMG:100:67]http://thumb0.webshots.net/s/thumb4/2/27/95/100822795jwrHGy_th.jpg[/img]

You kinda get the idea of what I'm driving at.

So, whats in your collection???

Your a little to late, it already cornflaked, heeeee heee.

Jim

More realistically such as this piece, 46g 14K or better.

I bought this over a year ago and haven't been able to part with it.

For a secret organization the early masons sure were a flashy bunch :lol:

It's missing a carved moonstone smiling face screw back lapel button that went in the center hole. It should have looked much like the lower one.

Many years ago, I knew a refiner that bought 2, very hot, solid 14K or 18K gold chalices that had been stolen from a Catholic Church. They were very ornate, about 10" tall, and were very, very heavy. They were melting in the furnace about a microsecond after buying them. Gold things sure lose their identity fast in a furnace. No telling how old they were. I would have drawn the line on those.

One would never know if some part of Pharaohs burial mask is in your computer. :roll:

qst42know said:

One would never know if some part of Pharaohs burial mask is in your computer. :roll:

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Or how many lives lost to the gold in your cuff links.

No one has anything saved from the melting pot?

Grandma's silver?

Dad's fountain pen?

The wife's wedding ring?

Anything at all?

Somebody finally bought this;
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=260099838077

$1200 is alot better than the gold content.

Many, many times the gold content. 8)

Its only paint.

Removed by Admin. Sorry, but no implicit pictures... Remember that there are kids viewing this forum

In my home, there are 3 gold backed mirrors. Two are huge - 92" X 63" - 40 sq.ft. each. The other is 2' X 3". A total of 86 sq.ft. Of course, I wouldn't refine these but I have always been interested in the gold thickness. I haven't been able to find this info on the internet.

I would imagine the gold is applied similarly to the way silver is applied. With silver, I think a metal sensitizer is applied and then the silver is reduced onto the sensitizer from a solution. The gold can't be very thick. I would guess between 3 and 5 micro". If it were 5, that would be .23 grams/sq.ft., or a total of about 20 grams for all 3 mirrors.

Anyone know how thick the gold actually is?

I wonder on that one Chris.

I am not versed in the art of applying gold to glass save in how it is done with sputtering. I can't see how that would be practical with such monstrosities as you have.


I'll look into it!

Old Silver mirrors were done with Stannous and silver nitrate. I don't know if gold is done the same way.

http://www.americanchemistry.com/s_chlorine/sec_content.asp?CID=1242&DID=4720&CTYPEID=113

How thick the gold would be to reflect all the visible spectrum I don't know.

Well I believe this little Pre-Columbian fellow will remain safe from melting as I enjoy having him around. I keep intending to find somewhere to host the picture as an avatar. He weighs around 113 Grams as I recall. This was the first purchase in my Tumbaga collecting phase. I'm not so sure the other items I bought after him will remain intact though. Some were less attractive items I bought purely on a weight/price basis with the intent to recover the gold. However I have a job that basically affords me next to no free time right now, so nothing was done with any of them yet. Of course how much gold is in any particular Tumbaga item or the exact alloyed metals is unknown (usually copper and silver). Some low karat Tumbaga items can look pretty good when the outside is etched with various vegetable juices, leaving behind a higher gold concentration on the surface than the interior alloy. On the plus side if I never get around to processing them then I guess I won't know which ones I lost money on. This is truly all just a hobby for the foreseeable future.

I'm also very fond of some of the Victorian 9K rose gold watch chains and fobs I've picked up. No guessing there, beautiful workmanship and hallmarked on every link.

macfixer01

I like it!!!

Very nice.

A density measurement could give you an idea of his purity. It was discussed here.

http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=5069&start=0

I've resized the idol image and hosted it on my website for you:




Feel free to copy the link to your avatar URL and enjoy.

If you want it altered in any way just let me know.

Steve

I love the little fat guy.

Where did you come across such a thing?

qst42know said:

I love the little fat guy.

Where did you come across such a thing?

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I got this figurine from the ultimate source of weird items, Ebay. According to the seller It previously belonged to the personal collection of Edward Lee Spence. I hadn't heard of him before then but apparently he's an internationally recognized expert on shipwrecks and sunken treasure. There was some controversy over whether he was the actual discoverer of the wreck of the submarine Hunley. He was also a former editor of "Treasure" and Treasure Diver" magazines and Chief Of Underwater Archeology for the Columbian archipelago of Providencia and San Andreas.

macfixer01

lazersteve said:

I've resized the idol image and hosted it on my website for you:

Code:

http://goldrecovery.us/images/idol.jpg

Feel free to copy the link to your avatar URL and enjoy.

If you want it altered in any way just let me know.

Steve

Click to expand...

That's very nice of you, thanks Steve!

macfixer01