Written by the Treasureguide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
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| Silver Dollars. Source: usmint.gov |
This year marks the 100th anniversary of completion of coinage of the Morgan Dollar and the 100th anniversary of commencement of coinage of the Peace Dollar. Essentially, it’s the centennial of the transition between minting two of the most famous coins issued by the United States Mint. This year also marks the 50th anniversary of the silver coin that would follow: the Eisenhower Dollar. These three coins, spanning 100 years—from the first Morgan Dollar in 1878 to the final Eisenhower Dollar in 1978—share a connection through history and legacy.
100 Years of Silver Dollar Coinage, 1878-1978 | U.S. Mint (usmint.gov)
Silver dollars are not common beach finds. You've done well if you've found all three. The circulating Eisenhower dollars were not silver and, by my experience, are more common beach finds.
The smaller Susan B. Anthony dollar coins (1979-1981 and 1999) are not real rare beach finds either.---
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| Test Pens and Rubbing Stone for Acid Testing Precious Metals. |
The trouble with acid testing for precious metals.
It is not uncommon to find a ring or something that isn't marked. It might look like silver or gold, but you might not be sure if it really is a precious metal. In that case you need a test.
The most practical test for precious metals is an acid test kit. You can purchase an entire kit with small vials of test acid. Each vial will be marked with the the purity of gold it will detect. There might also be a solutions for testing silver and platinum.
You might also receive a test stone for rubbing your item, and maybe even some test pens, which can be very helpful. Each test pen will be tipped with silver or a specific karat gold.
While XRF analysis will provide a more detailed analysis of your metal items, it is too expensive for most individuals.
One of the biggest problems with using test acid is that it will eventually go bad and will need periodic replacing. Some sources recommend getting fresh acid every year-and-a-half or two years. I've had some last much longer. I try to buy from a source that sells a lot of it and will likely have good fresh acid in stock.
Another problem with using test acid is that you have to get down beyond the top layer, so you get to the metal beyond any corrosion or plating. Simply applying the acid to the surface of a corroded or plated item can give false results. When you rub the item on the stone it will leave a mark on the item, so you may not want to use this method on nice artifacts or jewelry.
After gaining some experience using test acid you learn to pretty well identify silver without applying the acid. It will have a nice smooth feel when you rub it on the stone. Other metals might squeak or crumble as you rub it on the stone.
What about accuracy? Here is what Global Bullion Suppliers says.
Acid tests have a relatively high tolerance. In other words, they are a good rough estimator of gold using the Karat scale, and even then, you shouldn't rely on it to the decimal point. Simply put, acid testing isn't always the most accurate.
Most acid kits contain materials to test 10k, 14k, 18k, and 22k gold. The acid rounds to the nearest testing solution. It will not tell you if it's 13k or 18.5k... Another problem with the acid test is that certain types of stainless steel may pass as 18 karat gold. As counterfeiting techniques are getting stronger and more advanced, it is becoming harder to spot. What we do is rely more heavily on the 14K acid and the 22K acid. That way you're testing two very different amounts of gold, rather than potentially having a murky distinction. More often than not, an acid test using 14K acid can tell the even lightly trained eye 10K gold. Likewise, a 22K acid will very clearly show you that something is not 18K whereas 18K acid is less reliable. But that's just my experience. Oh, and be sure to check that the acid is not expired.
A more technical point of not-so-common-sense is that for best results, let the acid eat into the gold. That is to say, cut into the metal or break it because the acid can't see what's inside.
(Source: How Accurate is Acid Testing for Gold? - Global Bullion Suppliers)
Obviously if you are dealing with a nice artifact or piece of jewelry, you will not want to cut into or break the item. You might want to find someone who can do an XRF analysis on those items.
I mentioned tipped pens above. The purpose of test pens is to give you a sample of a known composition or purity so you can compare the results. Make a nice rubbing or two with your test pens first. If you suspect an item might be 15K or something in that range and you have test pens tipped with 14K and 18K gold, you might make a rubbing with those pens first and then a rubbing with the item you want to test. When you apply the acid to the metal on the stone, you can compare the reaction on the unknown item to the reaction of the 14K and 18K rubbings. The reaction might be more similar to either the 14K or 18K rubbing, in which case you can conclude that the item is closer to either 14K or 18K.
If the reaction to the metal from the unknown item disappears more quickly than it did to the 14K rubbing, it is of lower karat and if more slowly, a higher karat.
You can also identify gold-filled items. The acid will produce a kind of milky looking reaction to gold filled items.
Various purities of silver can be identified by different colors being produced.
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| Source: nhc.noaa.gov |
We now have a fairly busy map, but with Fred up north and Grace headed towards Mexico, the one of most interest is Henri.
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| Henri. Source: nhc.noaa.gov |
As you can see Henri is predicted to become a hurricane and go west before turning north. It looks like Henri will send us some waves on Friday.
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| Surf Predictions. |
So, the four to six foot surf we'll be getting on Friday will be welcome but probably won't do much for us. There is a lot of accumulated sand.