Speaking of checking items closer..

millennium

This is sort of a continuation of the gold ring thread below that had to be cleaned to see if it were gold...

that is very good advice...I was on an off shore island here, a "ballast" island, we call them because of the nature of the things. We were sifting and detecting, looking for artifacts and clay pipes...

When this was found it was coated in rusty concretions....I put it in my bag, to look at later, because the shape was odd...and we had found an English farthing in amongst the pipes bowls..

When I got got home, I started picking at the 'coating', as it were, and it started flaking off..This is what was left...it is certainly gold plated at least, and the ends are shaped like oak leafs. Inside the ends are three little gold balls....I was never able to find what it was, I always suspected a cloak hasp. The pipe bowls dated back to 1620 and the farthing was too slick to see a date.

johnny9434

interesting piece

ricko

Very interesting item.... pays to 'chip away' at those 'gobs of gunk'... Cheers, RickO

pcgs69

Very cool. I guess you never know what could be hidden. Do you think it could be solid gold?

millennium

It's hard to tell......it has weight to it, something that small, would weigh less if it were just copper...It has streaks of other materials in it, but that could be where the metals didn't mix...tough call.