Something i've found while metal detecting

great thread, makes me want to start a new obsessive hobby," metal detecting treasure hunting" an dI have just spent a small fortune on a Telescope,and before that a music studio, and before that a portable asylum.
God is ebay online NOW...I want a metal detector.

reply to post by Dr Expired


Me too! But have you priced them? They cost a small fortune.
My son had a kiddie model and when we were digging a little in our yard, he detected something. It turned out to be well-buried old spring coil mattress. So much for my elusive fortune.

It struck me as being obsidian which as was stated in an earlier post was highly valued and traded for use in making very sharp arrow heads, spear heads and knives.. It is still valued for use in the medical profession for use in eye surgery because it is capable of use as a cutting instrument that is superior in sharpness than surgical steel. Since there was metal and spikes near by where it was found, there is a possibility it could be a by product of a foundry.

Yes i wanted to go to my geology teacher, but its holiday now for another 5 weeks and he lives about 70 miles away. so i have to wait 5 weeks before i can show it to him.

Originally posted by ANNED
Obsidian no but close

Its clinker glass from a old coal fired steam engine.

At the end of the day the locomotive fireman would take a long hooked steel rod and put it down of what was left of the burning coal in the fire box and turn it rolling up a ball of glass left over from the burned coal.
Common along old railroad tracks or old coal boilers.

sometimes the Fireman would stoke the fire box on one side and after the coal burned down on the other side he would hook out a glob and just flick it off the moving train.
Many times this would cause fires along the tracks.
In kansas this caused major fires in wheatfields.
This was one of the reasons many farmers helped the James-Younger Gang in the American midwest.

Here in my village there is an old fire station, but it is not close to where i found the rock.

Originally posted by BobbyShaftoe
it roofing tar that has been left to set in a plastic bag,

congrats you found builders waste.

edit on 3030/7/11 by BobbyShaftoe because: (no reason given)

I think this guy's probably the closest. Looking at your second photo, it does appear that some of those creases and edges on the thing might have come from being shoved to set in a poly bag.

reply to post by Silend


good find silend!
i recently found a nice 300gram meteorite with my detector here in south wales uk .
i ended up having to cut the corner off it and give it a sanding to figure out what it was.
you could try cutting a bit off it too .?
what detector you got?

It appears to be slag, which is a by-product the fused residue of a smelted ore. Growing up near Bethlehem Steel plant, the whole valley is littered with it, especially the railroads.

Well, may God knows what it is, but i am keeping it.

A word of advice. If you are metal detecting get a cheap geiger counter (cheapo $40 russian one) and tape it to your metal detector.

Always check the rocks you pick up.

Satellites have re-entered the atmosphere with radioactive parts on them...Space Shuttle debris that broke up on re-entry.....

To be safe, always check what you find. Dying sucks.

There was what is thought to be a piece of the space shuttle that exploded during re entry found in a small lake that is about half full from the month of 100+ degree F heat here in East Texas.

Originally posted by Silend

Originally posted by ANNED
Obsidian no but close

Its clinker glass from a old coal fired steam engine.

At the end of the day the locomotive fireman would take a long hooked steel rod and put it down of what was left of the burning coal in the fire box and turn it rolling up a ball of glass left over from the burned coal.
Common along old railroad tracks or old coal boilers.

Sometimes the Fireman would stoke the fire box on one side and after the coal burned down on the other side he would hook out a glob and just flick it off the moving train.
Many times this would cause fires along the tracks.
In kansas this caused major fires in wheatfields.
This was one of the reasons many farmers helped the James-Younger Gang in the American midwest.

Here in my village there is an old fire station, but it is not close to where i found the rock.

A firehouse has nothing to do with it.
A fireman on a old steam engine was the guy who shoveled coal into the fire box.
The engineer was the one that ran the throttle

reply to post by aboutface


Could come in handy one day?
Copper is worth a fortune these days, and years ago copper was buried as waste....which is not good to our health.
But dig it up and we could be rich?
Yes they are dear,but wait for some guy crossing the road to the nearest cash converter...offer him 5% over what the shop offers and you have a bargain.

Thats a meteorite, could be very valuable, take it to an authority, local museums are good for this

Really good recovery. Better than me. I found only several coins during the past two months. I found that metal detecting is far more difficult than I think. Besides owning a good metal detector, the most important thing is that you should be very patient. Because you will find much more scraps than treasures.

jasper

Magnetite.

Might furnace coal slag that has combustion chamber iron flecks (rust) mixed in. Coal slag is very heavy for its size. I have a piece I found tilling my garden.