I have been lurking here for a year or so trying to get enough posts to write my own. Finally got it!
I have found that there are all kinds of experts on this site and I really need some expert advice
Nearly twenty years ago we helped a friend clean out his father's home. Under a pine tree I found a large pile of black rock and my friend said take it.
I put it around my flower bed and forgot it for quite awhile. Then one day I dropped on one of the rocks. It was bright silver inside!
I took it to a rock shop and three gentlemen gave me three answers-pig iron-coal slag and "I haven't a clue." Off to another rock shop. He didn't know but said his partner had bought some like it and moved to Florida!!
Sent a chip to the Meteorite Man and not a meteorite. Ask a geologist and he said it was hematite.

Took it to a college and he wanted a piece to analyze gave him one and when I called he no longer worked there, no forwarding address.
Sent it to Dillon Gage and they lost the sample but kept my money.
Took it to a mining museum and I will write out the letter in part because she is no longer there.
" Steel gray on the fresh face, tarnishes to dull black. Hardness of>3-<5 1/2, Specific gravity 5-6 and dark gray streak. Believe it to be tetrahedrite Rarely occurs in higher temperature veins. This sample seems to be very rich in silver with some copper and lead"
A friend had a geologist friend that was interested and gave him a piece. His cell phone is now disconnected! No home phone and nothing in the white pages.
What is this and why does everyone dissapear? I will try to send pics, but it is my first try.

How can we know when we dont have a pic?

can we see a picture of it? sounds awesome

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Call your local mining department and ask for someone that can direct you to a list of assay laboratories. They won't be able to give you just one as it would mean an endorsement.

Once you have that, get an "icp-30", Gold, radioactivity & Rare Earth tests done.
Make sure to only send a sample the size of your fist or less than half the size of the specimen you've got. Also, name it something obscure ie "tra-126a-4" or something that doesn't indicate origin or anything related to it.

For a full suite of tests it would range from $25 to $150 per sample. It's best to get the works done.

I am a stupid newby!!!! I am trying to get the @#$%^ Pictures. Thanks. I got the thumbnails but the where to I go?

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They sound like the same sort of stones that we used to bring home from the rivers in Arkansas. it was dull black outside, but shattered fairly easily and were shiny silver inside. They broke apart really easily when wet. We never knew exactly what they were, but always brought several hunks home because they are beautiful!!

I hope you find out what they are, we always just called it hematite because that was as close an answer as we could come up with. I'll have to go out and dig in the flowerbeds and see if I can unearth a piece. We always added our rocks to the beds and over the years they get lost in the dirt and overgrown by the flowers!

I want to belive. Show picture!

You should take it to an expert geologist.

ETA: sounds like you did all that already, hmmm I'm stumped.

ALS

Does it look anything like this?



ALS

Maybe OP is afraid if he posts a picture, ATS may disappear without any fowarding IP address

It does sound like magnite, and has naturaly formed silver pyrite, now if you could just find a way to process the silver pyrite out, can make some very nice jewelry.

Looks like a picture of it is in his sig , right click and click view image to see it.