Our house is over 150 years old. We recently began trenching the basement for new drain tile. I noticed while hauling out buckets and buckets of dirt/clay/rock there were gold specks. What are the odds that these is gold? Or could it be random flakes of metal from something else? How would I know? Much appreciated!
It isn't likely that it is gold, but you could get it tested. It is impossible to know without testing it. It is most likely pieces of metal, but getting it tested may be worth it for you.
Where would I get something like this tested and would it cost me money? Sure would make my day to have to sit down there in that muck with a tweezers!
Well do not get your hopes up just yet. It probably is not gold. There is a metal called brass that is commonly used as piping and you said that you found that stuff in your basement so there is a big possibility that it is brass and NOT gold. I would still have it checked out though... To answer your question I would take it down to your nearest pawn shop they will let you know if it is real gold, as they have chemicals to determine that. I do not think that they will charge you for that.
You don't need a pair of tweezers to pick out the metal. Just pan it out. Then take it down to the nearest goldsmith. One word of caution. Do it discreetly on the off-chance that it might just be gold. You wouldn't want people to come digging up your basement, do you?
Thanks, I didn't get a chance to have it checked out before my father-in-law poured cement in the basement...hopefully it was brass so I'm not missing out! We have two other rooms down there to trench and cement maybe I'll find more...? Thanks!
Aww, what an anti-climax. I was kind of looking forward to seeing the media enlivened by news of the next gold rush. Never mind, I think I will take my old wok and see what I can pan out of that stream I heard some people talking about.
