QuestionHello, I got a handmade piece of jewelry in some junk but there are no marks on it anywhere. I am trying to figure out what the metal is but I seem to be stumped. I have used every acid test 10K,14K,18K,22K, plus platinum and they all give the same effect. With all acid test it turns bright white and stays that color. The longer I leave it the more white it gets. I even tried the red silver test acid and still got the same. Can you help me identify this metal? Thank you, any help will work.
AnswerDear Daryl,
The metals I have generally encountered in the jewelry business are precious metals, copper rich base metals such as brass, pewter and nickle silver. Of these, I am at a loss to find a metal which will consistently react with a white color at does your specimen.
I am not comfortable in calling this an "answer" because I cannot test the metal myself and make any definitive statement. Also, keep in mind that acid tests are "tests of elimination", generally letting you know what something "is not" and not always proving what it is. If it does not react like known metals, then it is something else. What it compares the closest to is a good possibility to go with. This is true in testing for karat value of gold, for instance when you have samples of known karats for comparative testing.
Silver with the right acid concentrations will indeed form a white color, from grayish white to almost pure white. Generally fine silver is the form to show the whitest color. Then again, I cannot explain your red result not working.
The only other metal generally seen in jewelry which "may" show white, is some particular alloy of pewter. White is not a general reaction to this soft metal, however, safe lead-free modern alloys marketed as pewter and made of tin, antimony and a touch of copper are the most like old pewter(not new aluminum items called pewter) Tin is a 90% to 98% component. Tin oxide may be formed in reaction of tin with nitric acid and in pure form is a white material. Many white paints are white because of the tin oxide present. I cannot say with certainty that using nitric acid on tin based pewter will produce a white color because some testing methods result in a bluish black result in solution. Hydrochloric acid will not produce white on most modern pewter.
You might check the metal for softness. A ballpoint pen will rather easily dent tin based pewter.
Do you have any scraps of metals that look like the metal of the unknown jewelry item? If you know what those are, test and compare. Also, try the testing on a slate rubbing stone to see how a thin layer of the metal reacts. If might dissolve completely on the stone, something silver does not do with proper strength testing acids.
Sorry Daryl, you have a peculiar one there and I really cannot be of further help except to suggest a specific gravity test of the item. That requires a triple beam balance in the least but can provide an accurate measure of density to compare to known metals.
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