A REAL CHRISTMAS MIRACLE! HUGE TREASURE CACHE FOUND!

[surfaceone]

ORIGINAL: NyDigger1

Turns out that regular treatment isnt working, the coins closest to the iron cap are covered in rust that spilled from it, the ones touching the lead got caked from natural electrolysis in the ground

Hey Mike,

How goes the soaking? I'm with Louis on it being a cast iron bank. I'd be flabbergasted, were it otherwise. Lead based paint, for sure, so keep your HazMat flag flying. [8D]

Could you take her into some nice natural light, and do some closeup portraitry, please. I think you'll see that the iron is rusting beneath the paint remnants. For me, she's the highlight of the show.

 

[GuntherHess]

a lot of cast banks were made of pot metal.

 

[Plumbata]

Yeah, Pot/White Metal is the first thing I thought when I saw the pics. Wouldn't be surprised if it contains some lead, but it is probably constituted primarily of zinc.

I was thinking about the rust issue, and wonder if "Naval Jelly" would work, pretty sure it is phosphoric acid that gives the stuff its rust-eating kick. Not sure if it would harm the silver or not but it might be worth a shot.

 

[surfaceone]

Hey Matt & Stephen,

I'm seeing rust beneath the paint, I think. "Pot metal" doesn't rust, but will corrode / get crusty. Isn't it usually zinc heavy? Maybe Mike will do some more photos...

"There is no scientific metallurgical standard for pot metal; common metals in pot metal include zinc, lead, copper, tin, magnesium, aluminium, iron, and cadmium. The primary advantage of pot metal is that it is quick and easy to cast." wiki-pot metal.

 

[RICKJJ59W]

Mike I will put your story on my site this weekend. Once again Cool finds

 

[GuntherHess]

pot metal varied a lot in composition.
its was normally mostly zinc.
It is easy to tell from lead since its much harder.
Pure lead is so soft its tough to make anything that will last out of it.
Anything that bumps it will ding it up.

 

[NyDigger1]

Thanks for all of the messages. So heres whats going to go down with the find:

Im going to keep it, one whole cache, not selling any of it unless there's a 1916-D.

Im going to insulate the interior with a thin layer of rubber (will peel off at any time).

YES It it lead, Ive had my share of lead experience (and exposure) over the years, toys, a second empty bank I found 3 years ago, costume jewelry, toy soldiers. And the bank is very malleable, after soaking it in water, post prying the cap I was able to, with my fingers, remold the bottom closure to be able to still hold the iron cap (which will also be insulated from the inside), and to open at any given time. After It dried it became hard again, same thing that happens with lead toy soldiers.

I wont repaint it, Ive had a couple of people here on the forum and outside of the forum tell me not to, its either original paint or no paint, so ill leave it as it is.

The coins themselves will go through electrolysis (almost all of them) and a tumble for the ones that are caked and have an unreadable date.

I wont do anything to them until it gets warmer, summer, since I have school, and because electrolysis causes fumes and I cant open any windows because of the cold.

I have not yet gone through the dates, I will do so within the next few days and let you guys know what they are (or at least the readable ones).

thanks for the kind words everyone, and sorry if I didnt write back to all of you individually, too many people to write back at once [][][]