Jim was talking about "silver fillings in someone's mouth"...that's right... And none of us were here reading this thread, and Howard will be deleting it in a few hours
That's about as ridiculous as Jim's comments.
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To the amateur, sure it sounds romantic to "find a valuable shipwreck" - but let's talk reality. First of all... Let's say it is silver (which I doubt). What would be the value of the bar (it's not a bar... it's a cylinder, and it's 1 foot long by 1.5" diameter - highly unlikely that it's silver bar)? At $28 an ounce... not much. If it's a historic piece from a historic shipwreck, then MAYBE you can get more value for it. But how? You need provenance. Without that, you just have a lump of silver. Big whoop. How do you get provenance? You have to be legitimate, and not a pirate. Conducting illegal salvage would probably cost you a hell of a lot more than doing it the right way, and filing a salvage claim.
As for the "poor Mel Fisher" comments also made. Really? Look at what trouble Mel Fisher went though, but look at the reward. Hundreds of millions of dollars, a hugely successful company, a museum, and more.
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If you want some real advice. Figure out what the metal is yourself. Like I said earlier, you can buy a kit, or just do some simple science. The density of silver is approximately 10.49 g/cm
3 The density of lead is 11.34 g/cm
3. If there's other sediment on it, you can clean it with muriatic acid, and that will remove any sea growth and corrosion. I'll say this though. Silver doesn't look silver when you find it. Silver is generally encrusted with sand and makes a concretion. If it's not in a concretion, it's probably black and unrecognizable. I have first hand experience in this.
