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Is there at an home test for rhodium?  

September 5, 2008

I've found this 70lb+ silver slab of something. I was panning for gold when I came across it. It's 70lb+ and it's only 6 in x 8 in maybe 2 inches thick in some places, so it's got my curiosity flying all over the place. When I first brought it home I dusted it off and put the whole thing in Muriatic Acid [link is to product info at Amazon] for a good 6 hours and in all due respect, this piece is not breaking down whatsoever. After inspecting it I noticed right away a silvery shine to it. I filed some of the metal off of it and put it into muriatic acid--not much of a reaction and the mixture turned bright green. It's got me stumped but I'm sure it's something valuable because it won't break down (tough stuff). Is there a test I could perform at home to test for Rhodium? (just hoping)

Jostlyn McCarter
hobbyist - Salt Lake City, Utah

Hi, Jostlyn. I don't think it's likely that someone misplaced an eleven million dollar slab of rhodium :-)

But can't you find a jeweler who is familiar with precious metals and equipped to quickly tell you what this slab is? A rhodium mine has never been discovered on this planet, and rhodium is so rare and dispersed that even at its astronomical price it has never been refined except as a byproduct of platinum. So one sure thing is that it's not rhodium.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.  finishing.com Brick, New Jersey