Silver Sulfide?


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Yo All...I found this unusual stuff setting in an old camp that was apparently used around 1900 +/- .... One of the old timers had taken a hammer to it then just left it lay ... It's very heavy ... Total amount shown in the group is 14.16 ounces troy ... I just figured it might be galena but saw something on one of the forums recently that made me reassess and research more ... Now I'm pretty well convinced it is Acanthite or Argentite ... From Wikipedia: Acanthite, Ag2S, crystallizes in the monoclinic system and is the stable form of silver sulfide below 173 °C. Argentite is the stable form above that temperature. As argentite cools below that temperature its cubic form is distorted to the monoclinic form of acanthite. Below 173 °C acanthite forms directly.[1][4] Acanthite is the only stable form in normal air temperature.

According to what I can find, Acanthite is around 87% silver ...

Anyone have an opinion on this? I wonder if I could smelt it and recover the silver? Cheers, Unc

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