Help ID some ingots please

[stubert]

243752 Found 5 of these in my Father in laws house. They are hard, can"t scratch it with a fingernail. When i drop it on cement, it rings instead of thuds like lead does. Any one know what it is? My Father in law used to cast for muzzle loaders in the 70's. He has been gone for 15 years so I can't ask him. It's not pure lead.

Thanks, Stu

[Dusty Bannister]

If you would not mind, you might consider showing a photo of the surface of the casting that was exposed to the air and not what was influenced by the mold. If your Father in law was a BP caster it might be tin or high tin Babette. If the exposed surface has a golden hue, that does suggest tin. All you are showing in your image is mystery metal from some company named Imperial. Any stamping or markings on the surface might also provide a clue.

For a proper identification, a small drip could be melted off one end of the ingot and sent to BNE, a list member, along with one pound of lead which is his fee for an XRF scan. Dusty


https://www.imperialmetals.com/

[stubert]

Here is the back, 243753Thanks, again

[Markopolo]

These are Linotype Ingots. Imperial was a printer.

Marko

[lightman]

Good ID, Marko!

I would have trouble melting that ingot down. Like I really need all of the stuff I have saved!

[Dusty Bannister]

If it is a Linotype ingot, it should clang about like cast iron when struck with a hammer. And if you break it apart at one of the segments, it will show a very interesting fracture. Very fine grain almost like a powder appearance, and tiny sparkles from the antimony crystals. It will also show a sort of cross grain appearance from cooling in the mold, when illuminated with an oblique light source. Not what I would have expected from a black powder shooter stash.

[RogerDat]

BP shooter probably why it didn't get used a long time back :-) Not casting for BP as much as smokeless is why my stash will probably have some pure plumbers lead ingots in it when I'm residing where lead melts at room temp so the mold is always hot enough to cast with. I'm a glass half full kind of guy. :D

[Conditor22]

Scrape an area clean with a chisel then do a pencil hardness test on it. This will give you a better idea,

Apr 22 BHN = Linotype

[mdi]

An aside; every (commercial) Linotype ingot I saw (Linotype operator in college) had "hanging loops" in one end. The ingots were hung on a chain/hook and lowered into the pot. A mechanism slowly lowered the ingot as the metal was used, keeping the pot full...

I don't remember reclaiming the used type (1965) but we dumped it into a barrel and occasionally it disappeared...

Found this pic of "Linotype ingot". Looks the same as the OP's. I didn't use this kind of ingot, I used ingots mebbe 24" long and heavy...

243756

[Dusty Bannister]

I agree that this is not what I usually see as a linotype ingot, but it might be a refreshing metal. And that is why I suggested a sample be sent to BNE to verify it's true content. I see from time to time, Linotype ingot molds for sale so just because it is heavy metal and cast in the Lino form, does not mean that is what you are buying. With the age of the castings, it more than likely is untampered, but still uncertain content.

[stubert]

Thanks for the reply's everyone.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

I agree that this is not what I usually see as a linotype ingot, but it might be a refreshing metal. And that is why I suggested a sample be sent to BNE to verify it's true content. I see from time to time, Linotype ingot molds for sale so just because it is heavy metal and cast in the Lino form, does not mean that is what you are buying. With the age of the castings, it more than likely is untampered, but still uncertain content.

Any chance you could post a pic of this?

[Silvercreek Farmer]

If it is a Linotype ingot, it should clang about like cast iron when struck with a hammer. And if you break it apart at one of the segments, it will show a very interesting fracture. Very fine grain almost like a powder appearance, and tiny sparkles from the antimony crystals. It will also show a sort of cross grain appearance from cooling in the mold, when illuminated with an oblique light source. Not what I would have expected from a black powder shooter stash.

Sorry, wrong post linked. Got a pic of a broken linotype ingot?

[wlsample]

I have some ingots just like that. On the top they are lightly stamped "LINO PLUS". I found the specs on Imperial's web site years ago, they have since taken all of their old product info down.

SN 17%
SB 46%
PB 37%

[lightman]

I found pictures on the Web of those same ingots, calling them linotype. But, all of the linotype ingots I have personally seen were the 22# ones with the crab claws on one end. It makes more sense that those pictured in the original post are the LINO PLUS used to rejuvenate the depleted alloys in linotype.

But yeah, getting a sample analyzed would tell the true story.

[RogerDat]

If refreshing alloy to refresh depleted linotype that would be a very sweet alloy indeed.

[Mitch]

I have some ingots just like that. On the top they are lightly stamped "LINO PLUS". I found the specs on Imperial's web site years ago, they have since taken all of their old product info down.

SN 17%
SB 46%
PB 37%

i have 2 of these ingots.the info above is what i have seen in the past.someone here sold quite a few of these ingots some time ago and this is what they said the make up was.if you do enough sedking on this side you will fined this info alot.correct infor i dont know but it is here.my ingots do not have the LINO PLUS stam on them.

i agree testing will be the only way to know for sure.i have thought about mixing mine with some know pure lead and then have that tetsed something like a 10lb batch per ingot just top make the fuguering easy.