Exchanging Gifts

[Windspirit]

Here a week ago my granddaughter left a toy flute out for a juvenile of 4 or 5 yrs. old. Now she left the flute lying on a fence post that had a crack in the top of it. So the flute was cradled on the top of the post. It was there for two days. The third day she went out to find seven little shiny black magnetized stones stuck to the barbed wire in the shape of a V from the bottom side of the V at the bottom side of the barbed wire. I was told by a family member that this stone is called load stone and from way up north. That it is not native to our area. All seven stone are almost the same in size. Tho slick and shiny there are signs that they were rough stones at one time. Tom will send pictures of them . Does any one have any idea what kind of stone they would be and where it comes from? Has anyone here received a gift of this kind? Windspirit:confused::confused:

[Tom Shirley]

Adding pics for Windspirit

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Tom S.

[wheatlight]

Wheatlight: (W.G.Wheatcroft): Windspirit has provided us photos of the polished mineral stones that a friendly bigfoot left in exchange for a flute given to them.What a neat exchange. These magnetic stones are polished magnetite, Fe3O4, and they may have as well a blend of the iron oxide mineral, hematite Fe2O3, which is naturally mineralized iron rust, contained within. These two minerals look similar, but magnetite is MUCH more magnetic, and it was used in ancient times as a natural magnet, and compass material in China when floated on water. It is possible, but doubtful, that a bigfoot hand polished such mineral fragments by hand, in a river bed, rubbing a specimen against another, harder mineral. More likely, the bigfoot found them where their (human) owner had left them, or dropped them. They look machine tumbled. My identification of the identity of this mineral is positive, as I have owned and used this mineral in polished and unpolished forms. Being magnetic, they have a N pole and a S pole, and attract each other as regular magnets, though they are originally natural in origin. They do not come polished like this in nature.

[steve a]

Wheat light is right of coarse,this is a ferrous metal , all ferrous metal is magnetic, i am a certified metallurgist, it is up to the iron oxide content, coke residue, how ever, being polished, is due to constant rubbing of residues of human or natural choices, native americans started the process with tree sap mixed with sand an then polished with, deer hide , at a hight rate of speed, today we use polishing cans , with other residues, thanks steve