It was light colored and just a little darker than new. In fact, it looked so good that I was wondering why I was changing it (I still would have changed it anyway for the reasons mentioned in my previous post). It was far from black.

I have yet to dispose of the oil, perhaps I should filter it through some panty hose and use it in my wife's car (an old painter's trick my father showed me - not on oil - He always filtered wood stain through panty hose).

I do recall seeing what appeared to be a couple tiny metallic items stuck to the filter. I still have the filter so I will take a closer look. It may have just been fleece fuzzy's or part of the mesh fleece covering on the filter itself . Either way it wasn't anything that concerned me due to the small size and small quantity. But now that the filter has sat for a couple weeks, I take a another look.