Telling true gold

[albionjessica]

Is there some sort of test, chemical or otherwise, that will tell if something is real gold? My father-in-law manages a few hundred apartments, and they get a lot of stuff from tenants that move out and leave their stuff behind. Usually they just put it out on the sidewalks for anyone to take, but sometimes they find jewelry and they've kept it just in case it was missed. Well, after a few years, they have this huge stash of old and new jewelry, and not one piece has been sought after by it's original owner. So they asked me if I knew of a way to test, and I told them I didn't... but that I knew of a great place filled with people who might know the answer.

Anyone have any ideas that don't include going to a pawn shop or jewelry store?

[silverbackMP]

Simpliest way to tell purity is by weight.

[silverbackMP]

This threads (on another site) may help:

http://goldismoney.info/forums/showt...t=buying+scrap

[moopups]

There are chemical tests available, a sample of the metal is gathered on a surface, chemicals are introduced, the color indicates the prescience of gold present.

I am having puter problems, a site known as cattle today keeps appearing in the most inopportune times. It just canceled further words of response to this thread. Geeks, nerds, mind your own business and stop interfering with us normal people.

[Christiaan]

Haul it in to a jeweler or pawn shop, they'll be able to assay it.

[homeinmontana]

This is going to sound really simplistic, but most pieces of jewelry that are real gold will be marked. It will be stamped on the inside of a ring, tagged with a tiny metal tag on a necklace and so on. Look for something that says, for example, 14K. That means 14 karat gold. Some of the markings are really small, so use a magnifying glass if you have one. Gold plated, gold filled, or non-gold base metals will not be marked.

[Junkmanme]

Don't depend on the "hallmarks". Many are incorrect or just plain "false".

Get an "acid test kit". Not expensive, easy to use. You should be able to find one by Google Search for: Gold acid test kit or something similar.

Bruce (ex-pawnbroker)
P.S. there are some reputable purchasers of "scrap gold" to whom you can ship such stuff. They pay quickly upon receipt and inspection. % of gold content, weight, etc. are critical. You won't get 100% of gold value, but many are "close".

[Wolf mom]

Are you looking for the gold in the jewlery or to see if the jewlery has some gold in it, ie: 14k, 24k for resale??

Something that is made of all gold, is softer & has a reddish-gold color. 14k is much yellower & paler & a harder metal. 18K is sorta in between.

After finding out if it's 14, 18K or 24k gold, you might get as much/or more for it as jewlery rather than as scrap gold. Even some fine jewlery stores will sell on consignmemt. The mark-up on jewlery is astounding, well over 100%

Or you might want to have it all melted & made into a few great pieces of jewlery for yourselves.

[albionjessica]

I actually have nothing to do with the jewelry. It's all my husband's dad and step-mom. I don't know if they plan on selling it or not - they just told me they were curious about a few of the pieces.

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll let them know about the acid tests.

[fantasymaker]

LOL try to sell it thats the acid test!
BTW ACID TEST that we use in speach so much actually refers to testing to see if somthing was gold by using acid

[fantasymaker]

PLEASE TELL THEM TO BE CAREFULL TILL AN EXPERT SEES IT!
My SO just lost a braclet to burglery woth as much as 1,000,000 bucks and we are almost sure some teenage brat picked it up for his Gf it doesnt look like much more than costune jewlry but its nearly 500 years old.