Scrap Gold

Over the past few years, I've set aside pieces of jewelry that didn't have any markings. You know, the stuff that looks fake but you want to make sure before you discard it. Well, I finally took it all to be tested and I was pleasantly surprised to find 8.5 grams of 14K, 9.2 of 10K, several small diamonds and a few pieces of sterling. 

This was a real eye opener. I expected most of this stuff to be fake but about half of it was real. From now on, I'm getting anything that doesn't stick to a magnet acid tested.

i bought a kit on ebay that comes with a loupe a digital scale that weighs in oz gram troy oz and pennyweight, a scratch block and the acids for under $50 , its paid for itself many times over

I have a batch I've been holding on to like that. A lot of it is marked but some unmarked. I also acid test it but sometimes I'm just not sure so I hang on to it just in case. I've had a couple pieces that the 14k acid disolved and the 10k acid didn't and when I took it in it tested at 14k. And then the other side of the coin is the marked 14k stuff that turns out to not be gold at all.

The acid tests can be somewhat unreliable. For example, when the gold buyer was testing a tennis bracelet that was clearly marked .925, it acid tested for 14K.

was clearly marked .925, it acid tested for 14K.

Perhaps the .925 was wrong. 

Perhaps the .925 was wrong. 

Possibly. It did strike me odd that diamonds were set in silver. The diamonds are definitely real. I'll get a second opinion on it.

sterling will test + for gold all the time

sterling will test + for gold all the time

Interesting. What's stopping people mixing another non ferrous metal (for color) with the Sterling and passing it off as gold?   

Maybe vermeil, gold plated over silver, and they didn't rub deep enough to get through the gold coating.

What's stopping people mixing another non ferrous metal (for color) with the Sterling and passing off as gold?

Prison would top my list of reasons.