how can you tell if something is gold?

joko | 10:52 Wed 26th Oct 2011 | How it Works

14 Answers

is there a household trick to test it?

thanks

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jake-the-peg

why can't you look at the hallmark?

bednobs

so how do you tell the difference between gold and silver hallmarks?

joko

Question Author

does everything gold have one?

on scraps of chains, earring backs, broken bits etc?

thats why i cant just look at the hallmark...

jake-the-peg

http://www.gold-traders.co.uk/hallmarks/

daffy654

You may have to take it to a local jeweller, they will have the stuff needed to test it.

DTCwordfan

any nitric acid in the house? A tiny drop and Gold doesn't dissolve.

Graham-W

I don't know if jewelers still use touchstones but they used to.
http://en.wikipedia.o...e_%28assaying_tool%29

jake-the-peg

OK complete items should have one

But not broken ones.

Difficult from a household perspective concentrated acids tend not to abound at home

I guess if there were an easy trick like that we wouldn't need hallmarks.

You can of course measure the density with Archemedes method - he of Eureka

Fill a cup to the brim with water put in your gold and catch the overflowing water in a bowl - measure the water - this gives you the volume of the material

Weigh the gold (out of the water) divide by the volume and you'll get the density.

But of course you probably have gold scraps of all sorts of purity there

NOX

You can buy cheap acid tests, and not all gold is hallmarked especially if it's foreign or sometimes if rings have been resized, so acid testing works well.

joko

Question Author

thanks a lot DT!!

...just tried that and you're right, the gold didnt dissolve...but my table and half my hand did!

DTCwordfan

they make a mix of nitric acid, hydrochloric and water - Its known as Aqua Regina (cant remember the mix but I think it is about 65% Nitiric, 20% HCL and the rest water - and can be used for testing a range of precious metals like gold and silver. If I remember its the nitric alone that shows 12 carat or less and Aqua Regina on 12 to 24. If applied to silver, it turns green.