Scrap on Ebay

Are any of these auctions onebay good deals?
Ebay 1
Ebay 2
Ebay 3

There are no bids yet so, what does a "good deal" mean? When new, the gold on 1/20, 10K, runs 2%. Of, course, the stuff is old and some gold has worn off. Also, watch bands are iffy and are difficult to process.

But if it's really 1/20 10k gold, and you get it at 20 bucks, it's a good deal lol.

I bought some watch bands on e-bay and was disappointed.

Its really hard to judge them from a lousy picture.

The band could be marked GF, but still most of it would still be stainless steel and not even figured in the total weight of so called 1/20 gold fill. Yet the seller includes it as part of the lot weight.

A lot of sellers are subtle scammers.

eagle2 said:

The band could be marked GF, but still most of it would still be stainless steel and not even figured in the total weight of so called 1/20 gold fill. Yet the seller includes it as part of the lot weight.

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He has no choice (I am not defeding his position, just speaking fact). The backs of most watch bands are stainless, and clearly marked. Tops alone are usually gold filled (not always, as you no doubt know), and are marked accordingly.

A lot of sellers are subtle scammers.

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Don't discount the fact that most people know very little about gold, how it is alloyed, and why, how it is marked, and what the markings mean. While they may be ignorant of the facts, the buyer holds a considerable amount of responsibility in making informed purchases, even when the seller may not understand what he's offered. If a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Apply the above to watch bands, which are clearly a poor source for gold, and likely getting worse due to the increased cost of gold. That happened with eye glasses, which were an excellent source for me when I started refining back in the early '70's. With the increase in value, gold content was lowered substantially, and eventually eliminated completely in most frames.

Having had the "gold bug" myself, early on, I know all too well how easy it is to get over enthusiastic when pursuing gold bearing materials. Refining, if gain is the intended purpose, calls for a clear mind and good sense. Know that you're buying, and what you can expect in return. Factoring in wear for gold filled and plated items is one place you need pay particular attention. I've seen the majority of gold rubbed clear off on gold filled items, having been used well past their intended lifespan.

Harold

Your points are well taken.

It seems like even after 25 years of looking at all kinds of Gold scrap, I still get fooled by something.

Buyer beware

Al

If you tried processing watch bands, you likely are making reference to your disappointment.

I never turned down watch bands, assuming they came very cheaply or free. I rarely bought them, but had several lots given to me over the years.

I processed a few batches over the years, stripping them electrolytically, using cyanide. It was the only way I could come up with that made processing them remotely profitable.

Harold

Years ago(15?), I had one band I tried to process. All I knew then was to use AR and I had misgivings then. It was a mess and I think I gave up completely.

Later, I knew about Thiourea leaching and tried another. This worked, but I was experimenting and did recover some gold, but didn`t know if it was quantitative. I gave up on that, because the Thiourea went cloudy very quickly. I didn`t know then that this was sulfur and could be eliminated.

So, I`ve now been using the AP and Copper leach methods, I knew I had overpaid on this watchband lot, when I saw all over again how much Stainless Steel there was.

Al

AR would be a definite mistake, if for no other reason, unless you dissolved everything, the remaining metal would precipitate the gold and you'd have nothing short of a mess.

I'm inclined to look at watch bands much the way I looked at electronic scrap. It was way too labor intensive to justify my time----but keep in mind that I had enough refining of high grade materials to keep me busy for long hours each day, 7 days/week. I don't mean to imply that electronic scrap isn't worth running----but it's a distant second after seeing how much comes from the jeweler's bench. That's really where the money is for the home refiner. The problem is getting the business. Takes years to build something that will support a person.

Harold

My plan, right now, is to boil them in some dilute NaOH, to get rid of the oil and skin. Next soak them in AP, or H2SO4 and H2O2. Just enough to loosen up most of the Gold fill. Hopefully most of it will free up.

I don`t plan to try to get all the bits out of the hidden recesses.

I might try treating it a third time with HCl-Cl, If it looks like a lot is left.

Al

As Harold always say, Incineration is the key !

I'm not sure that an NaOH soak does the same job as incineration...

I haven't tried it, but several people have told me that boiling 10% H2SO4 will loosen the gold filled layer on stainless watch bands. This is similar to eagle2's suggestion.

Thanks for the comebacks!

I`m not too well setup for incineration. I would have to do it outside and its cold out there.

I know boiling just a short time in dilute NaOH does a good job in cleaning out greases. After that, I next will try the 10% boiling H2SO4 as an experiment.

When I do this I will report the results in a new thread. Thanks!

Al