# Gold thickness on glassware and pottery



## goldsilverpro (Sep 24, 2010)

http://www.goldbulletin.org/assets/file/goldbulletin/downloads/Papazian_3_15.pdf

I know that this excellent article has been posted before but, every so often, the subject of the value of the gold used to decorate glassware, ceramic, etc., comes up. On page 85, it gives a fairly definitive answer as to the thickness of the gold (22K) film. The thickness is 125nm, or 5 millionths of an inch thick. At a $1300 gold market, one sq.in. of gold at this thickness is worth about 6 cents. The article also mentions that, if the gold is applied too thick, it will blister during the firing. The article was written by Englehard. Their product, Hanovia Liquid Gold, is used on most all of this type material.


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## Pilgrim2850 (Sep 25, 2010)

Thanks alot for that info GSP. I just did a big batch of glassware, pottery and china today. I have not taken it out of solution yet to see how much I have, but this is my first attempt at recovery after collecting for a couple years now. My next attempt will be pins.

larry


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## goldsilverpro (Sep 25, 2010)

As you can see, don't expect much at all. A 4" x 4" area covered with gold would only be worth a dollar.


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## Chumbawamba (Sep 26, 2010)

Pilgrim2850 said:


> Thanks alot for that info GSP. I just did a big batch of glassware, pottery and china today. I have not taken it out of solution yet to see how much I have, but this is my first attempt at recovery after collecting for a couple years now. My next attempt will be pins.



Hey Larry.

I'll be most interested in your results


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## Pilgrim2850 (Sep 26, 2010)

Chumba,

I have it all in solution now and I filtered it to get the bugs and stuff out of it. I added SMB and nothing has happened. I don't know how much to add, if I should heat it or what. I believe all of the clorine gas is done. Should this be bisulfate or fite? I put sodium metabisulfite in it. Hope I didn't ruin it.


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## goldsilverpro (Sep 26, 2010)

How much solution do you have? What was the total number of square inches of gold that you dissolved in this solution? A tiny amount of gold in a large amount of solution is difficult to precipitate. A square foot of gold coverage on this material would only yield a little over .2 grams.


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## Chumbawamba (Sep 27, 2010)

Pilgrim, what process did you use? AP seems like the way to go but even then the gold will likely dissolve into solution.

Yes, you want sodium metabisulfITE (Na2S2O5).

You need to test the solution with stannous chloride (SnCl2) first. Do you have any on hand? Look here:

http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=5271&p=45030#p45030


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## Pilgrim2850 (Sep 27, 2010)

GSP,

I let it set overnight and it has dropped. I don't know if all of it did or not and I do not have any stannous to check. I have about 3000 ml of solution. I did not measure the amounts of muriatic and clorox. I followed Steve's post on adding just enough clorox a little as needed. My estimate on the amount of gold is approximately 475 sq in. So, we will see how much gold comes from that when it stops raining here. Thanks for all your help.

larry


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## Pilgrim2850 (Sep 27, 2010)

Thanks Chumba for your help. I'll have to see if I can whip up some stannous. I used muriatic/clorox. I was at Goodwill today and got my first piece for my next batch. It has about 10 sq in of gold on it.

larry


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## shadybear (Sep 27, 2010)

I would expect a 1/4 to 1/2 gram yield from the 475 sq. in
I did about 10 or 12 pounds of weeping gold once and my yield 
was 1/10th of a gram. So not much gold there


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## Pilgrim2850 (Sep 28, 2010)

You guys are going to love this............I have sawhorses with a sheet of plywood as a work space. I have a tarp over it. When it started raining I put my beaker under the sawhorses with a plate on top to keep the bugs/rain out. This morning I noticed that the welcome matt on the porch was moved where I feed the cat. Racoon, Possum, something was scraping cat food morsels under the matt. WELL.........it also wanted to see what was in my container and dumped it. Isn't that just peachy????????? There is brown sludge left in the bottom, but no liquid, so I won't get a good estimate of how gold was on that material. Bummer...........

larry (I have taken up hunting varmits now)


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## Chumbawamba (Sep 28, 2010)

Damn, what a bitch! Lesson learned 

I hope that dumb critter didn't burn their nose. Probably ran away and didn't look back if they took a whiff.


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## Pilgrim2850 (Oct 7, 2010)

I am ready to melt the brown sludge that I got from the glassware. What is the best way to incinerate the coffee filters that the sludge is in and in what should I incinerate them?

larry


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## Harold_V (Oct 8, 2010)

Pilgrim2850 said:


> I am ready to melt the brown sludge that I got from the glassware. What is the best way to incinerate the coffee filters that the sludge is in and in what should I incinerate them?
> 
> larry


I question why you have the recovered values in a filter? It's not necessary, and creates a risk of loss, plus you add considerable work to the process. 

After you precipitate (which should be in thin borosilicate glass), the gold should not leave the vessel _until it has been washed and dried_. At that time it can be removed easily, and is ready to be melted. 

Harold


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