# Black Hills Gold



## GRS (Nov 22, 2010)

Hi, I'm new to this forum and having already learned so much just from lurking. I apologize if this question is not in the correct section.

I have a question regarding Black Hills gold, does it test the same as regular yellow gold? I am doing the basic acid test and just need to know a more about it. If I file into it will it be black all the way through? Just when I thought I had the knack for testing gold something new comes along. Thanks for any help and I hope someday to be able to repay the favor.

Steven


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## Harold_V (Nov 22, 2010)

I can't think of any gold that would be black through unless it _wasn't_ gold. When you test 14k and greater (with nitric), it often does nothing. 10K will react to nitric, but generally just slowly turns a bronze color, the results of nitric dissolving the base metal(s), leaving behind a honeycombed mass of relatively pure gold (on the surface). 

Can you better describe what you are seeing?

Remember---the difference between Black Hills gold and any other gold is just the alloying agents involved. To establish the desired colors, the primary element is as follows. There are other elements included, depending on the color. Blue uses iron, green is silver, and purple is aluminum. White is either nickel or palladium. There are other colors, and ratios vary depending on the fineness of the alloy. 

Harold


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## Oz (Nov 22, 2010)

I recently ran a couple of ounces of black gold for a customer. This was slightly magnetic 14K and when you took the file to it it was indeed gold colored underneath. I would imagine it was a cobalt alloy that was treated to give a black oxide coating, but can not prove it. Processing was done in AR and nothing out of the ordinary to report. It came in a little under 14K as is typical for yellow golds.


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## goldsilverpro (Nov 22, 2010)

"Black Hills Gold" is a type of jewelry. It is often made up of a yellow gold base with green gold leaves and red or pink gold grapes.

https://encrypted.google.com/search?hl=&q=black+hills+gold&sourceid=navclient-ff&rlz=1B3GGLL_enUS395US396&ie=UTF-8&lr=all


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## GRS (Nov 22, 2010)

Thanks for all the replies. I am actually meeting with the customer this afternoon and she happened to mention that she had several pieces that were "black gold". Since I wasn't familiar with it I googled it and came up with pictures like this:




. 


Mostly I was wondering if the black parts are actually gold. Thanks for the help and I will post a follow up later on.

Steven


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## goldsilverpro (Nov 22, 2010)

GRS said:


> Thanks for all the replies. I am actually meeting with the customer this afternoon and she happened to mention that she had several pieces that were "black gold". Since I wasn't familiar with it I googled it and came up with pictures like this:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I doubt it. It may be enamel or an oxide coating. In either case, I would think you should be able to cut, scratch, or file through it to view what's underneath it. Beware - the ring could be made of plated/oxidized silver. I would certainly test it.


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## texan (Nov 22, 2010)

"Black Hills Gold" if marked such is very collectible and probably worth much more than scrap price for the weight of the gold. I was not aware of this until a friend asked me to do some research on some pieces she had. It turns out I had a very nice piece in my own scrap box that I had about $3.00 in...needless to say it went into the "keeper" box. I happened to notice a ring that a coworker had on on and I asked him if he knew anything about the ring...he said it was Black Hills Gold and sure enough it was hallmarked as such. Great looking ring and worth much more than the scrap price.

Texan


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## wrecker45 (Nov 22, 2010)

i have been buying gold jewlery from an online auction and they give the value and black hills gold is a lot cheaper than yellow or white gold


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## texan (Nov 22, 2010)

wrecker45 said:


> i have been buying gold jewlery from an online auction and they give the value and black hills gold is a lot cheaper than yellow or white gold



I will revise my statement by saying that antique (ie 19th and and early 20th century) "Black Hills Gold"" is very collectible. What my friend has and what I have was clearly made in the 19th century...hand made.

Texan


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## goldsilverpro (Nov 22, 2010)

I think the term "Black Hills Gold" is a sort of generic term for this type of jewelry, with the leaves, grapes, etc. I have never been there but, in the Black Hills area of SD, I would guess there are 100s of companies making this stuff and stores on every corner, mainly for the tourists. I have seen quality pieces and I have seen a lot of junk.


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## GRS (Nov 22, 2010)

just to put a close to this, I met with the customer and her gold was neither black nor black hills gold, she was just told by the jeweler that it was called black gold and more valuable than regular gold. Go figure. Thanks again for the help.

SG


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## butcher (Nov 24, 2010)

Gold is yellow, I say Black Hills gold is yellow (it is just gold from the black hill’s in south Dakota land stolen from the American Indian) gold is yellow, and colored by other metals into jewelry.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hills

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hills_Gold_Rush

http://jewelry.about.com/cs/goldbuyingtips/a/gold_alloys.htm

http://www.blackhillsgoldbycoleman.com/faqs.aspx


http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/download/file.php?id=1765


http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=54&t=3624&p=30753&hilit=pawnbroker+bob%27s#p30753

http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=311&start=0


http://www.scribd.com/doc/14426836/Testing-Precious-Metals-CM-Hoke1


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