# look for someone who melt gold into bar without having to sell the bar in north bay area california



## flowers22888 (Mar 27, 2022)

i am looking for someone or business that can melt gold jewelry into a bar without having to sell to him in north bay area California. let me know if you know anyone/business who does that.


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## Martijn (Mar 27, 2022)

Welcome to the forum. 
Why melt jewelry into a bar? Its not pure gold.


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## Stibnut (Mar 27, 2022)

If you really want to melt jewelry into a bar, it's probably cheaper (and more fun!) if you learn to do that yourself. For a smaller amount, up to maybe 150 g, I'd recommend getting a Bernzomatic TS-8000 torch and MAP gas, plus melting dishes and a graphite mold. For larger amounts, you can use a propane forge. I'd recommend Devil Forge - best prices and quality I know of.


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## flowers22888 (Mar 27, 2022)

Stibnut said:


> If you really want to melt jewelry into a bar, it's probably cheaper (and more fun!) if you learn to do that yourself. For a smaller amount, up to maybe 150 g, I'd recommend getting a Bernzomatic TS-8000 torch and MAP gas, plus melting dishes and a graphite mold. For larger amounts, you can use a propane forge. I'd recommend Devil Forge - best prices and quality I know of.


i would prefer someone who does it more frequently. it kind of scares me.


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## shadybear (Mar 28, 2022)

The first question should be Why do you want to melt marked jewelry.


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## malphorian1973 (Mar 28, 2022)

shadybear said:


> The first question should be Why do you want to melt marked jewelry.


My thoughts exactly?!?


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## orvi (Mar 28, 2022)

Melting is a common practice to erase any chances of recognizing single pieces of jewelery. Used a lot when folks are dealing with not 100% legal stuff.


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## Martijn (Mar 28, 2022)

shadybear said:


> The first question should be Why do you want to melt marked jewelry.



That was the first question. But was left unanswered. 

So...why? 

Please explain. 

Martijn.


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## Yggdrasil (Mar 28, 2022)

There may be valid reasons for his request.
But it would be nice with an explanation.


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## cosmetal (Mar 28, 2022)

I am located in Sacramento, CA. I melt gold, silver. bronze, copper, and pewter on a regular basis.

However, I, like many others who responded to your OP, would need to have the assurance of your ownership.

Peace and health,
James


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## flowers22888 (Mar 28, 2022)

cosmetal said:


> I am located in Sacramento, CA. I melt gold, silver. bronze, copper, and pewter on a regular basis.
> 
> However, I, like many others who responded to your OP, would need to have the assurance of your ownership.
> 
> ...


we are a shop with secondhand license and we have jeweler customers who would buy gold bars for a bit more than refiner would pay as long as we melt down


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## cosmetal (Mar 29, 2022)

flowers22888 said:


> we are a shop with secondhand license and we have jeweler customers who would buy gold bars for a bit more than refiner would pay as long as we melt down


I sent you a PM asking for your shop's CA Secondhand and/or Pawnbroker license number. 

I am interested if you are legit - thanks!

James


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## rickbb (Mar 29, 2022)

I don't know of a jeweler that would want to buy a Hodge podge of various karat scrap melted all together. Most want a known karat, or pure so they can make their own karat value.

Maybe I'm just a natural skeptic, but all kinds of alarm bells are ringing in my head.


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## galenrog (Mar 29, 2022)

This is either a scam to hide questionable sources of jewelry, or the potential buyers of the bars are idiots. Not much room for error.

Answer Cosmetal. He will check to see if the license is legit. 

Time for more coffee.


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## orvi (Mar 29, 2022)

Jeweler who want to mess up Cu:Ag ratio in the melt due to various gold alloys present... that seems quite strange. Not all alloys will be soft and many odd 14 or even 18K alloys will be brittle and tough to work. By mixing literally every possible yellow or rose, white gold etc... I cannot imagine sane jeweler who would take this as working material.

But maybe I am missing something. Just know about this fact.


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## justinhcase (Mar 29, 2022)

Some services charge a "Melt charge" to homogenize scrap before an assay.
Or if you are uncertain of which service to use, a homogenized bar lets you divide it up between prospective services.
You can then compare returns and know which person to use in the future.
Or just keep a drilling, so you can put people off trying to take an unauthorised cut, or have an independent assay before sale.
Once you get up above a few hundred grams of scrap, it starts becoming a pain to test item by item.


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## flowers22888 (Mar 29, 2022)

cosmetal said:


> I sent you a PM asking for your shop's CA Secondhand and/or Pawnbroker license number.
> 
> I am interested if you are legit - thanks!
> 
> James


Thanks James. i would prefer someone closer. can't drive couple of hours during business hours to get gold melted.


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## flowers22888 (Mar 29, 2022)

justinhcase said:


> Some services charge a "Melt charge" to homogenize scrap before an assay.
> Or if you are uncertain of which service to use, a homogenized bar lets you divide it up between prospective services.
> You can then compare returns and know which person to use in the future.
> Or just keep a drilling, so you can put people off trying to take an unauthorised cut, or have an independent assay before sale.
> Once you get up above a few hundred grams of scrap, it starts becoming a pain to test item by item.


bingo. do you know any refinery in the north bay who would do it for a melt charge without having to sell to them? Also there are times that i am not sure the refiner's xrf is accurate. i wonder sometimes if our xrf will have different readings from the refiners'. so it would be good to have gold melted down to a bar and show it to different local refineries to check them out.


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## justinhcase (Mar 30, 2022)

flowers22888 said:


> bingo. do you know any refinery in the north bay who would do it for a melt charge without having to sell to them? Also there are times that i am not sure the refiner's xrf is accurate. i wonder sometimes if our xrf will have different readings from the refiners'. so it would be good to have gold melted down to a bar and show it to different local refineries to check them out.


If you have regular lots I would invest in a small gas furnace and do it yourself.
Nothing like the certainty that every thing has been included.
It would pay for its self in four or five melts.
You can clean it up a bit with flux and remelt several times so you get a good homogenized mix.
If you read and digest Ms Hoke you will be dividing with acid in no time.


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## dgolgert (Mar 30, 2022)

I just melted down a bit of jeweler's scrap and the nominal '14k' material ranged from 11k-13k under the XRF gun. The '18k' came out more like 16k. I suspect recycled jewelry might get a little diluted over time.


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## MathewC (Apr 17, 2022)

Sorry to hijack the post, but I'm kindof in the same boat as OP. I have collected scrap jewelry since I was a kid. I never thought it was a good idea to go out and sell it. I thought I might make something with it at some point. The idea of working with harsh chemicals does not really appeal to me right now. I did buy a small crucible set off amazon to play with stuff. 

I'm surprised at the "questionable sources of jewelry" comment. I guess this is something you guys deal with all the time whereas I never gave having a pile of scrap (someone else's old jewelry) a second thought.

What is "Ms Hoke"?
Is there anywhere I can take this stuff to where someone has an XRF gun to make sure it's all legit before I start melting?

Thanks!
-Mathew


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## GoIdman (Apr 19, 2022)

MathewC said:


> Sorry to hijack the post, but I'm kindof in the same boat as OP. I have collected scrap jewelry since I was a kid. I never thought it was a good idea to go out and sell it. I thought I might make something with it at some point. The idea of working with harsh chemicals does not really appeal to me right now. I did buy a small crucible set off amazon to play with stuff.
> 
> I'm surprised at the "questionable sources of jewelry" comment. I guess this is something you guys deal with all the time whereas I never gave having a pile of scrap (someone else's old jewelry) a second thought.
> 
> ...


 
I don`t do jewelry since i am no expert in identification and therefore i was doublecrossed with thick plated stamped gold jewelry which turned out to be stamped with legit gold stamp but the actual pieces were fake. I cannot give any advice on jewelry.

That being said, Miss Hoke or "C.M.Hoke - Refining pretious metal wastes" is a book, or better say it`s the best friend and bible of e-waste and other PM scrap refiners.

Use the search function on this forum, I believe it is still available for download.

Be safe

Pete.


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## justinhcase (Apr 19, 2022)

MathewC said:


> Sorry to hijack the post, but I'm kindof in the same boat as OP. I have collected scrap jewelry since I was a kid. I never thought it was a good idea to go out and sell it. I thought I might make something with it at some point. The idea of working with harsh chemicals does not really appeal to me right now. I did buy a small crucible set off amazon to play with stuff.
> 
> I'm surprised at the "questionable sources of jewelry" comment. I guess this is something you guys deal with all the time whereas I never gave having a pile of scrap (someone else's old jewelry) a second thought.
> 
> ...


That is quite a tricky question as it is to do with how your local authority wishes to pursue criminals.
In the UK we are required by law to keep records and only pay to a person's bank account.
I personally have only ever had one client caught by the police in someone's home.
When searched he was good enough to have kept two of my recepts.
The person had told me he had inherited the estate of an Aunty which was why he had so much junk to sort through, I even lamented the loss of his relative and was sympathetic, More fool me.
But with good record keeping and a direct bank transfer he could not deny this was not his first offense.
We are instructed to serve suspicious individuals but the police do not want us calling every time we have a bad feeling about a client as this takes them time to see to and we are mostly wrong.
They expect us to keep long-term records and produce evidence that will expose larger patterns of criminality.
Organized criminal burglary gangs, violent offenders that do robbery, and unethical sourcing are their main targets, they seem unconcerned with a petty crime unless they have an actual victim they can easily attribute the loss to and even then they take little interest.


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## MathewC (Apr 19, 2022)

Thank you both for the info.

I guess my next step would be to find someone with a free afternoon and an XRF gun just to better understand what I have.


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