18k stamped jewelry

[biblebeltbuds918]

Hello, Let me start by saying I am a complete noob and dont have any knowledge in scrapping. I have some Pieces of jewelry stamped with 18K stamp. What is the best way to tell if they are real or not? and then is it worth trying to extract the gold?

 

[FrugalRefiner]

The first test I would suggest is to file a notch into the pieces (catch and save the filings). Then look closely with a strong magnifying lens or jeweler's loupe. 18K will be consistent looking throughout.

Second, see if they are attracted by a strong (neodymium) magnet like those found in computer hard drives. 18K jewelry will not be magnetic, while gold plated goods will be.

You can also check specific gravity. 18K should be very high, while plated will not be.

Whether it's worth trying to refine it is a personal decision depending on your personal goals.

Dave

 

[biblebeltbuds918]

The first test I would suggest is to file a notch into the pieces (catch and save the filings). Then look closely with a strong magnifying lens or jeweler's loupe. 18K will be consistent looking throughout.

Second, see if they are attracted by a strong (neodymium) magnet like those found in computer hard drives. 18K jewelry will not be magnetic, while gold plated goods will be.

You can also check specific gravity. 18K should be very high, while plated will not be.

Whether it's worth trying to refine it is a personal decision depending on your personal goals.

Dave

thank you for the info! i will let you know what i find!

 

[galenrog]

In addition to Dave’s comments, any springs are likely have some steel even if gold plated. Some jewelry pins may also be steel. If these are present, mechanical removal may be necessary to prevent complications that some steel alloys could pose.

I always remove springs and any material showing even minimal attraction to a magnet.

Time for more coffee.

 

[goldshark]

I posted a comment a while ago about fake Gold stamped 14 and 18 k. It is being peddled by some shysters claiming to be from usually, Dubai, or some wealthy mid Eastern country. The metal is usually an alloy of Zinc, Tin, Copper, and some decayed isotope of some radioactive element that I can't remember the name of.
Long story short, to test for the fake stuff, there are a variety of tests, depending on the fakery.
1. Alloy mentioned above, does not even have any plating, immerse in Nitric, or even a drop will create a serious reaction. Vinegar can be used, but it is weak compared to say 30% Nitric. The reaction will be immediate and very reactive.
2. Same as above alloy, but with thin Au plating. In this test you will need to penetrate the plating. This is best accomplished by either filing, cutting a thin section with metal snips, whatever it takes to get through the plating. Use Nitric, any reaction= fake. Anything over 7 karat will not be affected by the Nitric, or very mildly creating a more Gold luster. This is because Gold is not affected by the Nitric.
3. Some bullion has been counterfeited. There are the same techniques used as above, and another one which consists of a core made of some dense metal, with either a 4 9's plating, or a thicker layer on higher weight bars. The test on bullion will be conducted using a specific gravity test.Pure Au has a specific gravity of 19 ish. 1 cubic centimeter will weigh 19 grams when weighed in water. Immerse bullion in the smallest graduated cylinder it will fit in. This will give the most accurate displacement reading. Convert milliliters to cubic centimeters for volume. This will give a pretty close estimate of what it should weigh, per cubic centimeter. A thourough analysis will involve weighing the Au in water, so is tough for a do it at home test.
4. An acid test kit with differing acid strengths, in conjunction with a test stone, is a readily bought ,convenient test kit used by many pros in the industry. Just remember to erode the object deep enough to penetrate a thicker plating of stamped Karat.
5. Watch some Youtube videos on testing for fake Au, and some of the tricks up the cheaters sleeves. Just don't watch any videos on that site for refining, unless it is done by Sreetips!

 

[goldshark]

Looked up the other elements found in the fake Au alloy. They are Actinium and Lead. I would suggest to all who got Gold through a road side scammer, to do the tests for Au. If it is fake, remove to a hazardous materials land fill for radioactive substances. Although it is in quantities of 1/2% by weight, it is still 150 times more radioactive than Radium. Ingestion is very harmful. It causes genetic defects lasting many generations. Perhaps this is a new form of terrorism being wrought on the greedy American infidels. I don't know.

 

[olawlor]

Ironically, an alloy with 1/2% actinium would be *much* more valuable than gold.

They sell a capsule with 0.1 *nanogram* of actinium for $1200 here:
Actinium 50mm Lucite Cube — Luciteria

This summer DOE did one production run of actinium for making medical isotopes:
Actinium-227 is Available Now! | NIDC: National Isotope Development Center

I would not be surprised to find slightly radioactive lead (used shielding blocks, or processed from hot ores) in counterfeit jewelry, but percentage amounts of actinium sound like an urban legend.

 

[D-dog]

Tungsten has also been used as the core metal in fake bullion.
It has almost exactly the same density as gold.

 

[goldshark]

So, anybody know how to refine Actinium? Will send some if they want it. No value for scrap Au. See the assay results in the Youtube video attached here. I'm sure there are some various assays. I haven't assayed mine, just put in Nitric where it practically exploded, the reaction was so strong.

 

[Alondro]

Looked up the other elements found in the fake Au alloy. They are Actinium and Lead. I would suggest to all who got Gold through a road side scammer, to do the tests for Au. If it is fake, remove to a hazardous materials land fill for radioactive substances. Although it is in quantities of 1/2% by weight, it is still 150 times more radioactive than Radium. Ingestion is very harmful. It causes genetic defects lasting many generations. Perhaps this is a new form of terrorism being wrought on the greedy American infidels. I don't know.

No way they would use actinium. It's super-rare, super-expensive and they'd be at risk themselves making the fake jewelry! Also, actinium's density is LOW, only 10g/cm3.

Using uranium would be cheaper! MUCH cheaper! For instance, uranium was a mere $7/lb in 2001.

Uranium's density is 19g/cm3, so it would make sense to use that for a fake gold alloy.

 

[goldshark]

Like I said, I didn't do the assay. Youtube once again spreading false info. I don't know if they used an XRF, with all its idiosyncrasies to various elements. Also, they didn't state what isotope it was. I don't know about Actinium and its varying isotopes, and whether it was enriched to the medical grade, or what state it is in.

 

[Alondro]

Like I said, I didn't do the assay. Youtube once again spreading false info. I don't know if they used an XRF, with all its idiosyncrasies to various elements. Also, they didn't state what isotope it was. I don't know about Actinium and its varying isotopes, and whether it was enriched to the medical grade, or what state it is in.

It wouldn't matter. Actinium is very unstable and EXCEEDINGLY radioactive. The longest-lived isotope has a half-life of about 21 years. It's one of only 2 isotopes found naturally as a decay product of uranium. And again, it's EXCEEDINGLY RARE.

If actinium is detected at all in the fake gold, it's probably a trace decay product from uranium, the much cheaper and far more likely adulterant in the fake gold, given how close uranium's density is to gold's. (19.3 for Au to 19.1 for U).

But it's a minuscule trace. A ton of uranium has only 0.002g actinium in it, on average. Anyone claiming fake gold is made of a significant amount of actinium is JUST.... PLAIN... LYING. End of story.

The ONLY time I could think a single piece might be made is as a MURDER weapon by secret agents targeting a high-profile elite with a penchant for wearing lots of jewelry. The target would exposed to a massive amount of beta radiation at the contact surface and develop cancer rapidly.

 

[goldshark]

Would Actinium activate a Geiger counter?

 

[Alondro]

Would Actinium activate a Geiger counter?

Yes, and so would uranium. And thorium. And radium. And polonium.

A Geiger counter only tells you the element is radioactive. It doesn't tell you what it is.

 

[Fix the thingy]

Embarrassed to admit that I bought one of those fake 18 k Dubai rings at a gas station a while back. I still have it and it was worth the gamble for 20 bucks. It looked real. Has a picture of Queen Elisabeth stamped on it

 

[Fix the thingy]

Embarrassed to admit that I bought one of those fake 18 k Dubai rings at a gas station a while back. I still have it and it was worth the gamble for 20 bucks. It looked real. Has a picture of Queen Elisabeth stamped on it

Heavy also

 

[Shark]

Embarrassed to admit that I bought one of those fake 18 k Dubai rings at a gas station a while back. I still have it and it was worth the gamble for 20 bucks. It looked real. Has a picture of Queen Elisabeth stamped on it

Mine are from Italy, all stamped 18K except one is stamped 14K. At least I knew they were fake and were being sold as fakes. Mine are very heavy also and look real.

 

[Alondro]

Mine are from Italy, all stamped 18K except one is stamped 14K. At least I knew they were fake and were being sold as fakes. Mine are very heavy also and look real.

I'm kinda curious to know if they are radioactive, because like I said, they COULD use uranium. Regular non-enriched uranium is very cheap, and not particularly dangerous since it's an alpha-emitter of almost entirely the 238 isotope. If you eat it or breathe the dust, you're in trouble. But chunks of the metal aren't going to cause serious radiation damage unless you're wearing it for long periods of time. So the ones selling it don't really care.

There are very few metals which are both cheap and close to gold's density. Gold is 19.3 g/cm3. Clearly it's not going to be any of the platinum-group elements, not even osmium.

This chart shows the densities of the elements in their pure form: Mercury - Density - Hg

Tungsten, tantalum, and uranium would fit the bill. Both Tantalum and tungsten's problem is that they're very hard to melt. 2996C for tantalum and 3410C for tungsten. Cheap crooks wouldn't have the tech to do it. Uranium melts at 1132C, just roughly 70 degrees higher than gold. That would be workable for a small-time outfit. But, I'd be puzzled how they got it into the country, since cargo is scanned for radiation. Makes one wonder what else is being smuggled through, eh?

In any case, most of the fakes are just thin gold plating over brass. It's very odd that anyone would go to such lengths as to use uranium for a small-time con job. One Chinese company used a gold-plated tungsten alloy, but that was a HUGE scam involving BILLIONS of dollars.

 

[Shark]

Mine has no gold whatsoever. Not even plated. Complete failure of stone test and even a stannous test from AR is negative. I tested a single link from the big chains and maybe half a dozen from the finer chain. I have no way of testing for radiation.

 

[goldshark]

I used to have 2 Geiger counters that I inherited from some old Uranium prospectors. I gave them away around 20 years ago, so I don't have a way to test mine either. The specific gravity is no where near 19. It is tough to do the S.G. in a parking lot, but did it later at home. I did trace the cheaters name, it is a Bulgarian name, so suspect that is where it is from, also possibly India. This is a big, well thought out scam. I don't know if this is the same organization affiliated with bullion scams. I sure wish they would get busted. They prey on peoples willingness to help others. A very bad trait to have.