Gold filled necklace from India..

[AuMINIMayhem]

Ok, so this should be a fun project. I just got this killer necklace on Ebay, it IS gold filled, stamped 1-20 12k from India. I'll post better pics of it when I actually get it, but it's pretty huge with a TON of surface area, I also need to get a scale to weigh it when it comes in so's I can use the "gold filled equation" to figure out it's approximate gold content.

I paid a total of $42 for it with shipping, which by my estimates means if I get a couple grams out of it, I'll be kosher. From the item description: "It measures 16 1/2 inches stretched out, but hangs 9 1/2 inches because of the fixed "V" shape. it is 1 3/4 inches wide at the center".

Sounds like it's a pretty big necklace and with all those loops and hooks and dangly parts, it looks to have a helluva lot of surface area (another thing I've REALLY started to take into acount when looking into gold plated or filled items.)


Here's some pics.

My plan of attack is this:

I'm going to spend some time snipping all those little rings and bits and pieces so that the underlying base metals are exposed. Then I'm going to go the nitric route and pray for the best, with some HCL rinses, etc I figure I ought to at least come out of this with 1-2 grams at most (but more would be a VERY welcome surprise).

Thoughts?..

Oh yeah, I'm having a heck of a time getting nitric without a "business license" here and I really don't want to deal with making it. I'm just not set up in a way that I could do that safely without injurig myself or my other half (or the dogs). So I'm seriously considering getting a small business license here so I can purchase the stuff. There's a local company that can get me just about any grade of nitric I want, but I HAVE to show them a business license. It's either that or get someone who has one (one of my friends or whatever) to purchase it for me. I'm thinking though, that if I get a business license and call myself a "recycler" all the money I've put into this thus far this year, without turning any sort of profit can be.. *ahem*.. written off on my taxes next year.. I do have all my receipts and it would be very much legal (I might almost suggest this to some of you if you're putting a good amount of money with no return into this).. I wouldn't suggest it, unless you know what you are doing and are staying within the law. (please no sermons about tax evasion, I ALWAYS stay above the law and don't "abuse the system") .... so here's the question.. if I register and get a business license as a recycler.. what would YOU name my business (perhaps a contest is in order if this idea comes to fruition..).. again, thoughts?..

Derek

 

[AuMINIMayhem]

Also..please remember.. my goal is first and foremost "recovery". Once I have gained sufficient experience with that, then I will move on to refining. I'm backtracking, taking all the lessons I've learned on here and going to take baby steps. Once I have accomplished reclaiming gold from plated/filled materials and feel confident that I am able to do it reliably, then I will move on and refine that material. I believe I've been trying to do both at the same time and as a lot of you know, it's been rather counterproductive, because I'm so new to this and I get the processes confused and mixed up..

wish me luck..

Derek

 

[jimdoc]

Derek,
That is the way I am going at it also. Recovery first, I just keep building up on stuff while I can, since the older stuff is better it will only be getting harder to find. Safety is one of my big concerns also in no rushing into stuff I am not prepared to do safely. If you have a friend that can get the acid for you, I would go that route. Here in Philly they hassle everybody in business. I don't know if that is a Philly thing, a big city thing or what.
But they got their hand in everybodys wallet for every little thing when they think you are making $ (in business).
Good luck with the necklace, it looks heavy from the pics. Some of the connector rings look a little bit "brassy" or different from the rest of it.
That may just be the pictures though, I am curious about the outcome as
gold is gold no matter where it comes from. I knew an old guy with a coin shop that never bought gold filled, he would probably throw it away or sell it as costume jewelry. I should have been collecting it. That was about fifteen years ago.

 

[champ110]

that was an ebay find...wonder how i missed that one

 

[AuMINIMayhem]

that was an ebay find...wonder how i missed that one

I do a LOT of searching on Ebay.. hours spent carefully reading the listings and asking questions.. I'll go weeks without finding anything decent and then whammo, something like this pops out at you.. I'm a bit worried though, we'll see what happens.. I'll definately keep people posted on how it goes..

 

[goldsilverpro]

Good luck. I'm worried too. If it's really gold filled, I will be pleasantly surprised.