How to tell if gold plate is real gold.

Gold Refining Forum

Help Support Gold Refining Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

jacko

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 10, 2010
Messages
54
Is their any test you can do because i have a bunch of plated jewelry and some of it looks like fake gold but i do not know if it is . I have some nitric testers but i do not know if they will work.
 
cut a small notch and apply a drop of test solution on the place you cut,if it turns green its plated.also use a magnet,if any sticks to the magnet its plated.
 
I no it is all plated but i do not no if it is real gold plate or fake gold paint or something else .
 
I don't know of any test to tell if the plating is real gold. I'm assuming you're asking because you want to run this stuff through a sulfuric cell.
If it's aluminum is probably not plated and you should not run it through the cell. You can tell aluminum because of it's light weight and cheap, almost plastic feel.
Other than that you'll run into the odd piece that's been painted. They will have a dull luster. Brass will fool you too, it looks like gold but doesn't react like you'd expect in the cell.
Once you sort out the above you'll find most pieces are plated. Some pieces have such a thin plating that it disappears in a flash when dipped in the acid.
Yields are expected to be low. I'm almost finished running several kilograms through the cell, I have some chains to finish. After that I will do a cleanup.
 
You'll find items stamped, for example 1/10 12k GF, because they do indeed contain some gold; Or GP. But if they're not stamped its usually because, they contain gold, but its less than 1k gold, & as I understand, items can't be maked; or they're aluminum, or a flash plate, or yellow paint...
You would have to test & follow the steps of elimination mentioned above.

Remember, just because something is yellow, is not necessarily gold. :mrgreen:

Take care!

Phil
 
A scratch test can be used to detect gold on plated items.

Take a rubbing from the outside surface and add a drop of 10k test acid. The uneffected particals may be gold. Add a drop of HCL and heat to drive off the extra nitric and test with stannous.

It would be hard to justify testing all of the low yield crap items you might find but it can be done.
 
This is a stupid question but i have heard of DE-electroplating with i 3 amp battery charger can someone point me the way to make one or is their a easier way. Thanks for all the answers guys you all have been a big help the last few months. I have been into pm's before they was even a big deal but just did not have the smarts to make anything happen.
 
Well they have always been a big deal but before the prices went sky high. CORRECTION LOL
 
i have tried but all i can find on it is part of videos do i need to buy them ? I did look on you tube last night and found out quit a bit but their was a few ways and i do not know whar is best .
 
I quess i do not know how to use his sight or something . Everytime i click on something it takes me back to this sight . Am i doing something wrong?
 
Could it be your not getting logged into his site?

Username: gold
Password: goldm1ner*

Note the password goldm1ner*
Has a one not an (i), and the star at end.

Watching his free videos and reading old posts he made you will learn, Steve has helped most all of us here to learn to recover and refine, he also sells longer DVD's.

And study your Hoke's book, working with the experiments she teaches you.

I would forget you tube, and study Hoke's and the forum until I had an understanding, so I would know what other things on the intranet I see or read were based on fact, or were missing important facts in the processes'

This is not something you will learn in a few day's, or even a few months, many of us here have been learning for several years and still have not tried many of these processes, some here have refined for decades and are still learning new thing all the time.

I would also suggest start off with something simple like memory finger using the processes discussed on the forum.

Many people think they are already smart, and do not understand Hoke's book, or never read it, and all they learn is how to lose their gold, they do not know how to use stannous chloride so they never will know how much gold they are loosing or when and were they lost it.
 
i'm thinking you can swab the surface with AR and then put a drop of stannous...
 

Latest posts

Back
Top