Between watching Dan and learning the mining and panning technique for raw material and yours for the testing and processing of commercial material, the educational levels are 20/20. Thank you so much. Keep them coming and keep up the good work.
Dan is good. Check out Jeff Williams if you haven't. He is a geologists and prospector. Lots of good info on how to find gold bearing ground, gold extraction, mining and mining history. Plus he is quite the character.
Thanks so much for this video! I wish that I had seen this earlier today, I got suckered into buying a piece that was supposed to be 10k & it turned out to be plated! I’m kicking my own a$$ because I know better. I did the acid test & it tested 10k. Then later (after the purchase) I got home & used the magnet test & the entire thing stuck to the magnet instantly! Uggghh! You’re video taught me a lot, thanks again! 🙌🏻
File deep into the metal. Apply a drop of 10k or 14k test acid to the file mark. I use 14k acid. Observe. If it bubbles, turns green and stinks, then it’s plated (or filled). If nothing happens then it’s probably 10k. I’ve seen 10k stick to a magnet.
I liked this video. Thanks. Another option is to use concentrated nitric acid instead of diluted royal water, directly on the piece. It is the easiest way to know if the piece contains solid gold, gold filled or gold plated because the acid attacks the metal faster.
Thank you, I’ve been thinking about flipping jewelry for a little bit of extra cash and was wondering how I could tell the difference between plated and actual gold...very informative thanks
That was good, I learned what I was looking for! I knew what Karat Gold and Gold Platted was, but was unsure of Gold filled!!! You helped me with that!!! Thank You for that VERY informative video!!!
Your the man u gotta go big and open a bigger 💪 shop for the public n charge people for your services!! I know it's a hobby but not many people here do what you do you'd probably get swamped with orders it's less stressful doing the way you do it awesome love your videos keep it up awesome 👍
This is the best explanation that I have seen in a video! Thank you so much for all your information👍🏻👍🏻🤗💙🖤 Can't wait to see about the platinum! Thank you again.
Yes, some will be marked and I should have mentioned that in the video - rats. But in my experience it's rare to see gold plated marked. It's usually not marked at all. I find the HGE on the inside of gold plated rings.
Most plated items I've ran across have been marked as such. I dont trust things that arent marked but I've also learned to look at the color and that will tell me a lot
Don't ever do any of these methods to jewelry you want to keep looking nice. Every single method demonstrated here will damage the gold filled layer or the gold plating.
Most people are clueless about how to determine what they have. At least now they have a place to see how to tell. I’ve known folks to throw a bunch of gold plated jewelry into nitric then wonder why they don’t have any gold foils left.
NDT (non-destructive testing) such as an XRF (X-ray fluoroscope) shoots radiation to determine metal purity. But they cost about $20k - too rich for sreetips
I need to know how do I figure out if its just gold tone. I here you talking about yard sale s , and rummy sales , but I brought something with no markings, and put them in solution, and got noting but green foam , , can you help me , rick from Philadelphia , PA, USA,
Yes, get some 14k test acid eBay. Take the piece and add a tiny drop right on it and see what happens. If it just sits there with no reaction then it could be gold filled (a thick coating of karat gold over brass) or solid karat gold. If it bubbles, stinks and turns green almost immediately then it’s probably gold plated, just a few microns thick (almost nothing).
@@sreetips i beleave its just gold tone not gold at all , becuease it gold all the way through but , its not real gold , but in the batch there are some 10k and 14 k pieces, and some gold plated and golf filed matteral , I just can't tell which is which , but thanks anyway , my man , when you make your video , know that this man , rick from phily is watching
Thanks Sreetips for another good video. I was about to ask you about some older watches I have that do not have any markings. Wasn't sure if they were gold filled or plated. I'll test them with the acid and stone method like you did. I have found that some pocket watches have a heavy gold plating and was wondering if they are heavy plated, could they be used in my gold filled pile I am accumulating to refine the gold from later on? One more question if I may. The liquid droppers you use in your other videos, are they glass or plastic? ( was thinking plastic and acid don't do well together) I've found these Kookeli 3ml dropper pipettes on ebay and was wondering if they were the same as yours. Thanks so much.
Pocket watch cases that are gold filled will say "20 year warranty" or something similar to that. This means that they are guaranteed to not wear through the thick coating of gold, as you slide it in and out of your pocket, for at least 20 years. I have a pocket watch listed in my eBay store that is marked like this. So yes, they can go into your gold filled pile. The disposable droppers that I use are plastic. I only use them once or twice then throw them away.
Hi have three vintage gold filled 10k watches Elgin bulova and green that don’t work but I’d like to sell maybe to pawn shop ? Wondering what it would be worth
Interesting. Although you have ruint the object and its good for just reclamation. Is there a non destructive method of testing? Like for when people are buying the jewelry.
After sorting through thousands of pieces over the years, I’ve learned to tell just by looking. But some pieces are very deceiving. The only way to be sure is to test it with acid. The acid doesn’t lie.
Hello, one question gold filled jewelry can change color when is in contact with pool water, sea water,shampoo,soap, sweat or any cosmetic product? Thank you
l don't know why l like seeing people work with gold, l like to wear gold, and learn about it. l'm not greedy, or want to be rich ...l just find gold a really _cool_ metal! lt seems that gold 'filled' is kind a waste to me. l understand that some simply cant afford it though. Thank YOU for this vid!
Gold has mesmerized people since the beginning of time. I consider myself very lucky to have been bitten so hard by this "gold bug" that I get the privilege of working with it as my hobby. I only wish that I could keep more of it rather than having to sell it.
I've come across some vintage pins marked 10K-B. I've seen conflicting posts saying that it's bonded gold, and someone else saying that the B indicates that it's Mexican gold. I get conflicting results with 10k JSP acid. Any insight?
File deep into the metal. Add a drop of 10k gold test acid. If nothing happens it may be karat gold. If it starts bubbling, turning colors (green) and stinks to high heaven, then it may be gold filled.
odd question, and if its been answered, i apologize, do you eventually take the coppers out of your waste and refine that into bars and sell that or just discard the waste? didn't know if there was a video i missed.
A little here and there. Most of the big pieces will be marked. To test, put some 14k test acid on the piece. If it's gold filled then the acid will just sit there with no reaction. With gold plated, the acid will almost immediately eat thru the very thin gold plate on a plated piece and there will be bubbling, fumes, and the acid will turn green.
Right now you can use fake paper money to buy real metal. Dollars used to be backed by gold. Most people think that they still are. Ask your bank teller, "true or false, are dollars backed by gold?" Eight out of ten of them will say, "of course!" And most have never heard of the term "fiat currency." This ignorance is what allows the Fed to continue to print money as they need it to promote a false economy. Why would anyone store their wealth in a medium that can be printed out of thin air? But they can't print more gold and silver. Using fiat money has been tried over and over throughout history and it always fails. Every time. But maybe, in this era of modern technology, it will be different this time. Not!
Whoa, is that a mechanical movement watch? I'm an amateur watch repairer/servicer, and I would gladly buy your mechanical watches, running or not, anything except for old Timex watches. Old Timex watches do not have any jeweled bearings, and aren't cost effective to refurbish. If you are interested in selling them, please let me know. I'm always looking for old mechanical watches to bring back to life. I refurbish the cases and bracelets, and replate them in either nickel or gold.
Heating the metal to red hot before committing to the acids will burn off oil or grease that may be present and avoid having an oily ring form in our reaction vessel. Nothing worse than “ring around the beaker” when doing these reactions.
According to the book, "Silver Economics, Metallurgy, and Use" by Allison Butts, page 5, English Sterling silver was formulated about AD 1200 and consists of 925 parts silver and 75 parts copper. On page 9 the author claims that, "Until the 16th century the air was pure and did not affect silver. But the use of coal, and later mineral oil and coal gas, for lighting and heating put sulfurous gases into the air and tarnishing of silver resulted". So I don't think that there is such a thing as tarnish resistant Sterling silver. If some other metal is alloyed with it then it's not Sterling.
I don't know if it is legal, but I have seen sterling that has been rhodium plated - but still marked as sterling. Since rhodium is a platinum group metal and rare, it would not decrease the metal value of the sterling. White gold is also sometimes rhodium plated.
@@sreetips also I absolutely love you channel! I have learned so much from you. You are the only person on RU-vid that does this and actually knows what they are talking about, your content is amazing!
There are three kinds of gold scrap that I am familiar with. 1) gold plated, or fake gold, or "costume", that is a very thin layer, just microns thick (a micron is one millionth of one meter) of gold plated onto a base metal. 2) gold filled which is a thick coating of karat gold over a base metal and is several thousand time thicker than gold plated. 3) karat gold that is an alloy of solid gold containing about 50% pure gold by weight depending on its karat.
I found a large chunky gold ring metal detecting that looks handmade, I did the acid test all the way upto 22k and it looked like it had a minor affect on the scratchings. Could this suggest it's 24k or could the acid be off etc?
Well I’ll be. I wore the Sta-brite pins on my uniforms. It’s a polyethylene coating, that is supposed to keep the metal from dulling out. Worked well... when it worked. Unfortunately, it could be pretty easy to scratch the shit off, thus ruining the pin. Went through them fairly regularly.
File into the metal. If the metal under the GP is white then add some silver test solution - if it turns red then it’s silver. Blue black or green means junk metal
A gulch is a narrow ravine with running water going through it. A natural place for placer gold deposits to be found. Placer gold is anywhere from 18k to 22k. Remember that if it seems too good to be true then it's probably a fraud.
Possibly 14k rolled gold. That the same thing as gold filled. To test, file deep into the metal. Add a drop of 14k test acid to the file mark. If nothing happens then it could be solid 14k karat gold. If it bubbles, stinks and turns green then that an indication of a base metal (usually brass) under a thick coating of karat gold.
If its okay, i would like to make a little suggestion about your Donations. How about writing the names of your Donators (the ones who whant that) on some little paper strips and the next time you refine Gold with aqua regia, show dem to the Camera and put them in the acid. Maybe its only me, but i would like to see that. Ps. Greetings from Germany!
Happy to help and thank you for answering. Just contributed 10€. Sorry cant give more. Ps. had a big Smile in my face when i saw your Family name. its the same as mine 🤣
@@sreetips and what is the testing process for wire? same or different? Someone told me with wire I can cut it up and look through a magnifying glass. But would that be enough to ensure me that it in fact is or is not?
@@sreetips Some pawn shops will cheat their customers like that - others are honest in their dealings. I suspect a few pawn shops will rely on the stamped marking on a piece, not all jewelry is honestly marked.
1/10 means that the actual karat gold content of the item is one tenth of its weight. For example, if I had 100 grams of 1/10 14k gold filled then I would expect to yield 0.1 times 0.5 times 100g equals 5 grams of REAL pure gold.
@@sreetips thank you for replying! So, that means the item is filled or plated? More likely filled, since it doesn’t disappear?🤔 …it’s fun learning this…but it can get tricky!
The thick coating of gold remains intact. The brass under the thick gold coating dissolves in the hot dilute nitric. This gives off lots of gas bubbles. The gas bubbles cause the gold coating to float to the surface. Until all the brass gets dissolved. But even then, trapped gas in the gold foil could cause it to remain buoyant after all the brass is gone.
I’ve seen 10kp. The p means plumb, plumb means it has the correct amount of gold by weight. They include the p because a plain 10k mark can only contain enough gold to be 9.5k and still be stamped 10k.
@@sreetips Thanks ST! Wow I really am loving your meticulous work and content. So, it's really hard to read the band but on closer inspection, it's a definite clear and evenly deep "10K" stamp with what is perhaps an engravers error which looks more like a second K or maybe a T. The maker's mark is KB.
So i tested my "solid" 14k gold bracelet , I filled a bit so you can notice the scratch and I poured the 14k solution and it kept smoking for minutes . Is it gold filled? Or why does it keep smoking . It didnt turn green or crazy brown . Everything seems to wash off??
I've only scratched tested my jewelry and they all passed but I was skeptical on the bracelet that I got so I filled the scratch and like I said it keeps on smoking. Why is it doing that? Ive spent about $3000 at this "jewelry" shop inside a supermarket. What should I do?
After i had scratched it with a file and applied the acid right after i was thinking maybe it was reacting to the metal from the file so I washed it and i scratched super hard the test pad rock not sure what its called sorry lol and i applied the acid and it did nothing at all , i then dropped a drop of acid on the bracelet again where I had just scratched it on the pad and nothing happend. After washing it good with soap . I dont see much marks that I can notice. Maybe im not sure but it might be a tiny tad bit darker kind of like more copper color. More like it lost its super shiny look.
I bought a chain there almost a year ago and its fine . The shop has been there for years and offers payments . I bought everything cash . Not sure if he can lying about what hes selling . Ive even asked him if hes sure its all solid 14k and he says yes its not filled or plated.
Nothing worse than feeling like you've made a bad purchase or that you got ripped off. After reading all your comments, it sounds like you've got solid 14k there. The acid don't lie. If you scratched through deep into the metal and applied 14k acid, and the scratch on the stone stayed there, then it's probably safe to conclude that you gold is real. If it was gold filled then the acid applied directly to the gold would immediately begin to react with the base metal forming green goo and smelly fumes. Take a piece that you know for certain is 14k and then take the $3k piece and scratch them both right next to each other on the "touch stone" then apply the acid. Let it sit and watch what happens. If your still not convinced, take it back to the seller and ask him to test it for you and let you watch. You're probably ok, it's good to be vigilant because thieves abound!
The carbon 12 diamonds we're formed because the Earth is full of giant mud fossils. Trapped in mud when the great flood happened. Evidence of an unknown time and life we are not aware of. Life could have always existed on this planet