Do I Have False Gold Jewelry?

August 8th, 2010 | Posted in Debt Relief

Making the choice to sell gold jewelry is a hard one. So you should be able to make sure that your gold jewelry is real. But how was I going to make sure that my jewelry was genuine and not just fake costume jewelry? Taking my gold pieces from place to place, trying to get it evaluated, was just not an option that was attractive to me. I need some extra cash quick, so I needed to be sure that it was real before I tried to sell it.

Have you ever heard of the magnet test? You won’t have to run to the hardware store for this test.

The first and simplest test that you can do is the magnet test. Exactly how does the magnet test work? Gold and other precious metals simply are not attracted to magnets. But be careful with this test. Not all fake gold jewelry will be attracted to magnets.

Don’t have a magnet, or at least think that you don’t? No problem at all. Just head to the kitchen. Everybody has some refrigerator magnets, right? Just about everybody has a fridge magnet and this type of magnet should be just fine. Try to get the biggest one that you have. The flimsy ones may not work.

Look for a Hallmark stamp. This is generally a foolproof method.

The hallmarking of jewelry has been around for centuries. Most of the time genuine gold jewelry will be marked with the karat stamp. For example, most jewelry is either 14K or 10K gold. Sometimes you will find 18K gold in men’s and women’s jewelry, but most of the time, that purity of gold is just to soft for jewelry. Look on the clasp of necklaces for the hallmark. If it’s there, then you probably have genuine gold.

Most hallmarks are an indication of the gold’s purity. Take 18k gold for example is 75 percent gold. It’s very easy to figure out the purity in percentage. It takes just a little math to work it out. Take 18 divided by 24 and the result is .75. 24K gold is the purest form of the metal.

Selling gold jewelry is a difficult but necessary decision for many people these days. Be certain to choose a good online gold buyer.