How much can you sell your scrap gold? Gold prices are up when the economy is flat or problems of war or inflation. Before your bring scrap gold jewelry to the dealer, know exactly how much it is worth. Remember that for dealers of scrap gold, their calculation is a secret; so you are on your own evaluating its value.
Method # 1 – Organizing your gold by karat
Learn how to tell if gold is authentic.
Step 1 – To calculate the value of scrap gold: decipher the karat number on each piece using a magnifying glass. Opt for gold by a reputable dealer to determine if it is just gold-plated. If uncertain whether or not an item is gold, use a magnifying glass.
Step 2 – Test any items you are unsure of. For an acid test, buy the acid and stone from online or physical jewelry suppliers for a small price. Every kit contains bottles for testing acid of different karats and a test stone made of many different materials with accompanying scales.
Step 3 – Testing 14K jewelry – rub the item on the stone and drop a 14K acid onto the mark it leaves. If truly 14K gold, the acid will not change.
If truly10K, the 14K acid becomes brown; if it completely disappears, it is not even gold.
Step 4 – If the item is unmarked, rub with 22K acid until it turns brownand consider and it to be the next lowest karat; but if the 18k acid turns it brown, it is 14k, and so on for other karat fineness tests.
Method # 2 – Determining the gram weight of your gold
By determining the weight of your scrap gold, you will be able to calculate its base value. An excellent method of accurately weigh your gold is using a jeweler’s that are more precise than any other typical gram scale.
Weigh your scrap gold in groups based on their particular karat. Place your items on the scale and allow it to settle before taking the reading. However, a digital readout from more expensive scales is made for more easy reading on the screen.
Method # 3 – Knowing the value of your Gold
Before the process of selling, knowing your gold’s worth.
The current price of gold can be found by searching the Internet or looking it up in your local newspaper. Value of gold is valued per troy ounce equaling to 31.1 grams. Gold price fluctuates hourly determined by supply and demand, so the price may be very different in the afternoon from the price you saw in the morning.
Although grams are often used for calculations but there are gold traders utilizing the pennyweight (DWT).