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About Metals

Auric Chloride

AuCl₃

Metals - Types - Weights - Pricing

All metals as a commodity have dollar values based on several different factors.  Many common industrial metals are priced by the ton or pound while other rarer or precious metals are priced by ounces or fractions of ounces.  When pricing precious metals mixed with other common metals only the value of the precious metals are considered as the other metals by weight are valueless in comparison and actually add cost to buyers of mixed metals to refine or separate them out from the precious metals.  Also all levels of metal handling have profit margins that compensate for both the costs of doing business and profit motives to do the business all the way from manufacturing jewelry for example to wholesale to retail, from retail to consumer, then reverse of the process back to raw materials through recycling, refining etc,.

Solid or Plated

While some items containing precious metals are solidly mixed together as one unit as a solid 18 K gold ring or a solid sterling silver .925 bracelet, other items can also just be thinly coated or electro-plated over virtually valueless filler metals like copper.  It is important to know if the item you are wanting to sell is solid or plated which can be revealed by various methods to help determine real value.

GOLD - Au

Gold jewelry is an alloy of gold and other metals such as copper, silver, nickel and zinc. Different combinations of these other metals are what give gold its different colors such as white, rose, green, etc. In the U.S., the percentage of actual gold in the alloy is expressed in karats. Note that karats is a percentage of gold while the carat is a measure of weight associated with diamonds and other gems.

Pure gold is 24k or 24 karats but is too soft to be used in jewelry and other applications. 18k gold is 75% gold, 14k is 58.5% and 10k is 41.6%. The minimum percentage or karatage to be legally sold as real gold in the U.S. is 10k or 41.6%. In Canada and Mexico those values are 9k and 8k respectively. Imported gold jewelry may be marked differently than with the k symbol. For instance, European gold is marked as a percentage multiplied by ten, e.g. 14k would be marked 585 and 18k would be marked 750 and so on.

While pure gold is yellow in color, gold can also appear to have other colors. These colors are generally obtained by alloying gold with other elements in various proportions. As you can read below, there are hundreds of possible alloys and mixtures, many of which are not listed here, but all again let you understand more closely how complex it can be to get mixed gold reversed back into its state of 24k pure gold.

Pieces that are gold plated are often marked G.E.P., gold electroplate, gold plated, or electro-plaqué d'or.

ELECTROPLATE
Electroplating (also called Galvanotechnics after its inventor, Luigi Galvani) is a process in which one metal is coated with another metal using electricity. In jewelry, inexpensive metals are frequently electroplated with more expensive metals, like gold (gold plating), copper (electrocoppering), rhodium (rhodanizing), chromium (chromium plating), or silver (silver plating). The thickness of the metal coat varies. Electrogilded coating is the thinnest (less than 0.000007 inches thick); gold-cased metals have a coating thicker that 0.000007 inches.

PINCHBECK
Pinchbeck (also known as "false gold") is a alloy of copper that looks like gold. Pinchbeck was invented by the British watchmaker Christopher Pinchbeck (1672-1732) in the early 18th century. Pinchbeck consists of 83% copper and 17% zinc. Ironically, there have been many imitations of Pinchbeck (which itself is an imitation).

GOLD FILLED
Gold filled (abbreviated G.F. or written as "doublé d'or") jewelry is made of a thin outer layer of gold atop a base metal. For example, jewelry marked 1/20 G.F. 12 Kt. is at least 1/20th gold and is layered with 12 karat gold. To be classified as gold-filled, a piece must be at least 1/20 gold by weight.

BLUE GOLD
Blue gold is gold with a bluish tinge. It has been alloyed with a mix that can include indium, gaillium, ruthenium, rhodium or iron in gold ratios from 46 - 79%.

GREEN GOLD
Green gold is gold that has been alloyed with a higher percentage of silver than copper.

GREY GOLD
Grey gold is gold that has been alloyed with 15-20% iron.

PINK GOLD
Pink gold (also known as rose gold) is gold with a tinge of pink. It has been alloyed with a mix of 90% copper and 10% silver.

ROSE GOLD
Rose gold (also known as pink gold) is gold with a pink tinge. It has been alloyed with a mix of 90% copper and 10% silver.

WHITE GOLD
White gold is gold that has been alloyed with a mix of nickel, zinc, copper, tin, and manganese.

YELLOW GOLD
Yellow gold is gold that has been alloyed with a mix of 50% copper and 50% silver.

PURPLE GOLD
Purple gold (also called amethyst gold and violet gold) is an alloy of gold and aluminium rich in gold-aluminium intermetallic (AuAl2). Gold content in AuAl2 is around 79% and can therefore be referred to as 18 karat gold.

BLACK GOLD
Black colored gold can be produced by various methods: Electroplating, using black rhodium or ruthenium, Patination by applying sulfur and oxygen containing compounds, processes involving amorphous carbon.

BLACK HILLS GOLD
Black Hills gold is gold jewelry that is made (but not always mined) in the Black Hills area of South Dakota, USA. Gold was first discovered in that area about 1874 by Horatio N. Ross. E.O Lampinen opened the Black Hills Jewelry Manufacturing Company in Deadwood, South Dakota in the early 1900's. Modern day Black Hills jewelry often has a three-color (yellow gold, pink gold and green gold) grape leaf and vine pattern. There are many companies that make Black Hills jewelry today, but by law, their creations must be made from Black Hills gold. This jewelry is often (but not always) 10 Karat gold.

FINENESS (KARAT VALUE)

Since ancient times the purity of gold has been defined by the term karat, which is 1/24 part of pure gold by weight. Pure gold is equivalent to 24K. Gold purity may also be described by its fineness, which is the amount of pure gold in parts per 1000. For example, a gold ring containing 583 fine gold has 583 parts (58.3%) gold and 417 parts (41.7%) of other base metals.

Federal Trade Commission rules require that all jewelry items sold in the United States as gold shall be described by "a correct designation of the karat fineness of the alloy." No jewelry item less than 10K may be sold in the United States as gold jewelry.

Karat Value Definitions:

Karat System: A system of measurement based on 24 karats being "fine" or "pure" gold. 1 karat equals 1/24th fine gold by weight. This is the system used in the United States.

Plumb Gold: Karat weights are usually determined with a small, fractional variance allowed. Karat gold which has no variance and is exactly the precise fractional karat weight is called "plumb" gold.

European System: A system of measurement based on a fraction of 1,000; or the number of grams of gold in 1 kilogram of alloy.  The following table lists the relationship between different international gold markings.

Remember that any gold jewelry that is less than 10 karats cannot be legally sold as gold. Also, real gold jewelry has the karat amount stamped into it. If the stamp is not present, chances are, it isn't real gold.  Also, some jewelry is FAKE stamped or over valued stamped which is a sore spot in the industry but a reality to deal with for both the seller and buyer of these items.

Selling Scrap Gold

When selling scrap gold, the condition of the item is immaterial. As long as there's gold to be recovered, then it"s the ideal candidate for scrapping.

Scrap gold is anything that has gold in it. This includes bent or broken jewelry, bracelets or chains that are inextricably tangled, broken and unwanted gold scrap, casting gold and grain, cluster rings, gold alloys, gold bracelets, gold chain, gold class rings, gold dental crowns and bridgework, old gold watches, even computer chips or high grade electrical contacts.

WEIGHING PRECIOUS METALS

The weight of a piece of gold jewelry is a factor that helps to determine its value. It is important because it is an indication of the amount of fine gold in an item of jewelry. Grams (g), Pennyweights (dwt) and Grains (gr) are the units of weight most commonly used in weighing gold. Gold and silver are almost always weighted in the troy system of weights where one pound troy equals twelve troy ounces and twenty pennyweights equals one troy ounce. The Avoirdupois weight system, where one pound equals 16 ounces, is used in the United States for most everything except precious metals. The following table summarizes useful weight conversions.
 

Silver

Silver is a very soft metal and not commonly used in jewelry in pure form. Silver is a very ductile and malleable (slightly harder than gold) monovalent coinage metal with a brilliant white metallic luster that can take a high degree of polish. It has the highest electrical conductivity of all metals so it is extensively used in electronics and electrical contacts. Pure silver, aka Fine Silver (.999), so it is often mixed with an alloy like copper to make more durable items. However there are jewelry items made from pure silver and it is common in coinage and available in bullion bars too. It's markings are in percent of silver content.

Jeweler and silverware are traditionally made from sterling silver (standard silver), an alloy of 92.5% silver with 7.5% copper. In the US, only an alloy consisting of at least 92.5% fine silver can be marketed as "silver" (thus frequently stamped 925). Sterling silver is harder than pure silver, and has a lower melting point (893 oC) than either pure silver or pure copper.[6] Britannia silver is an alternative hallmark-quality standard containing 95.8% silver, often used to make silver tableware and wrought plate. With the addition of germanium, the patented modified alloy Argentium Sterling Silver is formed, with improved properties including resistance to firescale.

Silver is a constituent of almost all colored carat gold alloys and carat gold solders, giving the alloys paler color and greater hardness.[14] White 9 carat gold contains 62.5% silver and 37.5% gold, while 22 carat gold contains up to 8.4% silver or 8.4% copper.

Silver is on the low end of the price scale compared to gold so When selling silver items enough by weight has to be submitted to offset the shipping handling costs and buy price.


Sterling Silver

Sterling silver originally was created in an area in Germany called Easterling. So that's where the word sterling came from. To be sterling sliver, the metal is made up of 92.5 percent silver and 7.5 percent copper.

Sterling silver is primarily used for tableware, ornaments (such as candelabras etc) and pure fine 99.9 and above silver is too soft for the use such silverware gets. Sterling silverware only contains 92.5 percent of silver with 7.5 percent of other metals to give a greater degree of hardness and durability.

Sterling silver then is actually an amalgamation of silver and other metals, usually copper but occasionally other metals such as germanium, zinc or platinum, is used.  Sterling silver jewelry is often plated with a thin coat of .999 fine silver to give the item a shiny finish. This process is called "flashing". Silver jewelry can also be plated with rhodium (for a bright, shiny look) or gold.

When you buy sterling silver you should look for the hallmarks that are stamped on the pieces. Hallmarks are stamped by the manufacturer to indicate the purity of the silver allow used, to identify who manufactured the piece and to indicate the date and location of the manufacture. When it comes to buying sterling silver, this can be very important as many early sterling silver pieces are considered antiques and this information can affect the price of the piece when it is being sold. Some silversmiths have produced some very fine work and command a higher silver price than others.

Sterling silver is also used in the manufacture of some musical instruments, mainly due to the sound qualities they impart. Some of the leading brass wind manufacturers manufacture instruments including saxophone and flute for the resonant and colorful timbre the metal produces.

It is also useful to know that pure silver does not react to oxygen in the air and, by itself, does not tarnish. Sterling silver, being an alloy and having copper in it usually, does tarnish.  This is one way of detecting if the silver you have is not pure.  This can apply to silver coins as well. If a silver coin tarnishes you know that it is not pure silver but has some other alloy with it.

Sterling silver is very nice and there has been some very impressive tableware, cutlery and so forth produced over the years. But it is not a particularly good investment. Perhaps with some antique sterling silverware one could find a profit, but certainly, one would have to have some extensive knowledge and experience to make money this way if you wanted to buy sterling silver.  Sterling Silver sold to metal buyers gets melted down for the silver content.


Platinum

Platinum is rarer than gold. Platinum is a strong, dense metal, which allows it to be used in many different ways, it does not tarnish, can have a weak magnetism, is ductile, malleable and sectile, which means it can be pounded into different shapes, it can be stretched into thin wires, and it can be cut into slices. Its colors are White-gray to silver-gray. Besides jewelry, it is also used to make catalytic converters. Other uses include electrical equipment, dentistry, surgical instruments and implants.  Believe it or not the primary use of Platinum is for cars as Autocatalyst (catalytic converters) taking up over 50% of the Platinum use pie chart.  GoldSilverCashBack.com does buy catalytic converters also so if you are scraping your old car or have legal access to some we will buy them depending on the type and vehicle made for.

Platinum jewelry is made from very pure platinum. As compared to gold, platinum falls between the 18-karat and 24-karat range, with 18 karat being approximately 75% pure and 24 karat being the purest. Since 18-karat jewelry is 75% pure, that means that the other 25% of the piece is an alloy, such as silver, zinc or copper. This simply means that platinum requires very little alloy to be combined with it in order to make platinum jewelry.

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