The modern gold rush is everywhere you look. Ads on TV promise money for your gold, town shops offer money for your gold, there is advertising all over the internet, companies promising to give you money for your gold. Gold. So where to start? And more importantly, how do you go about selling without getting ripped off? We are constantly asked questions about gold and we also get a lot of it. This guide contains absolutely everything you need to know about sell gold.
Should I
sell my gold?
Is my gold
real gold?
Check for any discoloration in high wear areas, if there is discoloration, the item may be gold plated.
Look for scratches. Gold is a fairly hard metal that you would only expect to find light surface scratches on an item that is real gold. If it's scratched and you can see a different colored metal underneath, it's probably gold plated.
Are gold
coins real gold?
Wear or scratches. Gold is a fairly hard metal, but it wears out over time. If the part is a different color in the worn or scratched areas, it may be a replica.
Use a search engine to search the Internet for your part. If you had a gold ruler for example, you should compare it to photos of real gold rulers and look for the differences.
What are the
gold hallmarks?
Pure gold is expensive, so it is not commonly used in making jewelry and other gold items. Gold that is not pure is mixed with other metals like zinc and copper. This produces an alloy material that is stronger than pure gold.
Sometimes gold is mixed with different base metals to improve or change its color. For example, gold plated silver looks more yellow and a bit shinier than standard 18k gold.