Gold content of jewellery and scrap gold

[jansman]

Being a collector of scrap gold jewellery, I need to understand the actual gold content of any given piece. To avoid being twirled!

8 carat. 33.33% gold content
10 carat. 41.67%
12 carat. 50%
14 carat. 58.33%
18 carat. 75%
22 carat. 91.67%
23 carat. 95.83%
24 carat. 99.999%

So if you buy a gold item, you can work out how much gold is there given the weight/ carat ratio.

[RiVeR SeVeRn]

why no 9ct the most popular gold mix in the uk = 37.5 %.

[jansman]

Sorry I missed that ,I copied the list from my business notebook. Mind you, I don't touch 9ct. I can't make anything out of it, popular as it may be.

[junmist]

Question can you melt gold or silver down using a normal cooker or do you need a to have a special furnace I'm asking because I never throw away my broken jewellery so now have quit a lot of it and would like to melt it down ( sorry Jansman its nearly all 9crt)

[jansman]

Tbh,no idea.Do what my Wife does with her broken jewellery ( and a lot of that has been 9 ct ha ha! ) sell it! Now is a good time.

[grenfell]

Question can you melt gold or silver down using a normal cooker or do you need a to have a special furnace I'm asking because I never throw away my broken jewellery so now have quit a lot of it and would like to melt it down ( sorry Jansman its nearly all 9crt)

Gold melts at a bit under 1100*C I seem to recall and copper which it is commonly alloyed with is similar so there's no real chance of melting it on a normal cooker. But the bigger problem is that if you melt it the hallmarks are gone and no hallmarks means you have no way other than testing of telling the purity and thus the value. Put it another way would you buy gold that could be anywhere between 9 and 24 carot ?

Edit
Here we go melting points,
Gold is 1064*C
And the alloys,

http://www.mellencompany.com/Melting%20 ... Alloys.pdf

[Mad Scientist]

Jansman, where do you get your 9 ct from? Thanks.

[jansman]

Sorry for not responding.pm sent!

[Mad Scientist]

There are several YouTube entries about separating gold from base metal using acid and hydrogen peroxide and using borax to decrease the melting point of gold so you can melt it using a Bunsen Burner (or something like it). Of course only do this if you are knowledgeable with this sort of thing and have relevant safety equipment. There are several people flogging nuggets made of molten electronic bits containing gold but components only yield 0.06g gold per 100g of components.

[wallace]

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