When the economy is flat or when people worry about inflation, gold prices often rise. If you have any old jewelry you can sell, how do you know how much it is worth? How to value your old gold jewelry is the question people are asking these days.
Old gold jewelry and scrap gold can be easily sold at cash for gold companies. You should know exactly how much your gold is worth, especially before you send it off in the mail to some scrap dealer.
Gold Dealers’ Secret Formula
Knowing how scrap gold dealers calculate your gold’s worth is important, so that you’re ensured to get a fair price for your old gold jewelry. There is a formula that most scrap gold dealers use to calculate gold that is kept secret to the public, and knowing it can save you a lot of money.
The first thing gold dealers do, is to determine the various karat fitness of scrap gold and jewelry that they receive. They first use a magnifying class to be able to see the very small numbers inscribed on pieces of jewelry, such as 10k, 14k, or 18k. Some gold jewelry does not have any visible numbers that can be seen, or they are just gold plated. In these cases, gold dealers will use a chemical test to determine if the gold jewelry is gold plated or not.
Know Your Karat Fitness
It’s important to know your old gold jewelry’s karat fitness to ensure that you will be offered a fair price. If you are uncertain if your jewelry is actually gold or not, it’s possible to do your own chemical test. Visit a jewelry supply store, or go online to find an acid and stone test kit for gold jewelry.
Using Acid and Stone to Test Karat Fitness
The acid and stone test kit will probably come with instructions, but we will go over the procedure here, just in case. Take your old jewelry or scrap gold, then rub it on the stone to leave a mark. Then put one drop of 22k acid on top of the gold mark you have made. If it turns brown color, then use the next lowest acid, 18k. Do this until the gold mark stands out and does not change colors. If you make a mark on the stone from your old gold jewelry or scrap gold, and the mark disappears altogether, then it‘s not gold.
Know the Price of Gold Today
It is easy to find the price of gold today, just do a web search, gold prices are listed per troy ounce, and a troy ounce equals 31.1 grams. Divide today’s gold price by 31.1 to get your new gold price per gram. Then divide your gold karat fitness by 24, and then multiply that number by today’s current gold per gram price. This is the gram price of your old gold. Next, weigh your piece of old gold jewelry on a gram scale to find out how many grams of gold you have. Try not to accept less than 50% of this value.
If your jewelry has stones or other features, you will probably need to see a jeweler for a proper appraisal. It will depend on if the stones can be easily removed.
WeBuyAllGoldAndSilver.com believes it’s only fair that you get a good deal on the jewelry you sell. By following these steps, you’ll be sure to get a fair price for your old gold jewelry every time.