How to Tell if Gold Is Real

By American standards, fake gold is anything less than 10 Karats. If you're wondering whether your gold is real, the most reliable way to find out is to take it to a certified jeweler and have it tested. If you want to check for yourself, here's a list of tests you can conduct to tell if your gold is real.  

• Visual Inspection

  Inspect the piece for official markings. A stamp will indicate either fineness (1-999 or .1-.999) or karat (10K, 14K, 18K, 22K or 24K). Anything less than 10K is not considered to be real gold. A magnifying glass will make this easier.  

  An older piece might not have a visible marking due to wear.

  Counterfeit pieces can often have a marking that appears authentic; more testing may be needed either way.

   Look for noticeable discoloration. It is important to check for discoloration in areas that face constant friction (typically around the edges). If the gold seems to be wearing off and showing a different metal beneath it, you probably have a piece that is only gold plated.

  •   Bite Test 

    We have all seen a movie where a prospector bites down on a piece of gold to test it. We also see Olympic athletes bite on their “gold” medal when they receive it. Whether that is of any use is another story altogether.Bite down on your gold.

     Examine your gold for any markings. In theory, real gold will show indents from your teeth; deeper markings indicate purer gold.

    This is actually not a recommended test, as you can damage your teeth. Not to mention that lead is even softer than gold and gold-plated lead will appear to be gold when you bite it.

    • Magnet Test 

      There are very few metals denser than gold. The density of pure 24K gold is about 19.3 g/ml, which is much higher than most other metals. Measuring the density of your items can help you determine if your gold is real. As a rule of thumb, the higher the density, the purer the gold. Make sure to perform the density test on gold that has no gemstones of any kind attached. See the warnings below for important information about the density test. 

      Weigh your piece of gold. A jeweler can normally do this for you for free if you don’t have your own scale. You will need the weight in grams.

       Fill a vial with water.

      It’s helpful if the vial has millimeter markings on the side, since that will make it easier for you to read the measurements for this test

      It doesn’t matter how much water you use as long as you don’t fill the vial to the top, since the water level will rise once you immerse the gold in it.

      It’s also important to note the exact amount of the water level before and after immersion.

      Place your gold in the vial. Take note of the new water level and calculate the difference between those two numbers in milliliters. 

      Use the following formula to calculate density: Density  mass/volume displacement. A result close to 19 g/ml indicates either real gold, or a material with a density similar to gold. Here is an example calculation: 

    •  Your gold item weighs 38 g and it displaces 2 milliliters of water. Using the formula of [mass (38 g)]/[volume displacement (2 ml)], your result would be 19 g/ml, which is very close to the density of gold. 

      Bear in mind that different gold purity will have a different g/ml ratio:

      14K – 12.9 to 14.6 g/ml18K yellow

       15.2 to 15.9 g/ml18K white 

      14.7 to 16.9 g/ml

      22K – 17.7 to 17.8 g/ml

      • Ceramic Plate Test 

        This is an easy way to tell if your gold is fool’s gold. Bear in mind that your item may end up scratched. 

        Find an unglazed ceramic plate to use. If you don’t have this, you can purchase a random piece of unglazed ceramic from a home improvement store. 

        Drag your item across the surface. A black streak means your gold is not real, whereas a gold streak indicates your item is genuine.

        • Nitric Acid Test

          This is where the term “acid test” comes from, and is a great way to test your gold. However, due to the difficulty is acquiring the acid, and the inherent safety risks of doing this in your home, it may be best to leave this test to a jeweler.

          Place your piece of gold in a small stainless steel container.

          Put a drop of nitric acid on your gold and watch for any resulting reaction to the acid. 

          A green reaction indicates your item is either a base metal or gold plated.

          A milk-colored reaction would indicate gold-plated sterling silver.

          If there is no reaction, you mostly likely are dealing with real gold.

           

           

       

                                 12 characteristics of gold

 

Here are 12 of the most amazing features of gold:

· Gold is created by supernovae - explosions propelling cosmic elements that come together to form, among other things, planets.

· The presence of gold near the surface of the Earth is due to meteor showers that arose after our planet was formed,

· All of the gold ever mined would fit in a cube of 20 cubic meters.

· Today, it is not uncommon to extract 10 tons of rock or more to get an ounce of gold.

· Gold is extraordinarily dense - one cubic meter of gold weighs over 19 tons, which makes gold a metal almost twice as heavy as lead.

· Gold is malleable and extensible - an ounce of pure gold can be transformed into a thin sheet of gold nine square meters, or form a wire 80 kilometers long.

· Much of the gold present in the Earth's surface is buried too deep to be extracted,

· The presence in the earth's crust is 0.004 particle per million.

· The oceans of our planet contain up to 15,000 tons of gold.

· Since the origins of mankind, 172,000 tons of gold were extracted only

· Gold is malleable and extensible - an ounce of pure gold can be transformed into a thin sheet of gold nine square meters, or form a wire 80 kilometers long.

· Nanoparticles of gold thousand times smaller than the diameter of a human hair, are used in the field of medicine.

A human body contains an average of 7 milligrams of gold.  

 

                

                            HISTORY of gold in Australia

A small gold rush appears to be on the way to Victoria, Australia. According to a recent report, prospectors have recently found gold nuggets after the rains have flooded arable land.

This story reminds us of the obsession which Australia has demonstrated for over 17 years for research of gold nuggets. During the nineteenth century, important discoveries were the basis for the creation of the three largest mints in the country - Sydney (1855), Melbourne (1872) and Perth (1899). 
It is difficult to identify who was the first European to find gold in Australia. The earliest discoveries were largely silent, because the effects they might have had among the population composed mostly of habitual criminals and mobsters.
The Anglican priest and geologist William Clarke Branwhite discovered gold in the Blue Mountain area in 1841. When he informed Sir George Gipps, the governor replied that: 'Hide it, Mr Clarke, or it will not happen long before we all have his throat cut.'

Ten years later, Edward Hargraves discovered gold near the region of Bathhurst. It is known to have announced to his companion over a meal, 'Today is a memorable day. I will be knighted, will make you my knight, and my old horse will be stuffed and displayed under glass in the galleries of the British Museum '.
Ignoring the advice of discretion, the geographic area named Hargraves Ophir, launched a wave of enthusiasm in the region, and launched the first gold rush in Australia.

His discovery was soon eclipsed by new discoveries in Bendigo and Ballarat. Before the year 1860, the only mines in the region of Victoria with more than 80,000 miners. In 1869, two lucky miners fell on the biggest gold nugget ever discovered - Welcome Stranger - near the town of Moliagul.

In 1893, many miners traveled from Perth to the interior after the word was blown about a major discovery by Irishman Paddy Hannan. Nicknamed 'Golden Mile', the region was described as the richest gold of the planet.
Unemployment during the Great Depression pushed many people to try their luck, especially after the discovery in 1931 of Golden Eagle, huge natural gold nugget 1235 oz.
The Great Depression was crossing his darkest hour when Jim Larcombe and his son of sixteen years, also named Jim, having lost all hope and having virtually no supplies, dug up a huge gold nugget. Other gold prospectors in the area heard their cries of joy, and now they say they would have thought that carrying a dead eagle Larcombes. The resemblance between the two is indeed undeniable, hence the name given to the Golden Eagle nugget.

Many people went to the Kalgoorlie area with no mining experience. The Director of the Chamber of currencies of Perth, Hugh Corbet, prepared a booklet titled Hints to Prospectors, in which he stated: 'Our children are very energetic and resourceful, but most lack the technical knowledge'. His book became extremely popular and was revised and republished many times (here is the original extract of 1933).

Some people dream of starting today in search of gold nuggets. But it is there to this day nuggets of gold in nature? If we believe the above article, it would appear so. But finding gold is not an easy task. As one expert has recently stated, '... it is a tedious task than learning to read the land and to recognize the places in which gold might be ... It's mostly a matter of luck'.

The history of gold miners in Australia was celebrated by the first program of striking gold in the country - the Australian Nugget. Launched 25 years ago, the room designed by Stuart Devlin represents some of the most important discoveries of gold nuggets in Australia.

            

 

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