Unfortunately, it is not uncommon to buy gilded items under the guise of a gold piece. And even a test, affixed to a ring or chain, will not be a guarantee that you have real gold in front of you.
Instructions
Step 1
Take a close look at the gold piece to see if there is a sample on it or not. The affixed sample must correspond to the marking accepted in the territory of the Russian Federation. Even if you buy a gold piece that was made outside our country, the sample of the Russian Assay Office must be on it. Therefore, do not buy gold abroad, as the risk that you will be sold a gilded product or an alloy similar in color to gold is very high.
Step 2
If you saw that instead of the 585th test, the item is 583rd, you can safely buy it, since it was made back in the days of the USSR, when there were practically no fakes, and the sale of such gold through state and private jewelry stores is quite legal …
Step 3
If the test is in place, inspect the product again and make sure that there are no microscopic scratches near the clasps of the earrings or chains. Often, suppliers of gold items send only locks for inspection, on which a sample is put, and then they are installed on gilded items.
Step 4
Buy a regular lapis pencil (silver nitrate) for cauterizing wounds from your pharmacy. Moisten the surface of the item to be tested with water and trace over it with a pencil. If it is an alloy and not gold, then the metal will darken.
Step 5
Check if the product is not gilded by trying it on a tooth, or try to scratch it a little. Of course, you will later have to pay for the product that has lost its presentation, but you will pay the real price for it - whether it be gold or another metal with spraying.
Step 6
Heat the product you bought over low heat to 300-400 ° C, and then cool it: on alloys with a low gold content, iridescent stains will appear, and gold with a small amount of impurities will not change its appearance.
Step 7
Take the product to a jeweler or a pawnshop, as it is still dangerous to carry out experiments with acid and a file at home - both for you and for an object that is supposed to be gold. The jeweler will check it with nitric acid or cut it slightly (to a depth of 60 microns) with a special tool.
Step 8
Do not try to determine the density of the metal from which the product is made if you do not have access to electronic scales: the error in this case is very large, especially since you will most likely have to check a small product, and not the royal crown, as Archimedes once did.
