Many people are trying to make extra cash by selling their gold jewelry, especially with the skyrocketing price of gold. Taking a few extra minutes to get a rough estimate of a piece of gold jewelry's cash value will help determine the best way and the best place to get the most money out of a sale.
Selling Gold Jewelry: Is It Real and How Much Gold Is in It?
The quickest way to get an idea of how much gold is in a piece is to find the trademark and karat mark. The karat mark indicates how much of the jewelry is gold; 100% gold is 24K, while an 18K necklace is only 18 parts gold and six parts of a different metal. Gold less than 10K cannot legally be called gold in the United States.
Don’t rely only on the karat mark, however. Cash4Gold warns on its website that many countries do not ensure the accuracy of karat claims on jewelry, and have no third party to confirm that the karat mark on a piece of jewelry is correct. “Some dealers intentionally stamp jewelry incorrectly to misrepresent the quality and to make customers think they are getting a good deal,” they write.
On the other hand, even a piece without a karat mark may be valuable gold. A jeweler must add their trademark as well as a hallmark to a piece of jewelry, and some may not have a trademark yet. “So, when I first began making jewelry and did not have a trademark of my own, I did not hallmark my jewelry,” explains California jeweler Leslie Leirness on her website. “Now that I have a maker's mark, I hallmark my jewelry with the appropriate metal hallmark and my maker's mark.”
Testing for Gold with Magnets
MyGoldEnvelope recommends running a magnet over jewelry to determine whether they are made of real, significant precious metals or not. Gold, silver and platinum are not magnetic. Even if a piece of jewelry is not 24 karat gold, the other metal alloy mixed in should not cause the jewelry to stick to a magnet. “If your items stick to the magnet, chances are they are not real and you should not send them in,” advises MyGoldEnvelope on its website.
Is it Real Gold Jewelry or Not?: The Acid Test
Leirness recommends the acid test for gold jewelry. Scratch the jewelry with a small file. Using a wooden, glass or plastic stick, dab a drop of nitric acid on the scratch. “If there is no reaction, it's gold,” she writes. “If there's a bright green reaction, it's base metal. If there's green in the scratch, it's a gold layer over base metal (goldplate).” An even more specific test to determine karats can be done with a special gold-testing kit available at most jewelers, but Leirness recommends having the jeweler evaluate it himself or herself as the cheaper option.
Using an Appraiser Before Selling Gold Jewelry for Cash
If a piece of jewelry has gemstones, or is an antique or designer piece, it’s probably worth more intact than melted, and may be worth a visit to a jeweler or appraiser. An appraiser can give you the Fair Market Value (FMV) of the piece, while a jeweler may offer to buy the piece.
The American Society of Appraisers, on its website, advises sellers to find an accredited appraiser licensed by the state authority. The appraiser should ask for a set fee, not a percentage of the item’s value. Keep in mind that real appraising is not performed quickly, the way it is on TV; in real life an appraiser may have to keep your item for several hours or days to study it.
Finding Out How Much Gold Jewelry Is Worth
Discovering if jewelry is really made out of gold, and how much gold a piece contains, is important to maximize profit. Cash-for-gold companies are not interested in fake gold, and a high-karat gold piece with gemstones or antique value may be worth more to a seller intact than melted. Remember that a hallmark on a piece is no guarantee of its true karat value, and sellers may want to perform household tests or visit a jeweler or appraiser to make sure they sell for the highest price possible.
More articles on selling gold jewelry for cash:
How to Sell Gold Jewelry: Is Old Jewelry Worth More as Scrap Metal or an Original Piece?
Rita Marshall - I'm a freelance writer in southwestern Ontario. Through my company, Longbow Business Solutions, I provide professional writing for small ...
Join the Conversation