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GOLD/SILVER FACTS
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* The chemical symbol for gold is Au.
* The total amount of gold mined in the United States
would make a cube measuring a little more than 50 feet on each
side.
* One cubic foot of gold would weigh approx or 14
hundred pounds or 16,800 troy ounces.
* The specific gravity for gold, a density
measurement, is 9.3 which means gold is 19.3 times
heavier
than water. Gold is very soft, measuring 2.5 on the mho scale,
while talc measures at one and a diamond at 10.
* Gold is very ductile and malleable and is capable of
one ounce being stretched for a distance of 60 miles. Gold leaf can be
being flattened to 1/300 of an inch.
 To find gold content and dollar value use the following formula:
Karats divided by 24, multiplied by spot price, then divided by 20 equals
the price per pennyweight.
Example: 14k divided by 24 equals .583.
.583 multiplied by $363 (spot price) equals $212.80.
$212.80 divided by 20 equals $10.64 (price per pennyweight)
Price per pennyweight multiplied by ring's weight (minus stones) is the
scrap gold price for the ring.
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Pennyweight is abbreviated DWT, and grams x .643=DWT. 20
DWT = one ounce. |
GOLD IN JEWELRY
GOLD WASH-----gold
deposits with a thickness from 2 to 5 millionth of an inch.
GOLD PLATING-----deposits with a minimum thickness of 7 millionth of an
inch.
GOLD INLAYS-----solid pieces of gold or gold alloy attached by dovetailing
(usually 14-24 karat).
GOLD LEAF-----gold leaf is very thin, 3-4 millionth of an inch, made so
by flattening under pressure. can be hammered thin enough to transmit
light.
GOLD FILLING-----refers to a base metal such as nickel that has gold sheet
attached by soldering or some other means. gold filled was once commonly
used in watch cases.
HEAVY GOLD PLATE-----a film of fine gold plated to other metals to a
thickness of at least 100 millionth of an inch.
ROLLED GOLD-----a layer of plating, of 10 karat or better, mechanically
bonded to a base metal. gold content may be less then 1/20th total weight.
JEWELRY ABBREVIATIONS
GF-----Gold Filled
HGE-----Heavy Gold Electroplate
14K-----Ranges From 12k up
14KP-----14 plumb-----14/24 pure (.585 pure)
PLUMP is used to guarantee gold content is not less than shown.
CUBIC ZIRCONIAS are generally used in 10k jewelry.
DIAMONDS are generally used in 14k and above.
Some European countries use the number system in place of karats, thus, a
ring marked .750 is 18 karat, one marked .585 is 14 karat, etc.
SIMPLE ACID TEST FOR GOLD JEWELRY
* Scratch the article to be tested in an inconspicuous place to remove any protective coating, such as lacquer. a scratch will not be needed if there
is no protective coating.
* Using rubber gloves and a non-metal item. Apply one drop of nitric acid
to the scratch.
* If the article being tested is gold there will be no reaction.
* A bright green reaction will mean the article is common metal.
* A milky reaction in the scratch will mean it is gold over silver.
Gold/Silver Conversion
Table
Directions: To find conversion values, find basic weight in
left-hand column and follow this line until it intersects with the desired
weight. For example: If you desire to determine how many ounces troy there
are in a pound troy, locate pound troy in the left-hand column. Then
follow it across until you intersect with ounce troy. You will find 12.0,
which is the correct number of ounces troy in one pound troy. If you then
want to know how many ounces there are in 2.5 pounds troy, multiply 12 by
2.5. The resulting figure will be 30 ounces troy. Another valuable way to
use this table is for comparative purposes.
Example: Comparing avoirdupois against troy. If you want to
compare the relative actual weight of a pound troy against an avoirdupois
pound, follow the pound av. line across to the pound troy column. You then
can determine that a pound avoirdupois is equal to 1.21107 pound troy. On
the other hand, using the same method you will find that an ounce
avoirdupois is equal to 0.9114883 ounce troy. Anyone who buys or sells
gold or silver will find hundreds of valuable applications for this table.
FACTS ABOUT SILVER
* Silver's chemical symbol is Ag.
* Silver can be hammered out into sheets so thin that it would take
100,000 of them to make a stack an inch high. these sheets are so thin
that light shines through them, silver can be drawn
 into wires that are
finer than a human hair. it is the best conductor of heat and electricity
among the metals.
* The atomic weight of silver is 107.870, and its atomic number is
47. Silver melts at a temperature of 1761 degrees f. or 960 degrees C.
Silver has a specific gravity of 10.5. when melted, Silver can absorb as
much as 20 times its own volume of oxygen
* Pure silver is too soft to stand up under constant wear. It is
usually mixed with copper to form an alloy before it is made into
commercial articles
* In the United States silver coins
used to be made of 90% silver
and 10% copper. But in 1965, Congress passed a bill to eliminate all
silver from new dimes and quarters, and to reduce the silver in new half
dollars from 90% to 40%
* Until the coinage act of 1920, British coins were 92 1/2 percent
silver and 7 1/2 percent copper. The 1920 act reduced the silver content
to 50 per cent. the 1946 act eliminated all silver in British coins. They
are now made of a copper nickel allow
* Sterling silver contains as much or more silver as British coins
did. the word Sterling has been used to mean high quality silver since the
1200's.
* Silver items marked sterling means they contain at least 92.5%
silver. Some jewelry, especially some of foreign make, may be marked .925,
instead of the word sterling.
* Silver plate is made by coating base metals with pure silver or
silver alloy by electrolysis. Silver plate, being a lot less expensive
than pure silver, is more widely used for tableware.
* Silver is not changed by moisture, dryness, alkalies, or vegetable
oils. However, sulfur will cause silver to turn black
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