Posted: 3/23/2007 4:09:35 AM EDT
|
I read a post about life after the economy crashed somewhere like Brazil. He said that the medium for exchange became junk gold. Like gold rings, etc. When I go to a pawn shop and buy rings to hoard, how do I do it so I know I am not paying to much for the gold content? If I know how many Karat (sp?) an item it, can I weigh it and get the gold content? Also, if the karat isn't stamped on the ring is there any way to tell? I want to make sure I am not paying more than I would for bullion and getting some crappy ring. |
most jewelry is between 10k and 14k gold. most rings will be stamped. other jewelry like earrings and necklaces may not be, so your going to have to educate yourself better about the look of gold by actually feeling it and seeing it. not an easy thing to do. check the various gold wholesalers like kitco.com for the raw value of gold on the market "for that day". you will probably pay a slight mark up over that, unless your a good negotiatior. I don't think junk gold will be much of a trade item after money becomes worthless. at least not here in america. |
|
You might want to look at tenth or quarter ounce Gold American Eagles. They are clearly marked as to how much gold they contain so there will be no surprises. You pay a premium over the gold content, but I would suspect that it would be less than the premium on jewellery. Right now the 1/10 ounce coins are going for about $72 and the 1/4 ounce are around $175. David |
|
All the posters that referred you to buying gold coins are right, that is your best option. The only true way to "know" the actual karat weight of a piece of jewelry for gold content is to melt it down and seperate the gold from the binders and weigh it. Destroying the piece is counter-productive to what your intentions are. Trade marked pieces are generally accurate for content in the US. There have been some problems with jewelry imported from other countries though, (notably China). So if you are unsure of the manufacturing source you need to be very careful. As a general rule within the industry, earrings are marked on the base of the post (if at all), necklaces on the bail or clasp (depends on type), rings inside the band. H2F ETA; This is the financial crises you were referring to.
I know in S. Korea many families were out in the street selling all their possessions and selling jewelry to banks for pennies on the dollar. We have a local Korean news program here that was showing the effects in Seoul at the time. It reminded me of my grandparents stories about the Great Depression. |
|
I have a friend that does pretty well buying scrap gold to sell now. After a while she says you devolope a feeling for it, mostly look at the quality of the work,,...if the piece looks cheap probably not gold.Good quality and looks like gold probably is. Still not hard and fast. She has a gold test kit which you can buy on ebay for not much she uses to test the gold she has. Basicaly you rub the gold on a stone and put a drop of acid on the rub mark and by the color you can judge the gold content pretty well I buy and sell lots of Jeweler tools and is not unusual to come across metal stamps saying 14K or 24K that were used to stamp rings and other gold....well lets hope gold, eh? something to think about befor going by something being stamped 14K as really being gold. I do think gold is a good thing to invest in for troubled times but coins or bullion would probably be better then scrap because is easier to establish what it is and what it is worth when you had to sell or trade it in the future. I do think it is worth while now to do like my friend and look for scrap gold and then trade it in for coins now though.....Todd |