how do u know when gold is real??

Answer 1

The lack of a hallmark (10k, 14k, 18k etc.) is not indicative of whether your piece is gold or not. In the United States it is against the FTC's regulations for the jeweler to hallmark a piece of jewelry unless it is accompanied by a maker's mark. So, when I first began making jewelry and did not have a trademark of my own, I did not hallmark my jewelry. Now that I have a maker's mark, I hallmark my jewelry with the appropriate metal hallmark and my maker's mark.

A jeweler cannot just look at a piece and tell you for certain whether it is gold or not; the jeweler will do a test to determine it.

To be scientfically accurate a sample of the metal in question must be assayed in a testing laboratory, but the following two tests have been used for many years and often are sufficiently accurate for a craftsperson or the owner of the metal in question.

To answer "Is It Gold?":

With a small file, make a scratch in an inconspicuous spot. While wearing rubber gloves, use a wooden, glass or plastic stick to apply a drop of nitric acid to the filed spot. Observe the reaction. When done, rinse everything well in running water.

If there is no reaction, it's gold.
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).
If there's a milky reaction in the scratch, it's a gold layer over silver.

To answer "What Karat Is It?"

Determining karat requires a testing kit containing nitric acid, aqua regia, samples of known karat, and a touchstone of slate or ceramic.

The gold object to be tested is rubbed on the stone ("touched") to leave a streak. A parallel line is made with one of the test pieces of known karat. Both marks are flooded with acid and the reaction are observed. When the sample colors at the same rate as the test streak, a match has been made. Nitric acid is used for low karat golds; aqua regia is needed for higher karats.

Please note: these tests are for your information only. They are not accurate enough to rely upon when representing a piece for sale. Most jewelers have testing kits to use when determining if something is gold or not and its approximate karat. It is probably easiest to take the item to a jeweler than to set up the testing kits yourself.

Answer 2

If you rub the gold on your skin and it turns your skin green it's not real. It's a reaction of chemicals in your skin and with the fake gold. If it's real then it will not turn your skin green.

Answer 3

Bite and try to bend it. If you don't lose your teeth in the process, then you got the real deal (just playing)

I guess the only real way of being close to 100% sure would be to take it to a dealer.

Answer 4

Gold is soft and pliable (you can bend it). It is also much heavier than anything else the same size. If you hit it with a hammer and it doesn't shatter, but flattens out instead, it's gold. If you're talking about jewelry, look for the jeweler's mark. (14K, 24K)

Answer 5

You send it to my gold checking service and I send you a report back if it was real or not.

Answer 6

it will have a stamp kinda thing engraved on it (it will have numbers) if you know your gold well and it has the same number on it then its real. all gold has the same number.

Answer 7

There's an acid test you can do on it, but easiest way is to just take it to a jewelry store.

Answer 8

You rub it across your forehead. If it leaves a mark, then it is real. This really works.

Answer 9

if you bite it.. it should leave a bit mark.
gold is mallable.

Answer 10

ok i nnoe how put a magnet together if it sticks to it its fake and if it doesnt its not fake its real

really am not jokeing