Gold Investing - Other Gold Markings

In my article on Gold Weights and Measures, I mention the Karatage system for determining the purity of a gold item such as jewelry. If an item is marked 24K, it is pure gold. If you see 12K, it is 50 % gold mixed with some other metal(s).

If you have gone through your items that may contain gold, you may have seen other markings that are not as well known. Let me explain a few of the more common ones you may see.

R. G. P. - These initials stand for Rolled Gold Plate

H. G. E. - This means Heavy Gold Electroplated

G. F. - Means Gold Filled

Unfortunately, items containing these markings contain very little gold as they indicate a thin sheet of gold covering some sort of cheap metal. You would be lucky to find a dealer interested in these types of items. If you are thinking of purchasing an item with one of the above markings, be aware of the tiny amount of gold they actually contain.

Happy investing.

Prosperity (Scrap Gold) Parties

Over the weekend, I watched a short news story on one of the Minneapolis/St. Paul TV stations about Scrap Gold parties. Sometimes referred to as Prosperity Parties, this is where people bring their scrap gold and other jewelry to a place (usually someone's home), have it examined and converted to cold, hard cash.

People proudly display a few hundred dollars they received and everybody is happy. But they leave out an important detail which is what percentage you can expect to receive of the gold's value based on the spot price of gold. If the customer receives 30 percent of the gold's value and the appraiser turns around and receives 95 or 98 percent from a refiner, how fair is that?

I am not saying some of these appraisers don't present a fair offer but there is certainly room for some serious low-balling to the customer. If you happen to attend one of these parties, here are a few useful facts...

Spot gold is stated in Troy ounces. A Troy ounce equals 20 pennyweights which equals 31.1034 grams. If spot gold is $900 a Troy ounce on the day you attend one of these parties, then each penny weight has a gold melt value of $45 for a pure 24k gold piece of jewelry or $22.50 for a 12k piece of jewelry.

If you are quoted a price in grams (as opposed to pennyweights), each gram is worth $28.94 for a pure gold piece and $14.47 for a 12k piece (which has only 50 percent gold content). When you are offered a price on your scrap gold, do a little figuring in your head to see if you are being offered a fair price and one you are willing to accept. More information on this subject is contained in my Gold Weights & Measures article elsewhere on this site.