Fake Gold – How to tell it from real gold
A gold business is a very big investment. This means investors or buyers should guarantee they are buying or selling genuine gold. One of the most commonly faked materials in the market is gold and one can easily mistake adulterated gold for the real thing because of their identical looks to an untrained eye. Genuine gold can be spotted without difficulty when the buyer is armed with basic information about the gem.
Fake gold, according to international standards, is anything that looks like gold and is less than 10 karats. The simplest way to raze all doubts about the genuineness of your gold is by testing it and consulting a certified jeweler. Glossy fool’s gold can sometimes be confused with authentic gold. Smart investors or shoppers can carry out a few tests to resolve the question of the authenticity of gold. Getting to know a few easy tricks for spotting fake gold allows one to enjoy the investment or shopping experience.
First and foremost, ensure that the piece is not discolored. Discoloration can sometimes be caused by a lot of friction. If it appears chipped or discolored in any area on the surface, then it is not real gold. It could be gold plated or just an imitation of gold. The colour of gold is even throughout whereas gold plated pieces or bars have an uneven tone. If your gold is a piece of jewel, wear it for a full day. If any form of discoloration appears on its surface, it is likely to be fake.
Finding gold’s fakeness can also be easier and quicker through the streak test. To carry out this test, you need an unglazed porcelain tile. By rubbing the mineral on this tile, the streak made on the surface can either be black or yellow. If it is black, then it is fool’s gold; but if it is golden-yellow, the metal will be real.
You can also use the hardness test. On Moh’s scale, gold’s hardness is between 2.5 to 3, pyrite is between 6 – 6.5 and glass is believed to be 5.5. Moh’s scale suggests that glass and pyrite can be scratched, but not gold. In addition, Pyrite cleaves but gold doesn’t. By cleavage, we mean the evenly breakage of minerals due to the weakness in the structure of its crystals.
The old-time proverb, “all that glitters is not gold” is a statement that has more truth than one can realize. Simple! Does it glitter in sunlight? If yes, then it is not gold! Gold doesn’t glitter in sunlight. Mica, Pyrite and other elements that look like gold glitter when exposed to sunlight. Fake gold has more of that copper colour whereas real gold is truly golden in colour.
Another popular way is through the magnet test. Gold has never been a metal that responds to the magnetic fields, so it doesn’t get attracted by a magnet. In this case, you need to use a stronger magnet, probably that which is stronger than a refrigerator magnet. If the piece is pulled by the magnet, then the item will not be real gold. You should, however, remember that this test is not ‘fail safe’ because gold bar or gold jewellery with a coating of more than 20 % alloy will slightly get attracted to the magnet. Fakes also sometimes use metals that do not get attracted by magnets to coat gold.
