Mall jeweler said it was Gold Plated!

[Drmad7]

I posted this story on mugisme's Goodwill Jar Cured thread. Long story short...I bought a jar of jewelry at a Goodwill auction for $80. Pulled enough jewelry to get more than my money back. Pulled this nice necklace marked 14k and took it to a "mall" jewelry store. I asked a clerk if she could test it as I don't own a kit (yet) and was not sure if it was gold. She said they could not test it, but looking at it closely and handling it, she said she was pretty positive that because of its lack of weight and coloring, it was electroplated for sure. I had kept my hopes down, but was still a little bummed. That was on Saturday. I decided to take it to a Buy Gold place. The owner said it was real the moment I handed it to him. I had him test it to make sure and sure enough, 49 grams of 14k!

Also got this pendant from the jar, I'm assuming the middle part is supposed to be a Spanish coin and is silver:

 

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[tamrock]

I picked up some old cufflinks that had no mark. They were custom made out of two polished Elk teeth mounted in gold and I knew it. I didn't know what karat gold though, due to no mark. I stopped by the first big chain pawn shop, just to act like I may sell them and get a free test to see what karat they were. This young gal just looked at them and said they just don't have the color of real gold and saw no need to test them. She did use her magnet and that's all. At the next town was a privately owned pawn operator I knew and he did the same as you mentioned and said as I handed them over, "there gold so lets see what karat". He did a touch stone test and came up with 14K. He offered maybe 35 bucks, but, I knew they'd ebay for much more as Elk teeth sell well. I got like a 180 bucks out of them on ebay. It amazes me how some young folks can become an expert with just 30 days on the job. I do think you have a real spanish coin and not just a part of one. Send that over to the coin forums. I think they have a forum for just spanish coins. That could be a great find.

 

[nathan104]

Silver Spanish Reale, very nice. I like that a lot.

 

[mugsisme]

DRmad7, did you get to hold the jar and see it? Or was it an online auction? I am itching for another jar. LOL. I just checked my money situation, and right now, without selling another piece, I am $200 in the black ... could use that for jars. If the Good Wills would put some out that have junk.

Very nice score! Let us know how much you are going to list the necklace for when you decide.

 

[Drmad7]

It was an in store auction. Write bids all weeks and then live auction on Saturday starting at last written bid. I knew two pieces were worth just about $100, but me and the jewelry experts could not tell that the necklace was anything special. And no one was interested in the jar after they looked at it closely. Not sure at what price I'm listing the necklace! Nothing good to base it on besides scrap value. There are a lot of completed auctions for amounts that are 1.5 to 2 times spot value based on the "prettiness" of the necklace. I'm listing it tonight regardless and doing a 3 day auction to end on Thursday night. I'm leaning toward $1500.00 with BIN of $2100.00. But it's a straight guess at this point!

 

[vpnavy]

Nice buys. Thanks for sharing...

 

[Beachkid23]

I had this happen with a 10k cross. But when you held it up to the light and look in the center of it you could see a picture of Jesus. 2 dealers said it was gold filled. But another said it was 10k. One lady went as far as saying if I can't take a good offer when someone gives me one ($15) then I'm in the wrong business and need to go back to work! Huh? Lol. Sold it on eBay for $210!

 

[mugsisme]

When I don't know, and if I am not in a hurry to sell, I list it for twice spot. You can always lower it; you can't ask for more.

 

[silverdollarbill]

Nice find and Spanish reale pendant is super cool and looks legit to me.

 

[Drmad7]

Sold the necklace for $1285.00! Could have held out for more, but that was waaaaay more than I ever expected to get from a $80 investment, so I took the deal and ran. I'm holding on to the "Spanish Reale" pendant until I can get some solid info on it. I carry it in my pocket like a good luck charm!

 

[sponge]

Sold the necklace for $1285.00! Could have held out for more, but that was waaaaay more than I ever expected to get from a $80 investment, so I took the deal and ran. I'm holding on to the "Spanish Reale" pendant until I can get some solid info on it. I carry it in my pocket like a good luck charm!

Nice story. Always cool to see one of us make a score. Post a pic of the reale on the beach hunting forum. There are a couple of experts that chime in with a world of knowledge. Gatorboy, being one of them, would be able to help you out. One day I will find one. One Day

sponge using smoke signals.