ivan salis
Gold Member
- Feb 5, 2007
- 16,794
- 3,809
- 🏆 Honorable Mentions:
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- Detector(s) used
- delta 4000 / ace 250 - used BH and many others too
lots of folks find bits of gold or silver jewelry and go geez I wonder what its worth ? well if your just trying to find out its "scrap metal value" here you go .
most folks have scales that measure in grams *--so start by wieghing the item -- say you found a silver bracelet-- 21 grams
you look for the "purity mark" -- see a stamp .925 (for "sterling" silver its 92.5 % pure) ----on gold items 24 K is pure gold --so if its 18 K out of 24 --its three quarters pure gold thus 75% or .750 pure -- for gold to find its % of purity divide the k 18, 14, 10 number by 24 to get the % amount.
18 k is .750 -- 14 k is .583 --- 10k is .416
by timing the actual gram weight by the purity %-- you get the "pure metal weight or true weight" in grams --so 21 grams by .925 is -- 19.425 grams of "pure silver"
taking the "pure metal weight" or true weight and timing it by (.03215) -- 1 gram equals --.03215 of a "troy oz" (what precious metal are sold and traded by is "troy oz")
so 19.425 by .03215 equals --.6245137 troy oz of silver --so the true pure silver content of the item has been found out
now all one has to do is find the current "spot" price --say $12.75
by timimg out the true troy weight of .6245137 by $12.75 -- you come up with $7.9625496 of silver in the item --- rounded up --$7.97 --down $7.96
this can also be used for gold as well as silver -- note when selling scrap silver / gold often dealers do not pay full spot since they want a bit of a cushion should the market dip before they sell (and extra profiet if it stays steady or rises) so they tend to shave a bit off -- some much more than others --- once you know the items true value --you can know whats it worth and how much is being "shaved" -- if its too high try a differant dealer.
stones unless their ultra special ones are treated as "junk" by most dealers --they even discount the weight to account for the stones weight -- they think of the stones as their"freebies" for doing the deal.
most folks have scales that measure in grams *--so start by wieghing the item -- say you found a silver bracelet-- 21 grams
you look for the "purity mark" -- see a stamp .925 (for "sterling" silver its 92.5 % pure) ----on gold items 24 K is pure gold --so if its 18 K out of 24 --its three quarters pure gold thus 75% or .750 pure -- for gold to find its % of purity divide the k 18, 14, 10 number by 24 to get the % amount.
18 k is .750 -- 14 k is .583 --- 10k is .416
by timing the actual gram weight by the purity %-- you get the "pure metal weight or true weight" in grams --so 21 grams by .925 is -- 19.425 grams of "pure silver"
taking the "pure metal weight" or true weight and timing it by (.03215) -- 1 gram equals --.03215 of a "troy oz" (what precious metal are sold and traded by is "troy oz")
so 19.425 by .03215 equals --.6245137 troy oz of silver --so the true pure silver content of the item has been found out
now all one has to do is find the current "spot" price --say $12.75
by timimg out the true troy weight of .6245137 by $12.75 -- you come up with $7.9625496 of silver in the item --- rounded up --$7.97 --down $7.96
this can also be used for gold as well as silver -- note when selling scrap silver / gold often dealers do not pay full spot since they want a bit of a cushion should the market dip before they sell (and extra profiet if it stays steady or rises) so they tend to shave a bit off -- some much more than others --- once you know the items true value --you can know whats it worth and how much is being "shaved" -- if its too high try a differant dealer.
stones unless their ultra special ones are treated as "junk" by most dealers --they even discount the weight to account for the stones weight -- they think of the stones as their"freebies" for doing the deal.
--but if you do not have a computer handy --there always the "old school method" 
-- note its dead on the money too.
