22K Gold rimmed plates/bowls

[uglymailman]

Have a few plates and bowls (not a complete set) that are marked 22k gold rimmed. Looking at epay similar sets run 80-100 bucks a set. Just how much gold could be on these? Somewhere along the way I've read an oz. of gold can be made into a thread that could circle the globe. Not sure how you could salvage the gold short of breaking the rims off and sending to a dealer. Any ideas? Thanks!

 

[Red-Coat]

A miniscule amount of gold, I'm afraid, and it might not even be 24k (anything from 12k upwards). This guy recovered only 0.1g from a vase completely coated in gold. Just the rim of a plate only would be a tiny amount.

 

[UnderMiner]

You have to remember gold can be made as thin as 500 atoms in thickness and still look like a shiny solid piece of gold - this is the standard thickness of gold leaf used on things like gold rim plates and bowls. And gold can be made even thinner than this!

To put that into perspective a human hair is 80,000 nanometers in thickness, household aluminum foil is 16,000 nanometers in thickness, while gold leaf is 100 nanometers in thickness.

 

[Mackaydon]

per AI:

• Negligible Melt Value: While the gold is real, it is plated in an extremely thin layer. The cost of recovering the gold from a few plates (using acid, etc.) will far exceed the value of the gold itself.
• Resale Potential: The plates are often more valuable as functional dishes (selling as a set) or for replacement markets (like replacements.com) rather than for scrap.
• Don in SoCal

 

[3RDLIFE]

Got a few nice older European cups, saucers and teapots at thrifts storesthat were completely coated. Wife about killed me when I dipped them in AR. Especially since the PMs were worth less than I paid for them. Rimmed would likely be worth less than the calories it took to process them and less than the AR for sure.