Found this 2day 49.2 grams but Ive never seen gold this tarnished b4

[Joe Dirt]

Found this 2day 49.2 grams but I've never seen gold this tarnished b4

Was parting out an 86 Mustang that had been parked in a garage the past 12 years, it was hit in the rear end pretty good & not drivable. Anyway under the back seat I find a bag with this 14K gold chain & cross pendant with the worst tarnish I've ever seen on gold. Looks more like copper tarnish & I thought it might not be real. Cleaned it slightly then took some 1000 grit sand paper & sanded a little on one of the ends & it's gold as can be under the tarnish. Just to be sure I took my dremel & sanded the side area of the same end & its definitely solid. The total weight of the two pieces is 49.2 grams (1600+ melt value), the chain is marked 14K Italy & the cross is marked both 14K & 585. Both pieces have the same exact tarnish & both tested to be 14K. Now what's up with this crazy patina/tarnish? Anyone seen this before or know what's up with it?

 

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[WildDigger]

Sweet find. Gold can tarnish. It may have been next to something. I have a 10k that is real tarnished. It is very old.

 

[diggummup]

Think about it... some sweaty dude probably wore this chain for years and never cleaned it. The spring on the clasp breaks and he puts it in a bag for safekeeping, still covered in bodily fluids. I wouldn't say it's tarnished, i'd say it's dirty and needs cleaning. Many everyday items can discolor your gold. Bleach, Chlorine, colognes, hairsprays, hair grease, sweat even things like vinegar and citric acid. I say all this in fun, because I've worn a gold chain everyday for years ,and I know from the personal experience of sweating like a pig that this does happen over time. Take it to the jeweler, get the clasp fixed and they will steam clean it for free and your good to go. While your at it have them drop a dot of gold solder that clasp ring too, it looks like it's gonna separate. A good way to lose it. Nice find.

 

[testing123]

I'm not sure I see the tarnish? Maybe it's rose gold?

 

[diggummup]

Found one these necklaces before with 14K ITALY. It was fake. Seen em on here before they were fake. Have it tested. Just sayin... I hope yours is the real deal.

He said it tested to 14k already.

 

[frankendime]

I see that now. My bad.

 

[goldencoin]

Elemental gold doesn't tarnish, the base metals (copper and silver) that it is alloyed with do. Sweet find!

HH
-GC

 

[Backbacon]

Tony Soprano just called me and said "I want my chain back!" LOL sweet find.

 

[hamiddetecting]

Nice finds!

 

[Jason in Enid]

Did you test the area you hit with the dremel?

 

[coinhound]

Very nice find. Gold is always sweet even if it is tarnished. Makes me wonder what's under the front seat?

Coinhound

 

[davehky]

awesome find for sure love it!!!!

 

[mangum]

Very nice indeed! Congrats!

 

[Joe Dirt]

Update...

After quite a bit of cleaning, mostly with my Dremel & a polishing wheel (but no polish or cleaner was used). I've got the chain looking more "normal". The gunk build up on this one was as bad as I've ever seen. From research I believe this chain was swam in a lot (it saw a lot of chlorine or bleach) or possibly it was worn in a hot tub a lot. Then being stored in a small black leather & nylon bag for 12+ years under a seat probably created this weird reaction. I still will clean it more but it actually looks gold now. It is a solid 7mm Figaro 24" long weighing 43.2, & with the cross its 49.2. The front of the cross is almost impossible for me to clean (I've tried), but I've got the back about 1/2 way clean. The chain hits hard on my MXT at 28 VDI more like how a big gold ring or small gold coin hits on my MXT not like how any other 14K necklace I have hits. The cross hits a solid 10 VDI like a typical size 14K ring will hit at. We only had 14K acid to use to test but I'm wondering if this isn't really 15K-16K-17K or possibly 18K. It seems to be an old chain much more crudely made than modern chains are made. You can see the "welds" on the long links on every single long link & they change from side to side in no type of pattern so a machine couldn't have made this chain, it was hand assembled & the flaws are very evident when examining it. It has a lot of character because of this & makes me like it even more. Do we have any gold chain experts?

Oh I had a buddy bring a chain over he found years & years ago & it looked the same as this one did (as in blackish gold) or even kind of copperish & it's marked 14K Mexico & tested @ 14K. He found it in a bunch of trash years ago.. Anyway here are some updated somewhat cleaned pix of my chain & cross with other 14K chains for comparison .

 

[Joe Dirt]

Did you test the area you hit with the dremel?

Yes tested it where I hit it with the dremel... & tested an actual link in the chain too! Only had 10K & 14K acid but I'm feeling it might be slightly higher than 14K.

 

[Joe Dirt]

Very nice find. Gold is always sweet even if it is tarnished. Makes me wonder what's under the front seat?

Coinhound

Just Carpet & steel

 

[capt-zero]

People forget that even 14k gold is over 40% base metal and can tarnish badly. My first gold find was a ring in a 25 cent basket at a thrift store. It looked like worn brass until I cleaned it. However I have come across several marked pieces that were fake.

 

[Jason in Enid]

I would have thought it was fake from the looks and discription. The maker must have used some funky additives. The fact that it passed the acid test is better proof than any stamp!

Congrats on a great find.

 

[Joe Dirt]

People forget that even 14k gold is over 40% base metal and can tarnish badly. My first gold find was a ring in a 25 cent basket at a thrift store. It looked like worn brass until I cleaned it. However I have come across several marked pieces that were fake.

Old tarnished & worn brass is the visual this chain had that's for sure!

I would have thought it was fake from the looks and discription. The maker must have used some funky additives. The fact that it passed the acid test is better proof than any stamp!

Congrats on a great find.

Even with the tarnish I almost had no doubt it was gold & that's without checking the markings, I'm 42 & have handled a lot of gold & especially jewelry. I've always been able to tell the difference by touch, weight (with solid items) & close examination with a loop. For me personally Herringbone chains can be the most difficult to judge! Rings, Ropes & Figaro's are much easier! IMO Used gold jewelry always has certain flaws/damage/marks that only real gold products get (other than other precious metals like Plat sometimes). I'd say I have between a 95%-99% success rate with identifying real from fake or plated gold. I'm sure many on here can do this as well! One thing I use the most right off the bat is if it weighs more than I suspect it does it's usually real (or if its way to light thus might be hollow) so I examine further & when I find those spots where something dug into the gold object then I check to see if it fits the way that I know by experience how 14K normally damages. If that all seems right I'm willing to almost bet the house at that point! That's also why I suspect it's slightly higher than 14K as it seems a tad soft for 14K but maybe this is because of the other metal that was used? I don't believe this chain ever had that more modern highly polished look (I could be wrong tho).

 

[cti4sw]

Gold doesn't tarnish because gold does not react to oxygen. That's what "tarnish" is - the base metal reacts with the oxygen in the air to form a protective oxide coating on the surface. Silver turns black, copper turns red, bronze turns green, nickel gets darker, steel and iron turn brown (rust), aluminum turns white. These are all examples of oxides formed by the reaction of the base metal with oxygen.

Gold doesn't react with oxygen; therefore, gold doesn't tarnish. Gold can get dirty and lose its shine, however, so clean it off!


EDIT: I did some reading on this, and while silver does tarnish during exposure to air, it's not the oxygen that it reacts with. Silver tarnish is silver sulfide, AgS. So silver reacts with sulfur to tarnish. Just FYI to anyone who cares.