Is it too good to be true.

[Beachkid23]

I just stopped at a thrift store and the lady was putting our jewelry. She said that they got a lot of custom made stuff from somebody in their church that passed away and everything was between one and five dollars. Custom as in like they made their own jewelry. But anyways this is what I bought for four bucks. I'm hoping the ribbon is real gold the rest of the stuff is plastic so I'm probably wrong but I thought I'd take a chance on it.







I'm hoping that the ribbon is 14k gold

 

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[jerseyben]

Looks plated to me. Are you acid testing now?

 

[tamaco]

Nice. I hope that it is gold!

 

[tennessee digger]

I would say that if the beads are plastic, then it is probably gold plated. Hope I'm wrong.

 

[Beachkid23]

Well everybody was right and I wasted a couple $. It was plated I really need to start carrying a magnet with me

 

[Rodbuster209]

Well everybody was right and I wasted a couple $. It was plated I really need to start carrying a magnet with me

Yep, I keep my magnet in the car so when I am going in to the sale or thrift store I just stick it to my car key ring, that way I can test on the spot! Good luck!...........Scott.

 

[tamrock]

Also keep a jewelers loupe on hand. I would have inspected it at the ends and around it for any sign of plating. Things like a very small loss of gold plate, any minute green stains or bubbles or very tiny pits can all be signs of a plated piece seen only with a close inspection under magnification.

One other thing I thought of on this post is that we're only talking about a magnet on hand to check for gold plated items. Just a magnet isn't going to guarantee the piece is solid gold. I can think of a few base metals used to plate with gold that a magnet will not stick to. Heck if you bought all the gold jewelry you found that a magnet didn't attract to I think in the end you'd be very disappointed in your hoard.

 

[Lost&Found]

Another way of determining the composition of a metal is by testing it's specific gravity.

How to Test Specific Gravity | eHow

 

[Grundestoun]

A lot of jewelry is plated with a base metal of copper or brass. A magnet does not stick to those metals.