Gold is one of the most popular precious metals in the world. It has been used as a form of currency, jewelry, and other decorative items for centuries.
Because of its value, many people attempt to pass off fake gold as the real thing.
Nowadays, even gold coins are counterfeited.
Gold chains are now being stamped with the hallmarks that indicate gold content when they are only plated.
If you do not want to find yourself being on the receiving end of buying fake gold, then not only do you need to know how to identify the real, you need to know where the safest place for sourcing it is.
If you’re not sure how to spot fake gold, don’t worry!
In this article, we will teach you how to identify counterfeit gold quickly and easily.
Table of Contents
The Different Types of Gold
All real gold is hallmarked, unless an item was made before the early 1900’s.
It was not always required by law, but it is now. Sometimes the hallmark can be worn off due to wear and tear, other times it was removed when an item was altered.
Either way, you will want to know the purity of a piece of gold so that you can determine its value.
Here is a list of gold hallmarks and their purity of gold content along with the percentage of other alloys in it:
| Gold Purity | Description |
|---|---|
| 10k | 10 karat gold will have .417 marked somewhere on the item, or 10K. This signifies that there is 41% of pure gold content along with the rest being other alloys. |
| 14k | 14 karat gold will have .585 marked somewhere on the item, or 14K. There is 58.5% of gold content along with the rest of it being other alloys. 14k is a very popular purity level for jewelry. |
| 18k | 18 karat gold will have .750 marked somewhere on it or 18k. There is 75% of gold content and is typically used for luxury or antique pieces. |
| 22K | 22 karat gold will have .917 marked somewhere on the item or 22k. This means that there is 91% of pure gold content and is typically found in jewelry from the middle-east or India. |
| 24k | This karat of gold will have .999 marked somewhere on the item or 24k. This is as pure as you can get because there are no other alloys mixed in with the gold, and is typically not used in jewelry. However, gold coins may be 22-24k. |
If you are looking to find some of these marks but do not, there are other ways to determine what the gold content is which we will discuss shortly.
Placer & Nuggets
Placer and nuggets are not hallmarked of course.
There cannot be a certainty about the purity of these materials without testing, but one can surmise that where it is mined from may help.
We now have machines that can find the exact amount of pure gold that is in placer and nuggets, but they are cost-prohibited for the average person to buy as well as the average jewelry store.
The best way to find out the purity of placer and nuggets is to take them to a business who actually owns and uses this equipment.
It is safe to say that the range of pure gold can be anywhere between 55% to 95% depending greatly on where it was found.
The Different Types of Fake Gold
It’s safe to say that fake gold is often made of metals that have a lower cost than gold such as lead, zinc, or even copper.
When mixed together, these metals can create an alloy that has a similar color to gold but at a fraction of the cost.
And, like gold, these alloys are not magnetic so as to fool more savvy customers.
This is how most fake gold is made and sold on the market.
However, to try to pass off these pieces as real gold they are often enhanced. Here are some things to watch for when trying to determine if something is fake:
- Plated. Plating is a super thin layer of gold that makes the entire item look like it is solid gold. Except it isn’t. Plating is now one of the ways that people are trying to pass off gold to the ignorant. Often an item is marked as “14k” but what is really meant is that it is 14k plated! If you see marks such as; HG, HGE, GF, EPNS, or EPBM then you will know that it is not real gold.
- Fools Gold. Most people (except for children perhaps) have heard of a thing called “fools gold”. This is a material that looks a lot like raw gold before it is purified, having some of the same color at least. But Pyrite and Mica are just rocks that have an uncanny appearance of being real gold until you examine it closer. You can go into any rock store and find these two materials to get an idea of what their characteristics are, or you can research it online.
How to Spot Fake Gold
Where our eyes fail to spot fake gold, other methods will reveal it. Here are a few ways to determine if the gold that you have is real or fake, keeping in mind that no one single way is foolproof:
Visual Inspection
Sometimes a fake gold piece will have sloppy workmanship.
Take a close look at the item in question and examine it for any imperfections. What you’re looking for are areas in which the color of the material looks off or where the surface appears to be rippled.
Many times fake gold pieces will wear the electroplating off easily with just a little bit of wear and tear.
If you see areas on the piece that look like they’ve been worn through and reveal a different color metal beneath, it’s likely that the item is not solid gold.
Scratching Test
If you want to know if an item that you have is real gold, and if you don’t mind it having a deep scratch in it somewhere inconspicuous, then get a file and scratch it deeply.
Saw back and forth and see if the color is different once you get beyond the surface. Gold plating can be applied thin or thick, which is why you need to get down below the surface.
Acid Test
If you suspect that your item is gold but are not sure, then you can go on Amazon and buy a kit of nitric acids that are of different strengths. Score your item in an inconspicuous area to get down below the surface, and add a drop of this acid on it.
If it turns a deep bronze color, and if the acid was 18k or higher, it may be gold…use a lower acid until it does not turn bronze.
This will determine what the actual gold content is, because the acid will eat away at every other metal but gold.
However, if after applying a drop of acid on it and it bubbles green or even begins to smoke, it is fake.
Do not let the acid run onto your fingers…use tweezers. And submerge everything in water afterwards.
Magnet Test
There are some fake gold pieces that are made out of metal or alloys that are attracted to magnets. This is how you can tell if your piece is solid gold or not, because gold is not attracted to magnets.
Get a strong rare-earth magnet and see if the item will stick to it.
Keep it away from the clasp because those most often have bits of metal springs that are magnetic.
Gold will not stick to a magnet, but then, neither will many other metals – so this method is not foolproof.
However, if it does stick, then you know for certain that what you have is not gold right off the bat.
No acid test is necessary after the magnet test if it sticks.
Skin Test
If you already own the piece of jewelry, then you can try the skin test.
Get a 14k or 18k gold piece and wear it for a day. See how your skin reacts to it.
Go ahead and wear the item for several weeks, all day and night even in the shower. Eventually, it will turn your skin gray, green or black.
If you have any reaction such as red blotches, hives, or even itchiness, then what you have is not gold but some other metal that you are allergic to.
This is an indication that it is not gold…but do a few other tests also to be certain.
FAQ’s About Fake Gold
Does fake gold float?
Fake gold may or may not float.
Real gold will not.
The caveat is that there are other metals that are gold plated and they do not float either.
Thus, this test is not fool proof and probably should not be bothered with.
Is real gold heavy or light?
Real gold is heavy.
The more pure it is, aka 18k or more, the heavier it is.
It is a dense material, but not as dense or as heavy as platinum.
When you are handling a small gold nugget in the palm of your hand, you can actually feel the weight because it does not feel proportionate to its size. It is far different than handling a coffee bean.
Can you stamp fake gold?
You can stamp fake gold to make it seem as though it were real. This is called fraud and it is rampant, which is why many jewelry stores opt for testing pieces with acid.
But you can also stamp fake gold with the proper stamp so as to let others know that it is indeed fake.
Some of these stamps that indicate a fake gold piece are; HG, HGE, GF and so on. It is perfectly legal to stamp fake gold, but not if you are trying to pass it off as being real.
What if my gold is not stamped?
There are a few scenarios in which a real gold piece may not be stamped.
First, it may have had repairs where the hallmark was stamped, the hallmark may have worn off with use/polishing, or the piece was made before the early 1900’s.
If neither of those scenarios apply, then it is more likely that what you have is fake.
If your gold is not real, please refer to the discussion above because there are ways to determine if it is or not without it being hallmarked.
If doing these suggestions at home does not satisfy you, simply take your items to a pawn shop or to a jewelry store and they will test for you.
Final Thoughts
If the price seems too good to be true, it probably is.
When in doubt, take your items to a professional who can test it for you.
Anytime that you end up with something that you do not know is real or fake, whether you purchased it or it was given to you or you simply found it, then do not hesitate to try and do some of the tests above.
You may get lucky!