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How to recognize gold?

First of all, as gold-buying professionals, we have to appraise gold using different techniques to recognize gold and verify its authenticity. For example, there are different carats of gold, each with a different purity. It is therefore necessary to know the gold alloy used to determine the quantity of pure gold in order to estimate the price. In fact, depending on the situation and the objects, we'll use one or more methods to check the gold to find out if it's real gold and what its gold content is. This article is part of Abacor's gold information service.

Recognizing gold with the help of an expert

The field of precious metals is vast. Gold has always been used to make coins, jewelry, artistic and religious objects. You may also find gold-colored objects in inherited property.

However, gold-plated costume jewelry and gold-plated jewelry are commonplace. What's more, it's sometimes difficult to distinguish solid gold from gold plating or simple gilding. So, is it really real gold, real or fake, plated or fake? How can you tell if it's gold?

You can also visit the experts at Abacor, the French precious metals company, for an expert appraisal of your objects. Our experts know how to recognize gold of any carat, and will test your precious objects on the spot to determine the composition of the gold. They'll be able to give you an immediate appraisal.

Yellow, white or pink gold, what's the difference?

In fact, gold's natural color is yellow. This is the hue of this precious metal in its raw state and also in the form of pure gold ingots. However, it is possible to give it other hues. The different colors of gold are used in jewelry to create original pieces. The most common colors are white gold or white gold, rose gold or red gold.

While the purity of the gold alloy is the same for each carat, goldsmiths obtain different-colored golds by combining several metals and modifying the proportion of each.

This means that 18-carat jewelry will have the same amount of pure gold, whether yellow, white, pink or other colors. Alloys will be 75% gold, but the remaining 25% will contain varying amounts of copper, silver and palladium.
The principle is the same for the other 14 and 9 carats, with 58.5% and 37.5% pure gold respectively.

In the end, color has little impact on the value of gold jewelry, since carats determine the quantity of gold.

The meaning of the different hallmarks

Thus, there are thousands of hallmarks for gold, designating the carat. Before you know how to recognize gold from hallmarks, you'll need a magnifying glass.

In fact, among the multitude of hallmarks used to identify gold...

Marked	Carats	Percentage of Gold	Description
Tête d'Aigle	18 carats	75 %	This is the most common hallmark in France.
Scallops	14 carats	58,3 %	Modern hallmark, but 14-carat objects are rare in France
Clover	9 carats	37,5 %	Common hallmark since the democratization of 9-carat jewelry
Seahorse	24 carats	99,99 %	Only available on pure gold Paris mint bars and coins.

The shape of the hallmark itself means something.
In addition to the state hallmarks, goldsmiths can affix their own diamond-shaped master hallmark. Inside this hallmark are the initials of the goldsmith or jeweler.
A square hallmark means that the object is gold-plated. It's not real gold, however, as only a few microns of gold cover the surface.

In fine, if the object does not have a hallmark indicating whether it is gold or gold-plated, we can carry out various tests to do so.

Recognizing gold with the Magnet Test

This is a gold testAlthough easy to perform, it is neither infallible nor universal. This technique is generally used as a complementary method for recognizing gold Tooth or check if a gold bar is not stuffed with magnetic metal.

In fact, a magnet as weak as a refrigerator magnet will be ineffective for this test. Instead, you'll need to use stronger magnets found in DIY stores, or in everyday objects such as ladies' handbag latches, toys or even hard drives.

Gold is not a magnetic metal, so it will not be attracted to the magnet. If the test object is attracted to the magnet, then it's not real gold. However, the fact that it doesn't react to the magnet doesn't mean you're dealing with genuine gold, because other non-magnetic metals are also used for counterfeit items.

Buy and Sell Gold at the Best Price at Abacor

Buy and Sell Gold in Paris at the Best Price with Abacor, the French Precious Metals Company. For over 22 years, Abacor has been offering professional gold buying, appraising and selling services.
We welcome you to our agencies to advise you on investing or appraise your gold assets.

Our gold buying and selling experts estimate gold prices in real time, free of charge and without obligation. So you can be sure of buying and selling your gold at the best price on the gold market.

Free Advice, Free Estimate, No Obligation, Immediate Payment.