Whether you want to sell gold to the local pawn shop for quick cash or purchase the precious metal for a loved one, you should understand the quality of the material. Informed buying and selling requires understanding the differences in gold’s purity. Learn about these differences here. 

How Does Gold Purity Differ?

To measure this precious metal’s purity, karats are used. A karat is defined as 1/24 of a pure gold alloy–or about 4.1%. To buy or sell gold, you’ll need to know how many karats the piece is. This number ranges from 10 karats to 24 karats. If you have a 10-karat item, that means about 41% of it is pure gold. A piece that's 24 karats, however, is deemed as 99% pure gold. 

Since gold is naturally soft, other metals are added to make it stronger and more durable, such as copper, rhodium, palladium, nickel, and silver. The more alloy material a gold item has, the stronger and more resistant to damage it is. However, higher alloy content also means the piece in question is less valuable because it contains less gold. 

How Can You Identify Real Gold in Jewelry? 

There are numerous ways to tell how much pure gold an item features. One of the easiest ways is to look for its karat number, which can be found on tags or stamped onto the pieces themselves, such as the inside of a ring. The piece could also feature the karat’s corresponding millesimal fineness number, which measures gold purity in parts per 1,000. For example, if a piece is 12 karats, its fineness is 500. If the piece is 24 karats, the fineness is 999. 

Other markings provide purity clues that help you buy and sell gold, including GP, GF, and HGP. These letters stand for gold-plated, gold-filled, and heavy gold-plated, and tell you the piece is not real gold. You can also detect a gold item’s purity by rubbing the piece on your skin or wearing the item for a few hours. Real gold does not stain the skin, unlike low-karat or faux pieces that leave green, blue, or black marks. It also does not tarnish or rust, and it sinks in water. Fake varieties easily tarnish and oxidize, as well as float. 

If you want to sell gold, request professional purity testing services from Roanoke Pawn. This pawn shop has served the Blue Ridge Mountains region of Virginia since 2004, and continues to buy and sell a wide variety of quality items. Call (540) 362-7296 today with questions, or learn more about the shop online. Get the latest selling tips and listing information on Facebook.