There are a few simple tests that you can make.
- Rub the piece of gold across a piece of unglazed porcelain tile. It should not make a black streak. If it does then it is pyrite.If the streak is golden yellow then it is gold.
- Try scratching glass with the piece of gold. If it scratches the glass, it is definitely not gold, or is mixed with other metals and the purity is very low.
- Hold a magnet near the piece of gold. If the magnet attracts the gold piece, then there are other metals mixed in the gold. This is not pure gold. On the flip side just because something is not magnetic does not prove that it is gold. Brass, copper, aluminium are not magnetic. Pure nickel is magnetic, but when alloyed in jewelry it has very little magnetism.
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A neodymium or rare earth magnet
can be used to test for silver. Although silver cannot be picked up with a magnet, there is a different reaction between a rare-earth magnet and pure silver as opposed to the reaction to adulterated silver.
- Drop a very small amount of hydrochloric or sulfuric acid onto the gold. If the gold begins to dissolve, then there is some other type of metal mixed with the gold and it is not pure.
- Check to see if there are any markings on the piece. This will give you an idea of what karatage it might be although it does not prove it. It is possible to buy a machine for stamping jewelry for as little $11 so there is little to stop someone from just stamping a piece with any hallmark they choose. You should not conclude that just because the piece has a hallmark that it is genuine. Class rings marked Jostens 10K are usually good. A class ring ring marked Jostens Duratone has almost no scrap value.
- http://gold.yabz.com/testing.htm
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