Keeping the Earth Healthy

Identifying Your Sellable Gold

If you do not have many big gold rings or watches, you may think that recycling gold is not for you. In fact, many common items have enough gold in them to earn you a few extra dollars from a reputable gold buyer. If you combine both quality gold items and some castoff pieces, you can make a decent sum by selling them to a reputable vendor. 

Gold Fill

If you think your gold fill items are worthless in the recycling market, you are wrong. Gold fill is the practice of applying a thin coat of gold to the outside of other metals. In recent years, manufacturers have learned to make this coating thinner and thinner. However, in decades past, gold fill items contained more actual gold. If you have old trophies, watches, rings, plaques, and even eye glass frames from twenty years ago, you can make some money selling them to an established dealer. Experts also advise taking a look at your older dishes and tableware to see if they are gold filled. If so, they can also be recycled. 

Hidden Gold

You may be surprised to learn that your old smoke detector and VCR may be hiding some gold. Older cell phones also have small amounts of the valuable ore. Even that rusting wreck hiding in the garage could have some gold in its brake and airbag systems. You might also have some gold salts that someone gave you for their medicinal value or some antique clothing that contains gold thread. Your home may be a veritable treasure trove of hidden riches.

Higher Quality Gold

You may decide to sell some of your jewelry or other high-quality gold items. When you are planning to sell these more expensive pieces, you need to know the gold content of each item so that you get an appropriate selling price. Anything labeled 24 karat gold is considered pure gold. This gold is very soft, so it is not often used in jewelry. Eighteen karat items also contain a high level of gold, but other metals have been added, so it is stronger and often used in high-quality jewelry. As the numbers go down, the quality and worth of the gold also decrease. Fourteen karat gold is only 58.5 percent gold. The pieces marked with a 24, 18, or 14K are going to bring you the most money.

Of course, some of these items only have a small amount of gold in them, but if you sell enough of these less expensive pieces combined with higher quality gold items, your household treasure hunt may turn into a quite profitable endeavor. 

For more information on recycling your gold, click on this link http://www.midstatesrecycling.com or do an online search. 


Share