Hobbies And Interests
Things You'll Need
Instructions
Gold
Push into the gold piece with your fingernail if the item is suspected to made of pure or nearly pure gold. This hardness test will indicate if the gold is real. Real gold is soft; however, many times jewelry is made with an alloy to make it more durable. Further investigation would then be required.
Look at the color of the gold. Real gold has a yellowish, waxy color. Turn the nugget or piece from side to side. The color of real gold in a gold nugget does not change when it is viewed from different angles.
Run a magnet over the gold piece. Real gold is not magnetic, while many other metals are. If it sticks to the magnet, then it is not real gold.
Silver
Pass a magnet over the item. If it is attracted to the magnet, the item is made of another metal. Silver is not magnetic.
Place the item in water and determine its density using Archimedes' principle. Archimedes' principle states that when an object is placed in a fluid, the buoyant force on the object is equal to the weight of the fluid that is displaced by the object. A silver item will be at least ten times as heavy as water.
Place the item in ice. If becomes cold to the touch quickly there is a good chance that it is pure silver, since silver is an excellent conductor of heat and cold.
Platinum
Test the weight of the object, as platinum is a very heavy material. A platinum item will weight more than a white gold or silver item of similar size.
If an item is supposedly platinum, then it should not be attracted to a magnet.
Look for a quality percentage stamped in a piece of jewelry. According to the Diamond Cutters International Web site, all platinum sold in the United States should have a quality mark that indicates the percentage of platinum used in the item.
Examine the color. It should have a have a white color, regardless of how old the item is. If the item appears to have a yellow sheen to it, then it is more likely the less valuable precious metal white gold.