What are the latest techniques in metal testing to be sure you are getting full value?

One thing for certain is that the old-fashioned kind of test that you have probably seen performed – the one where you rub a piece of jewelry on a stone and then drip some testing fluid on it, wastes a small quantity of precious metal. Why? Because in order to do the test, you have to rub off a quantity of that metal, you cannot reclaim it.

Investing in precious gold scrap, silver scrap and platinum scrap is not gambling, for a very simple reason:

When you invest in precious metals, you are relying on experience and knowledge to reduce or even eliminate risk. When you are gambling, you can’t eliminate risk completely.

When one investor was examining a batch of thermocouple wire, for example, he was able to know what it was because he had seen the same kind of wire before. He knew how much silver was contained in the thermocouples he was looking at, and he knew what it would sell for. So he applied his experience and knowledge and made a profitable buy of silver scrap.

We recently had the opportunity to visit a metal scrapyard – one of those big outdoor places, five acres or more, that are littered with stuff like piles of aluminum windows, with machinery and even with big car and truck engines. It was quite an impressive site. And it made us realize that people can get scared when they start thinking about investing in metals of any kind.

We recently spent a few hours in the company of an expert jeweler, looking through a batch of old jewelry scrap. It was amazing to watch him work. He seemed to have a kind of sixth sense about what he was looking at. He picked up a small chain and said, “This is solid gold.” Then he looked at an old watch and said, “The case is gold plated, not worth much.” Then he looked at a ring and said that although it looked like platinum, it was base metal that had a thin level of chrome or other bright-metal plating applied to it. Again, not worth more than a few cents.

Twenty-five years ago, few people could have predicted that people would be using drones to prospect for gold and other precious metals. In today’s post, let’s put on our thinking caps and predict how tech-savvy treasure-seekers will be looking for gold and other precious metals in the years ahead.

Do you have a quantity of jewelry pieces – findings, bits of chain, clasps or pins, perhaps – that you suspect might be valuable karat gold jewelry scrap? Or how about an old coin or piece of bullion that might, or might not, be pure karat gold?