Gold Purities and Weight
Karats -A.K.A. the PURITY
When you go to sell or buy gold its important to understand how the purity factors into the overall value of your item. Many people are aware of 24k gold which is the most pure form you can have, if you you have anything less pure it would be a lower number like 18k or 14k. When you have a lower purity it means that the item has been mixed with other metals (copper or silver are the most common). Most jewelry items are not going to be pure gold but instead are alloyed for longevity and aesthetics. The K after the number stands for Karat which is the measurement of purity in gold but the number also stands for the percentage of gold that the piece should have. An example would be with 18k items which are 75% pure gold and 25% other alloys, to get the percentage you simple divide the lower number into the pure form of 24k.(18/24=750). You can do this simple math problem with any karat so that you know the purity. Sometimes pieces of jewelry will be marked either 18k or .750, both are just ways of letting you know that its 75% pure. You will find that different parts of the world will have different preferences in gold purity, ranging from 8k all the way up to 24k. You typically find 24k gold items in China and 21-23k in the middle east. Japanese use 18k gold for most applications and in the USA we see pieces made from 10k, 14k, and 18k. The Best places to sell your gold should be able to explain all of this in detail on each type of item you bring in with out a problem, if they cant then you might want to explore a new person to buy or sell gold to.
Weighing Gold and Other Precious Metals
When its time to weigh your gold or any other precious metals its done in "troy ounces" which is not the same as the normal ounces most people are familiar with. When we weigh out fruits, vegetables, and other things 28 grams is equivalent to 1 oz. This is not the case when weighing out precious metals, precious metals are weighed in "troy ounces" and 31.1 grams is equivalent to the troy ounce. When going to sell gold jewelry sometimes certain items might have stones that the buyer cant pay for and will either deduct weight for or remove them from the settings, so keep that in mind when weighing out gold on your own.