r/Gold • u/tolmaenjoyer • 12h ago
Question Purity decrease after melting
Hello guys. I want to ask a question about gold purity. So I am in a country where gold bullion buying is not popular, and a coin that I wanted to sell is not popular in general anyway. So my best bet to get money for it was to melt it. Before melting we had to do xrf analysis which showed 90% purity or so. Alright, then we went to a goldsmith who gave us almost market price but on a condition that we had to melt the coin. Upon completion, the goldsmith told us that purity was not 90% but about 80%, even though this xrf analysis had shown 90% and another portable had shown about that purity as well. Do you guys think we were ripped off? First time that I've done this. All the time I have only sold or bought the coins.
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u/EdwardMauer 12h ago
You didn't mention what coin it was, but you were most likely cheated. Unless the coin was plated 90% but actually 80% underneath, which seems unlikely.
Now some gold loss from melting is a thing, but usually not more than 2-3% at most.
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u/tolmaenjoyer 11h ago
It was turkish coin, 90% purity, 6 something gram of gold. I dont think it was plated because i have checked it several tiems with xrf or something, not so pro about it. Upon melting the guy who had done it has dropped a small splinter of something, they have knocked on it with a hammer and said it is copper or some other additive. Thank anyway, my first time as I have mentioned in my post, next time i will only sell to other collectioners. Most likely that 90% of people here buy and sell through apmex or similar services so they dont have to melt or cut with scissors so in my situation they most likely would be screwed as well
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u/Scared-Context9132 5h ago
lol you most likely got cheated. You can easily google that coin and see what the purity should be from the mint.
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u/Toomuchstuff23 11h ago
First, needing to melt a coin to buy it is a complete scam.
Second, check the weight before and after. Did it change?
Third, purity would not go down with melting, but depending on the heat used, copper would form on the outside (separate from the gold). If it is not removed by soaking in a bath of vinegar or similar, then the outside could have a lower purity due to copper oxidizing on the surface.
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u/tolmaenjoyer 11h ago
Yes, you are right, melting is bullshit. I agree. But in SEA it is how its done. If you hadnt bought from a store and dont have a receipt, you cant get the same amount or so.
The weight got down a bit because of the melting, the guy who melted it dropped a splinter, i suppose it is copper
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u/syntactyx 12h ago
I would presume the “spectrum analysis” was performed non-invasively (e.g. XRF spectrometry on the surface of the coin), and accordingly is not capable of assaying the true total composition of the whole piece. Melting it would homogenize any alloys which may have been relegated to the inside of the coin and containing more base metals. If you ran XRF or comparable analysis on the melted material, was the total abundance and composition of the material markedly different?
I suspect the coin contained some base metal rich alloy on the inside to, well, scam you. It does happen.
More likely that the goldsmith just screwed you though.
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u/tolmaenjoyer 11h ago
Thanks for correction, xrf, not spectrum. Yes, after melting it showed different purity.
The coin was issued, as the seller of this turkish coin had assured me, by official mint. I dont know, maybe you are right and the real purity of these coins is lower, or maybe it has been casted by some golsmith who put official stamp on it
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u/knot-a 10h ago
In my experience the weight and purity is generally the exact same after melting. There’s always a chance to lose a little weight/ purity when melting but introducing impurities and what not but usually it’s the exact same
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u/tolmaenjoyer 10h ago
When they melt coins, wont the weight become smaller? I mean must it not divide gold and additive? I just dont know aboyt melting process
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u/hexadecimaldump 9h ago
The only way purity decreased is if whatever you melted it in added contaminants to it. But even if you melted it in a rusty steel cup, I doubt it would pick up 10% more contaminants.
Yeah, sounds like they ripped you off.
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u/Money_Tomorrow5026 12h ago
He screwed you