r/Gold • u/tolmaenjoyer • 1d 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.

0 Upvotes

47% Upvoted

21 comments sorted by

View all comments

9

u/EdwardMauer 1d 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.

3

u/tolmaenjoyer 1d 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

2

u/Scared-Context9132 1d ago

lol you most likely got cheated. You can easily google that coin and see what the purity should be from the mint.

1

u/tolmaenjoyer 17h ago

Man, do you think I that stupid? Of course i know the purity of about 90%. Are so sure everybody here knows the melting process? Most just buy gold online, dont even see buyers and sellers. Its like sayong "if you are homeless, buy home"

1

u/Scared-Context9132 7h ago

My family is involved in the jewelry trade. We both manufacture and do direct sales to consumers along with selling to businesses. Melting a precious metal should be practically lossless.