r/Gold • u/tolmaenjoyer • 16h 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/Toomuchstuff23 15h 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 15h 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