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 Replies: 7 / Views: 1,655 |
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Valued Member
Ireland
82 Posts |
Hi All,
I notice on E-bay there are gold nuggets for sale
of various weights.
My questions are:
Are these legit?
is anyone buying them?
and once you have them what do you do with them?
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Rest in Peace
United States
17900 Posts |
Larger nuggets, over a half ounce, with a reliable province to a specific find location are readily collected. They will cost much more than their gold spot content.
Mineral and gem collectors might also add pieces to their collection.
Like any collectable, they give satisfaction to their owners. Their appearance will have a larger influence on price than the gold content alone. They are very rarely melted.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3079 Posts |
Like with everything on ebay where is the seller located,and will the item be real or just plated. If you have to have one located a real gem & mineral dealer and find out if the have a store on ebay. The rep's on it aren't much good since they can be padded. And has stated some of the prized locations will have a higher premium if they have the proper provernance. |
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
Beware! Gold nuggets like anything else, have been faked.
Nuggets around one ounce carry a bigger premium per gram than nuggets of much snaller size, which are much more numerous.
The most common method to fake a natural nugget is to melt a small amount of native rock with pure gold, and pour the mixture into water.
A fraudulent double profit can be realised: an increased premium per gram for the larger nugget and the addition of valueless rock.
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Rest in Peace
United States
17900 Posts |
Good point, Sel. If you buy from larger auction houses, not ebay, you stand a much smaller chance of deception. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3343 Posts |
Nuggets are cool but not a good way to collect precious metals. If you sell them you'll be lucky to get low carat dental gold pricing. I've bought a few small ones in gold mining regional shops but never on ebay. Quartz inclusions make them more interesting to me. Same thing with emeralds embedded in the rock matrix. The coolest I've seen are Michigan native silver inclusions in rock. "Two minutes ago I would have sold my chances for a tired dime." Fred Astaire
Edited by thq
07/17/2017 3:12 pm
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
Fake nuggets can be detected with the use of XRF, looking for trace metals such as tellurium, and not copper or silver. Copper or silver can be added from coin gold.
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Valued Member
 Ireland
82 Posts |
thanks for the info. Yea I was thinking that ebay probably would not be a great place to buy. |
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Replies: 7 / Views: 1,655 |
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Posted 07/17/2017 11:17 am
