How to Tell If Gold Is Real

What you need: a reasonably strong magnet. A small neodymium (rare earth) magnet works best — the flat refrigerator-magnet type is too weak to be useful. Neodymium magnets are inexpensive and available at hardware stores or online.

What to do: hold the magnet close to the gold item. Real gold is not magnetic and will show no attraction to the magnet whatsoever.

If it sticks: the item contains iron, steel, or another ferromagnetic metal. It is not solid gold. This is a definitive failure — solid gold does not stick to magnets. (Some white gold alloys containing nickel may show a very faint tug, but they will not stick or cling to the magnet.)

If it doesn't stick: that alone tells you nothing. Most metals are not magnetic. Brass, copper, aluminum, and tungsten all pass the magnet test despite containing no gold. Gold-plated items with a non-magnetic base will also pass.

What you need: an unglazed ceramic tile or the unglazed underside of a porcelain plate. The surface must be rough and matte — glazed ceramic won't work.

What to do: gently press the gold item against the ceramic and drag it to leave a visible mark. Use light pressure — you're trying to leave a streak, not gouge the item.

What to look for: real gold leaves a gold or yellowish streak. Base metals and most fakes leave a dark or black streak.

The catch: gold-plated items also leave a gold-colored streak, because the surface really is gold. If the plating is thick enough, the streak will look identical to solid gold. A dark streak is a clear fail. A gold streak just means the surface is gold — it doesn't tell you what's underneath.

Also keep in mind that this test scratches the item. On a ring or bracelet you wear every day, a tiny scratch may not matter. On a delicate or collectible piece, it's worth considering whether you want to mark it before trying this.

Not a formal test — just a careful look. But for older jewelry, it's one of the most telling checks you can do.

Look at high-wear areas — edges, corners, clasps, the inside of ring bands, and anywhere the piece rubs against skin or surfaces regularly. If you see a different-colored metal showing through underneath a gold surface, the item is plated. Common signs include greenish, dark, or silvery patches where the gold layer has worn away, revealing the base metal beneath.

Solid gold doesn't have a "layer" to wear through. It may scratch, dull, or develop a patina, but the color stays consistent throughout. A 14K gold ring will look the same on the surface as it does at a scratch — the metal is the same all the way down.

This check is especially telling on vintage pieces. If a 30-year-old bracelet still looks uniformly gold at the wear points, that's a strong sign of solid gold. If the edges show a different metal, it's plated.

This takes a bit more effort than the earlier tests, but it's one of the most informative home methods — because it measures a physical property (density) rather than just a surface characteristic. Gold is significantly denser than most common metals, and each karat has a predictable density range.

What you need: a kitchen scale accurate to at least 0.1 grams (0.01g is better), a cup of water, and a way to suspend the item in the water without touching the bottom — a thin thread or strand of hair works.

This is the method most jewelers and pawn shops rely on for day-to-day gold testing. It's been used for centuries, it works, and testing kits run $20–40 online. But the acids are corrosive, so this isn't something to do casually.

How it works: you rub the gold item against a dark testing stone (touchstone) to leave a visible metal streak. Then you apply a drop of acid to the streak. The reaction tells you whether the metal is gold and roughly what purity it is.

• Gold streak survives the acid: the item is at least the karat the acid is rated for.
• Streak dissolves or turns green: the item is base metal or lower purity than the acid tests for.
• Streak fades but doesn't disappear: the item may be lower karat than claimed but still contains gold.

Kits typically include acids for 10K, 14K, 18K, and 22K. The lower-karat solutions use nitric acid; the higher-karat solutions (18K and above) use aqua regia — a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acid — because gold increasingly resists nitric acid alone at higher purities. You test from low to high: if the streak survives the 10K acid, try 14K, and so on. The point where the streak starts to dissolve narrows down the karat. The GIA (Gemological Institute of America) describes the touchstone method as "relatively nondestructive" and capable of "quick results" when performed properly.

Why it beats surface-only tests: because you're testing the streak left by the metal itself, not just the surface. If an item is gold-plated over brass, the scratch on the touchstone will reach through the plating and leave base metal in the streak. The acid will react to that base metal and dissolve it.

When accuracy matters — for insurance appraisals, estate settlements, or high-value sales — professionals use equipment you won't have at home.

Electronic Gold Testers

Devices like the Sigma Metalytics Precious Metal Verifier measure a metal's electrical resistivity and compare it to known values for gold alloys. They can detect plating because the electromagnetic signal penetrates below the surface.

These testers are fast and non-destructive, and cost roughly $300–800 for consumer models. However, they have real limitations: they need a flat area of metal large enough for the sensor, so small or irregularly shaped jewelry can give unreliable readings. They also cannot determine exact karat — they confirm whether the metal is consistent with gold, not precisely what alloy it is.

XRF Analysis (X-Ray Fluorescence)

XRF is widely considered the strongest non-destructive screening tool for gold. The device directs X-rays at the item and measures the fluorescent X-rays that bounce back. Each element produces a unique signature, so the machine can identify what metals are present and in what proportions — typically within 2–5 seconds and with high accuracy for most items.

XRF machines cost $15,000–30,000+, which is why they're found in professional settings — refiner offices, high-end jewelry shops, and some pawn shops. If a shop advertises XRF testing, that's a good sign of their investment in accuracy.

One XRF limitation worth knowing: the X-rays penetrate roughly 20–50+ microns into the surface (varying by element and material). For solid gold, the reading is consistent throughout. For gold-plated items, the X-rays read right through the thin plating (typically 0.5–2.5 microns) and detect the base metal underneath — which is how it catches plating. However, a very thick gold layer over a different metal could theoretically read as solid gold if it exceeds the penetration depth. In practice, this is rare for jewelry. It's more of a concern with counterfeit bullion bars.

Fire Assay

The ultimate test. A small sample of the metal is melted and chemically separated to determine exact gold content. This is destructive — a piece of the item is consumed in the process — so it's typically reserved for refining operations and legal disputes, not routine testing. You'll never need this for a ring or bracelet, but it's what refiners use to settle any question about large gold lots before making final payment.

The biggest practical challenge with home gold testing isn't spotting outright fakes — it's telling solid gold apart from gold filled and gold plated items.

Gold-plated items have a microscopically thin layer of real gold (typically 0.5–2.5 microns) over a base metal core. Because the surface is real gold, these items pass many home tests — they leave a gold streak on ceramic, they don't react to magnets, and they resist mild acids at the surface level. The only reliable home method that catches plating is a deep scratch acid test, where you scratch through the gold layer to expose the base metal underneath.

Gold-filled items have a much thicker gold layer (mechanically bonded) and must contain at least 1/20th (5%) gold by weight per FTC guidelines. They behave even more like solid gold in testing. Gold filled does contain real, recoverable gold — it's not fake the way plating is, but it's not solid gold, and its value is significantly lower.

If your item is stamped GP, GEP, HGE, or GF, you already know what you're working with and don't need further testing. The challenge is unstamped items, or items where the stamp has worn away. For those, professional testing is the most reliable path. Read more about the differences between gold filled and gold plated, including how to identify each from stamps and wear patterns.

Home tests are useful for screening — ruling out obvious non-gold items, getting a rough sense of what you might have, and deciding whether something is worth investigating further. But there are clear situations where home testing isn't enough:

• You're planning to sell. Buyers pay based on verified karat and weight. Your word that the magnet test passed won't convince anyone. Get a professional test so you know the karat before negotiating. Then use our Scrap Gold Calculator to estimate value.
• The item might be valuable. If it could be worth hundreds or thousands of dollars, a $5–20 professional test is a trivial cost for certainty.
• You're settling an estate or dividing assets. You need reliable karat identification, not educated guesses.
• Home tests give mixed signals. If the stamp says 14K but the item feels light, or the magnet test passes but the color seems off — don't try to resolve the contradiction yourself. A jeweler with an acid kit or XRF machine can give you a clear answer in minutes.
• There's no stamp and the item is unfamiliar. Without a hallmark, home tests alone can't tell you the karat with any precision. A professional can.

Most jewelers and pawn shops will test gold quickly, sometimes for free. Call ahead and ask what method they use. An acid test or electronic tester is standard; XRF is ideal. Avoid any shop that only does a visual inspection and nothing else.

After testing confirms your gold is real and you know the karat, the next thing you'll want to know is what it's worth. That depends on three things: the current gold price per gram for your karat, the item's weight, and the purity.

• Know the karat and weight? Use our Gold Calculator to see the melt value instantly.
• Have multiple items to value? The Scrap Gold Calculator lets you add several pieces and see the combined total.
• Found a stamp you don't recognize? The Gold Hallmark & Purity Lookup decodes any fineness number or karat marking.
• Wondering about karat differences? See how 10K compares to 14K or 14K compares to 18K in purity, durability, and value.