Items That Contain Scrap Gold

With the ever-rising value of gold showing no signs of depreciation, scrap gold is more sought after than ever as a source of income. Gold is used by industries around the world as an electrical conductor, insulator and of course for its cosmetic beauty. Scrap gold in even the smallest quantities can add up quickly. Knowing where to find it can yield profit with very little effort.

Many electronics, computers and cell phones contain trace amounts of gold. Gold is one of the best conductors on earth and as such, it is often used to coat connections and circuit components inside some of your favorite electronic devices. Gold will not rust or tarnish, so it makes a perfect contact point for circuits with low voltage current that would be disrupted by the slightest blemish. Gold plating is present in high-quality electronics, switches, relays, contacts, connection wires and strips and circuit joints.

Gold jewelry is, of course, an excellence source of scrap gold. Different types of jewelry contain different amounts of gold. Pure gold is 24 karat. Most jewelry is 18 or 14 karat, although 10 karat and other weights may exist. The rule is the lower the number, the less gold the jewelry contains. Because scrap gold is melted down by refineries once purchased, broken and damaged jewelry is just as valuable as that in perfect condition. The total weight of your scrap gold is all that matters.

Dental crowns, bridges and orthodontic apparatus are made of part porcelain and part gold. Gold is a preferred material thanks to its softness and the fact that it is easy to mold. This makes it ideal for custom fitting in the tight spaces between teeth. Gold does not decay or tarnish, another feature that makes it perfect for the wet and corrosive environment inside your mouth. Gold is sometimes also used as a cavity-filling material for these same reasons. Broken dental work and fillings that have come loose contain a fair amount of scrap gold, so much so that the price of dentistry is often tied rather closely to the market value of gold.

Gold is used as an aesthetic coating on many building features and in the creation of glassware and decorative pieces. The softness of pure gold makes it ideal for hammering flat into impossibly thin sheets called leaf. This leaf is then wrapped over architectural features and onto statuary to create a reflective, gold-colored surface. While the amount of gold used in such a process is small, it can add up quickly if the surface being covered is large.